147: Bloody Spawns Pt II
SERA
Killian stared at his son calmly. But somehow, even that felt like the calm before the storm.
"Angel," he said softly, without looking away from Gio. His voice was soft but terrifying.
"Remind me. What happens to a man who steals another Don's mistress and then has the audacity to get her pregnant?"
The girl whimpered. Gio, the cocky little idiot, only smirked wider.
"Relax, Dad. She's not a mistress anymore. She's mine."
Killian blinked. His jaw flexed. Then, without warning, he hurled his teacup against the wall.
"Yours?" he roared. "Are you out of your goddamn mind, Giovanni?! Do you have a death wish?!"
"Dad—"
"Don't you 'Dad' me!" Killian snapped. "I have survived assassins, attacks, coups, and betrayals—and this... this is what's going to bury me? My idiot son and his unborn bastard?!"
"Killian!" I grabbed his arm before he could launch something more dangerous at Gio's head. His muscles were taut under my grip, shaking with rage.
Meanwhile, Gio lazily leaned against the doorway, as if he hadn't just detonated our entire empire. "Bastard? Please. This is legacy, old man. The Cross name lives on."
Killian actually froze, turning so slowly I swore the air grew colder. His eyes locked on Gio, and for a moment I thought he might draw blood right there in the sitting room.
"Legacy?" His voice dropped to a lethal whisper. "Boy, you've doomed us all. Do you have any idea whose bed you crawled into?"
The girl's wide eyes darted between father and son. Her hands instinctively went to her stomach.
"PREGNANT?!" Rue's voice exploded through the speaker, so loud I swore the walls rattled. "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW, GIOVANNI?! You—absolute—braindead—dick-for-brains! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO?!"
Gio's cocky smirk faltered. His tan complexion drained a shade lighter.
"Rue—" he started.
"NO! Don't you dare say my name with that slimy mouth of yours. Do you have ANY IDEA who your little bimbo belongs to? You've just painted a massive fucking target on ALL of us, you selfish prick! You've doomed everyone, and for what? A quick fuck and a swollen belly?!"
Killian's jaw clenched as he sucked in slow breaths. I quickly guided him to the couch, rubbing his back, whispering calming nonsense even though his body felt like a steel trap about to spring.
Meanwhile, Gio's smirk was gone completely now. His eyes darted towards the floor.
And then, suddenly, his knees buckled. He dropped in front of Killian, both hands pressed flat to the ground. His girlfriend followed instantly, bowing her head low, her shoulders trembling.
"Dad—" Gio's voice cracked. "Please."
Rue was still shrieking on the line. "Don't you 'please' him! You absolute clown! You just signed our goddamn death warrant!"
Killian's hand flexed over his knee, the veins in his forearm bulging.
The girl whimpered, clutching her stomach tighter. Gio's head hung low, his face pale and glistening with sweat.
"You will pray to whatever god you believe in, boy," Killian murmured. "Because the only thing keeping you alive right now... is that she's carrying your child."
"I love her," Gio said, his voice shaking. "You don't understand. She's not just some mistress. She was bought when she was fifteen. Used. Broken. I couldn't just leave her there. I won't."
The girl let out a small choking sound.
Killian buried both hands over his face, dragging them down slowly. His shoulders heaved, a sound like a growl slipping past his teeth. A vein stood out hard at his temple, throbbing with barely contained fury.
"Oh, Christ," he muttered, the words muffled against his palms.
I moved closer, my hand instantly on his shoulder, rubbing soothing circles even as his body vibrated like a ticking bomb. "Killian," I murmured softly, my voice pitched low just for him. "Breathe. Please. Don't do this to yourself."
His fingers dug into his hair, his elbows resting on his knees.
"I'm going to marry her. I don't care if she belonged to anyone else. She belongs to me now. And I swear, Dad, I'll protect her with my life,” Gio uttered.
Killian finally dropped his hands. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked at Gio with disdain.
"You arrogant, naive fool," Killian rasped, his voice ragged with rage and pain.
To everyone's shock, the girl lifted her head. Her lips trembled, her eyes glistening with tears.
