Page 4 of Legacy of Deception

He paused, but only in timing with the car coming to a startling and unexpected halt. Darting my eyes everywhere, I realized we were parked in front of a fifty-four-story skyscraper.

The building that was home to Deluca Industries.

The company where my fiancé worked.

The truth landed hard, stomping its heavy boot on my chest and cracking my ribs.

“If you wanted me to apply for a job, you could’ve told me earlier,” I said, remaining still in my seat until I knew for sure what the intention was. I had my suspicions, but I needed to hear it. Plus, it didn’t seem like the worst idea to make him work for it.

“Hopefully, your fiancé finds your indignation amusing. I do not, and I have someplace else to be. So do you, quite frankly.” His gaze met the driver’s in the rearview mirror, and he ushered with his fingers toward the door.

My heart was pounding. I was torn between whether it was because I was about to meet my fiancé for the first time, or because I was doing yet another thing for the betterment of a family I doubted knew how many times I’d bailed them out. “Well, at least you’ll get to walk me down the aisle before you’re decrepit,” I joked, grabbing my purse with annoyance as the driver came around to my side and opened the door.

“I knew you’d see things my way.”

I rolled my eyes. Once I got out, I pushed my shoulders back and lifted my chin in a dignified stance. “Should I call you and tell you who the lucky man—” I was cut off by the door closing. They didn’t wait for me to walk into the building to start the engine. They hardly waited for me to take a breath. Next thing I knew, I was standing alone on a curb, the exhaust from my father’s town car clinging to my clothes.

Chapter 2

This isn’t a negotiation

MARCO

The power of the pawn was tragically understated.

Less fortunate people, like my father, Santo Deluca, who believed themselves to be more intelligent than they were, overlooked the pawn. They used the king as the defining force on the board, only seeing it as their main advantage. In reality, the king was a worthless piece with no attack strategy or capability without the pawn making the first move and paving the way for a clear path.

Not to mention, pawns could be promoted to a rook, a knight, a bishop, or even the second most valuable piece, in my opinion, a queen.

Picking up the pawn, I rolled it between my fingers before making my move. It was an en passant that would enable my pawn to sit comfortably in the empty square after removing my father’s pawn from the handmade Italian art glass chessboard.

The board belonged to my father, taking up residence in his office the same way an ink spill did—permanently. Only the upper echelon dared to move a piece, cognizant enough to understand it meant they were playing against a man who valued loyalty as much as he did ambition. But it was a continual game, silently signifying how there was no true end to the match, and Santo was always the man on the opposing side.

“Why this company?” I asked, catching a glimmer of my reflection in the emerald-green glass before shifting my weight.

Swirling the bright yellow liqueur of my Strega, I considered how I looked every bit a Deluca. The resemblance I had to my seven brothers and our father was uncanny. Olive complexion. A full head of dark brown hair that was almost black—except Lorenzo. Equally dark brown eyes. And big lips, which was a trait the ladies happened to possess a real fondness for. Only, I preferred it to be from ladies I chose. Not one my father chose for me and demanded I marry so he could acquire her perverse father’s company.

Raf Briggs owned equestrian centers in Saratoga and Wellington. Minus the occasional betting on racehorses, I couldn’t say I had much knowledge of all things equine. Although, last I checked, we weren’t necessarily in the business of acquiring such companies, especially financially unstable ones.

The stock market was an unfavorable bitch, and we had only recently reached re-stabilization after the dip we had experienced at the hands of negative press coverage, stemming from The Brunette Gossip. No one knew the tyrant behind the massive hit blog and social account, but we had our suspicions it was a bored nobody. We would have liked to nip the problem in the bud, but it appeared she enjoyed staying in the shadows. Much to my older brother Lorenzo’s dismay, since he had low tolerance for battling a faceless figure. Her latest lie was about his lengthy stay in Europe. According to her, and the news outlets who didn’t care about the potential for a lawsuit for slander or defamation, he was an informant for an international company that was our biggest competitor. No hard evidence, just baseless accusations flying around like an annoying swarm of lovebugs in late spring.

“You don’t ask the right questions,” he responded, his brusque tone exactly what I would expect with his impudent smile. His fingers were coiled together on the top of the mahogany desk. Sitting there, he looked aged but not old and certainly not frail, his presence demanding fear. Respect wasn’t necessarily something he worried himself with, caring more about the bone-chilling response he earned from his opponent.

I gripped the back of a black leather chair in front of him, bringing the glass to my lips and seething as the herbal alcohol filled my chest. “Unfair judgment. That’s subjective because, as it happens, I value my questions immensely.”

Leaning forward, his eyes danced with amusement as he toyed with the French cuffs, the white monogram of his initials on the cuffs of the maroon shirt hard to miss. “My son. You have much to learn.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Like what?” From where I was standing, this was a lousy deal at best. I could have done better, and I would have, if I were CEO. Unfortunately, my title at Deluca Industries was nowhere close to that.

Moving with purpose, he stood up and strolled over to the chessboard, not even batting an eye before picking up his white knight and moving in an L-shape, a direction that would capture the black knight that was previously left defenseless. “Do you care to know about equine value?”

“Can’t say I do.”

Before setting the black knight off to the side because its time on the board had come to a screeching halt, he lifted it. As he studied it between his fingers, his large gold and onyx pinky initial ring radiated with the way the light hit it from his movements. It wasn’t much different from the one my brothers and I had been gifted. Only, like with much else, the differences served as a reminder of the difference in status and power. His was encrusted with diamonds and a snake was wrapped around the S. “Then don’t ask me why and just do as I say. Marry Brooklyn Briggs.”

Fury seized my body as I held onto the glass tighter, knowing if I wanted to, I could quite literally destroy it in my grasp. “No one will believe this.” My mouth formed a thin line.

“Sure they will.” He gave me a blank stare. “You’ve known her forever.”