The Mafia's Heir

Chapter 29

"Morning, Cynthia. You're probably hungry, so here's breakfast." Daniel placed a plate of food on the nightstand. The smell of eggs, bacon, and fresh squeezed orange juice hit my nose like a punch. I jerked back from the hand reaching for me.

"Don't touch me," I growled.

He sighed and pulled back. "You're still angry. I get it."

"Liar."

Daniel rolled his eyes and sat on the bed next to me. The cologne he put on assaulted my personal space. He must have known that I couldn't resist that smell. The smell of the hardworking man he wasn't. I subtly leaned away from him and reached for the orange juice.

"It's really not that serious, Cynthia. We both know that you and your family are more dangerous than mine."

"Did I ask?"

"Well...can I at least see Lucio for a bit?" he asked. I really wanted to say no. To scream in his face to go away and never grace me with his unwanted presence again. I didn't do that. I only nodded and watched as he went to the crib and picked up our child. The little traitor.

"He looks like you. Beautiful. Full of spi--life."

"Keep going. If I'm full of spite, there has to be something causing it."

"...Not what I was trying to do."

"You're testing your luck."

My mind began to wander back to our argument. Something was nagging me. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch. Daniel had said something that made me think. Then it hit me. How did Daniel have time to convince Josiah to let me marry him? He would have had to know--possibly--trust that Josiah was a man of his word.

"Daniel," I said. He turned to me and smiled. "How old are you?"

His smile dropped. Gotcha.

"...You know how old I am," he said.

"You're not twenty-six. It's not possible when you would have had to know Josiah to actually trust that he'd follow through with the marriage. He would have gone along with Ryder if you hadn't said anything and...brought up the past. You most likely promised that you'd give him a share of everything I make, considering I never found out about your lies. And considering that you were never afraid of him...he must be related to you somehow. An uncle that got away? Maybe a cousin who was willing to do anything to get back with his family?"

"Look, I would never lie to you. Yeah, I may know Josiah better than you do, but that's because my parents know him. They know what he's like. They passed all of that information down to me and my sister."

I nodded. That sort of made sense. Then again, how come his reaction to that call I got in my father's office was different from everyone else's? He knew that the moment he revealed himself to me, Josiah would already be a step behind him. He would inform him of my whereabouts and what was going to happen to me. Maybe...No. Daniel would never do that to me.

"You knew, didn't you?" I asked in disbelief. I stood up and walked over to him. "You knew where I was for those five months I left. Why didn't you just come get me? Huh, Daniel? Why in Hell you just didn't come get me!"

Lucio began crying, delaying Daniel's chance to explain himself. I took my child and began rocking him. Daniel would not use him as an excuse. A maid walked in and offered to take our child away. I obliged and thanked her.

"Answer me, dang it!"

"I--I'm so sorry..." Daniel sighed. "I'm twenty-nine. God, Cynthia, I wasn't going to lie forever. Josiah told me that if I didn't watch over you in school, he'd marry you instead and it's normal across seas to do such a thing, so he would have gotten away with it. My mother wouldn't have cared nor my father. Why? He's my uncle. The only one who escaped his public humiliation."