"I''ve missed you. If youe to visit Tavon more frequently, you''ll be killing two birds with one stone. Not only will you get to see me..." I gave him a coy look from under myshes.


    "But you''ll also reinforce your position in Tavon''s mind as the heir apparent by showing yourmitment to the family."


    He shook his head slowly, turning to face me with a grim look.


    "Nah. It''s toote for that now, Sydney. Did you hear any details. about what they were actually talking about in those meetings?" His face was gloomy, brooding, as he asked. I could almost hear the gears whirring as he worked up some new n in his head.


    "Not exactly," I replied with a small shake of my head. "They always speak in hushed tones that I can''t quite make out. But I think Tavon is gradually beginning the process of transitioning his power over to Axel."


    I shrugged as he fixed me a wary look. "I mean, why else would he be staying cooped up in the mansion all the time, never going out? My guess is Axel is increasingly running the day-to-day operations, thening back every evening to brief Tavon and receive his instructions."N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    Dn''s eyes turned even icier at this.


    I knew I needed to try and cate him, so I rushed to add: "But then again, it might also just be some kind of test. Maybe Axel is only temporarily shouldering more duties so Tavon can evaluate how well he handles the responsibility. Then next week or next month, it could be your turn to prove your merits."


    "It''s not a test," he growled, and fists clenched tightly at his sides. The muscle in his cheek twitched with barely restrained fury.


    Hoping to soothe his rising anger, at least for the moment, I stepped forward and began rubbing his shoulders soothingly.


    "Don''t get too riled up just yet, baby, I murmured. "We still have time to figure this out."


    I felt the slightest release of tension in his powerful frame at my gentle touch and reassuring words. But that small victory was short-lived - because it wasn''t what I truly wanted. I needed him enraged. His ambition needed to be stoked white-hot. Only then would he be primed to take the actions I intended to goad him towards.


    So with a tremor of feigned anxiety in my voice, I said: "If Axel really does be the next Godfather permanently...how will we ever have any chance to survive and thrive, Dn? What should we do now to prevent that?"


    He grinded his teeth fiercely and I felt him tense. When he looked at me, I was overjoyed by the sh of ruthlessness in his eyes.


    Good thing, that was something I''d been looking forward to these past few minutes.


    "Since Tavon ns to let Axel take over, then I can only stage a coup. I''ve always wanted to get rid of Axel, but I''ve always felt that the timing was not right, and I was also worried that Tavon would retaliate against me."


    Since he wasn''t saying out his n andck of n and I wasn''t sure which was which, I decided to go ahead with my prepared story.


    I cradled his face in my palm and looked him in the eye, "I once


    heard that there were two princespeting for a throne. The younger prince killed the older one. Although the emperor was disheartened, he could not kill the younger prince because if he did. he would have no heir to seed the throne whenever it was time." I searched his eyes to see if he was getting my pint abd he seemed to be getting it, because he was raising his brows. "Why don''t you act now, Dn? Act now and be the only prince to inherit.


    godfather''s position when it''s time.


    Dn remained silent for a while, his eyes searching my face as he scrutinized me. He finally spoke up. "So what you''re saying now is that," he started slowly, "I should take action in getting rid of thepetition before Tavonpletely hands over the power to Axel? I should strike first, right?"


    I wanted to p him and scream in his face, ''yes! Yes fool, isn''t that obvious," but I smoothly maintained my cool.


    I nodded firmly, "Yes, Dn, strike while there''s still time."


    He had to strike while I still had the time too. I was rapidly running out of time and if I spent too much time here in Italy, I would either be dered dead or Mark would fly to Italy andb the whole country by himself until he found me. Then what? I would be busted, poor Be who had managed to settle down would also get busted- oh, how she would hate Mark and I even more. And worse of all, the bastard would probably find out that I have a child for him.


    That would never happen.


    Dn looked at me and abruptly busted into a fit ofughter. I frowned, wondering what he found so hrious.


    "You know, you act so stupid around me that I didn''t expect you to be so ruthless. This is what I really like," he said amidst hisughter.


    He sobered up after and caressed my cheeks with his index finger.


    blushed and smiled at him. "I love you," I said, packing lots of


    passion into those three words. "And so I will be whatever you want me to be. As long as it makes you happy, I''ll make it happen." Chap 277