Page 12 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

When my father finally spoke, I could’ve sworn I heard her squeak.

“I understand you wish to make a deal?”

“I… um…” She shot me a quick glance and said, “I thought the deal was already… done.”

Why the fuck was she stammering? My dad wasn’t that scary.

“Nothing is final until it comes through me.”

Boss or not, that wasn’t what I was led to believe. Why the fuck would he bother instructing me on my part of this if the deal wasn’t done? Unless he was just trying to scare her into submission. Either way, I didn’t like it. Getting her to submit was my job, not his.

“Okay…” Nova turned her attention back to my father. “I want to?—”

He held up his hand, cutting her off. “I know what you want. What I want is to make sure you understand what a deal like this means. There’s no getting out of it. Once you sign on the dotted line, so to speak, your life will belong to my son. Should he choose to end it, then so be it.”

Nova nodded. “I know.”

“I don’t think you do.” My father sat forward and folded his hands on his desk. “It’s not just whether you live or die that will be up to Giovanni. It will be everything. What you wear, when and what you eat, where you work, when you can leave the house, and how you do your hair. You will have no freedom. Every decision made will be made by my son, and you will obey.”

I snorted. “She doesn’t know how to obey.”

“Hey!” Nova snapped her head around to me. “I can obey.”

And there was the attitude I got.

“Oh yeah,” I looked her right in the eye. “Bark.”

Did I expect her to listen? No. I was trying to prove a point.

“I’m not your dog.”

“Yes,” my father intervened. “You are. If Giovanni tells you to bark, then you will bark. If he wants you to kiss his feet, suck his cock, or suck someone else’s cock, then that is exactly what you’ll do. I don’t care if he wants you to parade around in an animal costume. This isn’t a game, little girl. Every action has consequences. Disobey and you will be punished. You no longer exist beyond what my son decides. Do you understand me?”

Time stood still as I watched Nova stare back at my father. The gravity of the situation was opened and on the table for her. Nova was fucked. She knew it, and I knew it. Still, anticipation coursed through my veins as she forced down a heavy swallow. I wanted to hear her say it. Time slowed down when her lips parted.

“Will my brother be safe?”

My father nodded, “Yes.”

Nova looked back at me, and I knew she could sense the darkness inside me. I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to lick the tears off her face while I enjoyed her misery in every way I could. That urge was calling out to her right now, like a moth to a flame. The second Nova said those words, she’d get burned.

“If my brother is safe,” Nova nervously licked her lips, then turned back around to my father. “Then I don’t care what happens to me.”

“Very well,” he cleared his throat and flipped open a file. “I see you’re a virgin.”

That seemed to shock her. Nova’s eyes rounded for a second. “Yes?”

It wasn’t a question, but okay.

“You do well in school, that’s good. Intelligence won’t be an issue. Is there any history of disease in the family?”

“Um… no.” Her nose scrunched and she sat forward and asked, “Why does that matter?”

“Genetics, my dear.”

Although that answer seemed clear to me, Nova was still confused.

“Genetics?”

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