Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

“Your mother and I have worked hard to improve our family’s standing,
taking in a traitor’s daughter could ruin all our efforts.”
“Dad,” I said, shocked. “She’s twelve. She’s innocent. Please don’t tell me
you’ll refuse to take her in because of something her father did. That would be
exceedingly cruel.”
Dad was silent for a moment. It wasn’t that I didn’t think him capable of
cruelty, but he preferred not to appear that way in my eyes. “Luca might not give
us much of a choice anyway. With the way things are going, disappointing him
could be too risky.”
“Then don’t risk it and give Kiara a home.”
“How are things between Cassio and you?”
“Good.”
“They are?” Dad asked as if he didn’t trust his ears. It saddened me, knowing
that he’d expected the worst from Cassio and had still given me to him.
“They are. Promise to call me as soon as you know more about Kiara,
okay?”
“I will. Your mother wants a word with you.”
I stifled a sigh. Knowing Mom, she was probably alarmed the recent
development with Kiara might kill her social standing, and that meant she was
already planning how to take countermeasures—ones that usually involved me
or Christian.
“Giulia, how are you?” The forced cheer in her voice confirmed my
suspicions.
“Okay. A bit worried about Kiara.”
“When can your father and I expect a grandchild from you?”
All right. That was her plan. “Simona and Daniele are both young. Taking
care of them takes up all my time and energy.”
“They aren’t yours, Giulia. You have to make clever decisions. Having a
child of your own will solidify your position, especially if you have a boy who
might become Underboss.”
“Daniele will be Underboss, Mom. And if I ever want a child, it won’t be for
tactical purposes.” Cassio and I hadn’t discussed children yet. He’d insisted I
take the pill, which I would have done anyway because I definitely didn’t want
to get pregnant at the moment. I wanted to be the best mother for Daniele and
Simona, and a third child wouldn’t make the task any easier.
“Now that you’re a wife, you can’t afford being naïve.”
I sighed. “I need to hang up now. Simona needs me.” I didn’t wait for her
reply. Lowering the phone, I watched Daniele push the animal images in the
picture book alongside Simona. The cacophony of meows, mooohs, and woofwoofs
caused them to laugh. I leaned back with a smile. Every day, they
captured more of my heart.