I forced myself to keep walking, each step slightly heavier than the last. My heart screamed at me to stop, to turn back around, to run to Max and hold him in my arms, but I couldn’t.
I needed to get the gun from my father.
When I finally reached his side, he didn’t hesitate. He grabbed my arm, pulling me close to him, his gun still trained on Max. I felt the tension in his grip. His hand, once comforting, now felt like a shackle—chains that would bind me to a life built on lies.
Max watched me without a change in his expression, as if he’d already accepted whatever fate awaited him. I gave him a harder look. I hoped he could see the urgency in my eyes; the words I couldn’t voice.
My eyes darted down to my father’s gun and then back to Max. For a split second, I caught the smallest hint of recognition in Max’s eyes. It was subtle, but it was enough. He knew what I was planning, and more importantly, he’d realized I trusted him. That I believed him.
There was a risk that came with my actions. My father could shoot before I’d had the chance to take the gun from him. But what other choice did I have?
I took a deep breath, steadying myself for what I was about to do. My father’s grip on the gun was strong.
With my heart pounding in my chest, I moved even closer. His grip tightened, and his knuckles turned white. Max remained silent, standing across the warehouse, just a few feet between us now. I could see the blood on his wrists, and I knew immediately my father was the one responsible for killing Sean, and for what was about to happen to Max.
I had to time this perfectly. Every muscle in my body was coiled, ready to spring into action the moment I saw an opening. My mind raced, calculating the exact sequence of movements that would disarm my father and put an end to this nightmare.
But I never got the chance.
Before I could react, his arm moved quickly, wrapping itself around my neck in a vise grip. The next thing I felt was the cold, unforgiving press of metal against my temple—the barrel of his gun.
My father had a gun to my head.
For a split second, my mind refused to process what was happening. The man who’d claimed to protect me was now holding my life in his hands—the very hands that had once offered comfort. It felt surreal, like I’d stepped into someone else’s life; someone else’s horror. But the cold steel against my skin was all too real, and it shattered any illusion I might have clung to.
My breath hitched, catching in my throat, as the reality of the situation slammed into me. The world around me seemed to tilt, the edges of my vision blurring as if I were on the verge of passing out. I tried to focus, to steady myself, but the weight of the betrayal was too much, too sudden.My own father ...He was supposed to be the one person I could trust who would never harm me. But here I was, with his arm around my neck and his gun to my head.
A thousand thoughts raced through my mind. Was this really happening? Had I misjudged him so completely? The answers eluded me, slipping through my grasp like smoke.
Max’s eyes widened in horror as he saw what was happening, but he didn’t move. He didn’t dare. His gun was still trained on my father, but I could see the conflict in his eyes. He knew one wrong move, one shot, and I’d be dead.
Tears welled in my eyes as the reality of the situation crashed over me. My father wasn’t the man I’d thought he was. He was filled with a madness I’d never seen before.
Max’s gaze locked onto mine. He was desperately trying to think of a way out, a way to end this without anyone else getting hurt, but we were running out of time.
My heart pounded so violently in my chest it felt like it would burst, each beat a painful reminder my life could end in an instant. The man who’d once promised to keep me safe was now the greatest threat to my existence. And the worst part was, I hadn’t seen it coming. I’d walked right into his trap thinking I could outsmart him; thinking I could take control. But I’d underestimated him, and now I was paying the price.
As his grip tightened, cutting off my air, panic crept in. I’d spent my whole life trying to be the daughter my father wanted, trying to live up to his expectations, earn his approval, but now, in this moment, all that seemed meaningless. The only thing that mattered was the cold barrel against my head and the man holding it.
With a deep, shaky breath, I forced myself to calm down. To focus. I needed to find a way to reach the father I once knew, to get him to see reason, or at least to distract him long enough for Max to take back control.
“Dad,” I rasped between sobs, “you don’t have to do this. Please ... let me go. We can walk away from this and act like it never happened.”
For a moment, my father’s grip loosened a fraction. But then, just as quickly, his hold tightened again, and I could feel the cold steel of the gun pressing harder against my temple.
“You’re just like your mother,” he hissed, his voice on the edge of becoming venomous. “Too trusting. Too soft. You don’t understand how this world works, Rose, but you will. You’ll see that I’m doing this for you. You’ll see Max isn’t who you think he is. He’s still the same lying, manipulative bastard he’s always been. I’ll prove it.”
Why?The question echoed in my mind, over and over, with the desperate need to understand why he’d do this. Was it to teach me a lesson? To prove a point? Or was it something deeper, something twisted, that I’d never been able to see?
“You have a choice to make, Romano,” my father demanded. “Sign the marina back over to me, and my daughter is yours. If not ...”
Max’s focus was solely on my father and his gun. I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his hand tightened around the trigger, but he didn’t move. He didn’t respond immediately either, and the silence that followed was deafening.
My father wanted to prove Max wouldn’t choose me—that he’d choose the marina. This was how he wanted to save me from the marriage and finally show me the Romanos were everything he’d said they were.
“Sign it,” my father pressed. “Sign it, and this can all be over. You’ll have what you want, and I’ll have what is mine. Everyone walks away happy.”
The realization hit me like a physical blow: he’d never intended to protect me. It was my father who wanted the marina, not Max.
