Ruined by the Ruthless Billionaire

02:Fear and Fury

~Anika~♡

I may have been young back then, but I knew this man was dangerous. Possessed with fear and fury,I stand up cautiously ignoring a crying kara. For someone who barely speaks to me,she seems genuinely terrified for my plight.

"I know exactly who you are and what you do Mr.Pietro, and I'm going nowhere with you!" I spat out staring him in the eye.

A cold metallic object touches my forehead in that instant. Judging by the shrieks that echo across the room, I'm certain it's a gun, a chill runs down my spine again,still I refuse to cave.

"Say your goodbyes Amore mio,as you know,I'm a very busy man" He says sweetly as though he wasn't holding a gun to my head.

"Don't do this please, I'll be more useful to you here,think about it for a second. I'm surprisingly very knowledge in wine business, I will work and pay you monthly. Hell! I will labour all my life if I have to but I promise your debt will be paid in full in a matter of years. Right Mum?" I relentlessly reason with him before turning to Karen but she turns her face away,looking intently at a picture of dad on the wall.

"Mum! Say something! We can't just let them take Nini!" Kara cries causing Karen to glare at her.

"I'm sorry baby there is nothing I can do." Karen plainly says.

I know we don't get along well especially since dad died but I am a good kid to her! I do everything she askes of me without questioning her, it never even bothered me that Zola and kara did little to nothing lately. I did nothing to deserve this! for heavens sake I didn't even know Dad put me on the deed of the house.

A shiver ran down my spine for the umpteenth time this night as another realisation hit me after noting Karen's relaxed sitting posture.

I may not have known but she knew, she knew I had the legal power to send her out of this house.That explains why she suddenly turned cold to me. My gaze shifts to Zola,my step sister, we are of thesame age because Karen had her in her previous marriage before she met my dad.

Zola and I are the reason our parents met. We were just in nursery 2 when Zola pushed me off a swing as punishment for sitting next to Romeo,a boy she apparently had a crush on and well, I poured sand from the playground in her Lunch.

The proprietor of the school summoned our parents to her office and the rest is history. Kara was born soon after they got married and I was thrilled to have a younger sister but Zola and her Mom never completely warmed up to me,It became alot worse after we lost father to a car accident.

"Marco the papers" Mr.Pietro barked bringing me back to reality and swiftly,Marco brings out a single sheet of paper from a brown leather briefcase and places it infront of my stepmother. Her eyes sweeps over it for no more than a second before she pens down her signature.

Marco grabs her hand and holding her thumb up punctures it with a needle like object then presses her now bleeding finger beside her signature.

"Perfecto! Hurry on with your goodbyes Amore,I have to make it home before breakfast" he says handing the pistol to Marco.

Kara is the first to engulf me in a bone crushing hug,she weeps loudly on my chest and I give her gentle taps at her back,willing myself to forget her rudeness,insensitivity and insolence in recent years. Remembering instead the sweet little baby I had loved the second she gripped my finger between her tiny hands.The little girl I had adored every morning while brushing her hair and beautifying it with way too many colorful hair clips.

Tears blur my vision at the thought of how simple life was before Mum passed,then dad. But I hold them in,the only people allowed to see my tears are my family and my pillow.

Dad would be proud.

"It's okay Rapunzel,everything will be alright I promise." at the mention of her favorite cartoon character when she was younger,she chuckles a little and looks up at me with regret. "I've been such a horrible sister,I've been so stupid! I don't want to loose you too!" She crys

I gently wipe the tears off her face with the back of my hand.

She was going to make me cry too if she kept this up, so hurriedly I whispered to her "remember when you had tooth decay and they put you off sugary things?"

She chuckles then whispers back "I remember,you'd always leave a small box of dark chocolate for me at the safe house as bribe. I'd then leave the back entrance open on purpose so..." she pauses then turns to look at zola

"So I could sneek in after my late dates with Romeo" I complete the sentence for her.

Just incase you're thinking it's thesame Romeo my step sister accused me of stealing from her in nursery 2,you're absolutely right. His father's delivery company helped deliver our wine to customers so we worked together alot and things just kind of happened.

Safe to say he was my high-school sweetheart,we grew apart when he left for a business school in New york but we agreed to be friends regardless. He is one reason zola dislikes me I guess even though she forgot all about him and dated our schools most popular guy then Ace Martini.

Romeo and I only got together in 11th grade.

"Listen kara" I begin turning her face back to me. "If someday you find a box of dark chocolate in there,just know it's me reminding you that everything will be okay."

"I'll leave the back door open if I ever find one" she sniffs then embraces me before walking to her room without looking back,her shoulders tensed.

"Now that's what we call a heartfelt goodbye" Mr Pietro jest getting up from his seat with a stupid smile on his face,he looks at Marco who nods taking swift strides towards me.

Panic shoots through me and I step back walking into zola in the process. She leans in carefully then whispers

"You poor thing,you most be terrified,not to worry though,I'll tell sweet Romeo you eloped with your sugar daddy. He'd be so heartbroken and I'll be there to console him."

I stare at her in confusion. Why does she think he'd be heartbroken,although he did mention on the phone that he'd be in dozza tomorrow and would like us to meet. He may be a little disappointed by my absence but heart broken is a stretch, didn't she know he had a girlfriend back in Newyork?

Zola had that smile on her face,the sort she has on when she knows something I don't,but before I could make sense of it,strong hands grip my waist as a handkerchief is placed firmly over my nose and mouth. I fight in reflex.

"Just breath Amore" I hear a soft voice sing and I feel myself drifting slowly.

My stepmother's nonchalant face is the last thing I see before my world slips into hollow darkness.