Between Fire and Ice

Chapter One

Ciro Augusto Dominguez laid his palms on the desk and rose stiffly from his chair. He did little to hide his anger from his parents, facing him.

"I am supposed to marry this woman, who you have adopted, and make her pregnant?" he said bitterly, directing his annoyance at his mother.

Francisca stood-her arms crossed, her chin lifted-in that dominant posture she took whenever she was heading for a clash with her only child.

"You always knew, Cy," she said pointedly, arching an eyebrow, as if she didn't expect his outburst.

Cy turned his gaze to his father. Mauricio stood two steps behind Francisca. His lips were sealed in a firm line, his arms crossed too. There was no point in looking at his father for support. Of course Mauricio would back his wife. He always did. Francisca was the dominant one. The alpha female. She stood there, cold and calculating, dressed in her tight-fitting Italian suit and high heels, looking at least twenty years younger than she should, thanks to cosmetic surgery. Cy sneered. His mother was artificial in every way.

His knuckles turned white as he clenched the edge of the expensive cherry wood desk, trying to control the rage that swept through him. He was tired of being a pawn in their struggle for power, for wealth. It was true that he had always known. He had been told since childhood, like other children would be told a bedtime story. He just never thought about it. Up to now, it had been some kind of distant knowledge pushed to the back of his mind. Now the time had come, and though he should have expected it, it was dropped on him like hot oil.

"You talk as if we are animals, chosen for breeding," Cy said, his eyes accusingly on his mother. Even her French perfume made him sick.

Francisca took a step closer to his desk, her voice turning cold. "You know that our empire depends on it. On you producing an heir. Your father and I did our duty. Now it is your turn."

Dettagli