been a very long day for you. Get some sleep and when you wake up, you will be in a better frame of mind. Perhaps then, we can have a real conversation.” She took her leave.
I was left standing in the middle of the room in complete despair. I grabbed my phone and called Christine.
“Hey,” she answered on the second ring.
“I need to get away,” I told her. “Can I spend the night at your place?”
“Uh, sure,” she replied. “Is everything all right?”
“For now,” I answered. “I’ll tell you the rest when I see you.”
“Alright, I’ll send the address to you. When will you be here?”
“I’ll leave right now.”
“You’re okay, aren’t you?” she asked, in a worried voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
As my phone pinged with Christine’s address, I went towards my closet to grab the biggest purse I could find. I dumped the toiletries I would need inside it, included a change of clothes and underwear.
I jumped guiltily when I heard a knock on my door. Stuffing the bag away, I went to open the door.
Gemma stood there holding a tray filled with a pot of tea and a plate of pastries. “I brought these for you,” she said.
“I could have come down for these, Gemma,” I said, attempting to take the tray from her.
But she shook her head and went past me to put the tray down on the coffee table by the window. Then she straightened and looked at me. “Are you all right?”
I shrugged. “I’ve seen better days, but yeah, I’m fine.”
“Your father wants to see you in his dungeon,” she said.
I could see the anxiety in her eyes and this made me sad. I didn’t want Gemma to have to choose between loyalty to me and the man who paid her wages. I didn’t come back here to cause trouble amongst the people I loved most in this world. I walked up to Gemma and pulled her into my arms. “Don’t worry, Gemma. It’s going to be okay. Honestly, it’s all going to be fine.”
“Maybe, the boy has a good heart,” she whispered.
I forced a smile. “Maybe.”
She nodded. “He will protect you.”
If it had been anyone else I would have told them I didn’t need an arrogant swine like Fabio to take care of me, but I didn’t want to worry Gemma any more than I already had. I nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s for the best.”
“All right. You better go see your father now. He is waiting.”
I didn’t want to see Papa right at this moment, but I couldn’t disobey him and I needed him to think nothing was wrong until I could find a way to fight back.
I didn't know what to expect as I walked down the stairs, but to say I wasn’t afraid would be a lie. I had given him an ultimatum, and men who had navigated their way in the top of the pile the way my father did never took well to ultimatums. My greatest fear however, was that this would destroy the relationship I had with my family, especially because I felt ready to go the distance for the cause I stood for.
I took a deep breath and knocked on his study door.
“Come,” he called.
His curt voice sent a chill down my spine. I squared my shoulders and pushed the door open.
He sat behind his massive oak desk and his face was expressionless and cold.
I didn’t make any attempt to move further into the room. Unthinkingly I adopted the defensive stance of folding my arms across my chest.
He made an impatient beckoning expression with his hand.
I walked into the middle of the room, then I noticed another person in the room. He wore a baseball cap and was seated on one of the chairs facing my father, and he was as still as death.
My skin tingled with a warning. Ahead, lay trouble.
First of all, my father’s study, or dungeon as everyone else referred to it was his sanctuary. Only two types of people had been allowed in here. It wasn’t even a room anyone unfamiliar with the house could access. You could only get to it through a hidden door in the kitchen’s pantry, and down a secret stairway all the way to the base of the house. His immediate family, myself, my mother, and grandmother were the only ones allowed to be in here ‒ and his most trusted aides.
But more important than this, I recognized the man’s head and the