Chapter Fifteen
Aria took extra care with her appearance before she headed downstairs. One maid had called her room to tell her that her men would be with her son in the family dining room. God, she couldn’t quite believe it. She had a son. The one she had thought died twenty-five years before. The one she mourned every day of her life.
He was actually here in the flesh, and he hated her immensely. How was she going to get through to him and find a way to show how despicable his father was and how much the bastard had lied?
Aria sighed. She couldn’t hide up here in her room all day. She was tougher than this. If she could put up with Lorenzo for over twenty-five years, she could deal with anything.
She stood outside the dining room, took a deep breath, and straightened her spine.
Trent immediately got up when he saw her come around the corner and came to her to pull her into his arms. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered to her.
She nodded and tried to smile. He sat her down.
“Thank you.”
Trent kissed the top of her head. “You’re welcome, pet.”
Aria slipped the napkin over her lap before her gaze went toward her son. “G-good morning, Dominic. I hope you slept well?”
They talked about the room he was given and that it was his forever. Each moment that went by grew tenser. When he said he would leave, she felt her heart break inside of her chest, and it took all her strength not to beg him to stay.
His stare was unnerving, and she relaxed when one of the maids walked in.
“What can I get you this morning, Miss Aria?”
“Good morning, Tami. I’ll just take coffee. Thank you.”
“With toast and a scrambled egg,” Mateo said.
She looked at him and saw him raise a brow.
“You didn’t really eat last night, and I don’t think I saw you eat after breakfast yesterday.”
She knew he was talking about how she vomited up anything they had gotten her to eat during the party.
“There was a lot to do. I’ll do better. I promise.”
“Oh, we know you will because we’re cracking down, love,” Mateo said.
Things in the room suddenly got out of hand, but she was able to calm everyone down. She knew her son was lashing out because he was angry, but everything he said to her felt like a stake shot through her heart. The men went after him at one point, but she stopped them from beating her son.
“Trent, I want him to be able to express himself. Please.”
Trent nodded, but she could tell he wasn’t happy.
She looked back at Dominic. “We’re you able to spend any nice time with your father?”
Dominic laughed, but there was no humor in it. It didn’t sound like they spent any time together, and that both saddened Aria because a son needed his father and made her glad because Lorenzo didn’t get a chance to influence him.
“The one thing Father did say that I liked was that this was my destiny, and everything was mine.”
Aria agreed and looked down at her lap. She screamed when her son threatened her again, and her men went for him.
When everything settled down once more, she tried to stay calm. He was such a cold man, and she didn’t know if she’d be able to get through to him, but she wasn’t going to give up.
“I know you don’t mean that.”
One of his brows lifted. “Oh, really?”