AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He sighs heavily. “Diana heard her mother scream and ran into the room, rushing Carlos before he could react. She grabbed a statue off the table and attacked him and he rewarded her by punching her hard in the stomach. Your mother screamed, and he did the same to her as she rushed at him, and he knocked her out.”
I feel emotionless as I hear his story, almost as if I’m a stranger listening in.
“Giselle, by all accounts, heard the screams and went to investigate. She found Carlos deep inside Diana and it sent her over the edge. A huge fight broke out and Diana ran from the room and when I arrived, Giselle was holding your mother’s heart in her bloodied hands.”
Dom reaches for my hand and whispers, “Are you ok, baby?”
I must be in shock because I just blink twice and whisper, with a ragged breath, “Then what happened?”
“I took out my gun, intending to kill the bastards, but Carlos taunted me and told me you were his child. He was going to keep you as a reward and Diana would become his whore in the place of her mother. That I had a choice. Stay quiet and keep my job knowing that my wife betrayed me and deserved her untimely death, or carry on and end up dead for my efforts.”
He doesn’t appear as if he two fucks about how I’m feeling now as he shrugs. “I told him I would agree under the condition you were both allowed to leave. I couldn’t live in the same house as either of you anymore, knowing you were his bastard child.”
Dom growls beside me and I say fiercely, “Don’t hold back daddy dearest. Tell us how you really feel.”
His eyes narrow and he spits, “I did it for you, Flora. You were innocent. You never asked for any of it, but your sister, well, she was a different story entirely.”
“In what way?” I’m confused, and he shakes his head in disgust.
“I left the room, and she was standing there. She told me she heard every word, and she was going nowhere. That she wanted to take her mother’s place and to trust her. That she would make him pay and get our revenge.”
That doesn’t surprise me, and he says darkly, “Your sister begged to be that man’s whore, which told me I had to send her away to try to salvage any remaining sanity she had. That night, I packed you both into a car and sent you to your grandmothers. I knew that was the best place for you both and hoped that Diana would benefit from living in a loving home. Be normal, not end up as an old man’s whore and for my own sanity, I turned my back on the whole experience and tried to put it behind me.”
“And your daughters. You didn’t think to check on them when your mother died?” Dom snaps angrily and my father’s eyes narrow as he spits, “Daughters, Mr. Ortega. I had one daughter, remember? They both looked so alike I couldn’t be sure Diana wasn’t Carlos’s daughter as well. The fact he fucked her brought with it a different level of depravity I couldn’t live with. I removed myself from their lives for their own good and I hoped never to see them again because if I did, it meant they hadn’t made it past the shadows we live among.”
He shakes his head sadly. “And it appears I was right just from the fact you are holding her hand.”
He turns to me and says with some disappointment. “It appears you are more like your mother than I hoped.”
Dom stands and I say quickly, “Enough.”
I join him and we stare down at the pitiful man who I called daddy once.
“Thanks for your honesty, and thanks for the ride out of hell. Just so you know, we never made it out and I have you to thank for that. Diana did become a cruel man’s whore and forced me into a life I didn’t deserve. In abandoning us, you are no better than the rest of them, so enjoy your ‘normal’ life with your apple pie ‘beautiful’ wife because one day it will all come back to bite you.
As I turn to leave, his low laugh rings in my ears as he hisses, “It’s good to see you, Flora. Tell your sister not to bother looking me up. You’re both dead to me.”
I don’t react and just walk away and then I hear a single gunshot and as I turn in shock, Dom pushes me to the door as Sadie’s screams echo through the entire house. We completely ignore her and leave through the front door with her tears serenading our departure.
Pasquale shifts off the porch beam and stares at Dom with curiosity and he snaps, “Send in the clean-up crew. Pay the woman off and threaten her to keep her mouth shut. We’re heading home.”
Jonny holds the car door open and as I slide in bedside Dom, I am numb inside. As we pull away from a house that will be forever etched in my memory, I whisper, “Tell the driver to drive fast because from this moment on, I have no past. Only a future and I promise you now, it will benothinglike that.”
As I snuggle in beside him, his strong arm wraps around my shoulder and he kisses my head lightly.
“I couldn’t have put it better myself, baby girl. Now it’s time to hand the baton to my brothers. We have a future to enjoy, and I will make it my life’s work to make it a happy one.”
As the car speeds away from my past, I settle my head on my future, who is holding me so tenderly, knowing that whatever happens next, I made it through and found a man who loves me forwhoI am, not what I am. This mafia princess is about to marry her king and God help anyone who stands in our way.
EPILOGUE
MATTEO
The door opens, and Cesare, my consigliere, enters the room with a wry smile.
“Boss.” He nods with respect, and I wave to the chair set before my desk.
“How did it go?”
