Page 121 of The Don's Secret Heir

It might actually destroy me.

The cleaner, an Irishman named Mickey Finn who is stone deaf, walks up to me and makes the international sign for money.

I pull my wallet out and hand him several crisp hundred dollar bills.

He gives me a smile, showing one gold tooth, and a thumbs up.

That’s about my extent of interaction with Mickey Finn, but he does good work.

Giovanni and I return home and he claps a hand on my shoulder before I get out of the car.

“Good luck, boss.”

I feel a sense of dread creeping up my spine. I’m terrified to tell her, terrified she’ll just glare at me and tell me I'm stupid for wanting her.

And maybe I am.

She left me, got pregnant by someone else. I should still hate her for that, but somehow I can’t.

I ascend the stairs and open my master bedroom, finding Liana lounging there in a nightie with lace on the bodice.

She looks up from her book with a smile as I walk in.

“Get some work done?”

I nod briskly and head immediately for the shower, not ready to talk to her.

As the water beats down on my back, her words float to me.

“Dario? Are you alright?”

“Fine,” I call back in a bark that doesn’t sound very calm.

She opens the shower curtain and I yelp.

She laughs. “It’s just me. Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“You startled me.”

“Thought I would join you.”

“I’m already done.”

I turn off the water and get out, slinging a towel around my hips.

She frowns at me, pouting slightly.

I want to kiss her and forget I ever wanted to confess.

“What’s going on with you, Dario?”

I take in a deep breath. “Let me put some pants on. If you’re going to leave me I don’t want you to do it while I’m naked.”

She stares at me as I tug on a pair of sweats. “Leave you? What are you talking about?”

I sit her down on the edge of the bed, looking down at her.

“I uh, need to tell you something. I told you, but you were hurt and drugged up and you didn’t hear me.”