Felix, who’d kept his cool throughout all the character assassination directed at him, was clearly at the end of his tolerance for his dad’s bullshit when it came to me. He spun around in a sudden movement, so fast it was all a blur for a moment and the next thing I knew he had his dad pinned against the wall under a fancy painting. He did it as silently as possible, and they were hidden from the entrance to the dining room where his mum was waiting to serve dinner.
“Listen, you piece of shit,” he hissed, keeping his voice low enough that his mum couldn’t hear, gripping his father by the top of his shirt and then giving him a shake. “Don’t ever turn your venomous bullshit on Lucy. Don’t look at her. Don’t talktoher orabouther. If I catch youbreathingwrong in her direction, I’ll do what I should have done years ago and kick your arse from here to The Badger’s Sett.” He released him in another sudden movement that had Luca stumbling forward, gasping for breath.
“How dare you,” he spluttered, his voice hoarse. “How dare you attack me in my own home.”
“Not a great feeling, is itDad?” Felix said in a tight voice. “Being attacked in your own home. Welcome to my world.”
“You can’t do this. Your mother won’t?—”
“Icando this, and if you don’t want Mum to hear the full story about what happened with Lily, then I’d shut your mouth. It wasn’t just secrets she was selling to you, was it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luca said, straightening up and shifting on his feet.
Felix’s eyebrows went up, and Mikey cleared his throat. “Mr Moretti,” Mikey said in a low but conversational tone. “You fucked her on the reg behind Felix’s back. Don’t you remember I found you fucking her when I delivered your kitchen table five years ago? Bianca was away.”
“You can’t prove anything.”
Mikey shrugged. “Er… not strictly true. I took pictures on my phone.”
Luca’s face paled then, a hint of panic creeping into his expression. “You wouldn’t tell Bianca,” he said, the confidence in his tone wavering. “It would break her.”
“She’s already broken, Dad,” Felix said, the anger had drained out of his voice, and he just sounded tired now. “You broke her a long time ago. But for the moment, we can hate each other in private rather than upsetting Mum.”
“I don’t hate you,” Luca said, and Felix sighed.
“Dad, let’s not get into this now.”
“But, I don’t. I did you afavourwith that woman.”
“What’s going on out here?” The sound of Bianca’s voice made everyone freeze in the corridor. Legolas chose that moment to trot past us all, weaving around us and conveniently stepping on Luca’s foot.
“That was a horse,” Luca said as he watched Legolas’s backside disappear into the corridor in the direction of the drawing room. “There’s a goddamn horse in my house.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Luca,” Hetty said in a brisk tone. “Horses in the house? Honestly, whatever next.” Luca’s mouthopened and closed a couple of times like a goldfish before he glanced at his son and snapped it shut.
Chapter 35
“Get. Out.”
Lucy
Dinner was tortuous. The atmosphere was thick with tension. Luca continued to have little digs at Felix and Bianca:
“Ha, one thing my wife excels at is overcooking the bloody beef. So, Felix, still working under a female boss?”
“She’s my partner, Dad. As you well know.”
“Hmm, took you long enough to build up your portfolio though, didn’t it?”
Bianca got more and more on edge, dropping serving spoons and apologising way too much over the state of the meal. Felix sank more and more into himself, his eyes gradually becoming dull and resigned – just like he used to look as a child after a run in with his father. Mikey and Mum managed to steer the conversation away from Luca, talking about things he clearly wasn’t a part of. By all accounts, Mum had managed to drag Bianca out from under his control a lot more since moving to Moonreach. But the way they were ignoring him seemed to further enrage Luca, who just became more poisonous. But it wasn’t until he wenttherethatIlost my shit.
“Well, at least your dogs are a proper breed, I suppose,” Luca said to Hetty. “Not like that awful thing you and your mother brought home, Felix.”
Everyone at the table froze.
“Don’t, Dad,” Felix said in a low voice.
“What?” Luca said, all innocence. “I did you a favour there too, didn’t I? You and your mum getting all soppy and wanting to give that fucked-up mongrel a home. It was embarrassing.”
