Chapter 28
28
Victoria
The phone rings while I’m halfway through a sad excuse of a sandwich—gluten-free bread, wilted greens, and the most pathetic piece of turkey I’ve ever seen—when my mother’s name flashes across the screen.
Shit.
Why is she calling?
I freeze.
She never calls twice in two days. She barely calls twice in two months.
I can’t handle any more of this shit. For a moment, I consider not answering. With all the shit going on with my family, though, I don’t have the luxury of denial. I need to know what she wants.
I swipe to answer. “Hi, Mom p>
“Victoria, you need to come home. Now p>
Hello to you too.
Would it kill the woman to show a little emotion toward me?
“What happened? Did something else go wrong at the company p>
“Don’t ask questions. Just come home p>
“What’s going on?” Silence crackles on the other end. “Mom p>
“I can’t say it over the phone… just come p>
Something in me goes very, very still. “Okay,” I breathe. “I’m coming p>
The estate sits two hours outside the city.
With every mile, my heartbeat climbs higher into my throat. This is the second time they’ve dragged me back this week.
The moment the wrought-iron gates appear, I swear I might pass out. Which won’t bode well for me since I’m driving. The guards open them automatically.
The house looks the same as it did a few days ago, so I know it didn’t burn down like our factory. It’s still too big and way too perfect, but it’s standing, so at least we have that going for us.
I park, then step out and head inside.
Once I’ve entered, I head through the foyer without a word, searching for my mother or father. I find them in the dining room.
My mother and father sit stiffly at the far end of the long table, dressed like they’re attending their own funeral. The table is set for dinner—polished silver, crystal glasses, candlelight flickering.
Four place settings.
I stop. “Who else is coming p>
No one answers.
My father doesn’t even look at me. He gestures stiffly toward the seat across from them. “Sit p>
“I’m not sitting until someone tells me p>
“Sit,” he repeats, voice clipped and strained.
My pulse kicks into a sprint. Something is wrong. Very wrong.
I take one step toward the table—
And the dining room door opens behind me.
I turn.
My heart stops.
Holy shit…
It can’t be.
But it is.
My mouth opens and shuts as I try to find words, but my throat feels extra dry as the man who’s haunted my dreams for years enters. Lorenzo walks in.
No.
No, not walks. He storms in but then in a complete contrast to his entrance, he closes the door with a soft click that makes my skin prickle.
He’s older now. With broad shoulders, and a defined jaw.
This is not the boy from the boathouse.
This man… This is someone else.
My breath stumbles out of me. “Lorenzo p>
His eyes flick to mine. No warmth. No softness. No recognition of the girl who loved him.
Just hatred wrapped in ice.
I take a small step forward. “Where have you p>
He lifts a hand.
Just a single, silent gesture.
My words die immediately.
He walks past me, slow and deliberate, every step echoing with power and danger. He sits at the empty place setting, smoothing the tablecloth with gloved fingers as if he’s straightening a throne.
His presence fills the room. All-consuming.
My father swallows hard and my mother grips her napkin so tightly that it tears.
“Let’s begin.” Lorenzo’s voice slices through the air.
My chest tightens. “Begin what p>
He doesn’t look at me when he answers. “Your parents have been… very busy p>
My father clears his throat, attempting something like authority. “The company has suffered recent p>
Lorenzo slams his palm down on the table.
Everyone jumps.
“Do not speak,” he growls, eyes pinning my father like a knife on display. “I told you to let me handle this p>
My mother trembles.
I stare at them. What the hell is going on? “Dad p>
Lorenzo leans back in his chair, eyes glittering darkly. “Your parents”—he gestures lazily toward them—“have lost everything p>
My father opens his mouth, but Lorenzo slowly turns his head, and the look he gives him is enough to silence a hurricane.
My father deflates in his seat.
Lorenzo continues, tone almost bored. “Your wealth. Gone. Your investments. Drained. Your factories. Sabotaged. Your offshore accounts. Frozen p>
My mother’s lips part in a soundless gasp.
My father’s face reddens with humiliation. “Because of Vict p>
Lorenzo lifts a hand sharply.
“Say her name,” he snaps, “and I will personally string you up by your intestines and turn you into my own art project p>
My body locks. I’m not the only one scared. I peer over where my father has gone rigid, and my mother makes a choked noise, reaching for his arm.
