Page 20

Chapter 20

Nova

After my mortification about how I acted—plus, that I had been in such close proximity to Massimo without even brushing my teeth—I brushed said teeth, went to the washroom, and then stared at myself in the mirror once I'd washed my hands. Just in case he has cameras in here, I gave myself a silent pep talk.

Don't fall for his tricks.

Everything either is or could become a test.

He's a monster, just like father.

I keep stumbling on that one. The stories about Massimo are brutal, but to say he's just like my father feels like the world's biggest lie. So, I settle on the reminder that Massimo is a monster. Period.

Going through the vanity drawers, I find one filled with hair products, including hair ties. I grab one and use it to knot my shirt so it isn't so long, then exit the bathroom.

The bedroom door is open, and Massimo is out in the hallway, leaning against the wall, reading something on his phone.

When I step out into the hall, he slips his phone into his pocket and smiles at me.

"Massimo, just a minute," a male voice calls.

I turn to see Gabe walking down the hall toward us.

There's a guard walking with him. He's dressed in field gear more suited for a soldier than a mafioso in a suit. I can see his weapons strapped to him. His hands are hanging loose at his sides, and he isn't reaching for one of his weapons, but my reaction is as if he's about to attack and kill me.

I'm hurdled back to being ten years old, in my father's office, having just watched him beat my mother until she's bleeding on the floor, and he leaned casually against his desk. His hand gripped my neck, forcing me to watch as his guards stepped over her crumpled form. "Begin," my father sneered, his hand tightening on my neck. "And don't you dare close your eyes, princess ."

The first blow was a guard kicking my mother in the stomach. The next was a punch to her head. She screamed, trying to protect herself, but it was useless.

"Don't end it too fast, boys." My father chuckled. "Don't want to ruin the finale."

One of the guards pinned my mother's wrist to the floor with his boot and another guard shot her hand. Another one took the machine gun that was strapped to his torso and smashed the butt end into her face.

I whimper and stumble back into the wall. I'm trapped between the triggering reality of the guard walking toward me and the horrifying memory of my mother being beaten while my father forced me to watch.

Massimo is a monster. The guard is here for you, princess , my father's voice hisses in my head.

This is the punishment I was dreading and waiting for. The punishment I had stupidly thought— hoped —wouldn't come at Massimo's hands.

I choke on a scream. "I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

Terror spears through every cell in my body. I might throw up, lose control of my bladder, pass out, or all three, as what I'm seeing shifts between the guard now and the guards ten years ago in my father's office.

"I'm sorry!" I scream. "I'm sorry! Whatever I did wrong, I won't do it again!"

I'm trying to scramble away, but strong hands are gripping me. They're powerful, deadly hands.

But they're not hurting me; they're stopping me from spiraling straight into hell .

"Nova!" Massimo sounds far away as my eyelids flutter. My heart pounds so fast and hard it hurts my chest. "Nova, sweetheart. Come back to me."

My entire body is bludgeoned with pain, the result of holding onto the horror I witnessed and was forced to endure—the lesson I had no choice but to learn—slowly destroying me from the inside out.

"Massimo," I croak.

"Come back to me, princess."

It's the 'princess' that shatters my walls—said like a soft caress rather than my father's sneered hiss.

A roar like a locomotive rushing forth with all the pain and rage I feel from what my father did to my mother—all the intense hate I have for him—barrels out of me as I scream and scream.

Then black engulfs me.