Page 91 of Ruined By Blood
"Charlotte Sterling. Sienna's mother." The words come faster now as the pieces fall into place. "That's how we turn this around on Sterling."
Alessio steps into the room, carefully avoiding the broken glass. "The mother's been out of the picture for years."
"No," I shake my head, pacing now as the plan forms. "She's alive. In some private clinic Sterling controls. He's keeping her drugged, compliant."
Damiano watches me carefully. "How do you know this?"
"Sienna told me. Sterling caught them trying to escape when Sienna was fifteen. Sent the mother away for 'specialized care.' It's his leverage over Sienna."
Alessio's expression shifts. "So if we find the mother?—"
"We find Sterling's weakness," I finish. "He's kept her alive for a reason. Either as punishmentor control."
Istep into the dining room, a place haunted by a thousand silent meals and countless invisible bruises. The table stretches before me like a no-man's land, with Henry already seated at the head, waiting. My father. My owner.
"Sienna." His voice carries that familiar chill—the one that still makes my spine straighten automatically. "You look refreshed after your... adventure."
I sit where I always have, to his right, close enough to reach if he's displeased. The place setting gleams with polished silver and bone china—a parody of family warmth.
"I trust you're hungry." He nods to Martha as she places a plate of perfectly arranged food before me. Sea bass with asparagus and lemon butter sauce. My stomach knots at the sight.
"Not particularly," I say, picking up my fork to push food around my plate.
Henry takes a bite, chewing methodically. "I'm curious about your time with the Ferettis. Their reputation precedes them, of course."
"They're monsters," I say, the lie burning my throat like acid. "Especially Enzo."
"Oh?" Henry's eyes glint with interest as he cuts his fish with surgical precision.
"Cold. Calculating." I force myself to meet his gaze. "He kept me locked up. Threatened me." Each word feels like a betrayal, but I know it's what Henry needs to hear. That Enzo is just another version of him.
A monster.
"I was afraid every moment," I continue, the only truthin my web of lies.
Henry nods, seemingly satisfied. "Did he touch you?"
I think of Enzo's hands on my skin, his lips against my scars, how he made me feel whole for the first time.
"No," I lie. "He found me... distasteful. Damaged goods."
Something like relief crosses Henry's face. He takes a sip of wine, studying me over the rim of his glass.
"Good. That simplifies matters." He sets down his glass with a soft clink against the tablecloth. "I've arranged a marriage for you."
My fork slips from my fingers.
"Marriage?" My voice sounds distant, hollow.
"Yes. Cortez has graciously agreed to take you as his wife rather than merely as part of our business arrangement. He leaves for Mexico in three weeks. The ceremony will be the night before that."
The room spins around me. Marriage. To Cortez.
"I don't understand," I manage, my mouth dry as sand. "Why marriage? I thought?—"
"You thought what, Sienna?" Henry's eyebrow arches, a warning.
I swallow hard. "I thought the arrangement was temporary. For his visit only."
