Page 81 of Useless Love

Getting off the elevator, I laugh at how much things have changed between Marco and me. Everyone is out having a family dinner, so I'm not expecting anyone to be home. But as soon as I walk into my room, I see Father sitting on my bed with a pistol.

I stop in my tracks, looking for an escape, but one of his guards is already blocking the door. I'm trapped.

I guess today is the day Father actually kills me, and gets rid of his whore daughter. But I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry, so I bite back my tears.

“I see you are back from whoring around town,” Father says with disgust.

“When a man has sex it ok. I do the same and everyone acts like it’s a fucking crime.”

He gets up from the bed, crosses the room, and back hands me so hard I stumble into the wall.

“I have tried to have patience with you, turning a blind eye to the shame you bring on this family,” he says. “But you've become a danger to my other children. My good children.”

The left side of my face hurts, but I find the courage to say, “Your good children? My saintly siblings are in danger from me?”

“Shut the fuck up! I am going to speak, and when I’m finished, it’s the last I‘ll ever waste my breath on you.”

He is going to kill me tonight. He sent Mother, Victoria, and Nico to dinner on purpose.

“I hear you’ve manipulated Gaia once again.”

“You really want to kill me over that?”

Raising his gun right at me, he barks, “Say one more fucking word. I dare you!”

I swallow and stay silent.

His nostrils flare and his jaw flexes. “Let me tell you how things are gonna go. I’ve already told Gaia she will marry Carmine Gaudino. You will not.”

What? What about Satta? No wonder Gaia hasn’t been answering my phone calls.

"And any plans you had to kill him are done. While I admit I had thoughts about it before, the peace is much better. I see that he's a good man and Gaia loves him. If Carmine or any fucking Gaudinos get so much as a paper cut, and it brings war to my front door, that's the day you draw your last fucking breath."

Never knowing when to shut the hell up, I screech, "Luca, Diego, and Franco are all dead. Yet here you are planning a wedding! I'm the only one with any sense trying to save this family from themselves"

He backhands me again and I crash into my vanity, falling. While on the floor, my father opens the cylinder on his revolver, reaches into his pocket, and loads a bullet. I close my mouth and eyes at the same time.

Fine. I guess I'll see Luca again soon, the only one who ever loved me.

Time passes, and I hear his breathing, then finally footsteps retreating. I exhale, opening an eye to see that he's near the door.

“I will take responsibility for this twin swap mess,” he tells me. “Then, I’m going to find a man still willing to marry a woman with your lack of chastity. Whoever I choose, you will marry him without question. Understand?”

I don't say anything, only touch my throbbing cheek. My mouth tastes like copper

Looking sick to his stomach as he meets my eyes, Father continues, “I will arrange that marriage ASAP. Next, all your guards will be replaced. Also, you can’t leave the penthouse without my permission.”

This bastard wants to jail me? I'd rather he shoot me and get this over with.

"Your calls and movements will all be monitored. Credit card access is shut off. You are essentially an inmate, and your best hope is parole for good behavior.”

Ignoring the pain, I pull myself up from the floor. “You can’t do this to me,” I use my last bit of stubbornness to grit out. “Just fucking shoot me like you've always wanted to. You've never loved me, so just do it.”

Father sighs and comes back over to me. “Arianna, I do this more for myself than for you. It would break my fucking heart to kill you. Do you understand that? You're a whore, but you're still my child. However, you seem to be focused solely on ruining our family’s name, inflicting pain on your sister, and stirring constant trouble amongst those of us who actually love you.”

Love! Is this what he calls love? No one loves me, not even my fucking twin.

“You just can’t,” I say with a tone already showing signs of my defeat.

---