Chapter 201
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED ONE
NICOLE
At the med spa, Nurse Lucianna shoved a needle into my upper lip. I winced and stared ahead at a pristine painting on the wall. After injecting filler into my lip, she pulled the needle out and found her next spot.
Dad sat to our right, staring so intensely at me that it gave me chills. My plans to stay happy all day after my adventure with Akio in the library had been cut short by a text from Dad, telling me that I was getting prettied up tonight for his friends.
“Beautiful,” Lucianna murmured in a thick Italian accent.
“Thanks,” I said with a forced smile, hopping off the bed.
Before I could make it to the door, Dad placed a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back down onto the bed. I sat with ease because I didn’t want him to be too hard on me tonight and stared down at my trembling hands. I intertwined my fingers so Dad wouldn’t see.
“We’re also getting filler in her nose,” he said. “I despise that bump in it.”
Your mother had the same thing …
“Your mother had the same thing,” he finished, just like I’d expected.
“No problem!” Lucianna said, swooping her finger down my nose. “We can smooth out the bump and make her look so much prettier.” She smiled at me. “You’ll look like an irresistible goddess, my dear.”
I pressed my lips together. Great.
Exactly what I don’t want to look like.
“How’s that sound, Nikki?” Dad murmured, as if he wanted me to complain.
“Great,” I said with another fake smile. “I would love that.”
Lucianna walked to the closet and pulled out another needle. I blew out a shaky breath and closed my eyes, thinking about taking that goddamn needle from her and slamming it into my eye and going blind so I didn’t have to see half the shit that Dad did to me.
“Don’t be scared.” Lucianna laughed. “It’ll just be a pinch.”
After a slight pinch below the bridge of my nose, Lucianna pulled the needle out of my face. She stabbed me with it a few more times, then held up a mirror in front of my face and beamed at Dad.
“How does it look?” she asked.
While Dad grunted in approval, I stared at a woman that I could barely recognize anymore. The innocent girl who used to cling to Hannah, giggle in her lap, and watch anime and cartoons early every morning … was gone.
Completely wiped away.
New hair. Lips overdone. Eyes dull.
Innocence faded.
Dead on the inside.
“Beautiful,” Dad said to Lucianna, slipping her some cash. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” I repeated to her, trying my best to sound grateful.
It wasn’t Lucianna’s fault. Dad had done this to me. If I didn’t have to be a dick, like I did in school, then I wasn’t going to. Maybe … just maybe … one of these days, Lucianna would see that I was here against my will.
Or maybe she already knew it but turned a blind eye because of Dad’s money.
“Come on, Nicole,” Dad said, shrugging on his jacket. “We need to stop at Henry’s house before heading home.” Dad flashed Lucianna his signature I’m such a great dad smile. “You’ve done wonderful yet again, Lucianna.”
After hopping off the bed, I ignored their flirting and grabbed my coat. I pulled it over my shoulders and slouched down into it, my lips and nose tingling. Then, I quietly followed Dad out of the building and to his car.
“How was your day?” Dad asked after he slipped into the car.
“Great.”
Most girls would’ve been ecstatic that their father had brought them out to the salon and spa so they could get whatever they liked. But I didn’t have a say. If I did, I wouldn’t look anything like this.
No blonde hair. No lip fillers. No Botox at eighteen. And, God, especially no bangs.
Before starting the car, he tucked some hair behind my ear and smiled softly at me. “I love your new hair, Nikki. You look just like your sister.”
He is sick. Absolutely sick. He probably thinks about her when he fucks me too.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out Hannah’s necklace that he had stolen from me weeks ago. He held it out for me to take, and I hesitated because I didn’t know if this was some kind of joke or not. Was he really giving this back to me?
“Here,” he said. “You’ve earned it.”
“I’ve earned it?” I whispered, letting the pendant rest in my palm.
“You let me take you to get a makeover without complaining once,” he said.
I curled my hand around the pendant and gently pulled it away from him, heart pounding because I’d finally gotten it back. Tears welled in my eyes. I hadn’t thought I would ever get it back. Not willingly. I’d thought I’d have to steal it and hide it.
Or pay Poison to steal it for me.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He placed a hand on my inner thigh and squeezed. “Anything for you, Nikki.” After I fastened the necklace around my neck, Dad’s hand moved up my inner thigh. “You know that I would do anything for you, right?”
“Yes,” I said stiffly.
“Like I would have done anything for Hannah, if she had listened to me.”
“I know.”
But I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
How could I?!
My skirt bunched as he trailed his hand higher and higher up my inner thigh. “We’re going to Henry’s, so a couple of my buddies and I can play poker. You’re going to be a good girl for me tonight.” He moved his fingers against my underwear. “Aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“And?”
“And I’ll make them all feel good.”
“How?” he asked, still moving his fingers.
“However they want me.”
He chuckled and lifted my chin with his opposite hand. “You’re so much better than your sister ever was. You make me a very happy father, Nikki. I don’t know if I tell you this enough, but I’m so proud of you.”