"I never asked for this life," she whispered. "I never asked to be bought, or touched, or beaten until I forgot what it felt like to be human. For years, I prayed to die. For years, I thought... no one would ever see me as more than a thing to own."
She pressed a trembling hand to her stomach. "And then Gio came. He looked at me like I wasn't broken. I know what you all think. You think I'm a mistake. That I'll ruin everything. But to me? This—" she let out a shaky breath, her palm pressing firmly over her belly, "—this baby is hope. A chance to finally belong to myself. A chance to love without fear."
My throat closed up. The tears welled before I could stop them. Damn it. She was just a girl.
And now, even while she sat here, terrified, she spoke with more courage than half the men in this world.
Killian rose to his feet slowly.
His hand rose to his left eye, rubbing at his temple firm pressure.
Without a word, he turned and walked toward the stairs.
I didn't even think. I slipped the phone onto the coffee table and hurried after Killian.
By the time I reached the bedroom, he was seated on the edge of the bed, his head bowed.
"Killian." My voice was soft as I closed the door behind me.
He didn't look up. His hand stayed clamped against his temple, his other hand gripping the sheets so tight his knuckles whitened. "It's in my eye this time," he muttered, his voice low. "Like a knife digging in."
I crossed the room in seconds, kneeling before him. My hands cupped his wrists gently, coaxing his fingers away from his face. His skin was clammy and pale. The vein at his temple was still pulsing violently.
"Oh, love..." My heart clenched. "You're burning yourself alive with this. You can't hold everything in."
His eyes cracked open, bloodshot, the blue dimmed and dulled from pain.
He tried to smirk, but it faltered instantly. "I can't afford to fall apart, angel. Not now. Not when my own son has handed us to the wolves."
I reached for the small drawer by the bed, pulling out the compress I always kept there for nights like this.
Pressing it gently to his temple, I rubbed slow circles against the back of his neck with my other hand.
"You don't have to hold it all at once," I whispered. "Let me carry some of it. You've carried this empire, this family, on your back for too long. Don't break yourself to protect us, Killian. Please."
His eyes squeezed shut again, his breathing uneven, but his shoulders finally loosened a fraction under my touch.
"You saw her," he rasped after a long pause. "You saw the girl. She's not lying."
"I know," I whispered, my throat tight.
"She's just a child. And now she carries mine—our name—in her womb." His jaw flexed, his hand dragging down his face in frustration.
“Gio's recklessness could doom us all. But damn it... if he loves her the way he says, if she's truly what she claims to be..." His voice broke off. "What choice do I have, angel? Do I kill hope before it's born?"
Tears stung my eyes all over again, but I pressed my forehead to his, steadying him. "You don't have to decide tonight. For now, just breathe. Rest. Let me be the one to hold you together."
His large hands came up, cupping my face. Then he leaned in to press a kiss to my forehead.
"Killian," I murmured, brushing the strands of his hair away from his forehead. "Listen to me. We can't undo what Gio's done. The girl is already here. The baby is already coming. You can't claw this back with blood, no matter how much you want to."
He exhaled sharply through his nose, letting out a bitter laugh. "You think I don't know that? Every move I make now could tip the balance."
I pressed the compress back against his temple, firm but tender. "Then we have to change the rules of the game. Make her ours. If she truly belongs to another Don, then she's leverage. But if she's tied to us legally, publicly, undeniably...then she's protection. Gio's marriage could shield her instead of paint her as a weakness."
His head jerked up, his eyes sharp despite the pain. "Marriage?"
"Yes," I said steadily. "You can't erase what's been done, but you can reframe it. If Gio takes her as his wife, not his mistress, then any claim her master has weakens. A Don can't touch the lawful wife of another family without igniting a blood feud. You know the code as well as I do."
His jaw worked, the vein in his temple still throbbing, but he was listening.
"And while you prepare the front," I continued softly, "I'll take care of the inside. I'll make sure that girl's loyalty is to us and not to whoever once owned her. If she's sincere, she'll prove it. If she's not..." My voice tightened, but I held his gaze. "We'll know soon enough."
He stared at me for a long moment, and then he smiled.
"You think like a queen," he commented.
I kissed his temple. "That's because I'm married to a king."