“No.” I shook my head, trying to make sense of things.
“He said,” Papa went on, pointing at me. “That you let him touch you.”
“No!” My voice cracked through the room, raw and furious. Where was he getting this from? Who betrayed me? Could it really have been the masked stranger? Did he sell me out to his boss for a sham of a marriage?
“He’s lying,” I said again, louder now. “I didn’t… none of that happened. I met a man. I didn’t even know his name. It certainly wasn’t The Serpent!”
Papa took a step closer, towering over me.
“Stupid, naive little girl. He described you,” he said. “Your face. Your voice.”
My hands curled into fists. “Anyone could…”
“He described the bite on your ankle,” Papa spit out, more venomous than the snake had been.
I froze. The silence that followed was deafening.
“He said you were already desperate when he found you,” Papa continued. “That you begged for him, almost instantly. That youneededhim.”
Heat flooded my face. Rage, humiliation, disbelief, all crashing together.
“A man helped me,” I snapped. “That’s all. I was bitten by a snake, Papa. I could have died if he hadn’t been there.”
Papa’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m sure he helped you. Helped you betray your family, and your purity.”
“No!” I screamed, frustrated. I wanted to tear my own hair out. “No, that’s not what happened! I didn’t know who he was - still don’t.”
“You knewexactlywho he was,” Papa accused me viciously. “The man you’ve heard all those stories about. The man your siblings fear for a reason.”
It dawned on me then that I had already met The Serpent. The masked stranger… The snake tattoo on the back of his hand. I should have known then and there.
“I didn’t know,” I rasped, begging him to believe me. “I had no idea he was a… a… killer.”
“He’s Moretti,” Papa seethed. “Leonardo Moretti, the heir. And you should have walked away. But what did you do instead? Spread your legs like some worthless whore.”
“Not true!” I hissed. “He-He helped me. I never knew who he was. We didn’t even… Nothing happened…”
I could feel my voice weakening. I didn’t even believe myself.
Had I not spent all my free time thinking about the masked stranger? The way his lips locked onto my ankle? And how much I wished it had been a different kind of kiss?
“And you expect me to believe,” he said slowly, “that a Moretti man simply walked away from you, leaving you untouched? That you aren’t already damaged goods?”
“I don’t care what you believe,” I shot back. “It’s the truth.”
Another pause. Deliberate. Crushing.
Papa smirked. “The man says youbeggedhim not to stop when he was taking your virginity.”
The words hit harder than any blow. Something inside me snapped.
“That’s enough!” I stepped forward despite the pain shooting up my ankle. “I didn’t beganyone. I didn’t ask foranything. He put his mouth on me because I was poisoned. Because I neededhelp!”
My chest heaved. My pulse roared in my ears. Papa just laughed.
“He didn’t touch me anywhere else,” I went on, voice shaking but unyielding. “He didn’t…” I swallowed hard, forcing the words out. “He didn’t do what you’re saying.”
Papa studied my face, a smirk playing on his face.
