Page 54 of Forbidden Sins

From beneath my eyelashes, I see Sebastian shift, his face set in tight lines that make the chiseled hollows beneath his cheekbones look even deeper. His gaze is fixed on Vito, still blank, but I can imagine how he must feel right now.

Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t come with me.I don’t know what my father will do to him—but I can’t imagine how it would feel for Sebastian to have to see this, day in and day out, and so much worse. How long could he bear knowing Vito is forcing me every night? How long could he stand watching Vito touch me however he pleases, breaking me bit by bit until I truly become the submissive, biddable wife that he wants? How long before Sebastian would snap, and I would have to watch Vito order his death?

I close my eyes briefly, fighting back tears. I feel trapped, and there’s no conceivable way out that I can imagine.

“Estella was raised to respect tradition,” my father says, pride in every word. “She will be a good wife for you, Vito.”

“I have no doubt,” Vito agrees. “Although I expect some of her more… eccentric hobbies will have to fall by the wayside, once we’re married.” He smiles indulgently at me. “I doubt you’ll have hours to spend reading or painting. You’ll have a strict exercise routine, after all, to ensure you remain as beautiful as you are now, both before and after children. Regular beauty treatments and a strict diet. Your focus will be on pleasing me, and keeping our home, and then raising our children before much time passes. You won’t have as much free time as you do now.”

Just like that, I can feel the shackles tightening. I nod, forcing a sweet smile to my lips, but I know my eyes are glassy with the tears that I’m trying desperately to keep from falling. I don’t know how long I can bear this. We’re not even married yet, and I’m already so miserable that I can’t help but feel I’d rather die than marry this man.

“Vito has strong expectations,” my father says with a chuckle, looking at me with an expression that I know is a warning. A warning not to let Vito see how unhappy he knows I am with this arrangement. “But they will make for a happy home and well-bred children. If my own wife had behaved so well, perhaps Estella would have been raised with a mother.”

“Our own children will be more blessed.” Vito’s fingers run down my spine to the top of my dress, and then he returns his hand to the table. “Let’s retire, Antony. I’ll walk Estella up to her room, and then we can discuss the contract over some good port in your study.”

Sebastian steps forward. “There’s no need, Mr. Bianchi,” he says firmly. “I’ll walk Estella up, as I do every night.”

Vito pauses halfway to standing, my father and I already standing up from our seats. I can feel the tension snap taut between them, Sebastian staring Vito down as the two men look at each other from across the table.

Vito smiles coldly. “That won’t be necessary. I can escort my future wife to her door.”

“Protocol is that I escort her.” Sebastian’s jaw tenses, and I feel heat crawl up my neck. If Vito hadn’t already decided to replace Sebastian, he would now for certain. But I think that’s why Sebastian is daring to speak up. He has very little left to lose, now. He’s doing his best to protect me while he can, because there’s no question that Vito’s desire to walk me to my bedroom isn’t innocent.

He wouldn’t try to fuck me before the wedding, I’m almost sure. But he might try something else. Just to prove to himself and to me that I’m already his.

“You’re on borrowed time as her security. You might as well start winding down your duties.” Vito’s smile is tight in a way that makes my heart flip in my chest, wondering if he’s noticed something more. If he suspects something between Sebastian and me.

To my surprise, my father intervenes—possibly because he, too, knows that Vito wants more than he should be allowed to take right now.But if that’s true,I wonder,why would he allow Vito to marry me at all? Does he care so little for me?

The truth, I know, is that my father values business over my happiness. And he sees Vito as a man who wants what all men want—and merely has to be prevented from taking it until he’s allowed to have it… to have me.

“Let him do his job while he has it, Vito,” Antony cuts in. “Let’s go to my study and enjoy the rest of the evening. Sebastian will see Estella safely upstairs.”

My father looks at me, a warning in his eyes, and I know that it’s a test. He’s protecting me from Vito’s advances, but he also wants to find out if Sebastian and I will try to get away with something.

We have to be careful. There are more eyes around the mansion than ever before. We can’t take risks.

The irritation at being denied is clear on Vito’s face, but he leans in, brushing his lips against my cheek. “Sweet dreams,bella,” he murmurs. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”

I nod, acutely aware of Sebastian watching us, his body rigid with tension. He says nothing as we walk out of the dining room, following me several steps behind as we head to the staircase and then up to the second floor, all the way to my bedroom. I pause with my hand on the knob, glancing back at him, but his face is utterly blank.

“Goodnight,” he says, his voice toneless, and I frown, but nod at him.

“Goodnight.”

Once inside my room, I lean back against the door, letting out a shuddering breath as I try to keep the tears from falling. I’m alone now, but I’m afraid that if I start crying, I’ll never stop. That I’ll dissolve into hysterics, and break apart into so many pieces that I’ll never be able to put them back together again.

A few tears drip down my cheeks all the same. I drop into my chair in front of my vanity, taking off my jewelry with shaky fingers, brushing away the tears. Mascara stains my fingers, and I grab a tissue, wiping violently at them as I look out of my window over the expanse of the estate beyond.

“How did it come to this?” I whisper, my chest aching. “How did it all go so wrong?”

I still don’t know exactly what happened to my brother. My father won’t tell me the details. All I know is that the job he went to do on my birthday went wrong. I don’t know who was responsible, or what came after, or why exactly someone wanted him dead.

All I know is that he’s gone, and from that moment, my world has come unraveled a thread at a time until now there’s nothing left for me to hold onto.

I hear the door creak open behind me, and I jump, whirling around just in time to see Sebastian slipping into my room, closing the door quickly behind him.

“Sebastian!” I gasp his name, my hand flying to my throat. “You can’t be in here. What if someone saw you?—”

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