Page 57 of The Don's Secret Heir

No.

Rocco isn’t right. I’m not in love. But it does do something to me to see her with that baby, bouncing him in her arms and cooing down at him.

I roll my neck around on my shoulders, feeling suddenly tense, and I break my own rules and grab another scotch.

Liana hands back the newborn and takes another child, maybe a two-year-old, and when the toddler babbles at her, she talks right back.

I’d thought one day, I’d get to see that sight for myself. That it’d be my baby looking up at her, not someone else’s.

I grit my teeth. She’s already had this experience, with Sonny. Without me.

I gulp down too much of my scotch and sit the glass down on the table. I have to be careful. With the party. With the booze.

With Liana.

15

LIANA

I’ve met what seems like a hundred members of the Gallo and Conte family and had three glasses of champagne, so I’m starting to get a headache. I hand back the toddler I’ve been carrying around on my hip and start to look for Vincenzo.

I have many questions—the biggest one being why he invited the Conte family. The Contes and Gallos have been at odds for decades, and I’ve never seen them invited.

Not until this year.

Dario’s “truce” with Vincenzo confuses me. Vincenzo and my father always hated Dario's father. That was part of the reason I never told my father I was seeing Dario.

I look for Vincenzo, Dario, anyone I know, but the only person I lay eyes on that I recognize is Beth. She’s dolled up in a little black dress, her bleached blonde hair up in a bun.

I smile widely and head over, tapping her on the shoulder from behind.

She turns with a scowl on her face, but it quickly turns into a smile when she recognizes me. She hugs me, whistling.

“Look at that dress! It fits you like a glove.”

“Thanks!” I chirp, a little tipsy. “Dario hired a seamstress and a stylist for tonight.”

She blinks. “For one night? And you said hedoesn’twant to get back together?”

“He doesn’t.” I lean in to whisper in her ear. “I’m just his arm candy.”

“You’re drunk,” she drawls, laughing as I straighten up.

I frown. “I’m not drunk. Just a little... bubbly.”

She shakes her head but she’s smiling. “Where’s Sonny tonight?”

“With Marie, my nanny. Dario had her hired when we first moved in.”

“A nanny, a new tailored dress, your hair and makeup done...” She whistles again. “Seems like you’re cleaning up.”

“It’s not like that and you know it. I hate every second of it.”

But that sounds like a lie even to my own ears. Idon’thate tonight. In fact, I’m having a pretty good time.

That doesn’t change anything, though. I need to get more information about Dario’s involvement in my father’s death.

“Have you seen Vincenzo?” I ask, and Beth nods, pointing over toward where he’s standing, smoking a cigar with another tall, older man.