Chapter 3
Aron
Just when I think I’ve seen my dad do the most unhinged shit, he pulls off something even crazier.
Emily, Maria, and I sit at the table like normal—seeing as how Dad refuses to unchain me until I convince him I’ve agreed to stay, my current version of “normal” is a bit skewed—when Dad storms in and tosses a naked body on the floor beside me.
“What the fuck, Dad?”
Emily sighs. “Language, Aron.”
I notice she never corrects Dad’s language. “He dumped a fucking body in the kitchen, Emily.”
She glances down at the battered mess that was once a young man with a bored expression on her deceptively angelic face. “I suppose this means that Matt turned down your peace offering, Javier? Pity. The boy was cute at one point.”
Dad just growls and plops down in a chair across the table, fuming.
“That boy was alive at one point, Em, or did you forget that part?” I ask as she kicks the corpse’s head with the toe of her Mary Jane. “Are we forgiving murder now?”
“I didn’t kill him,” Dad says, breaking his silence. “That was your little friend, Don Matteo. He didn’t care much for the boy, I guess. Had his men leave this mess at the front door of one of our establishments.”
“You talk like I’ve never seen Matt kill someone, Dad. Your boy probably mouthed off or something to earn that beating.”
That seems to piss Dad off even more. He sweeps his arm, knocking the bowl of potato skins that Emily’s peeling off the table. Emily just keeps peeling, totally unphased by Dad’s theatrics.
“That was the perfect submissive little fuckboy for him. Knew when to keep his mouth shut and when to open it and let you put your dick in.”
I toss my head back and laugh. “You think Matt wants submissive? You’re a fucking idiot.”
Dad’s backhanded smack stings, mostly because he’s still wearing several signet rings that Tito gave him. Blood trickles down my cheek from the resulting cuts.
“Oopsie!” Emily chirps. She gets up and heads for the cabinet where she keeps the first aid kit. “Don’t worry, Aron. I’ll fix you right up. Besides, it’s about time to change the bandages on those hands of yours.”
My hands … battered, cut, and bruised because Matt put himself in danger, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.
“I bet Matteo did that, too,” Dad grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest while Emily patches me up and rewraps my hands.
“I told you, Dad, it wasn’t Matt. I did this.”
“Because of Matt.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.” Dad gets up and lifts the corpse by its matted hair. “You see what he did, son? He left his favorite parts. Didn’t touch the idiot boy’s cock or ass—with his fists, at least. You can’t tell me he didn’t do other things. No one could resist an offering like this one.”
“Matt could, and I know he did resist. He left that boy’s privates untouched because he refuses to touch anyone besides me.
” I gesture at the body. “He’s sending you a message, Dad.
He’s saying that no matter how many willing men you send him, he’ll return each and every one of them like this.
Matt won’t betray me, so you might as well quit trying to goad him into it. ”
Dad’s eyes narrow, and his lips spread in an evil grin.
“Do you really believe that playboy could remain celibate for you? You’re fooling yourself, Aron. How often did he make you watch him fuck around over the years? And you still think he’s the loyal type?”
“It’s a moot point, Dad. I’m here now, with you and Emily and Maria. I’m not going anywhere.”
He snorts out a laugh. “Nice try, son.”
I pound my fists on the table, chains rattling. “For fuck’s sake, Dad, what do I have to do to prove that I’ll stay? You’ve got my wife and daughter, and Emily’s clearly not leaving the Empire. I can’t leave Maria behind, and I can’t take her away from her mother.”
“You’ll try.”
“Like you tried to kill Matt? Kill me?”
Dad sighs. “I let Tito have one last phone call. He saved Matt with that call, who in turn saved you.”
The reminder of his betrayal of the Royal Syndicate and the man who helped raise me hurts worse than the slap to the face.
Dad and Tito used to be almost as close as me and Matt.
I still don’t know what happened to turn Dad against the Syndicate, and he refuses to say.
I tried asking Emily, but she’s lost in some fantasy world where everything’s sunshine and rainbows and fucking unicorns.
The awkward silence resumes, and Dad finally picks up the body and takes it out of the room. Emily chops up her peeled potatoes and puts them on to boil before taking a pair of T-bone steaks out of the fridge and heating up a skillet.
I’ve got to find some way out of this. Between Dad’s frequent upsetting visits and Emily’s dissociation from anything resembling reality, I’m starting to lose my shit.
The main problem is I’m never alone. Whenever Emily takes a nap with Maria or leaves for the night, a guard immediately appears to watch me. I’m constantly supervised, even during more private moments.
These chains would be easy enough to get out of if I could just have a minute to myself. Once I escape the chains, I can leave this creepy room.
Escape the chains. Escape the room.
Then I have to figure out where I am. Is this room isolated, or are we inside a larger structure?
Escape the chains. Escape the room. Get my bearings.
Wait. Skipped a step. There are probably guards outside the door.
Escape the chains. Escape the room. Kill the guards. Get my bearings.
While I quietly plot my freedom, Emily cooks the potatoes, tossing them in a mixer after to mash them while she sears the steaks.
I hope she doesn’t make those God-awful frozen peas again.
Dinner is tolerable, but I swear, I don’t remember Emily being such a terrible cook. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Matt’s cooking, or maybe she’s not really trying anymore.
I try to dodge the stupid goodbye kiss she insists on giving every night when she leaves, but the chains get in my way.
At least I manage to make her miss my lips and get my cheek instead.
Emily pouts for a moment, but it’s like the brand of insanity she has won’t allow her to be upset for more than a microsecond.
She quickly returns to her zoned-out state, patting my shoulder as she takes Maria and gives tonight’s guard her instructions.
“He just ate, so give him about half an hour before you make sure he voids. I don’t want him getting constipated or catching a nasty bladder infection from holding it too long.
Remember, I’ll know if you don’t do as I say.
” She lifts Maria’s tiny arm and waves it at me.
“Say bye-bye to Daddy, Maria. We’ll see you in the morning, sweetheart. ”
The saccharine farewell sends me spiraling into a confused, depressed funk.
How can I escape? I’d have to leave Maria. I can’t leave my daughter with her, with Dad, with the Empire. Not without me here to protect her. God only knows what might happen, especially as she gets older.
Women are fairly safe in Matt’s Syndicate, but I have no idea how they’re treated here. Would one of Dad’s associates do something to Maria when she’s older? I can’t risk that kind of abuse happening to my only child. The question is, then, would it be possible to add her rescue to my escape plan?
I have no clue where Emily disappears to when she leaves this room. She could be going to a normal house in the suburbs, or she could be spending her nights in one of Dad’s suites at his new penthouse.
New plan: Forget the chains. Forget escaping the room. Forget killing the guards and getting my bearings.
Everything now boils down to one goal: Rescuing my daughter.