Page 15 of Secret Heir

I scowl. “That’s not acceptable.”

“I don’t care what’s acceptable to you.” Her voice is cold and harder than I’ve ever heard it. “You’ve taken everything from me. You don’t get my secrets too.”

“I’ve taken everything?” I lean forward, keeping my voice low so I don’t wake Daniel. “You’re the one who stole eight years from me. You’re the one who kept my son hidden. You’re the one who let him go hungry rather than ask for help.”

She scowls. “I was protecting him,” she whispers fiercely.

“From what?” I demand. “From having a father who would have given him everything? From being safe and warm and fed? From having a family?”

“From your world.” She finally looks at me, and there’s fire in her eyes despite the tears. “From the stuff of nightmares and—” She cuts herself off.

“And what, Aria? Say it.”

She presses her lips together and looks away.

I shake my head. “You really think I’d hurt him,” I say flatly. “You really think I’d hurt you.”

“Wouldn’t you have?” She meets my eyes again. “If I’d stayed? If I’d questioned you about things I shouldn’t have seen? Would you have let me walk away?”

I open my mouth to answer then close it. The truth is complicated. Would I have hurt her to protect the organization? To keep her quiet?

No. I never would have hurt her. I loved her too much. I would have done anything to keep her safe. To keep Daniel safe, if I had known about him.

My internal struggle must show on my face because Aria nods, vindicated.

“That’s what I thought,” she whispers.

“Things are different now,” I counter.

“Are they?” She looks down at Daniel and smooths his hair back with gentle fingers. I itch to do the same. “You forced us onto a plane in the middle of the night. You threatened to take my son by force. You’ve been stalking us for months. How exactly are things different?”

“You’re the mother of my child,” I say through gritted teeth. “That changes everything.”

“Does it?” Her laugh is bitter. “Or does it just mean I’m trapped now? That I can never escape because you’ll always use Daniel as leverage?”

She’s not wrong. I would use him. I am using him, because he’s mine and I’m not letting either of them go.

“We’re landing in ten minutes,” I say instead of answering. “Wake him up. I want him to see his new home.”

“This isn’t his home,” Aria says fiercely. “This is a prison.”

“Call it whatever you want.” I unbuckle my seatbelt and stand. “But get used to it. You’re never leaving.”

I walk to the cockpit to give them privacy, but I can hear her soft, broken sobs that she’s trying to muffle so she doesn’t wake our son.

Let her cry. Let her grieve her old life. That life is over.

They’re mine now. Both of them.

And I’m never letting them go.

3

ARIA

The house is obscene.

That’s my first thought as the SUV pulls through iron gates that close behind us with a mechanical hum that sounds like a death knell.