Chapter 15 #2
Dropping both hands away from me, he gets to his feet, turning toward the door, as though walking away from me and whatever just happened is the easiest thing in the world.
I sit there with some of the groceries still on the floor for me to put away, my breaths tormenting me with every pull.
I have my work cut out for me. He’s not as easily manipulated as I thought he’d be. That’s okay, though. He doesn’t realize how much more I can push him. When I’m through, I won’t need to beg for anything. He’ll be the one doing all the begging.
“Wait!” I call out as his hand lands on the doorknob.
He pivots, snapping his glare at me. “Make it fast. I have to go.”
“What did my father do? I need to know.”
His teeth clench and a fist forms at his side. At first, I don’t think he’ll tell me, but after long, dragged-out seconds, he begins to answer.
“He killed two people who were very important to me.”
Even though he said the words with an edge, I feel the raw ache in every syllable. I close my eyes, my heart breaking for the two people I didn’t know.
Whoever he lost meant a lot to him. That much is clear. I’m sure they were innocent. It wouldn’t surprise me if my father used the murders as some kind of leverage. My father’s such a fucking asshole. He deserves what’s coming to him.
Brian turns for the door.
“Hey, before you go,” I say. “You should know something.”
He releases an annoyed exhale, facing me. “What is it now?”
I bite on the inside of my cheek, sealing a new course in my life, one I should be afraid of. But I no longer care. I can offer him something he wants, something that could get me killed. But if it gets me out of this room to start with, it’ll be worth it.
“I think I know where he is. Where they all are.”
He tilts up his chin, his brow rising an inch.
“I’ll tell you,” I go on. “But I need one thing in exchange.”
He chuckles deep in his chest. “Do I look like the kind of man who makes deals with little girls?”
I grind my teeth. “Fine. Good luck finding him. You never will.”
The only reason I even know is because I overhead my father and my uncle Sal talking in hushed voices in my father’s study right after the laundromat fire.
I took a risk eavesdropping while waiting for him after being summoned for a meeting.
But right now, knowing how useful that information is, I’m glad I did.
Brian stalks over to me until he’s only a finger apart from my body.
“What do you want?” he growls, his jaw twitching in the wake of his frustration.
“I thought you don’t make deals with little girls?” I grin salaciously.
An arm curls behind me, gripping my back firmly, thrusting me into the hardened weight of his body.
“I can find other ways to get this information out of you, Chiara.” His other hand journeys up my side until his palm reaches my face, cupping my jaw roughly.
“And if you don’t hurry up and tell me what you want in exchange for your father, that little sliver of gentlemanly behavior my mother raised me with will wear thin. ”
“You, a gentleman?” I scoff. “Where?”
His tongue darts out, seductively swiping over his lower lip, the wicked hunger sweeping through his gaze. “Goodbye, Chiara.”
He swings his body to the door, making his way across the room once more.
“I want out of this room!” I call out.
He freezes for a second before spinning around. “Why would I ever do that?”
“Because I have something you want.” I pause, inhaling deeply. “And you can give me something I want. I call that a fair exchange.” My lips tip up into a triumphant smile.
“Go on. We’ll see how useful your information is.”
“No,” I say harshly. “I need your word that once I tell you, you’ll let me out.”
A pain settles behind my eyes and nose. I fight through the incoming tears, blinking them away.
“Why are you so desperate to leave here? Is the room not up to your princess standards?”
I narrow a glare.
He smirks.
I’d really enjoy hate-fucking him, then blowing his brains out.
A girl can dream.
An exhausted breath jolts out of me, not wanting to tell him why it’s so hard being locked away in a room. Not wanting to give him a piece of myself that’s real. Something no one knows, not even Raquel.
“Many years ago…” I reveal, my eyes on his. “I tried to run away from my father, but it didn’t quite work out.”
My eyelids shutter closed for a mere second before I draw up the courage to dig up the scarred memories of my past.
TEN YEARS AGO
I’d always dreamed of running away from home as a child. It took many years to get here, but now, at eighteen, I’m finally there.
Handing the cab driver some money, I grab my small suitcase and fling the car door open. It takes me a moment to get out as I clutch my airline ticket in my hand.
Paris, France. That’ll be my new home.
Staring at it, the back of my nose aches, wishing my mom was coming with me like we always talked about. But I’ll be doing this for the both of us. My heart lurches in my chest, practically spiraling down into my stomach.
If my father finds out, he’ll kill me. But I’ll be long gone by then, hoping he never finds where I’m going.
Finally slipping my feet out of the car, I grab the suitcase and roll it down onto the pavement, closing the car door behind me.
The cab speeds away as I make it to the door leading into the airport. Stepping inside, I scan the screen above my head, finding my gate, but as I begin to head that way, I gasp.
Fear like I have never known before swarms every inch of me until I lose all sense of control. Until my body shudders with despair and dread.
My father is here with a dozen men.
He found out.
How did he find out?
No. No. I can’t go with him. He can’t take me.
I back up a step until I hit someone. “I’m sorry. I…”
I turn around apologetically, but I don’t find a stranger. I find one of his men. The man grips me by my elbow, cementing me in place until my father draws toward me.
Feet turn to inches until his menacing smile is before me.
My heart drops into the pit of my stomach, my inhales freezing within my lungs at the sight of his victorious grin.
I’m dead. He’s going to kill me. Or force me into a marriage with Michael.
What have I done?!
“Don’t make a scene,” he warns, his tone low. Deadly.
His arm goes around my shoulders as he walks me back out of the airport and into one of his black SUVs.
He shoves me into the backseat, taking his place on the other side of me. The driver gets us onto the road. My father doesn’t say a word. Doesn’t so much as look at me.
I want to beg for forgiveness, for a second chance, but I don’t have it in me. I will never beg this man for anything.
Once we arrive home, he steps out first, coming around to my side and opening the door.
“Let’s go,” he barks out.
An icy shudder skates up my spine when I step out, following him into the house where hell will be waiting for me.
Once the door bangs to a close, his fingers wrap tightly around my upper arm and drag me up the stairs. I practically jog to keep pace with him. When we reach my room, he opens the door and throws me inside as I fall onto the cold, hard floor.
But the sound of the door locking, the key turning…that’s a sound I’ll never erase from my memory.
My pants grow heavy as I right myself, trying the door, knowing he locked me in, but hoping I imagined it.
But I didn’t.
I’m his real-life prisoner now. Like I’ve always been, but worse this time.
I’ve always tried to be strong. To show him that what he’s done to me—what he keeps doing—doesn’t affect me. But with each passing night that I’m locked in here, my resolve, that tough exterior I’ve spent years building, begins to crack, like an egg hit in just the right way.
But every time he walks into the room once a day to give me food, I don’t show it.
I don’t cry.
I don’t beg.
I lie on the bed, staring at the ceiling, pretending not to give a shit.
But I want out.
I hate being caged like an animal. If it weren’t for the window, I’d lose all sense of time.
I count the days.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Fourteen.
That’s the day he finally talks to me. My hope is that I’ve served my punishment, but with my father, I doubt it.
“We need to talk about my expectations of you. You’re my daughter, and you’re going to act like it. You have two options, and that’s the only choice you’ll ever be given, so choose smart.”