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What he said felt less like an admission of desire than it did a reminder of something he’d experienced in the past. “Who was she?”
He snorted after a few seconds, barely shifting his gaze in my direction. “Nobody, at least according to my father. Just a method to piss off a powerful man.”
I remained silent, realizing my fingers were now caressing his chest through the crisp white shirt.
“She was the daughter of a man who worked for my father. I was an impetuous young man with the usual teenager libido. For a little while, we enjoyed each other’s company. Until my father found out. Less than twelve hours later, she was sent away to school in another state.”
“Your father did that?”
“My father controlled everything at all times. She was nothing but hired help, beneath me.”
“What did you do?”
Alessandro gripped my throat, his muscles tensing. As he squeezed, a hint of fear drifted through me. While I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, the raw emotions he was going through from dredging up the ugliness of his past had lured him into an entirely different level of darkness.
“I told my father to fuck off and that I was going to bring her back. My father didn’t allow anyone to challenge him, including his own sons. That put the first rift between us.”
“You didn’t find her?”
“Not at first. I was recovering from his beating for over a week.”
“What?” Horror swept through me. “That’s terrible. Your mother didn’t stop it?”
He laughed, the sound as bitter as I’d ever heard. “My mother was no fool. She obeyed him.”
Just like you want me to do.
The thought nearly ravaged my brain. Was it true, like father, like son?
“I’m so sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about,gatita. It was the old way where families suffered as much as the soldiers and employees.” He had a faraway look in his eyes. “I did speak with her years later, but she’d moved on with her life. She was engaged to be married to a man she said she loved with all her heart. Even as soulless as I can be, Sierra, I refused to take her away from her life.” He slowly turned his head. “Which is exactly what I’m doing to you.”
There were moments in life that changed the future, some powerful enough that they helped us forget the past. This was one of those moments. For better, for worse, I wasn’t certain I could walk away from him.
He squeezed even harder, and the feeling of suffocation was strong enough I whimpered. Then he exhaled, releasing his hold, gently caressing the areas where his fingers had been.
“You forced me to enter into the contract,” I told him.
“Did I? Ask yourself if that’s really the truth.”
I thought about what he was saying and closed my eyes. He knew me far too well. “You’re right.”
“My sweetgatita, you were a fool. I will only destroy you. That’s what my family does. We bury politicians in threats, forcing them to comply with terms that can’t be ignored. Then we punish them for success, ultimately stripping away portions of their lives in order to take full control of them like puppets. My father learned to be the perfect puppet master, my grandfather a masterful teacher. When I was younger, everyone said I was exactly like my father both in appearance and attitude. It was something I loved to hear, puffing up even as a little kid, doing everything I could to emulate the powerful man.”
When he took a breath, I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. What a horrible life.
“As I got older, I realized that he was evil personified, enjoying every minute of acting on revenge for no other reason than to get his jollies. I watched him in action dozens of times, turning leaders into sniveling boys begging not to be punished any longer. I’ve watched as he paraded around with his whores, acting as if it was his God-given right to treat women like useless pieces of erotic flesh. I’ll never forget the day I was summoned to his office, forced to watch as he tossed a buxom blonde over his desk, ripping off her panties and fucking her as he talked to me about the way to handle a woman.” He stopped, laughing softly to himself, the memories alive and vibrant in his mind.
Why was he telling me this?
My breath skipped as he rubbed his hand across his jaw, tapping his thumb on his cheek. “I’d made fun of him to Cruz and to everybody who would hear me, but they never acknowledged or agreed. They knew better. They were terrified of the man’s wrath.”
“From what you just told me, you’re not like your father,” I finally said.
“You’re wrong,gatita. I realized that the moment I walked into the room, my breath caught in my throat from the sight of you. Isn’t it strange that it took over thirty years for me to see the truth that’s been right in front of my eyes the entire time? I’m a carbon copy of my father, which is exactly what he intended.”
I cupped his cheek, forcing him to turn his head so he could look into my eyes. He seemed surprised at my forcefulness, his nostrils flaring as he stared at me. “If you really believe that’s the truth then you should do everything in your power to change it now. Not tomorrow. Not the next day, but right now. You have the power and the means, all the money in the world, but only you can make the choice to live your life a different way.”
