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When she looked away, I cupped her face, forcing her to keep her gaze locked on mine. The fire had returned, her refusal to follow my rules something we would need to work through. “I’m serious, Lucia. You will not disobey me. If you do, you will be punished severely. Is that understood?” And still, the stubbornness remained. I tightened my grip, giving her a stern look. “Do you?”
“Why, yes, sir.”
“Good.”
“You are right that it will eventually be fine because I’m going to kill my father and I’ll enjoy every moment of doing so.”
CHAPTER24
Lucia
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d enjoyed the thought of being at my parents’ home. Maybe as long ago as when I was still in elementary school. In the early years, up until I was six or seven, my mother did everything in her power to make life special. We lived in a smaller house at that point. While my father had always had employees working for him, no one was employed inside the house at that time. That allowed for what I now knew as a normal life.
My mother made dinner, Father returning home six of seven nights to eat with the family. Enzo hadn’t been a monster at four or five. There’d been the kind of life with moments of happiness, laughter filling the house, celebrations held. Then something had happened, the light leaving the household completely. I now knew it was when he was pushed into the role of being Don, my eighty-year-old grandfather finally giving up the reins.
I wasn’t told until the day of the move that we were leaving our love-filled house, moving into another. I had no idea what changed, but even at my young age, I was perceptive enough to know that my world would never be the same.
I’d surrendered to my fantasies, imaginary friends for comfort at first, books later. Enzo had retreated into a world belonging to monsters. Soon after, Sophia was born. Not long after that, my mother began to fade into a shell of a woman.
Why I was thinking about the vicious cycle as I made my way down the paved driveway lined with trees and lights, I wasn’t certain. Other than I’d thought about what D’Artagnan had said the night before. There was no leaving the world we’d been born into. There was no chance at redemption from the evils plaguing our existence. There was only the understanding that what could be changed would need to be done mostly behind closed doors.
I wasn’t much for obeying rules. Then again, neither was my husband. The word continued to float in the back of my mind. I glanced at my ringless finger then hissed. There were other cars in the driveway. It would seem my father had guests. Hmm… Perhaps I was interrupting something fancy. What a shame.
Seconds later, I exited the vehicle, taking long strides toward the front door. I didn’t bother knocking. I’d provided adequate notice to my father that we would have a conversation. Granted, I was arriving twenty minutes early, but the early bird got the worm. Chuckling, I thought about the weapon neatly positioned in my purse. I had a knife as well. A girl couldn’t be too careful in the day and age of monsters.
The housekeeper was flustered as I blew past her, heading to my father’s office. I’d never felt so confident in my life, eager to get out of the cradle of death I’d been in for far too long. Hearing male voices, I took a few seconds to smooth down my skirt before walking inside.
“Why, Enzo, dear brother. Back from the dead so soon. What a pity.” I glanced from my father to my brother, keeping a smile on my face. Every scenario had been gone over, every possibility weighed out carefully. Given there was no one else in my father’s office, a hint of nervousness rushed into my system. I wouldn’t put anything past the man, including using violence to get what he wanted. However, a part of me was thankful no one else had to hear our dirty laundry and I planned on flinging it around.
I could see annoyance crossing both my father’s and my brother’s faces, contempt dripping from their expressions.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, locking down your accounts and the entire operation?” my brother accused.
“You mean the business you have no clue about?” I snapped.
“I don’t need to learn how to handle the idiots who work for you.”
His challenge brought out the bitch in me and I took two long strides toward him. “How fucking dare you. You’ve been useless most of your life.”
“Enough. Both of you. We have a crisis on our hands,” my father snapped, as if I already knew what he was going to say.
“A crisis. Hmmm. I wonder what that would be.”
Enzo snorted. “If you weren’t so embroiled in your life in New York, you’d know.”
“Embroiled in my life in New York. You mean the one where I’ve made millions of dollars?” I kept my icy glare on my brother. “What a shame you didn’t succeed in having your good friends kill me the day outside the coffee shop. Huh?” The expression on his face was one of contempt, not surprise. Bastard.
“That wasn’t me. I was shot.”
What I found interesting was that Enzo was purposely saying nothing about D’Artagnan. There was no possibility he hadn’t identified the man who’d saved my life.
“I said enough. You’re lucky to be alive, Lucia. I’m aware that the DeLuca family placed a contract on your life. The idiot Franco will do anything to try and destroy me.” My father issued the words so casually that I had to think about what he’d just said.
His words were just another indication of my value within the family. My stomach remained in knots but I refused to show it.
“Let me guess. Enzo was sent to take over in case I ended up dead in a New York street.”
Good ole Daddy threw me a hateful look. “It’s not safe for you in America any longer. I’ll handle it.”
