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“So, you’re playing this game with him?” I question with a hint of anger shining through, causing her to wince at my commanding tone.
She shakes her head sadly. “All I wanted was to end everything. I didn’t have the guts to do it myself, and the whispers of what the Cavalieri can do gave me hope that one of them could do it, but—”
“But you didn’t realize the one who would take your life would be your only son.” My voice is croaky, and I feel the heat of Giuliana’s stare on me as I talk to my mother.
“Look at this beautiful family reunion,” Arthur grits out from the other side of the window. “Lance, you have a big choice to make, son.” His words are cold, hard, and venomous. This asshole really does think he can ruin everyone’s lives.
My fists clench and unclench. I want to punch something. I want to annihilate him. But then I glance beside him, at my princess, sitting, staring at me with wide, blue eyes.
“She’s beautiful, son,” my mother whispers to me. “She’s everything you deserve and more.” Giuliana gives me a small nod, an understanding and her vow that she knows this is me. It’s the real me — the man she loves.
“This is what you want?” I ask my mother, meeting her gaze. I look for any sign of a lie and hold my breath as I wait for her to respond. The air is thick as it prickles with tension and anxiety. And I can’t breathe.
Giuliana
My heart aches. My chest is tight with anxiety.
“Dad, put a stop to this,” I plead. “It’s not necessary.”
“Of course, it is. Lance Knight hasn’t done enough to plead his case for your hand in marriage. And I mean, this is his mother’s doing in any case. She begged for me to do this. It’s not up to me,” he intones, leaning in closer. “This is the man you want. Make sure you’re ready.”
Lance pulls out his Glock, his fingers wrapping around the handle, stealing my breath. It’s as if everything moves in slow motion. He lifts his hand, pointing the barrel at the woman before him.
The door flies open. A large, brutish man steps into the room, and his mother is flung against the wall. Lance attacks the ogre as his fist flies into the face of the stranger. The sounds coming from the room are like that of a movie scene, but this isn’t something being acted out.
This is real.
“Dad, stop them!” I exclaim, rising to my feet, but I can’t will them to move. I want to run into the room, to save Lance, but I know I can’t. I watch in awe as he takes down a man almost two times his size. And that’s something because Lance is just over six feet tall, broad-shouldered, and nothing like the younger man I recall watching spar with his friends all those years ago.
He’s no longer the same. He’s a new person — a beast.
The larger, scarier man grips Lance’s neck, holding him up, and I’m banging on the window, but they both ignore me. Blood seeps from the lips of the man I love. His eyes are swelling. Bruises and cuts mar his flesh, and I ache to care for him, to make the pain go away.
I’m crying. I’m shaking and trembling as I watch the man I love get choked out, and there’s no way I can stop it. He glances my way, his eyes penetrating me through the glass. As if he’s reaching to me, touching my soul. I can’t tell him I love him, so I offer a smile and mouth the words I love you.
Without thinking, I run from the room. The guards of my father hold me back, dragging me down a long hallway. As I glance up through the crack in the door, I see his body slump to the floor, and the cry that’s wrenched from my gut is drenched in agony so acute it rips my chest in two.
Arthur follows us down the hall and out the door. Even though I’m kicking at air, it makes me feel as if I’m doing something, not just being dragged away from the man I love. His body is haunting me as I picture it lying on the floor.
He’s dead.
My father forced me to come here, not only to watch Lance make a kill, but to witness him be killed in the process. “I hate you,” I bite out, looking directly into eyes that match mine. There’s no inclination of emotion on his face.
“One day, you’ll thank me for this.” I’m shoved into the car, locked in like an errant child as sobs wrack my body. I’m shaking, trembling, and shivering as ice runs through my veins. My eyes burn when I glance up into Seth’s worried gaz
e.
I offer a nod, and mouth my plea. Help me.
His response isn’t vocal either. Just a slight movement, but he knows I see it. I don’t know how I’m going to survive this, but I know there’s one thing I want to do, and that’s train.
If my father wants to rule my life, it won't be as his daughter.
It will be as one of the Cavalieri.
* * *
The knock at my bedroom door startles me awake. My head feels as if cotton balls are filling it, and my eyes are puffy. Another rap at the wood tells me this person isn’t giving up.
