Page 84 of Contract of a Billionaire

The screams. The pain. The smoke. I could still taste it.

“It’s a scar,” I whispered, my voice hoarse and my heart stuck in my throat.

The memory. The terror. I could still taste it on my tongue.

The high-pitched scream of my baby rang in my ears for days after that.

Alessio’s father pushed the lit cigarette into my baby and a scream shattered through the hospital room. Kol’s. Mine.

“Get away from him!” I threw myself on him, my fists hitting against his back.

He pushed me off easily, my back and skull hitting the cold hospital tile. Black dots swam through my vision. My body was weak, but I kicked and clawed at him, trying to get to my son.

His fingers fisted my hair, my scalp burning as he pulled it, then lifted my head and slammed it hard against the tile. Smoke filled my lungs. My hand wrapped around his wrist, my fingernails digging into his skin.

My head hit the cold floor again and this time, I twisted my head and bit into his hand. Hard.

He slapped me hard across the face and my body flew across the floor towards the little hospital crib.

“Dare to touch him and I’ll kill you,” I croaked, the metallic taste of blood and fear heavy in my mouth. I was the only one standing between him and my son. Actually, kneeling since my legs were too weak to support me rising to my feet. “I’ll make sure my parents and my grandparents know what you have done to their heir. Are you able to fight the Corsican mafia?”

I was grasping for straws. I had no idea where the thought came from. But it scared him. I could see it on his face.

“So you finally came to terms with it, huh?” he snickered. “Your mother would have been something as the head of that family. Lethal and efficient. Listen to me, little Autumn. Approach Alessio, and I’ll burn your entire family to the ground. Starting with your father and ending with your little bastard son.”

With that final threat he left me and Kol behind.

“Who did that to Kol?” Alessio’s voice was calm, but a hint of vehemence showed through.

The man was dead. He was no longer a threat. Should I tell him? I trusted Alessio never to hurt Kol. My heart was an entirely different thing. I knew in my heart that he would never hurt Kol. He would never hurt me. Physically. My heart was something entirely different.

Sometimes it was best to leave ghosts where they belong. In the past.

I was older now. Hopefully a little bit smarter. I recognized Alessio’s scars now because Kol’s scar was exactly the same. Cigarette butts. It twisted my heart to think of what Alessio had to endure as a child.

He was a product of a fucked up family. It made me appreciate my own family even more. The confession that Kol was his burned in my throat. There was just something about seeing Alessio in the same room with his son that made me want to confess to him that Kol was his.

It wasn’t something I ever intended to keep from him. I wanted Kol to have both of us, but things worked out differently.

A pang of guilt shot through me.

I should tell him now. I knew I should. Yet, those last words he spoke to me in London held me back. He hurt me. Broke my heart. He had never admitted nor apologized. It was a two way street. I owed him nothing.

Yet, keeping his son away from him felt so much worse. Unless he didn’t want a kid.

It wasn’t like we ever talked about it.

“Are you ever going to trust me, Autumn?”

A simple question. A complicated answer.

“I trusted you once,” I choked in a soft voice, turning my back to him. “I’m not inclined to do it again. Besides, you never trusted me.”

It was true. He made me happy four years ago. My heart was his and all the while, he kept himself locked up tight behind a wall.

I brushed my fingers over Kol’s wet hair, that innocent face staring back at me with so much love. I’d like to think that Alessio had at least that when he was that age.

“Do you need help?” Alessio offered, his voice hoarse.