Words are hard to find, but when I do, I stutter. “Wh-what is happening p>
Lorenzo finally looks at me.
And when his eyes meet mine, everything inside me goes silent.
“Your family,” he says softly, “has been ruined. Completely p>
A cold tremor runs down my spine. “Why p>
He tilts his head, eyes narrowing with something like bitter amusement. “You’ll understand soon p>
I can hardly breathe. “Lorenzo, what do you want p>
His lips curl into a smile that is not a smile at all. “You p>
The air leaves my lungs. “Me?” I whisper. “What does that mean p>
Lorenzo steeples his fingers, elbows resting on the table. “It means your parents have agreed to give me what I want p>
My heart free-falls. “What did you do?” I breathe.
“We had no choice, Victoria. He made us an offer. To fix everything,” my father tells me, as if that explains anything.
Breathe.
Fucking breathe.
I need to pull my shit together and figure out what the hell he’s talking about.
My fingers dig into the back of a chair. “An offer that involves me p>
“Victoria—” My mother speaks, but I have no interest in hearing anything she has to say right now.
“No,” I snap, staring at them both. “You sold me? You sold me off like inventory p>
Lorenzo chuckles, a low, vicious sound. “Inventory?” He taps the table with one gloved finger. “No, sweetheart. Inventory is replaceable p>
My blood runs cold.
“You,” His eyes devour my fear, “were the price p>
I stumble backward like he physically struck me. “My god p>
Lorenzo watches me fall apart with calm fascination. Something tells me he’s waited a long time for this moment.
“What kind of monster are you?” I whisper.
He smiles. Cold and violent. Beautiful in a way that makes my skin crawl.
“The one you created p>
“I-I didn’t p>
He raises a brow. “You broke me once. I’m simply returning the favor p>
I want to scream. I want to run. I want to crawl across the table and claw his eyes out. I want to cry for the boy I loved and strangle the man he’s become. Maybe I can do both? Something tells me I wouldn’t make it an inch before a gun is pointed at my head.
Neither is an option. “You can’t do this,” I manage to choke out.
“Oh, I can,” he answers, rising slowly from his seat. “And I already have.” He buttons his jacket with a smooth, practiced motion. “The arrangements are made. The deal is sealed. Your parents traded your future for their lives p>
I stare at them. It can’t be true. It can’t be… but when I see my mother’s face and that of my father’s, I know it is. “You agreed to marry me off without even asking me p>
I don’t know why I’m surprised, but I am. I never thought they would stoop this low. All my life, I’ve known they only cared about themselves, but if I harbored any belief that maybe they could change, be less selfish, now I know the answer…
No.
“It was better than ruin,” the man who raised me mutters under his breath. This man is no father. He’s a weak, disgusting person who only cares about his status.
Lorenzo smiles with teeth. “Your family is saved, Victoria. And you should be grateful. Very few people get to be the solution to a centuries-old empire collapsing p>
“And why would I ever do this p>
“You have to, Victoria,” my mother pleads.
“Why? What more can he do? He’s already taken everything. What more can he threaten us with p>
“Violence. Death,” my father hisses.
“What p>
“Do you not know who your little boyfriend became?” My father scoffs.
“What the hell are you talking about p>
“Well, apparently, he wasn’t at all what you thought he was. Your old friend is part of the Amante crime family.. p>
“What the p>
“Which is exactly why you will go along with this plan, Little Bird p>
The moniker sends chills down my spine. His words are clear. I’m a bird in a cage, and there is no way out because he holds the key.
My pulse pounds in my ears. “You’re insane p>
He shrugs casually. “Probably p>
He then turns toward the door, and something in me snaps. “Lorenzo,” I rasp. “Don’t walk away from me p>
He pauses.
I storm around the table, closing the distance between us until I’m right in front of him.
His cologne hits me—dark, smoky, expensive, sinful—and it’s so unfair how familiar it feels.
I glare up at him, trembling. “Tell me the truth. Why are you doing this p>
His eyes soften for a fraction of a second, like a dying star flickering before the explosion. Then the softness is gone. He leans down, lips brushing the shell of my ear.
“You left me,” he whispers. “So now I’m going to show you what that feels like p>
He pulls back.
“And, Little Bird?” His smile slices into me like a blade. “I’m just getting started p>
He walks out of the dining room without another word. The door shuts behind him, and the world that I thought couldn’t possibly fall apart any further… collapses completely.