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Yet crying was useless. It wouldn’t change my circumstance. I had to be smart about this. Father would pay. He wouldn’t get away with murdering Liam.
Play the game, Natalie. Wall up your emotions and get through this. Though as the day went, I could have been a shambling zombie as I continued on. I ignored the food that was put in front of me and focused my attention outside the window.
When we landed, I went where I was supposed to go with no argument. I hadn’t given up. I was biding my time.
“Home,” my father said when we arrived at a gated compound. I’d only seen pictures when I’d been curious enough to search him up on the web.
“Not for long,” I muttered.
“Home for now. We still have some details to work out. I can always find a different man.” It irked me he kept throwing out these threats to keep me in line because, after Liam, I believed that he would follow through.
“You keep throwing in my face that you will marry me off to whoever. It doesn’t really matter now does it?”
“Love is overrated, Daughter. You’ll find that out soon enough.”
There was no point in arguing because he certainly wasn’t a shining example of that word. I turned my head away in disgust.
Even though the car came to a stop, he didn’t move until the door was opened for him. When the door opened for me, I was startled, but got out. The house was huge from the outside. I followed him in to see he lived in extravagance. Marble floors, a grand staircase and an over-the-top chandelier made up the foyer we stood in.
A woman in a black dress with a white apron came scurrying in the room. “Marta, this is my daughter. She will be staying with us and I want you to treat her like family. However, she is not allowed to use the phone. No matter what excuse she gives you, don’t allow her any use of the phone.”
The gall of him to say it right in front of me. From her reaction, rolling my eyes turned out to be an admission of guilt rather than he is crazy look I thought in my head.
A woman, whose beauty hadn’t changed much from her younger self, strolled in. She was all smiles until she saw me. Before she spoke, she waved off Marta. When the housekeeper disappeared, her expression turned frosty. “Who is this?”
Father held out a hand like he was introducing his prized puppy and maybe I was just that. “Valentina, this is my daughter, Natalia.”
Disgust purpled her face with annoyance. “You brought her here.”
“She is the key to the future we want,” he said, dismissing her ire with a warm grin.
“What you want?” she spat, like literally, spittle flew from her mouth.
“Don’t be crass. Your usefulness died the day our son did.”
Her eyes rounded like she’d been slapped. “Because of you.” She aimed a manicured finger at him.
“Maybe, but had you been able to give me more than one child…”
His verbal assault was done without ever changing his nonchalant tone.
“You asshole. I gave you everything!” she cursed.
“What? A surname that means nothing in America. You were the fifth born daughter. You were lucky to marry me.”
“I hate you!” she screamed.
“So you say, yet you beg me to share your bed. Now I expect you to train Natalia how to be a lady. Her mother was useless there.”
I allowed his insult to break my stone heart and I aimed a dagger filled gaze his way.
His goons came in. Their chatter announced their entrance. I didn’t bother to turn to see them.
“As we discussed,” he said to them. “Marta has her rooms ready. Take her there.”
I expected a shove. I didn’t expect a black cloth bag put over my head and to be lifted off my feet. I gave in to instinct and fought against the man who held me.
As it turned out, it was probably what they wanted. The house was likely a maze, and I was so busy fighting I hadn’t paid attention to which way they were going. Then again, since I wasn’t walking, I was that much more disoriented.
When I was sat down, I kicked and hit someone in the shin. The bag was snatched off my head and he hadn’t been nice about it. Some of my hair went with it.
“Ouch,” I yelled and blinked against the sudden brightness.
“Enjoy your stay,” the asshole said, and tried and failed not to limp out of the room.
I double flipped him off before looking around. Father hadn’t been exaggerating when he told them to take me to my rooms. I stood in a small living room area. Straight ahead were two windows. An open door to the right led to a bathroom. A doorway to the left was a bedroom. Before I explored either, I checked the door. I wasn’t surprised to find it locked. Then, I went to the windows. They opened, but as it turned out, I was at least three stories up.
