It almost made him something like sad, as it suggested that Umberto was unworthy of the time and effort Pau had spent getting to this moment.
Almost.
But then, all the way on the other side of the room, was the little man himself. Umberto was not a tall or athletic man, and had not been one even in his youth. He was also not an attractive man. He was known to claim that he had a certaincharismathat brought him women and acolytes and whatever else it was he desired, but that was what all rich, ugly men said.
It was always about money.
It took Pau a moment to note that all of Umberto’s malevolent attention was not on him, but on his daughter.
“I see you’ve come crawling back as I knew you would,” Umberto began, rising up from what looked like a gold-plated chaise to come charging toward Leontina—
Until he stopped short, wheezing in astonishment when he got closer.
Several things became immediately clear.
First, Umberto had clearly not been informed that it was Pau accompanying his runaway daughter. Second, the fact that said runaway daughter was visibly pregnant was clearly also a surprise.
And as she stood beside him, Pau could see that Leontina was doing something with her hand. She was making it look as if she was playing with her ring absently, but Pau rather doubted it. Because what she was doing made her ring catch the light and send it dancing all over this gleaming room, announcing their marriage without having to say it out loud.
“What the fuck is this?” shouted Umberto, his face going red and his eyes bugging out.
“Which part?” Pau asked, and he took pride in how even his voice was. How very nearlyboredhe sounded, because he could see how very little his lifelong enemy liked it. “Because I think you know what this is, old man.”
Umberto looked from him to Leontina, and appeared to be very nearly shaking with rage. It seemed like a good start to Pau, though he made sure he kept close to Leontina. Very close, because Umberto always preyed on what he perceived as weakness first.
Leontina smiled at her father without a shred of fear. “I didn’t care for your selection of suitors, Father,” she told him in that cheerful voice of hers that Pau didn’t like at all when it was directed at him. But he found he liked it fine today, aimed straight at her father. “So I went and found my own.”
“You did not leave here long enough ago to come back fat with child!” Umberto was sputtering. He was staring at her belly and then he stepped in with a fist outstretched, as if he truly believed he might actuallystrikeher.
As if he imagined that Pau would allow such a thing.
Much less the two men standing behind him.
Pau’s men moved forward immediately, putting themselves between Umberto and Leontina. Umberto stopped, and dropped his fist.
But Pau learned things about his wife in that moment, because she didn’t so much as flinch. That smile didn’t move from her face.
“Pau and I met at Giaco’s wedding,” she continued, as if there had been no interruption. As if her father’s spike of rage didn’t register with her. “I thought you would be pleased, Father. Haven’t you always said you wanted to marry me off to a man of wealth and consequence that matches yours? I believe the good news is Pau’s far exceeds yours. So this can only be an upgrade, correct?”
Umberto’s face was getting redder and redder. Alarmingly red, in fact. His eyes were wild as he fixed them on Pau. “You… You…”
That was all he managed to get out, most of it a wheeze.
“Me,” Pau agreed, his voice lethal. “What did you think? That you could really steal everything my father loved out from under him and nothing would come of it? That you would never answer for the things you do?”
“Your father was an idiot,” Umberto bellowed. “He should have sold to me when he had the chance.”
“Now you are nothing but an embarrassment,” Pau said quietly. And distinctly, to make sure the old man heard him, and well. “A laughingstock in every circle you once imagined you ruled. How does that feel?”
Umberto’s face was now approaching a worrisome crimson.
Pau did not stop. “Meanwhile, your daughter is mine,” he said. “Wedded and bedded and carrying my child. Your legacy no longer exists, Umberto. It will stay in this tawdry room and tarnish as you do, until it is torn down and forgotten. Mine, on the other hand, grows deeper roots by the day. And let me assure you that Leontina and I will raise our son to know absolutely nothing about you.”
“Over my dead body,” Umberto shouted, and then he lunged in their direction—
But he never made it.
He never even reached Pau’s waiting security guards. He lunged in their direction but tripped as he went, twisting in on himself and then falling heavily to the ground.
