“Phoebe, you’re naïve. A loser like Renzo could never inherit our family's fortune.” He sneered. “Anyway, we look the same, and now you’re carrying my child. Why not just marry me? Isn’t that perfect?”
I slapped him hard across the face, turning his face sideways.
With his bloody hand, he touched his cheek and said, “No woman has ever struck me before. You’re the first.”
Cade lifted his head, voice like breaking ice. “Since your hands aren’t clean, they should be made useless.” He gathered Margaret and started to leave.
As he passed the guards, his step faltered. “Those who betrayed our family, take them out too,” he ordered.
Yet the guards didn’t move. They still looked to me for orders.
Cade had been careless. He assumed those men were loyal to him, that he had control over everything here.
Later, the eldest servant, Elmer Hersey, approached me with a respectful bow and asked, “Miss, that punk Cade laid a hand on you hard. Want to show him some real power so he learns his place?”
Phoebe's POV
I was trimming a potted plant when I flatly answered, “No need.”
“This is just getting good, Cade,” I muttered.