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“Valen, what happened?” Brielle now even more concerned leans in close, and the darkness that had descended on me slowly dissipates. Her calm, sweetness overwhelms me and for the first time in years, I allow my tears to fall.
“My father decided it was a good idea to make a spectacle of the boy I kissed. Of course, I couldn’t live my life how I wanted. And for me to be anything other than a straight, alpha male in my father’s eyes, was wrong.”
“Oh no.” A tinge of sadness, of regret, and of pain drenches those two small words that Brielle utters. It’s obvious what had happened next. Well, to most it would be. But the details are far worse than she could ever imagine.
“It wasn’t that night though. But I knew what was coming because he told me. My father was livid. I was locked in my bedroom for two days, until they brought Diamo to the house. We had a similar setup like the Venier’s where my father had a basement where he took those he wanted to interrogate.”
“And the boy you kissed, Diamo—”
“I didn’t realise he was there until Judah sent me a text message and said my father’s men were at the school. They picked him up and left.” I allow myself to look at Brielle who is as stricken as I was when I read Judah’s message that day. “My father didn’t call for me until late that night. I had screamed, banged on the door, but they didn’t let me out.”
“So you… Your father allowed you to see him?”
I nod as I swallow back the lump in my throat. Deep down, I realise just how tortured I was by it. I think the shock, the fear, and the heartache that had overwhelmed me had me bury the moment I saw him deep. Because when I close my eyes, it springs up suddenly. It wasn’t there all those years ago, but now, I can see it clear as day.
“My father had him chained to a table. He was already beaten badly.” I choke out the words, forcing them to spill from my lips because if I don’t, I’ll never allow them to escape. And as I confess the rest to Brielle, I go back there.
“You seewhat happens to boys who break the rules,” Dad says to me as he sneers down at the innocent boy. I can’t believe I’ve done this, put someone in danger because of my own confused feelings. Emotions are fucking dangerous.
“Dad, please, you don’t need to do this.”
“Don’t I?” he challenges me and I know he wants me to break. My father believes to strengthen someone, you need to bore down into their soul. He enjoys watching me shatter. All my life, he would punish, then buy me something toshowme he loves me.
“No. Honestly, it was a mistake and it won’t happen again,” I tell him, praying silently that he’ll believe me. I could never lie to my father though. He grew up with venom in his veins, trained by the most dangerous mercenaries who worked for the mafia. When he took over the family, he didn’t bat an eyelid when he needed to torture or kill someone.
He basks in the violence. And now, as he turns to the boy who’s begging for mercy, I know he’ll show none.
“Please, I didn’t—”
The crack of my father’s fist against Diamo’s face has me recoiling. The bone is broken. I heard it break. The bile that I’d been swallowing back rises quickly, and I’m bent over, puking my lunch up as I drop to my knees.
“Do you see what you’ve done to my son? Making him weak with stupid emotions he shouldn’t be having for the likes of you,” Dad hisses in a low, feral tone. He’s no longer human, he’s an animal. Livid, I swipe my hand against my mouth to clean myself and push to my feet.
I run at my father but he’s fast. He sees me coming before I make contact, and his knuckles slam into my face, right under my left eye. There’s blood dripping from the cut from my father’s ring, and I’m holding onto my cheek as I look up at the man I thought was my hero.
“You will watch,” Dad says, and two of his soldiers hold me steady. As much as I try to struggle out of their grasp, they’re bigger and stronger than I am. There’s no escape.
I shakemy head as I look at Brielle. My mind in the present, shoving the image of the next few moments away. I don’t want to think about it, but I have no choice.
“He made me watch as he tortured Diamo. For hours. He cut him, then poured vinegar into the wounds. He rubbed salt on burns he created with a lighter. Everything he did, I saw. He made sure I didn’t turn away.”
“Oh my God,” Brielle gasps when I finally break down and I allow myself to cry. My shoulders shake as she holds me, wrapping her slender arms around me. “I can’t believe someone can be so evil.”
I know she’s still getting used to this world, but I know that what my father did wasn’t the worst. I’ve definitely heard of terrible stories from other children. But, it was also the worst thing I’d ever witnessed in my life.
“Where is your father now?” Brielle asks, pulling away to look up at me. There’s a glint of fear in her eyes, and I don’t fucking blame her.
“Karma came for him about three years ago. He suffered a stroke first, then once he believed he was healed, he was adamant that I couldn’t take over from him. So, instead of allowing me to do his job, he was determined to show the world he was still a bastard to be feared. He went out on a job to meet with some contacts who shot him. He’s in a coma and has been since,” I tell her.
Her mouth pops open in shock. “So he’s alive?”
I nod. “My mother doesn’t want to pull the plug.”
“Wow.”
“Which is why we’re so careful to keep our secret. Once we’re in our new roles, it will be easier to come out. To show the world who we are. And to make sure that nothing like what happened to Diamo ever happens again.”
A DELIVERY
