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A small part of me wants to sympathize with him. With my mother. But he knew about Salvatore’s plan. Knew he was fighting for change. And he still sold me off to the devil. And my mother did nothing to stop him.
“Material things. You were going to lose material things. Now, you’ve lost me.”
Salvatore comes to stand by me. For a moment, I feared my father’s accusations were true. That I was a casualty of the war against Stefano. But he wouldn’t do that to me.
“You want me to kill him?”
His offer is sincere, but I shake my head. I hate him at this moment, but he’s still my father, and the truth is, death would be too generous. I don’t want that guilt on my conscience.
“No. I want him to live with his regret, because you will regret this,Padre. You will regret that you’ve lost me. That you’ve lost one person who only ever loved you and trusted you.”
“One day, you’ll forgive me,” he vows.
“No, I won’t. If you ever come near me again, I’ll kill you myself. You can tell my mother I played my part. And she’s as dead to me as you are.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” Salvatore hisses.
My father doesn’t hesitate a moment. He’s lucky to be alive. Salvatore and any other man in this room would take his life if given the order. The moment he’s gone, Salvatore pulls me into his arms.
“I’m sorry.”
He kisses my cheeks, my nose, then my lips, not giving a damn that a room full of men are watching us. He was plotting against Stefano all along. Proving to these men that it was time for a change. And they’ve been loyal to him. They trust him. And he respects them.
“Gentlemen, we’ll meet soon. For now, I’m taking my fiancé home.”
“Fiancé?”
“I won you fair and square, didn’t I? It’s time to claim my prize.”
40
Salvatore
Ishould’ve claimed her to start with. Instead, I let my own greed and desire to take down Stefano stand in my way. I’ll spend a lifetime making that up to her.
“Let me get you home. To my place. I’ll get this cleaned up and be there as soon as I can.”
The men are already gone, all agreeing to meet tomorrow. Stefano is dead. Finally out of our lives for good. We can start the process of healing from the fucking damage he created.
“I don’t want to go. Not yet. I need some time for this to settle in.”
“It can settle in at my place.” She shakes her head. “You’ve been through enough.”
She laughs a little. “Yeah, I suppose I have, but I’m here, and I’m alive. To hell with Stefano! To hell with my father! With my mother even!”
I frown, concerned. “Millie?”
“You and I both know I’m not that little girl anymore. My dad sold me off to a monster. That monster used my body every single night, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop him!”
“That’s over now! He’ll never fucking touch you again!” I vow, hauling her against me. “No man will ever touch you again. You’re mine. You hear me? You are fucking mine.”
“You let him take me,” she whispers, tears rolling down her cheeks in spite of her bravado.
I blink back my own tears at the sight of hers. I’m unsure when I came to love her so fiercely, but it’s there. This undeniable need to protect her, love her at all costs.
“I’ll apologize every day for the rest of my life.”
“I don’t need that. Don’t need apologies. What I need is you. All of you. Your heart. Your body. Your soul.”
