Page 8 of Sins of the Orchid

“But Elena—” He cut himself off. Somehow it didn’t surprise me. Elena hated me. I didn’t know why, but she hated me so much that I feared I wouldn’t survive long in Dad’s household.

“Mama has been giving Uncle Vincent the wrong times since she started school,” Lorenzo growled.

Displeasure flashed in my father’s eyes, then his eyes returned to me. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around myself.

“Amore, is that true?”

I wanted to shake my head in denial, but I couldn’t. Mom always taught me not to lie. If I couldn’t tell the truth, it was better not to say anything at all. Except in this case, if I tell the truth, I risked my father’s wrath too. He wouldn’t believe me. If I lied, Elena would continue her torture. I was doomed either way. The eyes of seven men lingered on me, waiting.

“Our bella Amore is scared,” Adriano’s zia chimed in. “Davvero?”

“Amore?” My father ignored her, his eyes on me.

“It’s not a big deal,” I muttered softly, my eyes darting to the exit in the back. Ever since the jungle, I always looked for any possible exit strategies.

Father pushed his hand through his hair, making it disheveled.

“Jesus,” he muttered.

“Show us your forearm, Amore,” Lorenzo urged. My head whipped in his direction, and at this moment, I hated this family. I wanted out. I wanted my grandmother Regina. She would never hurt me or put me on the spot like this.

“No,” I blurted, surprising myself with the defiance in my voice.

Father’s eyes looked between Lorenzo and I, all the while I shook my head. When I refused to move, Father came over.

“Show me, Amore.” His voice was soft, but the command was clear. The head of the Bennetti crime family wouldn’t tolerate disobedience.

I didn’t understand why Lorenzo was doing this now. He caught his mother burning me with the cigarette, but he didn’t stop her. He stood, eyes wide. Whether in shock or concurrence that I deserved it, I wasn’t sure. I took advantage of his shock and his mother’s hesitancy when she was caught. I ran out of the room like the devil himself was chasing me. I locked myself in my room and didn’t come out until the next morning when I had to go to school. Lorenzo never brought it up, but now I wasn’t sure what he’d tell his dad.

“Please don’t,” I begged. My voice croaked, pleading, and in my mind I already despaired. I wondered if there would be some way I could find Grandma Regina in this city.

Suddenly, it was as if the entire scene unfolded in slow motion. Father took my hand into his and rolled up my sleeve.

“What the fuck—” Adriano’s voice shattered the silence.

Burn marks and bruises covered my upper forearm. Elena had been extinguishing her cigarettes on my forearms whenever nobody was around, and I wasn’t fast enough to escape. It took me a few days to realize I had to stay focused and alert at all times.

The silence was so thick, I could hear someone’s heartbeat. Or maybe it was my own. Would I bleed out like my mother if he sliced my throat? Or would he simply shoot me and death would come instantly?

Drip, drip, drip.

Was it blood or water?

“Who did this to you?” Father’s voice was colder than the Arctic and fear shot through me.

“P-please.” I tugged on my hand but couldn’t free it. Our gazes locked in a battle of wills; he demanded to know, and I refused to cave. Since the moment I learned this man was my father, my world shattered and became something unknown. I wanted to go back to my world, to the familiarity of Regalè Enterprise and the people I knew from a young age. Mom and Grandma had been grooming me to take over before I learned to walk, and fashion had been a part of me before I even spoke my first words.

Elena was more than happy to educate me on the ways of my father. Don of the Upper East Side. Brutal, cruel, ruthless. She instilled fear of him into me before I even got to know him. Now, I was scared to get to know him. I didn’t trust him. My stepmother said Father would always take his true family’s side over a bastard daughter.

“It was Ma,” Lorenzo said, interrupting our battle of wills. The room stilled, and you could hear a pin drop. Fear tasted sour on my tongue. “I am sorry, Amore. I should have stopped it, said something. I was just so shocked.”

I bit into my lower lip nervously. Elena’s words from the day before echoed in my head.Dad will never take your side.

“I-I’m sorry,” I choked out, my eyes burning. Another hiccup escaped me; my nose was stuffy with the tears that threatened to start pouring again. “You can send me to Grandma Regina. I can stay with her.”

“No.” No explanation but there was so much fury in that one little word, and I stiffened.

“Mom pressed cigarette butts on her skin,” Lorenzo continued to explain. I wished he’d stop talking.