Page 14 of Love Me Always

I turned on my heel and sauntered out of the dining room. I felt his eyes were on my ass as I rounded the corner, and I finally let out the breath I didn’t know I had been holding. I hurried up the stairs and carried on all the way to my bedroom, closing the door on my feelings and murderous thoughts of Lorenzo Ricci.

* * *

The next day was a blur. My mother barely spoke about anything other than the engagement party, closely followed by the wedding. I didn’t need or want a damn engagement party, everyone close enough to us already knew we were set to be married, so, I didn’t see the point in this whole charade.

My father’s chest was puffed with pride as he spotted us.

“Good afternoon, flower.” He beamed as he strode over to where we were sitting at the island. He planted a gentle kiss upon my forehead before he scooped my mother up into his warm embrace.

It dawned on me for the thousandth time that I’d never have that.

“How are the preparations going?” He lifted the tablet my mother had been typing on as he went over the plans, his free hand resting on the small of her back.

“I have to say it’s looking incredible, right down to the final detail.” He ran his fingers through my mother’s hair.

“Did you doubt me?” She raised her brow as a smirk crossed her lips.

“I would never, darling.” His smile matched hers as he grinned from ear to ear. “What are your thoughts, flower?” His gaze landed on me.

“Thoughts on what?”

“The engagement party, what else?” He chuckled as my mother placed an espresso down on the island in front of him.

“Do whatever you want, I don’t really care.” I straightened my back and allowed my eyes to bore into his.

“Ana, darling, this is your night. You can have anything you want, anything that makes you happy.” He sounded so happy, I hated to burst his bubble, but I hated everything about this engagement, wedding, and the devil himself… Lorenzo fucking Ricci.

“I want my life back!” I stood abruptly as my chair scraped across the marble. A mix of anger, hurt, and pure hatred coursed through my veins.

“Anastacia, sit back down!” His voice bellowed across the kitchen as I stood my ground. “Nothing will change, no matter how much you huff, puff, and storm off!”

“I apologise, I shouldn’t have snapped. I just need a moment.” I made my way towards the only place I was bound to feel any comfort right now. A place our father built for us.

The practice room.

I stepped inside the darkened room and flicked on the lights, then wandered over to the wall of weapons. I ran my fingertips across the blades that sat flush on the wall before reaching for my weapon of choice, my trusted go-to. The same weapon that had taken countless lives in seconds. I didn’t need a weapon to inflict pain and torture, but I had to choose one.

I ran the pad of my finger gently down the blade as it drew blood, it should have hurt a little, but I felt nothing. I twirled the leather handle between my fingers, watching as the freshly sharpened blade occasionally caught the light. With a swift push of a button, the training dummy fell before me. Targets were mapped out all over its body, I released the blade as it sliced through the air making the perfect sound just before it tore through the target where the heart would usually be. A sinister smile reached my lips as I reached for another blade, as deadly as the first.

“I wouldn’t want to be the one on the end of that blade.” Chad stood behind me, the scent of his aftershave filling the space around us.

“There have been many.” The second blade hit the target right between the eyes.

“You want to talk about it?” He closed the distance and leant against the wall beside me, crossing his arms.

“What’s there to talk about? I’m being married off to a fucking psychopath!” I slammed the third dagger onto the steel table in anger, the clang echoed the room.

“You want to know what I think?”

“Not really, but I’m sure you’ll tell me anyway.” I returned his smile, and for the first time in days, it was genuine.

“I think you’re more than capable of holding your own against Ricci.” He reached past me and retrieved the final blade from the table before releasing it. It basically kissed mine in the target’s chest.

“Without a doubt…” I took a deep breath before allowing my eyes to meet Chad’s.

“But?” Although I tried to hide thebutat the end of that sentence, nothing got past him.

“It’s nothing, let’s just leave it now unless you want to swap places with the dummy over there?” I turned my back to him, hoping more than anything he would just leave me alone.

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