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“Seven? Why seven?”
“We needed an odd number. So, it would guarantee a winner.”
“Between you and Matteo?”
I nod.
“What are you playing for?”
“The winner will take our father’s place. He gets to become head of the family and will decide to continue the traditions started years before him—”
“Or not,” Nina finishes for me.
I nod.
“How do you win?”
“Enrico chooses the winner each round. The rules aren’t entirely clear, which makes it more difficult to win each round. You’re number seven, but up until this point, Enrico has basically given equal rounds to Matteo and me to ensure that we go the full seven rounds.”
“He wants you to be more like him.”
I nod.
“And have you?”
I take a deep breath. “With some of the women, yes.”
She frowns. “But not me?”
I shrug. “I’ve tried to make it look like I have with you.”
She looks away and walks out of my arms. “Enrico has been watching us with cameras, hasn’t he?”
I nod. “He has cameras in certain areas of the house that he watches.”
“Not here?”
“No.”
“Matteo’s rooms?”
“No.”
She takes a deep breath. “I remember.”
“What?”
“I remember that night you saved me. It’s taken me seven years of pushing the memories away, trying to pretend like they weren’t real, but I remember.”
My eyes widen. I wish she didn’t remember that night.
“I remember not being able to control my body. My muscles going weak. I remember not staying conscious for it all though. I was awake as Erick and Clive took me from the bar when you weren’t able to get to me. I remember the fear on your face as they dragged me out of the bar. You were devastated.”
I take a deep breath, trying to keep the feelings I felt that night at bay.
“I thought you were devastated because you knew what they were capable of. But you were equally devastated because you knew that my life would be no better off if you saved me.”
I feel the rage returning, billowing up inside me, the same feeling that I felt that night.
