“Here is the deal…we aren’t going to play games all night as my patience for your bullshit is running thin.” One of the guards hands him a long stick, that looks to be made of bamboo. What is he going to do? Quivering with fear, I take a step back. “I’m going to cane one of you. If Dove decides to take the punishment, she will receive one strike. If you decide to take it, you will receive ten. What’s it going to be?”
“I’ll do it,” I say, my voice trembling. “Zane is still healing from the gunshot wounds. Let me do it. Please!”
“You will fucking not!” Zane’s voice booms through the space as he shoves me backward. The anger in his voice triumphs any sound I’ve ever heard. Before I can object or make a move, he’s tugging his shirt off and walking over to Matteo.
“Stand with your hands against the wall,” he orders Zane, whose movements are now robotic, almost as if he’s shut down. It feels like I’m watching this from outside my body. Lifting the cane, he continues, “This is your only warning. If you try and fight me, Dove will incur the same punishment. Do you understand?”
Zane merely nods, his head tipped forward, his chin tucked into his chest. All I see at that moment is William. Protecting me. Saving me.
“No! Please, don’t do this. Please, we won’t do it again, I swear.” The words tumble out of my mouth as I rush toward my father, but before I reach him, an arm circles my waist and pulls me backward.
Without even looking at me, the monster of a man called my father says, “This is your first lesson, sweetheart. Sometimes, mistakes are made, and sometimes, you make a bad choice, and others pay the consequence. Learn from your mistakes.”
Without warning, he brings the cane down on Zane’s back. The sound is heartbreaking, and I fight with all my might against the man holding me back, but it doesn’t do me any good. He just tightens his hold on me. Kicking and screaming, I watch through teary eyes as Zane takes each lash of the cane on his back as if it’s nothing. As if he doesn’t feel the pain at all.
His hands ball into tight fists but remain against the wall. How can he do this to him? How can he beat someone without blinking? At the fourth strike, his skin starts breaking and blood trickles down his back. My throat is raw, and my lungs burn by the time the beating is over.
As soon as the last lash is delivered, the guard releases me. Anger flows freely through my veins, overtaking the sadness that was just there. I want to hurt all of these men, destroy them, make them pay for what they’ve just done.
“I hate you! I hate you so much. You will never be my father. Never,” I scream at Matteo as I rush to Zane, who sags to the floor in defeat. His back a bruised and bloody mess.
“Hate me all you want, Daughter, but you will learn to follow my rules and learn to obey me, or more punishments like tonight will occur.”
I don’t bother responding to him, and he doesn’t wait for me either. Handing off the cane to one of his guards, he shoves his hands into the pockets of his sleep pants and walks up the stairs. At the top, he turns around, and his eyes are like knives driving into my still-beating heart.
“Try and escape again, and you won’t like what happens, Dove.”
I steal my spine and curl my lip. “You don’t own me.”
“Ha, but I do. I created you, which means I’m your god,” he says and disappears into the house. His men slowly filter out, and I remain sitting on the cold hard ground beside Zane, listening as his breaths turn from ragged to nothing but a wheeze.
“I’m sorry, Zane. I let you down. All over again, you saved me, and I let you down.” I tell him as I softly cry, the tears cling to my eyelashes, making it hard for me to see.
Out of nowhere, a hand cups me gently by the cheek, and Zane’s dark gaze bleeds into mine. “You didn’t let me down, birdy. I’d endure any pain and go through any beating just to make sure you don’t have to. It would kill me to see you broken and hurt. I know you wanted to protect