Page 49 of The Hidden Heir

My whole body quivers at the thought of anything like what Caroline described happening. And I have to admit, I think my stepfather is perfectly capable of doing whatever evil thing he has to do in order to get what he wants.

“Your mother wouldn’t want Michael to be a Mancuso,” Caroline adds.

I sit there, simmering, because her words set off something inside me, something I’ve worked hard to control. Something so terrible, I need to take a deep breath to say as I glare at Caroline.

“He killed her,” I say. “Surely, you didn’t forget that.”

“Valentina, be very careful who you accuse. This is what divided us last time. Do you really want to go through that again?”

Her tone shifts, like she’s warning me. A coldness sends a shiver down my spine. But I won’t give in, not this time. Luca has given me back much of the confidence and courage I’d lost over the years.

“The truth doesn’t change, Caroline. If you’re not ready to accept it⁠—”

“Papa lost your mother, too! He had nothing to do with her death.”

“She didn’t want to have more children, and he hated her for it. He was absolutely furious with her. You seem to have conveniently forgotten that part.”

When I see Caroline squirming in her seat and looking for ways to excuse my stepfather, so much anger bubbles to the surface that it’s hard for me to focus. There is nothing that will excuse him, no matter what she tells me, because I remember every conversation I had with him on the subject. I know when Mauro is lying. And he lied a lot about my mother.

“Just because he was angry doesn’t mean he had anything to do with her death, dammit!” Caroline snaps. “It was a car accident. A tragic, heartbreaking accident.”

“The brakes were cut⁠—”

“Fucking hell, Valentina, why do you have to dredge up the past like this?”

“Because she was my mother,” I say and shake my head. “How are we going to move on from this conflict if we don’t address all of it? Your father is pissed off because the universe decided to punish him by denying him an heir. What happened to your mother, what you went through, and then⁠—”

“Don’t bring me into this!” Caroline says and points an angry finger at me.

Now, other customers in the café are openly staring at us. Our voices must have gotten too loud.

“Don’t you fucking bring my tragedy into this. None of it was my fault.”

“I never implied that it was. You didn’t deserve what happened to you, Caroline.”

“No, I didn’t. But it happened, just like your mother’s accident.”

“Keep telling yourself that, just don’t expect me to drink that particular Kool-Aid, because I never will. Your father did a lot of bad things in his life, including to my mother, and I will never forgive him for that. I could never prove it either, but that doesn’t mean I will ever get over what he did.”

Caroline shakes her head, crossing her arms. “Yeah, you made that perfectly clear when you rejected his offer to adopt you. If you’d only said yes, he would be a lot happier now. Symbolically, there would’ve been another Mancuso to bequeath everything to.”

“Come on, it worked out in your favor in the end,” I reply. “You’re the sole heir.”

“I can’t have children of my own, Valentina. I’m fucking useless.”

This is her breaking point, but I’m not the one who pushed her. She pushed herself into it as soon as she decided to repeat the same lies her father tried to shove down my throat all those years ago. The Mancusos are in a mess of their own making.

I seem to have found my limit as far as these negotiations go.

“Why don’t we pick this up another time?” I suggest and get up.

Caroline’s brows furrow. “Wait, what?”

“Well, you’ve got terms and conditions for a peace agreement. I’d like to draft some terms and conditions of my own.”

“Valentina, you’re only making this harder for all of us. Sit down. Let’s get over all of these hurdles and reach some kind of compromise.”

“I’m not making a deal without my husband present. I was just hoping you would at least stop being your father’s puppet, that you’d think for yourself for once. Let’s meet again when you’re ready to do that.”