An evil smile crossed my father’s face. “Oh. Look who’s finally speaking to me like a man.”
“Are there any other cameras in here?” I asked.
“No,” he replied.
“I’ll find them if there are,” I spat back.
“The only one is smashed in your hand, though it can be easily replaced,” he responded.
“It won’t be,” I told him. “You need me to carry out this plan of yours. If you want me to do things as you say, the surveillance stops. Not just me. All of my siblings. We don’t need to tell them, just have their cameras removed.”
“That doesn’t sound in my best interest,” he said.
“That you have a fear at all that any of us would turn our backs on you is outrageous. Your sons, either from fear or from stupidity, would follow you into a blazing fire. Keep the hallways bugged if you want. Hell, put a camera in every goddamn room of this house if you feel like it. Our bedrooms are off-limits starting today.” I glared directly into his eyes. “If I’m going to commit suicide for you, the least you can do is give me some privacy.”
Angelo studied my face for a while, and I could see him battling between his pride and how much hedidneed me. There were more ways than one that I could screw up his little plan. Unless he killed me there on the spot, there was a wealth of tools in my arsenal. Even if it brought me to the end of my life, I could bring him down with me, and he knew that.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll order the cameras removed. It’s not like you’ll be around much longer anyway.” There it was again. That reminder that if I truly died by the Bonifacios guns, he’d find some other way to carry out the rest of his plan, and would do so happily. I dropped the camera on the floor and stomped on it, just to make sure it was truly broken, and to send a message. “Was there anything else you needed?”
“No,” I said.
“Good.” He took a step forward and threw a punch directly at my face. His fist contacted hard with my cheek and sent me flying off the side of the bed. I clattered to the ground with a thump, the entire left side of my face stinging. “That was cute. I’m honoring your request this time, but make no mistake who makes the rules around here. I’ll do whatever I damn well please. Try that shit again and it won’t be my fist against your face, it’ll be the barrel of my gun.”
The taste of iron filled my mouth, but I didn’t move as I felt blood dripping down my face. Angelo Cavetti had a thing for blood, and seeing it would please him enough to get him out of my room. He snorted at me before turning on his heel and storming out of the room. I waited a good fifteen or twenty minutes before moving, then I conducted a careful comb of my entire room, closet, and bathroom included. I didn’t trust my father as far as I could throw him and wanted to make sure there were no extra eyes on what I had planned for the evening.
The sun had well descended by the time I finished my search and was confident no other cameras were spying on me. I cleaned up the room with the materials Philippa and Alegna had left behind and just as I was getting everything stacked up at the end of the cleanse, there was a quiet knock on my door. I checked my cheek in the bathroom, but it was no use. Philippa would know I’d been hit.
Whatever.
Making my way quickly to the door, I opened it and pulled her in, just in case there was a camera in the hallway. Her jaw dropped instantly and her hand rushed to my bruised skin. “What happened?”
“A successful negotiation,” I replied.
“It doesn’t look successful.”
“Trust me. It was.” I ran a hand through her hair.
“Can I do anything to help?” she asked and I smiled.
“Yeah,” I said. “I want you.”
Her shoulders got a little higher and her eyes a little wider. “Really?”
“Is that okay?” I asked. She nodded, so I backed up and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Good. Then strip for me.”
10
Philippa
The shift in Gianni’s behavior towards me seemed so sudden, but I wasn’t going to complain. Though it felt like I was maybe trapped in one of the hundreds of fantastical dreams I’d had in the past ten years, there was no denying that the heat blanketing my skin was very real. Gianni was sitting on the edge of his bed, his eyes dark and wide and focused on me, and despite the slamming of my heart in my chest, or the fact that my brain was turning to liquid in my head, I wanted to put on a good show. I’d dreamed of doing something like that for Gianni before, so I was relying on my memory to put something good together.
No longer in my staff uniform, I was dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt. I didn’t have sexy underwear per se, but I’d had my fair share of sexual experiences with other male staff. I was only human, and when you’re in love with a man as beautiful as Gianni, natural urges start to creep up. Thinking I’d never get them from him, I sought temporary comfort in men like Derek the guard, or other interested staff members. Typically, it resulted in those men developing the wrong idea about what I wanted from them, so as I got older I did it less, and it’d been a while since I’d done anything at all.
Now I wished I hadn’t. I would have loved for Gianni to be my first.
Still, I could give myself to him with the full dedication of my heart and that felt much more real to me. As far as I was concerned, itwasmy first time.
Grabbing the base of my shirt, I rolled my stomach forward as I pulled it up. I revealed my torso in slow, enticing centimeters until I had no choice but to drag it over my head and toss it to the side. My bra wasn’t anything amazing, just a plain white bra, but it didn’t seem to matter to Gianni’s who’s lips curved into a happy smile at the sight. He licked his lips and it sent a chill straight down my spine. The man who’d only ever looked at me with respect and love was now staring at me like he wanted to devour me whole.
