Page 12 of The Don's Secret Heir

“What I’d like to know is why your kid’s father isn’t helping,” he says in a low, almost dangerous tone.

My breath catches in my throat. “We aren’t... aren’t in touch.”

Dario scoffs. “Of course not. He turned tail and ran, didn’t he?”

“Something like that,” I mutter, my face feeling hot. I look away, hoping that he’ll let me go to bed soon. I’m dizzy and nauseous and I don’t want to talk about this.

I don’t even want to do this. I shouldn’t rely on him again. He’ll only hurt me again.

And I’ll be damned if I ever let that happen again.

Even if he did save me.

4

DARIO

I stare at Liana, my heart racing as rage courses through my system. I can’t believe that she chose such a deadbeat for her son’s father.

I can’t believe she chose anyone else at all. Not after what we had.

But maybe I’ve been lying to myself this whole time. Maybe she never felt what I felt. She couldn’t have. I remember the night she left.

We’d spent days in my penthouse, making love and talking all night, barely eating, barely sleeping, just in this bubble together. I never wanted to leave.

But suddenly, Liana stopped calling. She stopped answering my texts. Stopped coming by after she went to the gym in the mornings.

I was worried. What if something happened to her? What if there was a target on her back because of her father? Or worse, because of me?

So I went to her father’s house and her stepmother answered the door.

She blinked at me, surprise evident on her features.

I cleared my throat, my palms sweating like a fucking teenager, my heart racing. I was nervous. I’d never met Liana’s father, and although I knew she had a complicated relationship with him, I also knew that he was important to her.

And she was important to me.

“I’m here to see Liana.”

She looked me up and down, smirking slightly before turning around and yelling for Liana.

Liana descended the stairs, wearing a pair of pajamas with a cartoon cat on them, and I smiled.

My smile faded when I saw her face. Her gray eyes were red-rimmed, her skin pale.

“I don’t think we should do this anymore,” she said quietly, not looking at me.

My words died in my throat.

“What do you mean? Why?”

She shook her head. “I just... I can’t. I can’t live like this, like my mother did...”

She trailed off and I had no fucking idea what she was talking about. All I knew was that I wanted to fix it, wanted to make her gray eyes sparkle again, make her look at me again.

I gripped her chin in my hand, forcing her to look at me.

“What the hell are you talking about, Li?”