Page 32 of The Don's Secret Heir

Fuck.

I follow her but she’s already got Sonny in her arms, his head on her shoulder. He’s sleeping peacefully and something in my heart clenches as they walk past me.

“Wait, Li, I?—”

“Save it,” she mutters, not even bothering to turn and face me. “Beth is coming to pick us up.”

“Beth? My cousin, Beth?” I wrinkle my nose. Beth has always hated me, and never more so than when me and Liana split up.

I have no ideawhyLiana left me, so I have no idea why my cousin hates me. Any more than she always has, anyway. I’ve always been the “golden boy” of the Conte family, the only boy in a gaggle of girls.

“Yes, Beth. Don’t try to stop me.”

Beth pulls up in her SUV and I watch as Liana buckles Sonny into the backseat. She gets into the passenger side without another look at me.

We just got married today and she’s already pissed at me.

Great.

I need a fucking drink.

I take a deep breath, watching her drive out of my life. Again.

Panic rises in my chest. I can’t let her do this. I can’t let her go again.

I have to fix this.

9

LIANA

I start to sniffle as we pull away from Dario’s house, and Beth lets out a long breath, putting a hand on my knee.

“It’s okay,” she says quietly. “I’m here now.”

I look over at her, smiling gratefully. Even though she’s part of the Conte family, she’s always been good to me. She’s always been there for me, even when we were kids.

When I met Dario, she warned me. She told me he was a cheater, that he was a playboy. But I didn’t listen. And look how that turned out.

“Jesus, Liana,” she hisses when I turn to her. “What happened to your face?”

I touch the fading bruise on my cheek.

Her face goes blank. “Did Dario?—”

“No! God, no.” I tell her everything, except for the part where we got married. I know she’ll freak out, and I’d like to be at home before I tell her.

“I knew you should have moved in with me,” Beth says, huffing out a breath.

“I’m s-sorry," I stutter out between sobs. “I just had such a good night and I thought... thought I could move on.”

Beth frowns. “You should have told me you were going on a date. I would have stopped Dario from interfering.”

I snort, wiping at my face. “You can’t stop him. Dario’s going to do what Dario wants to do, every time.”

“Exactly. And that’s why he cheated on you, Li. You have to stay firm.”

I bite my lip. “There’s a lot I need to tell you.”