AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Giulio lets me know all my skating supplies will be delivered in a couple of days and that I will be able to return to the ice. I give a curt thank-you and toss my phone on the end of the bed.
God, I miss the ice. Miss the sound of it under the blades on my feet. The wind moving through my hair as I get lost in the music playing in my headphones. Like I did back in New York, I will have to go a few times and see when it's more or less busy. When it's too busy, I don’t get to take up the ice like I prefer. I took skating lessons my entire childhood and young-adult life, learning how to not just glide on the ice but how to do toe loops, axels, and different types of spins.
That was my escape, and the days where the rink was nearly empty were the best for me. There were days I would spend upwards of ten hours skating to my heart’s desire.
The day drags and drags, seeming never ending. Alone, I eat the pasta Ricardo made and take a bubble bath before I head to bed. I turn all the lights off, open the curtains, and let the city lights draw dreamscapes on the wall, and within thirty minutes, I am out to the world.
Walking around the corner, my palms begin to sweat and my heart rate kicks up a few notches. My father is behind me, and I'm scared of what is going to happen. Once we’re completely out of the room and away from Nico, my arm is yanked, and I'm shoved into a wall. I'm surprised the thud of my body didn’t make as much noise as I assumed it would, alerting Giulio or Nico.
“You have failed to provide me one single fucking piece of insight. And that just won’t do, Emelia.”
I try to walk away, but he pushes me back into the wall.
“No, you are going to stay right here and listen to me.” His eyes bore into me, and years of fear and pain come flooding back to memory.
“You are failing to do your job, Emelia. The family can’t keep waiting while you play house and become his whore.”
“I don’t want to do your dirty work.” He slaps me so hard my vision blurs.
“You will do it. Or so help me, Emelia, I will kill you both myself,” he threatens.
“Father, this isn't going to work. He’s smart and doesn’t plan to tell me anything. So you’ll have to do it yourself.” I try to sound like I'm not afraid, but that doesn’t work.
He begins to choke me, and before he smashes my windpipe, I cry out.
But unlike before, Nico never comes.
No one does.
My father’s eyes turn a darker hue, and the evil grin on his face widens as he squeezes tighter. My hands claw at his as I fight for air, but I fail, and with each second, his face becomes more and more blurry.
Suddenly, I'm floating above myself, looking down at my lifeless body and my family laughing sinisterly.
I jolted out of the nightmare. My entire body is covered in sweat, and I look over at the time. Seeing it's 11:00 p.m., I turn to Nico, but he isn’t there. Curiosity hits me, overtaking the awful dream, and I go in search of him, checking his office, but it's locked, and I don’t see light seeping from beneath the door. The living room and kitchen are next, and it's empty except for James and Farren.
“Ma’am, is everything okay?” Farren asks.
“Yes, um… has Nico come home yet?” They shake their heads at the same time, and I drop mine. “Okay, thank you.”
Why am I so upset that he's gone? I wasn't planning to apologize or talk to him; I just wanted to see if he came home or if my suspicions were right. He’s most likely at the club, doing God knows what.
Making my way back to bed, I slide under the thick comforter and wait until I can’t anymore. I swear Nico never made it home by the time dawn comes, the bed empty still. He has to be with other women or avoiding me.
Either way, neither option should bother me, but they do, because I’m stubborn and know I don’t deserve the treatment he’s dishing out. I deserve respect after what I did to my father. There was a small glimpse of hope with him, and I clung way too tight to it. I looked deep in his eyes as we had sex and thought I saw something there. Then he took me to watch him torture my ex-lover for doing terrible things to me.
But I was a fucking fool.
I won't do that ever again.
The line has been drawn.
CHAPTER TWELVE
NICO
I’m avoiding Emelia.I don’t want to see her when we are both fully alert, because whatever I saw in her eyes the other night is something I don’t want to happen again. And until I can get control of myself, I will avoid her while she’s awake.
The fight we had showed me she felt the same thing I did when we had sex. The sensation that scared me. And clearly I wasn't a complete idiot for feeling it. But we both need to be able to differentiate between lust and love. If we don't do that, then we will just keep fighting.
