Page 8 of The Don's Hidden Heir
Billionaire CEO of Romano Enterprises Returns to New York: Whispers of Rekindled Romance Ignite Speculation About His Relationship Status. Is He Stepping Out Of The Singles Market For Good?
There’s a reel of Dominic in the airport right under the post. He’s wearing a dark-gray, three-piece Tom Ford suit. His hair glints off the overhead and camera lights around him, just like Lucas’s.
He has a phone to his ear, and there are five to six bodyguards around him. All of them in black. It’s crazy that even now, no one knows his true identity. Every media house reports him as an Italian Billionaire CEO.
None of them sees the darkness in his shimmering brown, almost black, eyes. None of them know the true depths of his existence. And if they did, would it change anything? I truly doubt it.
Air drains from my lungs, my eyes refusing to move from my phone. I’m not supposed to feel this way. Dominic is no longer mine. Yet, a pang of pain slices through my chest at the thought of him with another woman.
It’s like I’m stuck in a prison, but it isn’t really a prison because my feelings for him haven’t faltered even once in the last seven years.
Moira’s face is scrunched with concern as she looks at me. “Everything alright?”
“Um.” I draw a harsh breath as I pass my phone to her.
Shock spreads across Moira’s face as she reads the headline. “Is this for real?” she asks, returning the phone to me.
I scan through the rest of the story. Relief washes over me when I find out it’s only just a rumor for now. I don’t know what I’m hoping for, but it makes me feel happy in some way. “I don’t think it’s true. It says here it’s just a rumor.”
“There’s always a figment of truth to every rumor, Elena,” she says. “Wouldn’t it be better if he’s actually hooked in a relationship? That way, you’ll be sure he is off your back for good.”
I roll my lips between my teeth. My thoughts are frazzled, and maybe I’m just being selfish because I haven’t truly gotten over my feelings for him, but I don’t want him with another woman.
Not that it’s his fault, but it’s been seven years. I’ve had our kid, raised him alone, and stayed single. It wouldn’t be fair if he just moved on to another woman.
God, what am I thinking?
“Girl, listen. You can’t keep doing this to yourself.” Moira stands from the sofa and walks over to my desk. She stops opposite me. “You have to make a decision at some point. You either want Dominic or you don’t.”
“It’s not that simple. There’s Lucas. I have to protect my son.”
“Then you have to let Dominic go for real. You can’t keep Lucas safe otherwise.” She reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m going to stand by you no matter what. But first, you need to make your decision.”
I look at her through my lashes. “My decision is the same as it was seven years ago.”
Chapter Three
Dominic
I twirl my drink as I glance over the city from my skyscraper building, watching the cars race down the street, and the other skyscrapers as they battle to pierce the baby-blue sky.
‘Tower Romano’ is the tallest skyscraper in the city. I spent the last seven years breathing air into it’s existence, waiting for the day I mount it like a war stallion. When I left New York seven years ago, I’d sworn to return only after I completed this building, and now that I have, there’s no going back.
I have every intention of ruling this city, making everything in it mine. I’d learnt to dominate since I could walk. My father, Alexei Romano had always taught me that walking wasn’t enough.
“Listen, boy!”he always said. “If you must stand on your own two feet, then you must run!”
Ten years after his death, I’ve lived just like that. Never backing down or relenting. Never letting anyone rule over me.
If I must be honest, then it wasn’t just because of my father’s brutal way of preparing me to rule the Italian mafia. Right from the moment I was born, an insatiable darkness clouded me.
A monster with an immense craving for blood and control lurks inside me. A monster that had been tamed for a fleeting moment, by the only person I’ve ever loved.
Elena Marconi.
But it’d ended as quickly as it started, because she unleashed the beast the night she left me.
I take a swig of my scotch, enjoying the burn as it trails down my throat. I wonder how she’s doing. If she chose to leave me, then she must’ve found happiness somewhere else.