Page 110 of Beyond Enemy Vows

Complete silence.

I step back, breathing hard, trying to focus through the haze of fury. My ribs throb. My lip is bleeding and a metallic taste coats my tongue.

I look around the room as if I'll find a way to escape, but there's nothing. An empty shelving unit is the only thing in here with me.

Shit.

Calli will notice I'm missing soon. She'll look for me. But what happens to her while I'm trapped in here?

A few minutes later, the sound of footsteps in the hallway makes me freeze. Multiple sets. Getting closer.

Someone unlocks the door and it swings open.

Five guards enter first, some with guns drawn, and spread out along the walls. Then he appears in the doorway. My father. He looks completely at ease in his tailored suit, a glass of whiskey in his hand.

He shakes his head and laughs as he leans against the doorframe.

"Should've known you'd pull some shit like this," I say, straightening up.

He stares at me for a moment and takes a sip of his drink.

"Yes, you should have." His voice carries that familiar note of disappointment that's haunted me since childhood. "Should have done a lot of things, but you're a fuckup and every stupid fucking thing you've done has led to this. Forced my hand."

He finishes his drink and throws the glass at the wall behind me, barely missing me. It explodes with a crash.

"What did you think would happen? That I'd really welcome Callista Kastaris into our family with open arms? That I'd let her carry a child with our name?"

I fucking knew it.

"The gala. You used it as..."

"A trap." He straightens, walking into the room. "Though not for you, specifically. You were always going to be collateral damage."

My blood turns to ice. "Calli."

"There's my bright boy." His smile is cold, satisfied. "Finally catching on."

"I knew in my gut you never accepted it," I say, my voice low. "Any of it."

Stavros laughs. "Accept a Kastaris bitch? Fuck the Kastaris family."

I lunge forward, but two guards grab my arms, restraining me.

"You touch her, and I swear to God?—"

"You'll what?" Stavros interrupts, amused. "You're in no position to make threats. Did you really think I'd let her raise my grandchild? I'd rather see her dead like her father than let her give birth to a child poisoned with the Kastaris blood."

"You killed him, didn't you?" I ask, needing to hear him say it.

"Of course I did. Vasilis thought he could push me aside. Thought he could carve out territory in my city and treat me like an afterthought. Thought he could share Chicago with the Bonventis and still hold my respect."

He pauses for a moment.

"He was in my way, just like his daughter is now. And her brothers will be dealt with after her, and I'll run things here and in Chicago fully." His eyes find mine again. "Too bad you won't get to see that."

I break free from the men holding me and launch myself at him again, hands reaching for his throat. "You fucking piece of shit."

But his men are on me again before I can get to him. Fists drive into my ribs, my stomach, my face. I keep swinging, keep trying to reach him, but I'm outnumbered. A knee catches me in the kidney and I go down hard.