Page 28 of Scarlet Embrace

Why is he acting this way?

My father looked different. He was smiling, and he seemed happy, which made me wonder if he was acting or if he was truly happy that I was in a relationship. Ever since I turned down the marriage proposal with Gloria Kincaid two years ago. A marriage alliance was the last thing I was interested in.

“Leonardo and I were talking two weeks ago, and he told me how marriage has changed his son Leone. He was talking about being a grandfather, and I realized I liked the idea,” Father told me as he walked to the bench.

“Grandkids?”

“Yes. Neither of us is getting younger, and I would love to spend time with my grandkids. Daniel is clearly too young, and Linda is busy with law school, and you are of age.” My father went on talking about how marriage and family change a man, and for a brief moment, I wondered if I was speaking with my father. I couldn’t remember the last time we had a conversation like this, and I wondered what had brought this about.

“Lucas, you’ve been doing a good job, to be honest. I have to admit that you’ve proven yourself, and I realize that maybe it’s time I need to step back,” he finally said.

“You want to step back?” I asked, trying my best not to hide my excitement.

Was this what I wanted? Was he finally going to declare that I would be the one succeeding him? I might be the heir to the Cruz empire, but my father has been silent on who would be taking over his position should anything happen to him.

“Not now, but it’s time to start training the right person to take over,” my father answered. “You’ve shown you have a head for business, and now you are thinking of settling down. Having a woman you love has a way of changing your perspective, and maybe you are finally ready.”

This was good news. Incredibly good news, but Father wasn’t done speaking. He told me that he would love to see me get married and have a family of my own.

“In two years, I expect to have grandkids. I want to brag about my grandkids just like Leonardo is bragging about his.”

My father and Leonardo Vitale, the patriarch of the Chicago crime family, were close friends and often engaged in friendly banter from time to time. He was most likely responsible for my father’s new interest in having grandkids, a development I wasn’t pleased with because settling down wasn’t something I was looking forward to, especially when I didn’t even have a woman.

“I’ll see what I can do, Father,” I said with an uneasy smile.

This isn’t going to be easy.

CHAPTER 13: ELENA

AN UNEXPECTED OFFER

For me, the incident with Diana was an eye-opener to the fact that I was consumed by my thirst for vengeance. The desire to bring the Cruz family to ruin had blinded me to the danger I was putting myself in by being involved with a powerful crime family like the Cruz. For the first time, I wasn’t living for vengeance but was rather focused on living my life. It felt strange, and to be honest, I had a deep sense of loss since I had lived for this single purpose.

Putting that desire behind me wasn’t quite easy, but I had been making progress. The past few days, I didn’t think of the Cruz family as much as I did. However, sitting with the Cruz family brought that desire for vengeance to the surface, especially with Andrew Cruz, the man who had broken my family, sitting a short distance away. He was sitting at the head of the table with his wife Hannah to his right and Lucas to his left. I was sitting right beside Lucas and opposite Lucas’s step-brother, Daniel Cruz. Linda chose to sit right next to me.

“Tell me about yourself, Elena,” Andrew Cruz said, looking in my direction.

“Where should I start?” I asked, a little bit nervous.

Nothing about this whole scene felt real, yet there was no denying the fact that the man who was responsible for my ruin was asking me questions about my personal life.

“Father, we don’t need to—” Lucas started.

“She’s a lawyer. A very brilliant one at that,” Linda answered instead.

Lucas shot Linda an angry look. She was entirely oblivious to the fact that Lucas wasn’t willing to discuss me with his father.

“Is that so?” Andrew asked. “That’s quite impressive.”

I expected Andrew to ask more questions, but he simply remained quiet all throughout, barely saying anything.

“I’m sorry for that,” Lucas told me as he walked me to his car.

I wanted to tell him that this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t gone ahead, creating some strange rumor that we were together, but I simply nodded. In a way, I was still trying to process the fact that I was in the same room with Andrew Cruz.

“All that matters is that you fix it,” I finally told him.

“About that,” Lucas started slowly.