Page 19 of Claimed By the Silver Fox

Shit, I don’t blame him. All of this must look like a mess from the outside—it feels like one from the inside too, and I almost want to tell him that. But I have to cling to whatever control I can, and that means not confessing that there’s anything here that I can’t keep a handle on.

And besides—I’ve learned the hard way that nobody’s loyalty is guaranteed. If my own son can turn his back on me like this, then there’s no way to ensure that I’m owed anyone else’s. If Cesc sees weakness in me, sees doubt, I have no way to guarantee that he will not turn on me the way Andreo did. And he has connections to pretty much every one of my guards too—the last thing I need is for them to turn their backs on me, when I need them now more than ever.

“I’m going to check out the rest of the warehouse,” I tell him, turning for the door once more. “There should be a car waiting outside for you soon. You need help getting down there?”

He shakes his head again. “I can handle it.”

And with that, I stride out of the room, trying to muster as much confidence as I’m able. Now, more than I ever have before, I need to convince everyone paying attention that I am utterly in control of what is going on here. I’ve never faced a threat this serious against my business before, and I never could have imagined that it would come from my own damn son. But Andreo has made his choice, and it’s up to me to make certain that I don’t let it echo out to destroy the rest of what I’ve worked for.

The smell of smoke lingers in the air, the metallic scent of gunfire still clinging to every surface. Salamanca might think he has gotten the best of me by getting my son on his side, convincing Andrea that he can give him everything I can’t. But if Salamanca thinks I’m just going to roll over and take it, he has a whole hell of a lot more coming his way.

And I’m not going to make this easy for him.

Not a chance in hell.

9

JULIA

I smooth down my hair, fussing with my skirt as I prepare to knock on the office door. I know it likely doesn’t matter all that much what I look like, but I want to make sure I give myself the best chance possible of convincing Antonio to hear me out, when by the sounds of it, he has bigger things to concern himself with.

It’s been nearly a week since the wedding, and I haven’t set foot outside of this mansion since I arrived. I’m starting to feel the walls close in on me, the reminder of everything that I’m trying to escape crushing down so heavily it feels like I might never make it out.

I know I shouldn’t let it get to me, but I can’t help it. I remember all too well what it felt like to have to lock myself away in my room just to stay safe, to feel like stepping foot outside would bring the weight of the world down on my shoulders, and I swore, after I left home, that I would never let it happen again.

And now here I am, whether I like it or not, staring down the barrel of it with a painful clarity of just what it means to be back here.

I can’t blame Antonio, of course, for taking the matter of my protection so seriously. I’ve heard whispers from the guards and the other household staff who have been tending to me, about Andreo, how he’s defected to some other business. It sounds like something that bastard would do, turn his back on what he had committed to in favor of a better offer.

I mean, that’s more or less what he did to me at the wedding, right? It’s not hard for me to believe he would do the same thing to his father, as much as I don’t want to admit that I got pulled into his bullshit for so long.

But the truth is—I’m not part of this world.

Yes, I was with Andreo for a few years, and yes, I technically have Antonio’s ring on my finger right now, but I’m going to make a case for my freedom. If he just gives me a divorce, then this can be done with, and I can go back to my old life.

I mean, I’m not even sure what that life is going to look like, given that I had been living with Andreo before the wedding and thought I would be building a life with him, but I’m sure as hell willing to find out.

Ugh. I can’t help but feel, as I stand outside the office ready to plead my case, that I’m going to be walking back into the same mess as when I first left home all those years ago. Running away from my parents at seventeen, with no job experience, with the tail end of a high school diploma that I had to fight tooth and nail to get my hands on, and virtually no money to my name. I scrambled and scrabbled and slept on couches just to get by, and while it was better than living in that hellhole, it still wasn’t exactly easy.

How could I let something like this happen again? I should never have trusted Andreo when he told me that he would do whatever he could to look after me. A guy like that only holds it over your head as a means of control, not a genuine promise about the future. He knew how little I had, and he made the most of it.

But that doesn’t mean I have to let his father do the same. I roll my shoulders back, lift my knuckles to the door—and before I can even tap on it, it opens before me and I spring back in surprise.

“Oh, Antonio,” I blurt out, eyes darting back and forth. “I—I needed to speak with you about something…”

I trail off as I look up at him. He looks exhausted, as if he’s entirely spent—dark circles under his eyes, shirt unbuttoned slightly, sleeves rolled up, hair a mess.

He crosses his arms over his chest, observing me for a moment. “About what?”

I take a deep breath. “About whether or not I need to be here.”

Something in his face slams shut. “We already talked about this,” he tells me hollowly, turning to head back into the office.

I rush in behind him, not wanting to give up this chance to speak with him now that I’m here. I had to sweet-talk one of the guards, Joe, into letting me out for long enough to meet with Antonio. The rest have been quick to brush me off, telling me that Antonio’s got better things to do than deal with me.

“I understand that,” I tell him, keeping my voice as even as I can, running through everything I’ve practiced in my head. “But I—I’ve been thinking about it, and I just can’t see why I need to stay here.”

“Because you’re in danger if you leave this place.”