Chapter 162
“If he knew, he would have come for me.”
“Would he? He was so busy fighting his own wars. He took your virginity and left you to face Dad’s rage on your own. A real man would’ve walked you to the door and faced Dad.”
“Oh my god, you don’t even know the whole story!” she yelled at him and then slugged him in the shoulder out of annoyance. “I knew I was being sold to The Grizzly. Dad never hid it. At first I was going to just do it because anything was better than being in that house with him or worse, getting married off to a cousin.” She heard his snort, “but I was at school and one of the girls there was talking about how she had a sugar daddy, and he was paying for her classes.” I was paying attention, and she told me he’d offered big money if she let him take her virginity. I saw dollar signs. I saw a way to get away from under dad and out of the stupid contract. If I wasn’t a virgin, then the contract was void. I created an online auction and sent it out. It reached Torquato. He made a bid. He made a damn good bid. Nobody else came close. I went with it. He gave me a fake name. In hindsight, he was using Terrell’s company to hide his identity, so I know why I never found anything on him.”
“You both gave fake names.”
“Yes. Then,” she sighed loudly, “the morning after everything happened,” she saw his eyebrow lift and sighed, “I woke up to the sound of a silenced gun going off.”
“What do you mean?>
“Remember Torq told you he needed to deal with the Zanelli family because they put bombs in his car?”
“Yes.”
“Well, he dealt with them while I was in the next room. I was literally laying in bed, naked as the day I was born, sore in places I hadn’t known could feel sore the night before and then I heard a gun go off in the main room. I was stuck in the room. I managed to get out on the balcony, but I had nowhere to go. The minute his back was turned, I ran, Merc. I ran like the devil himself was chasing me. He was dealing with guys bombing his cars. In his mind, he’d find me fast because he’s the self–proclaimed king of New York, but I erased every bit of me offline.”
“He still should’ve canceled the engagement in person.”
“1. agree. He agrees. We both agree but we
can’t go
back in time. It never dawned on him I’d be so hard to find. I never looked for him other than once and when I asked for him at the hotel by the name I knew, of course nobody knew who the fuck I was talking about.”
“He’s not good to you. Even now. He’s not good to you.”
“We’re learning.”
“I saw what he did at the restaurant. His big debut like a fucking prom king and he left you to take the brunt of shit.”
“He apologized.”
The snort from her brother made her fists clench, “you don’t have the right to judge when you’ve done worse to me!”
“Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I love you, Alcee. You are my sister and while I’ve been a shitty brother, Lwas planning the last six years to find a way to get rid of Dad.”
“Why?”
“Because he was a selfish prick,” he took a breath, “Mom’s sick, Alcee.”
“You said it before,
Really sick. She asked me to make sure you are safe before she dies.”
Alcee froze, “dies?“.
“Dad’s jealous knew no bounds. Mom has heart disease which has left her with fluid on her lungs. She can’t go anywhere without an oxygen tank attached to her. She originally thought she was just broken hearted because you were gone out of the house. Then she got sick and suffered a small heart attack.”
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Chapter 162
“A heart attack?”
“Yes. Her drinking didn’t help. She was drinking a lot. Guilt was hurting her. She told me more than once she just wanted to die. She didn’t get treatment and then when she finally decided she would get help, Dad didn’t like the look of her cardiologist. Said he was too handsome. Then he got pissed off when she switched to a female doctor and accused her of turning Mom into a lesbian. Mom finally said she’d stop going. It made her heart disease worsen. To deal with the pain she drank herself to sleep most nights.”
“I didn’t know.”
“She didn’t want you to know. She failed you. She said it over and over again how she failed you. She doesn’t deserve your pity or your sorrow. She allowed this shit to happen. She was the one who called Dad and told him what you’d done. She is living with regret. She asked me to do right by you and to make sure you are where you want to be and to give you an option to get out.”
“An option to get out?”
“Yes. There is a family out of Greece, and he can provide a life for you and Antero. He has his own requirements in that he would want his own child someday. He doesn’t want to take you away from your son. I’m taking you to meet him.”
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