Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,327

well. Not that I would have been too keen on returning to New York after my last embarrassing encounter with Romero four weeks ago, but it still stung that Aria and Gianna had made plans behind my back, behind everyone’s back.

I walked down the stairs, motioning for Fabi to stay where he was, as I inched toward Father’s office. Mother was there, crying. Father was on the phone, from his still angry but more restrained tone I assumed with his boss, Dante Cavallaro. Cavallaro was the only person that Father truly respected. Mother spotted me in the doorway and quickly shook her head, but I took another step forward and into the office.

I knew it was better to stay away from Father when he was in a mood like this, even though he usually lashed out at Gianna and not me, but my sister was gone now.

Father hung up, then narrowed his eyes at me. “Did I allow you to come in?”

His voice hit me like a whip but I stood my ground. “What happened to Gianna?”

Mother sent me a warning look.

“Your sister ran off. She’ll probably get herself knocked up by some idiot, and ruin her and our family’s reputation.”

“Maybe she’ll come back,” I suggested. But somehow I knew she wouldn’t. This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. She’d planned this, for months probably. That explained all the secrecy with Aria during our last visit in New York. Why hadn’t they told me? Didn’t they trust me? Did they think I’d run to Father the first chance I got? And then another thought buried itself in my brain. If Gianna was gone, if she didn’t marry Matteo, who else would? Fear washed over me. What if Father made me marry Matteo? I’d hoped I could marry for love now that my sisters had already been married off for tactical reasons. Maybe it was a selfish thing to think in a situation like this but I couldn’t help it. An image of Romero popped into my head. I knew it was silly to think of him when it came to marriage. Even if Gianna returned and still married Matteo, it would be almost impossible to convince Father to give me to a mere soldier, especially one from New York. And then there was the problem that he didn’t even want me and that I’d promised myself to get over him.

I knew all that but that didn’t mean I couldn’t hope and dream, sometimes it felt like that was all I could do.

“How many men will have had Gianna by then? She’ll be worth nothing even if she returns,” Father spat. I winced, horrified by his harsh words. Worth nothing? Surely we were more to him than a commodity to sell off. More than a thin piece of flesh between our legs?

Father gripped my shoulders, his eyes burning into me. I shied back but he didn’t release me. “Don’t think I don’t see how you’re making eyes at my soldiers. You’re too much like Gianna for your own good. I won’t have another daughter make a fool out of me.”

“I won’t,” I whispered. Father had never talked to me in that tone before. His expression and words made me feel cheap and unworthy, like I needed to clean myself of my impure thoughts.

“That’s right. I don’t care if I have to lock you into your room until your wedding day to protect your reputation and honor.”

This wasn’t about my honor or reputation. I didn’t care about it. This was all about my father. It was always about the men in the family, what they wanted and expected.

“Rocco, Lily is a good girl. She won’t do anything,” Mother said carefully. That wasn’t what she usually told me. She always warned me that I was too flirty, too aware of the effect that my body had on men. But I was glad for her support because too often she’d remained silent when Father had attacked Gianna in the same way.

Father let go of me and turned on her. “It was your job to raise decent girls. For your sake, I hope you’re right and Liliana won’t follow after Gianna.” The menace in his voice made me quiver. How could he be so horrible toward his own wife?

Mother blanched. I backed away and nobody tried to stop me. I quickly ran upstairs. Fabi waited for me, his eyes wide and curious. “What happened?” he asked fearfully.

I shook my head in response, not in the mood to