“You are beyond forgiveness!” Damon snarled, shrugging off his brother’s warning hand and stalking towards him, hand straying towards his weapon. “Were it up tome, you would be begging for death where you stand.”
“Then it’s a good thing it’s not up to you!” Michael wheezed, waving him away. “Sit down, Damon, or I will ask your brother to escort you out.”
“Yes, Father.” Damon bowed his head and stepped back. “Forgive me.”
Silence fell as Michael waved Damon’s apology away and gestured for Matthew to bring him some water, before fixing Antonio with another angry glare. For his part, Antonio did his best not to throw up, his heart racing with fear. For all that he wielded immense power amongst his own family, in the Richardson house he was lower than scum.
“So tell me, Blackwood.” Michael’s voice was slightly hoarse, but still firm. “What possessed you to betray my daughter’s trust not once, not twice, but … I believe it wasthirtytimes? Did you temporarily lose your faculties? Fall into a drug-induced haze? Drink too much? Tell me, what was it?”
“I don’t know.” The floor started to become more and more interesting the longer he looked at it. “I have no excuse for my actions.”
“That’s not good enough!” Damon shouted, unable to contain himself. He shrugged off his brother’s hand once again and grabbed Antonio’s jaw, forcing him to look up at him. “You had theworld, Blackwood, and you’ve destroyed it for what? Some broad in a bar? A prostitute? Or was it a ‘lady of the night’, as I hear they’re calling themselves now?”
“I’m sorry!” Antonio sobbed, tears beginning to run down his face. “I know I’ve lost everything, IknowI screwed up, but Icannotgive up on my wife! Not now … not when everything’s starting to change ? ”
He didn’t care if it made him look weak, he didn’t even care that his tears were dripping onto Damon’s hand. The only feelings he had were intense shame and heartbreak as he thought of his wife and how lonely she must have felt waiting for him to come home night after night. The shame threatened to overwhelm him, and it was all he could do not to throw himself on the floor and beg Damon to beat him to a pulp.
Michael gestured for Damon to let go of Antonio and looked him straight in the eyes, waiting for him toregain his composure. A tense silence fell over the room, and nobody dared to break it until Michael was finally ready to speak again.
“What makes you think you’re worthy of forgiveness?” he asked, coughing slightly. Antonio took a deep breath and swallowed before answering, eyes still firmly fixed on the floor.
“I’mnotworthy, sir.”
“Tell us something we don’t know, Blackwood.” Damon’s voice was still sarcastic and angry, and he wondered if that would ever change. Swallowing hard, he tried to think of a reason for his in-laws to forgive him, but he eventually gave up.
“I’m not worthy of forgiveness, sir. I’m not going to pretend that I am. All I can tell you is that I will accept any punishment, any disgrace, anybeating… if it gets me back to Alyssia, I will do it.”
Michael looked Antonio up and down, rubbing his lips with a finger as he thought. While Antonio was arguably the most pathetic excuse for a son-in-law he’d ever seen, he was also a Blackwood, and that demanded at least atinyamount of courtesy.
“You say you will doanythingto earn my daughter’s trust?”
Antonio glanced up at him and nodded, before returning his gaze to the floor. The carpet was dusty, and he wondered if anybody bothered to hoover it.
Alyssia would probably know someone, he thought, before realising Michael was still waiting for an answer.
“Anything, sir,” he said, not daring to say anything else. Michael nodded again, still rubbing his lips with his finger.
“Very well. We will spare your miserable life – for now.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” his father-in-law chuckled. “My daughter will send you a list of our requirements, and hers, in order to be given achanceof forgiveness.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Do you?” Damon snorted, unable to help himself. “If you understand the gravity of your actions, scum, why did you repeat the same action time after time? Any decent man would have stayed faithful to begin with!”
“Damon!” Matthew snapped. “Father has spoken. You may not agree with his decision, but youwillrespect it.”
“You’re right, brother. Idon’tagree with this decision!” Damon replied, derision in every syllable. “This …wormdoesn’t deserve to live, and he should be thanking the saints that his body’s not riddled with holes! Instead, he just says ’I understand, sir’ like some businessman. He’s a coward, a liar, and not worth a second more of our sister’s time!”
“And that’s forAlyssiato decide,” Matthew replied, taking his arm. “She’s the eldest, and the next leader of our family. When Father passes?”
“He’s not dead yet!”
“No, but he will be one day, andwhenhe dies, we willbothhave to answer to our sister. Better to respect her decisions now, than make an enemy of her later.”
Damon growled his disapproval, but acknowledged his brother’s words with a raised hand. Despite being the youngest of the three, Matthew often spoke the most sense, something Damon struggled with. It was something that Antonio was becoming more and more grateful for, since he suspected that Matthew had been instrumental in him staying alive.
