The Millionaire Offer

LUCIUS

“Help me, son. I can’t deal with her. Or the baby,” Jack said. His tanned skin was slightly wrinkled around his handsome mouth. He was the epitome of health, even in his sixties.

“It was a mistake,” he continued, raising one finger. “I messed up once, and now my life is screwed.” He moaned, playing the victim, just like always.

Lucius looked at his father. The older man sat sprawled in the chair, his large body spilling over the arms and back. Lucius noticed with amusement that his father gained considerable weight since his mother’s death eight years ago.

“Can you keep it quiet?” Lucius asked, rubbing his face and wanting to wring his father’s neck. He couldn’t commiserate with Jack, not right now.

“I proposed to Vanessa, and she said yes. I can’t have a baby with another woman. Vanessa will leave me.”

This is ridiculous, Lucius thought, sliding his hand into his pocket.

Though Lucius wasn’t surprised. He saw it coming. His father had a habit of luring pretty women into his bed.

“So let me get this straight.” He turned and looked into the same eyes as his, only older. “You have sex with my maid. Get her pregnant. Then ask Vanessa to marry you. Even though you knew the baby was due any day now, right?”

Jack’s face turned red as he looked to the side, not meeting his son’s eyes.

Vanessa, now set to be Lucius’s third stepmother, would be upset if she found out her future husband was having a baby with the maid. Jack couldn’t keep his pants zipped while Lucius’s mother was alive, never mind after her death.

And just like always, he came to Lucius to clean up his mess.

“When you’re having sex whenever you get the chance, you shouldn’t be surprised when you have a bunch of kids running around,” Lucius said. He was irritated by the fact that he had to give his father a lecture on decency, again.

“Pay her, send her away. I do not care.” Jack waved his hand like a magic wand.

Looking at his father’s dismissive gesture, as though he wasn’t talking about real people, a mother and a child, Lucius felt really sorry for his mother.

She lived and died knowing only the love and passion this man had to offer.

Liliana Marinacci was an heiress. The sole child of one of Italy’s wealthiest families.

His beautiful mother could get any guy she wanted. But she was smitten with Jack, a younger man with a charismatic personality who couldn’t resist chasing skirts.

Her passionate Italian blood was her biggest enemy. The more Jack played around, the more she went after him.

It was rare to have a peaceful day in their house. Every memory Lucius had from his childhood was tainted by his parents’ distrust and jealousy.

There was a reason he left Italy and went to university in America. Not only did it have some of the top business schools in the world, but it offered an escape from his toxic family. Finally, he was able to find some peace.

When he turned twenty-one, the family lawyers called Lucius and informed him that he was the family’s sole heir. His grandfather, knowing how loose Jack was with money, made sure Jack wouldn’t see a cent.

His father knew how to spend money, but had no ambition to earn it. Jack’s sole concern was to work as little as possible so he could live a cushioned life. If not for his allowance from the family trust, Jack would be living a pauper’s life.

While Lucius was grateful for his grandfather’s generosity, it meant he needed to return to Italy after earning his degree. Lucius, not his father, was in charge of the family finances, and the villa couldn’t be run from afar.

“Jack,” Lucius said, “the woman is in labor, and you want me to pay her off and send her away? It is your child and my sibling that will be born tonight. You really want to dismiss them so easily?”

He didn’t expect his father to say anything. He was too caught up in feeling sorry for himself.

“She’s promiscuous. I wouldn’t trust her. Hell, the baby might not even be mine,” Jack said.

Lucius already knew that another man might be the baby’s father. There were rumors among the staff that the woman was known to sleep around. Still, he firmly believed that his sibling would be born tonight. And he was determined to adopt the child.

His lawyer was drafting the paperwork right now. There was no chance he was going to let this opportunity slip away.

Running his hands through his midnight-black hair, a trait he inherited from his mother, he leaned on the desk behind him.

In height and stature, he was an athletic, well-toned version of his Montenegrin father. His strong jaw, slightly curved nose, and intense eyes made his face look fierce. No one could call Lucius a simple man or beautiful, but his appeal went beyond looks. It went deep into the guts of anyone who met him.

“I messed up big time, but can you help me out?” Jack asked.

There was a knock at the study door, and Marta, the villa’s housekeeper, entered.

“We just heard from Sebastian at the hospital. The contractions are regular. The baby is on the way, due in a few hours.”

At Lucius’s nod, Marta left the room, closing the door behind her.

Jack squirmed in his chair, and Lucius decided it was time to put him out of his misery. He didn’t want to deal with his half sibling’s birth and his father’s death on the same day.

“I will take responsibility for the woman and the child. But you have to behave from now on, understand?” Lucius said as he moved toward the door.

The older man grabbed Lucius’s hand, kissed it, and held it tight. “Thank you, my son. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

As Lucius stood beside his father’s chair, his face softened. He removed his jacket and placed it on the back of his chair before reaching out and giving his father a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Lucius casually walked out of the room, leaving his father to his thoughts.

Marta was at the end of the hall, waiting for him. “I am sorry, signor Casano, I didn’t know Olivia was like that. Ben vouched for her. When I interviewed her…” Marta struggled for words. “If I had assumed what she was capable of, I would never have hired her.”

Lucius put his big hands on the woman’s fragile shoulders. She only reached his chest, and he remembered when she could hold him in her arms. Marta was the one constant in his life. He had way more memories of this woman than his own mother.

“You couldn’t know,” he said, stroking her back. “Don’t bother yourself with other’s doings.”

Marta’s bun wobbled as she shook her head. “She’s not evil. She has another child, a teenage girl. She never spoke of the girl’s father. To be fair, Lucius, the woman is clueless and way too trusting. But she’s not evil.”

“Everything will be fine, don’t worry.” He reassured her again before letting her go.

As Marta went on her way, Lucius continued down the hall, looking for his head of security. He wanted to have a brief conversation with the man.

Lucius found Henry at the end of the corridor. He was all nerves, waiting for Lucius and looking as guilty as hell.

“Good evening, Henry. How are you today?” Lucius greeted him.

The security chief smiled hesitantly. He was a large man, tall and muscular, one of the best in the business.

Lucius took a moment to roll up his sleeves.

“Tell me, did I hear right?” His right hand grasped Henry’s shoulder. “This baby could be either yours or my father’s?” He kept his voice low so Marta wouldn’t hear him. The woman was already stressed, and he didn’t want to make it worse.

Henry nodded. His whole body was as tight as a wire.

“If it’s yours, do you want to keep it?” Lucius asked directly. He watched the play of emotions on Henry’s face. He knew Henry was married and had two children.

“I only slept with her once. It was a while back. Then your father threatened my job if I got involved with her again, so I told her we couldn’t get together anymore,” Henry muttered.

“One time is all it takes. You’ve got two kids at home, man. You know that.” Lucius was losing his patience. First his father and now his head of security.

“My apologies, boss. I won’t let it happen again. It was so damn hard to say no. She was beautiful and willing.” Henry heaved a large sigh. “My wife can never know. She’d divorce me in a second if I brought a baby home.”

Lucius nodded. “I’ll take care of it. I’m staying in for the rest of the evening. Go home. And make sure you stop for some flowers for your wife first.”

Henry gave him a nod before bolting out of the house like he was being chased by wolves.

Lucius walked toward the back of the house and outside to the courtyard. The night was eerily quiet.

He was sure the child was his father’s. The dates matched. And he had this feeling that his half sibling would be born tonight.

But it could be a good thing.

A child would screw up his old man’s life, but it could save his fragile marriage.