He looked down. “Because I want to ruin every other man for you.” His jaw flexed as he spoke. “I’ll fuck you until you can’t think of anyone else. Until Rio is gone from your little lost mind.”
My pulse stuttered. “That will never happen,” I said, my voice barely touching the air against his chest.
He laughed, his hands sliding away from me, the heat of his touch fading as he lowered me to the ground.
“We’ll see,” he said.
He turned and walked off, leaving silence and the faint echo of his laughter behind.
I stood there, heart hammering. I could’ve run. The path was open, nothing holding me anymore. But my legs wouldn’t move.
I stayed. Not because I wanted to. Because I didn’t know how not to.
XIV. LIAR
Two months earlier
Sometimeslifehitsyouso unexpectedly that you don’t know where it begins and where it ends. I was adopted into a rich family, and some would think that for an orphan like me, this would mean a happy ending. That I would live happily ever after. But this is not that type of story, is it? I wouldn’t be where I am now if it were.
If I could rewind time, I would. I would find my younger self and hide him somewhere no one could ever find him. That’s the thing about hiding. You think it will solve your problems, but it only pushes them away until one day they come back and stare you in the face.
I had a few happy memories with my adoptive mother. She used to patch up every scar my adoptive father left when he drank too much. She called it mother’s love. I called it bullshit because if she really loved me, she would have taken me and run. It was that easy. But sometimes it’s hard to leave the ones you think you love. I know that now. No matter how many times the bastard hit her or me, she still believed he would change one day. But he never did.
Tonight, I got a call from a friend. Her voice was shaking as shetold me what happened. He finally did it. My so-called father beat my mother so badly that she didn’t have the strength to fight back. And sometime during the night, she gave up and died.
That’s life, they say. One moment you’re here, the next you’re gone. And sometimes you can’t change what’s already written in your stars.
I said nothing to anyone. Not even to Peggy or Mia, who have been by my side ever since I stepped on this cursed ground. I took a boat to Livorno, then a train to Rome, even though I can’t call it home anymore.
By the time I arrived, it was night. The stars were bright, the air was cold. The house stood there like none of this had happened at all.
I opened the front door slowly. Most of the lights were off, as if the warmth had died with her. The staff were gone. No one moved, no sound came through the hallways. It looked like a ghost house, haunted by memories but empty of life.
I stopped at the center of the grand staircase. The door to my father’s office was slightly open, the only light coming from inside. I walked closer and saw the fireplace burning low. He sat in his high chair with a glass of whiskey in his hand.
It was quiet.Too quiet.
I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
“Hello, Father,” I said.
Without turning around, he muttered, “Oh, look who decided to come back.”
I walked closer. His hands were bruised, the skin torn and crusted with dried blood. They shook, but still clutched a full glass of whiskey.
“Why are you here?” he asked. “No one to see now.”
My fingers curled into fists. My jaw tightened. I moved fast, grabbed him by the hair, and yanked his head back.He only laughed.
“Look at yourself, boy,” he sneered. “Pathetic. Miserable. Coming back to dig up something you’ll never find.” He spat on the floor. “You’re a loser. You’ll never be enough.”
My grip tightened. His laughter turned to a growl. Then he threw the glass at my head. It hit hard, shattering across my forehead. Sharp pain exploded as shards rained to the floor.
I hissed and stumbled back, pressing my fingers to my skin. When I looked down, they were pieces stained with my blood.
“You are nothing,” he said. “And you will always be nothing.”
“Cazzo,”I hissed through my teeth.
