She stepped forward closing the space between them, until their faces were inches apart. "You may have sold me, but you underestimated me. I refuse to be broken. I won't be your shameful secret, and I won't be destroyed".
But then she saw it, the fear and panic in her stepfather's eyes when she spoke. He glanced towards the ward doors as if afraid the man himself would materialize from the shadows. His voice dropped into a hurried whisper, "Then you're even dumber than I thought. If you think you can just play in that Mafia man's world and come out alive, you're dead already. You're just a pet to him, Tessa. That's all you'll ever be, there's no escaping it.
Her breath caught in her throat. Hearing the word "pet" from his lips, the same cruel word Roy Dashiel used on her, made her skin c
