Page 5 of Pretty Poison

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I breathe. “You let me believe everything was fine—”

“I know, Principessa, and I’m sorry, but I couldn’t bring my daughter into it.” His voice is low and full of shame. “I wanted to believe that I could do it alone and when I couldn’t, I had no choice but to involve the Vitales. It wasn’t planned, Liana, it was spur of the moment and a last resort.”

“What about your wife?” Chiara asks in disbelief. “We’re supposed to be partners. You’re not supposed to struggle alone.”

“I thought if I got the company back on its feet again, then everything would be fine and revert back to normal.”

“But it hasn’t, has it?” I ask, the sinking feeling in my gut plummeting further.

“In the past year, I’ve only been able to pay back less than half of what I owe. It left me with no choice but to strike another deal with the Vitales until they’ve been paid in full.”

“Just tell me, Papa! I can’t be sitting on the edge of my seat for however long this takes.” My voice emanates annoyance that earns a heavy sigh from him.

“Until the debt is satisfied, you’ll be staying with the Vitales. In a few weeks, if it’s still not paid off, you’ll,” he pauses as if to choose his next words carefully, “you’ll marry him. Dario, I mean. Once they’ve been reimbursed, you’ll be free of the contract.”

Everything he says next is a blur to me—my vision, his words, even Anabel as she tries to console me and Chiara as she yells at my father.

I fight back the silent tears that threaten to escape my eyes as I attempt to mask my emotions behind a brave face. “I’m collateral to you?” My voice comes out as nothing more than a whisper, and for a split second, his eyes widen at my question. “You’ve had a year to put the money together, to put the money you needed aside, and you failed, yet you think you can pay over half of your debt in a mere few weeks? Are you mentally deranged? Have all those sleepless nights finally gotten to you?”

I take several shallow breaths. “I’ve spent a whole year thinking you continued to strive alone, but it was all a lie. You’ve been counting down the days until I would leave home and be thrust into this man’s arms, weren’t you? Are you relieved that all your fatherly duties are over now? Are you happy that I’m not your problem anymore?”

He continues to stare at me, dumbfounded. “You should’ve known that this wouldn’t end how you thought it would. You should’ve known that borrowed money, no matter the amount, would take time to pay back. You can’t worm your way out of this shit now.”

Finally opening his mouth to speak, I cut him off, staring daggers at him, and thrust my finger into his chest. “You don’t get to try and explain yourself now. You had the chance, and you decided not to or maybe you couldn’t find the words. I don’tknow. But either way, you made the mistake of making this deal so fucking own it.”

“I never meant—”

“You never meant what?” I bite back.

He’s taking my angry words with as much pain as I give them. We both know I wouldn’t usually raise my voice to my father this way, but clearly, times are changing.

“You never meant to hurt me? To sign me away as nothing more than an object to hold? What possible explanation could you have that would right these wrongs? You don’t think I’ve heard stories of the ruthless, cold-hearted, egotistical, stubborn–to name a few–Don, who not only kills people for a living but enjoys it, too?”

The stories, rumours and lies I’ve heard are nothing more than what a younger me would consider fucked-up fairytales. Stories parents would tell their children to get them to behave, like the Bogeyman or Krampus. Instead, this twisted tale is my reality. I’ll be sitting dead centre, getting a front-row seat to this man and the antics he and his family get up to behind closed doors. I’ll get to see the activities they take part in that even police can’t pin on them, because there’s no evidence.

“I honestly– I-I don’t– h-how could—” I stutter pitifully, no longer able to remember my last thought. I see nothing but deep red seeping from the walls as a clear indicator of what my future holds.

Given what this family is capable of, and what the man I’m to marry can do with that smirk on his face, I can only assume what would happen to me if I dared to speak my mind like I did with my father.

I waste no time in leaving the large hall, only to see the entire group of guests standing inches away from the door I slammed behind me. They all stare at me with pity in their eyes as if I’m someone grieving, which in some ways, I guess I am. Grieving the girl I was before this was sprung on me. Mourning the loss of my beloved father, whom I no longer recognise.

Tilting my head up, I lock eyes once more with the man who now owns me, his face riddled with greed amongst his cold demeanour.

With no hesitation, I push past him and run towards my room, locking myself in with the hopes my flimsy lock blocks the horror my life has come to. The horrors that await me in Dario Vitale’s clutches.

Three

DARIO

“You have my sincerest apologies for my daughter’s behaviour tonight.” Gabriel’s tone feigns pleasantness.

“That’s quite alright,” my father says as a sympathetic smile lifts the corners of his mouth. “We should’ve seen it coming, really. We ambushed her.”

“My father’s just being polite,” I add, putting my blatant honesty on display. “No grown woman should act like a child, especially towards her father. I won’t tolerate her childish tantrums.”

“She’s just startled by the whole thing, I assure you,” Gabriel emits a nervous laugh. “As your wife, her etiquette will meet your standards.”

“Yes… Yes she will. It is expected of her.”

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