Chapter two
1179 Words
Savannah
I stood there staring at Peter Sanders and I felt something inside me c***k clean open
"You are going to marry Santana De Luca" he said again, slower this time, like the problem was that I had not understood him the first time
"You cannot be serious" I said "Peter you cannot actually be standing in front of me right now asking me to marry a mafia don to settle a debt that has absolutely nothing to do with me"
"It has everything to do with you" he said, his voice dropping to something quiet and dangerous "you live in my house. You eat my food. I paid for your education, your clothes, everything you have ever had since your mother brought you through my door. Did you think that was free Savannah? Did you think there was no price for any of it?"
"I am grateful" I said and my voice was shaking but I held it "I have always been grateful. But gratitude does not mean I belong to you. You cannot sell me to pay your debts. I am not a transaction"
Peter's eyes went flat "De Luca is a powerful man. He is wealthy beyond anything you could imagine. You will want nothing"
"I have heard what he does to people" I said "I have heard the stories. The man is dangerous and cruel and I would rather have nothing for the rest of my life than spend one day as his wife. I will find another way to help you. I will work, I will do whatever you need, but not this. Please" I hated how the last word came out, small and desperate, but I said it anyway "Please do not do this to me"
Peter's jaw tightened
I looked at him and something in me shifted. "If De Luca is such a wonderful prospect then why not give him Serena? She is your real daughter isn't she? Why don't you offer her to him instead of me"
The slap came so fast that I did not see it
The sound of it cracked through the room and I stood there with my hand pressed to my cheek and my ears ringing and my eyes burning and I did not make a sound. I refused to make a sound
I turned to my mother
She was standing by the window with her arms crossed and her eyes somewhere on the floor and I walked toward her and I took her hand in both of mine
"Mom" I said "Mom look at me. You cannot let him do this. I am your daughter. Whatever else has happened between us I am still your daughter and I am asking you to please say something"
She looked up at me and for one single second, I thought I saw something move behind her eyes.
Then Peter's voice came from behind me sharp and final
"The decision has been made Victoria"
And just like that whatever I had seen in her eyes was gone
She pulled her hand from mine gently. She smoothed her dress. She walked to the door and she left the room and she took every single piece of hope I had been holding onto with her
I spun back to Peter
"I will not be marrying Santana De Luca" I said and my voice broke in the middle of it but I did not stop "You cannot force me to marry a mafia don. You cannot do this to me. You cannot"
He said nothing. He simply looked at me like a man who had already decided and was waiting for me to catch up
I ran up the stairs, into my room, and shut the door behind me. I pressed my back against it and slid down until I was on the floor and I sat there with my knees pulled to my chest trying to remember how to breathe
I do not know how long I sat there before my door opened
Serena did not knock. She never knocked. She walked in like every room in this house was hers by birthright and stood over me with her arms folded and her head tilted and that particular expression on her face that managed to be pity and contempt at the same time
"Oh stop being so dramatic" she said "Do you have any idea who Santana De Luca is? The man is incredibly powerful Savannah. He is rich and he is dangerous and half the women in this city would kill to be chosen by him. You should be on your knees thanking God right now"
I looked up at her from the floor "Is that what you think? That I should be grateful to be handed to a man like a piece of property?"
"I think you are being ridiculous" she said "he is wealthy beyond anything you will ever achieve on your own. He will give you a life"
"He hurts people Serena" I said and my voice was very quiet now "I do not care how rich he is. I do not care how powerful he is. I will never marry a man who hurts people. Never. Not for money. Not for this family. Not for anything"
"You are so ungrateful" she said "even after everything this family has done for you and you stand there on your high horse like you are better than all of us. Unbelievable"
She walked out and pulled the door shut behind her and I was alone again
The room was very quiet
"Dad"
I said it out loud because I needed to hear a voice even if it was only mine
"Dad if you can hear me right now I really need you to help me. I know that sounds childish. I know you have been gone a long time and I know the dead probably have better things to do than listen to their daughters fall apart on bedroom floors but if there is any chance at all that you are somewhere out there hearing this then please. Please do something. Please help me"
Silence. Just silence. The way it always was when I talked to him
The tears came then and I let them because there was no one left to be composed for. I cried until my chest hurt and my eyes burned and I had nothing left to cry with
Then I thought about running
My hand moved to my thigh without thinking the way it always did when that particular thought surfaced. My fingers pressed down through the fabric of my jeans and found the ridge of scar tissue that lived there, raised and permanent and impossible to forget
The last time I had tried to run Peter had found me before I made it past the gate. I had not forgotten what came after that. The scar on my thigh made sure of it every single day
I stayed on the floor until my body gave out underneath me and sleep pulled me under.
- Writer
