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“Jessica and Jacob are nothing to do with you anymore. You’re no longer part of this family. You are dead to us.”
“I had to make sure that they were alright—”
“Alright? Have you lost your mind?” He thundered. “You behave like a slut, opening your legs for the enemy and marrying him, and then you dare show your face here?” The news of my marriage to Marco in Chicago had obviously not been received well within the Società.
“But, Father, he took me—I didn’t have a choice that day.”
“And it took you all of twenty-four hours before you were in his bed,” he said in disgust.
“It wasn’t like that, Father. You were the one who made me sign the engagement contract. There was no way out for me after that—you know that.” My voice was pleading with my father, imploring him to understand.
“That contract was just a sham to get as many of the Marchianos and their men in L.A. so that we could take them out,” he snapped.
My blood ran cold. Marco had been right: my father and the Società had planned this all along, and Jess and I had just been collateral damage. I’d been made to sign an irrevocable contract and then got kidnapped, and Jess had been shot by the first bullet that had been shot by the Società. Oh my God.
“Father, how could you have let Jessica get shot?” My voice was full of shock.
“She’s just a girl. What does it matter if she got hurt? The important thing was to get rid of the Marchianos. It was the best chance we’ve had in years, but it all got messed up by your stupid sister getting in the way of the bullet.”
I shakily got to my feet. “I should leave now.”
“What do you mean? You’re here now and you won’t be going anywhere ever again,” he spat.
“But, Father, I’m married to Marco.” My voice rose in horror. Surely, he couldn’t be meaning that he wanted me to stay in L.A. now?
“As if I don’t know that already. It’s all anyone in the Società is talking about. Did you think we wouldn’t learn of your betrayal? News like that travels fast. You’re a whore and a traitor—and you’ll be punished accordingly.”
He grabbed my arm and marched me back toward the mansion. “W-what are you doing?” I stammered.
“You’ll be locked in your room until we decide your punishment. Then you’ll be taken to the stables.”
“The stables?” My voice shook. The mansion’s former stables were now my father’s torture rooms. “Please, Father,” I pleaded. “Just let me go and I’ll never come back to L.A. again, I swear!”
My feet stumbled as terror made my movements clumsy. If my father hadn’t been holding onto me, I was sure that I would have fallen to the ground.
“You’ve made a laughing-stock of me. My men will think that I am weak because I can’t even control my own daughter. You have jeopardized my position in the Società,” he hissed.
He dragged me up the stairs toward my bedroom. I tried to pull out of his hold, but it was no good. “Why are you doing this?” I cried.
“You made your bed and now you’ll lie in it,” he yelled at me.
He shoved me into the room, and he slammed the door shut. I heard the key turn.
After a few seconds I tried the door. It was locked, just as I knew it would be.
I looked around myself at my childhood bedroom before slumping down onto the bed and letting my tears overwhelm me.
CHAPTER 33
JULIANA
A couple of hours later, I heard the key turn, and my mother entered the room.
“Mother!” I cried, hurriedly getting to my feet to run into her arms. I froze when I saw the look of disgust on her face.
“Juliana, what is the meaning of this? A soldier woke me and your father up to tell us they had detected an intruder and that it was you.”
“Mother, I was worried about Jess and needed to see how she was, and I wanted to see Jake too.” My words tumbled out all at once.
