AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sorry,cara mia—I forget myself sometimes.” Guilia shakes her head like she’s disgusted with herself. “I was born into this world. Enemies end up dead. I might be a little… desensitized to it all.”
“It’s, uh… it’s o-okay,” I stammer out. “You meant well.”
I think.
“I still think you should tell Arsen,” she says. “He doesn’t have to do what I suggested, but he can take care of the problem in other ways.”
Guilia still doesn’t know that Arsen and I are on the outs, which is for the best. I may not want to be married to Arsen, but I don’t want to turn his allies against him, either.
I’m about to delicately change the subject when the man himself strolls into the sitting room. “What problem?”
“Arsen!” Guilia smiles. “Nice to see you again.”
“I heard you’d come to pay my wife a visit. I figured I should come make sure you weren’t getting into too much trouble.”
“Trouble? Us?” Guilia gives me a wicked grin. “Never.”
Says the woman casually suggesting contract murder no less than fifteen seconds ago.
Arsen arches a brow. “I’ll be the judge of that. What problem do I need to take care of?”
Guilia, always cool under pressure, stands up. “That’s my cue to head home. Enzo is expecting me. If I’m late, this alliance could implode before it has a chance to begin.” She pulls me into a hug, her lips against my ear. “Sorry, darling. I didn’t mean for him to overhear. But let’s meet again soon.”
I nod and wave as Polina escorts her to the door, taking Nina with her.
Arsen drops onto the armchair next to mine, his eyes fixed on the envelope on the coffee table. Some spiteful, vindictive part ofme wants to keep the news to myself. I want to prove to Arsen that I don’t need him. That I can handle things without him.
But my track record in dealing with Charles Barnes is spotty, at best. And, even with murder off the table, this is exactly Arsen’s wheelhouse.
He may not be the husband of the year, but he is good at his job.
I hand him the envelope. “Charles is suing me for ownership of Mom’s estate.”
He snatches it out of my hands, flipping through the pages with a dark look in my eyes. “This is fucking ridiculous.” He glances up at me. “I can handle this for you.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“Do you want him dead?”
“My God,” I mutter. “I didn’t realize execution was the Plan A go-to with you all.”
Arsen doesn’t seem to hear me as he reads over the suit again. “I’ve warned him over and over again. He doesn’t seem to get the message.”
I let myself imagine it for a moment—a life without the threat of my deadbeat dad popping up like a monster in a haunted house every few months.
A life without a father. Or a mother.
Just me and Nina.
Alone.
“I don’t want him dead. Not now, anyway.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I shove to my feet. “I can’t believe I just said that. I’m awful. What kind of daughter thinks that about her own father?”
“In your defense, he wasn’t much of a father.”
“Still! If people could go around issuing hits on crappy fathers, half the world would be at risk!” I shake my head. “I can’t. I can’t murder my own flesh and blood.”
Arsen runs a hand over his scruff, and I see a flash of some sign—the same thing I saw that night in the car on the way to dinner. He wants to tell me something.
