Page 24 of Bought to Break
‘Two men who broke into my room last night to steal …’ She faltered at his furious look. What few memories she had of him painted him as a doting father. She didn’t remember him ever being angry.
‘Go on,’ he said coldly.
‘I tried to fight them off, but they … then they were scared away.’ She gave him a wan smile.
Her father scowled. ‘Two men, you say? One large and the other small?’
‘Yes, but how–’
He interrupted her, speaking to a guard whom, she only just noticed, was waiting by the door. Why did her father even need guards?
‘Find those two idiots. Now. They’ve inconvenienced me for the last time.’
Inconvenienced? Him?She almost snorted. But she kept silent and her gaze low.
‘Da, please. Mama told me you were dead!’
Her father took her hands. ‘You were very young, child. Your mother and I … She told me to go. I heard she’d remarried. But,’ he shrugged apologetically, ‘she was a freewoman with property. She did what the law allows.’
‘But why didn’t you come for me?’ She tried not to sound accusing but saw by his grimace that she’d failed.
‘Oh, my child.’ He took her hands in his. ‘I did come back not long after I heard your mother was gone, but they told me at the stables that a fever had taken you.’ He bowed his head. ‘I left in grief. I never went back.’
‘Who would tell you such a thing?’ But she had a feeling that she already knew.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ he said with an impatient gesture. ‘A boy. The stablemaster’s son, I think.’
Lana’s good hand clenched in anger. Was there no end to Ather’s malice? ‘He lied. I was sold to Dirk. I was his slave.’
‘Alora’s husband?’ Her father’s eyes narrowed. ‘What kind of slave?’
Lana frowned. ‘Does it matter?’
‘No, no, of course not. I simply meant … Did he force himself on you, child?’
‘No.’
‘Did anyone?’
She wondered at this odd line of questioning but answered. ‘No, Da.’
He seemed to relax then and rang a bell on his desk. ‘I’m so glad you’re here, my dear. It truly is a godly intervention. You’ve no idea how much you can help me. Let me have you taken to a room upstairs where you can clean up. I’ll send my personal physician to attend you.’
She nodded, leaning into him for a hug. ‘Thank you.’
He caressed her cheek. ‘We can talk later, once you’ve rested.’
‘I can’t believe I’m here,’ she said as she hugged him close again. ‘I can’t believe I’ve found you.’
A woman appeared.
‘Take this girl to one of the guest chambers. See that she is given clothes, food and anything else she requires.’
‘Yes, my lord.’
Lana was broughtup another staircase, the woman leading the way. If the servant was surprised that she was taking care of a strange, bruised girl, she didn’t show it. She opened a door off a long corridor and bade Lana go inside, saying she would have a bath prepared and send food and clothes up shortly.
Lana gazed around the lavish room as the door clicked closed. The large bed was on a raised platform in the centre. There was a copper bath in the corner and a balcony that looked out onto the river. She sat on the bed and tried to collect her thoughts. How much had happened since the morning when Viktor and Sorin had bought her from Dirk. She would go back one day, she promised herself, and she would make those who’d wronged her pay.
