Bark For The Don Who’s Been Hunting Me For Ten Years Chapter 04
“You don’t get to say his fucking name. Not you.”
Valentina’s face twists. The knife comes down.
Blood beads up. Then runs. My cheek is on fire.
I laugh. Right in her face.
“That all you got?”
That does it.
Her eyes go red. She lifts the knife again. This time she’s not playing.
“Valentina, please!”
My father throws himself at her wrist. Panic all over his face.
“That face is worth a billion dollars! You cut it up, it’s worthless!”
He pauses. Glances at me. Cold, ugly little glance.
“This bitch just needs to learn her place.”
“Fuck her up however you want. Just not the face. Just leave her breathing. That’s all I need.”
I look up at my father. My own blood. Selling me for parts right in front of me.
I laugh out loud.
Valentina smiles. Pinches my jaw hard.
“You hear that? Your own daddy’s begging her to hurt you. He’d rather see you dead than lose that money.”
“So maybe. Just maybe. Be a smart little girl.”
The knife slides down my neck. She uses the tip to cut open the front of my dress.
“What if I skinned you? Just peeled it off, nice and slow?”
I look her dead in the eye. One word at a time.
“Valentina. You touch me one more time. When Cassian gets down here, I swear to God, you’re gonna beg him to kill you.”
“Oh, this one’s got a death wish. Hasn’t even met the Don and she’s already playing lady of the house.”
Valentina’s face goes murderous.
“Somebody get me the pliers. I wanna see how much she’s got to say without any teeth.”
A guard hands her a pair. Iron.
She grabs my hair. Yanks my head back. Forces the pliers into my mouth. Clamps down on a tooth.
Rips.
Bone tears. Something warm floods my throat.
Valentina’s eyes light up watching me shake.
“Hold her down. Aldo. Weren’t you just swearing loyalty a minute ago? Get the fuck over here and help.”
My father and Camilla don’t even hesitate. They shove me down onto the freezing floor. Pin my arms.
The pain in my mouth is nothing. Nothing compared to the ice-cold silence in my chest, looking up at my own family’s faces.
My father’s grinning.
“Valentina. You’re absolutely right. Look at her now. So much better.”
Valentina rips open the front of my white dress. Puts the tip of the blade against my collarbone. Presses in.
I scream.
She twists the blade. Digging. Carving.
Blood everywhere.
She’s writing something into me.
She’s carving a fucking word into my chest.
WHORE.
I dig my nails into my palms until they bleed. I stare at her. Burn her face into my brain.
“Ha! Ha ha ha! Perfect word. Perfect for you.”
Valentina’s shaking. Actually shaking with excitement. Blood spatter on her red dress.
“Beautiful. But it’s not enough.”
She lifts the blade. Points it right at my right eye.
“These pretty little eyes. I hate them. Let’s pop them out and feed them to the koi out back.”
The steel comes down toward my pupil.
Then.
BANG.
The front doors blow open.
Cold wind screams through the hall.
A tall figure. Backlit. Standing there like death walked out of hell wearing a black suit.
Cassian.
Valentina reacts first. She drops the knife. Twists her hips. Runs to him with her arms out.
“Baby! You’re awake?”
She points a bloody finger at me. Sweet voice back on.
“This replacement they sent us has zero manners. I was just training her up a little. Getting her ready to be a good little pet for you—”
My father throws himself flat on the floor. Face down.
“Don De Luca! Please! Mercy, please! This girl’s been missing ten years, she doesn’t know her place. Do whatever you want with her. Cut her up. Kill her. We won’t say a word. Just. Please. That billion. If you could just—”
Cassian isn’t listening.
His eyes are locked on me.
And when he sees my face. When he really sees me. He stops.
His whole body locks up.
The rosary he’s always turning in his hand. Silver beads. He drops it. Hits the marble and shatters. Beads roll everywhere.
I look up at him. Face split open. Chest carved. Blood soaking my white dress.
And I smile.
“Cassian. Ten years.”
“Look what your dogs did to me.”