"Close the door," he orders, not turning around.
I do as I’m told. I walk to the center of the room, folding my arms tightly across my chest, building a fortress out of my own bones. "I know."
He slowly turns his head, his dark eyes narrowing under bushy silver eyebrows. "You know what?"
"I know you’re trying to sell me to Cassio Vellutini," I say, my voice is eerily calm, devoid of any of the trembling that is currently wrecking my insides. "I heard mother screaming. She doesn't want her precious Lucia getting blood on her wedding dress, so you’re going to throw me into the slaughterhouse instead."
My father’s jaw clenches. He takes a long drag of his scotch, swallowing it like medicine. He doesn't apologize. A Don never apologizes.
"Salvatore demanded a union," he says coldly, stating the facts as if he were reading a grocery list. "The Russians and the Irish are moving on the Port of San Marco. If we don't unite the Genovese and the Vellutini, we lose the city. The internal war is over."
"And the treaty is a wedding ring," I finish for him, a bitter laugh clawing its way up my throat. "Funny. Just last night you were threatening to let me rot in my bedroom until I died a spinster. You told me no man wanted to marry a man. What changed, Papa? Did Cassio suddenly acquire a taste for women with opinions?"
"Watch your fucking tone with me, Noemi," he snarls, taking a menacing step toward me. "This isn't a game. This is the survival of our syndicate. Yes, Cassio accepted the marriage. And yes, the arrogant prick asked for Lucia. He wanted to humiliate me. He wanted to take the daughter I’ve been preparing for a proper alliance."
"So give her to him," I shoot back, my chin tilting up, my self-preservation instincts screaming at me to shut up, but the fire in my belly is burning far too hot. "You made a deal. You agreed to his terms. Give him the perfect daughter."
"Your mother will not allow it," he snaps, his face flushes dark red. "She’ll tear this family apart. And frankly, she’s right. Lucia is too fragile for a man like Cassio. She wouldn't last a month in his house. He would crush her."
"And you think he won't crush me?" I demand, my voice finally cracking, the raw, bleeding betrayal leaks through my icy facade. "You think because I don't cry when you yell at me, I am invincible? He’s a blood thirsty murderer! He’s a ruthless, volatile psychopath who kills for sport!"
"You will survive him because you are too goddamn stubborn to die!" my father roars, slamming his empty glass down on the mantelpiece so hard that the crystal fractures. "You have a spine made of iron and a mouth filled with poison! You are exactly the kind of nightmare that bastard deserves!"
I stare at him, the horrifying truth settling over me like a suffocating shroud. He isn't just protecting Lucia. He is using me as a weapon. He is sending me into Cassio’s home to be a thorn in his side, a constant, irritating reminder of the Genovese defiance.
"I won't do it," I whisper, shaking my head. "I will not marry him. The agreement was for Lucia. You told Salvatore it would be Lucia."
"And I just got off the phone with Salvatore," my father sneers, a cruel, triumphant gleam in his eye. "I told him the agreement was for a union of our bloodlines, not a specific daughter. I told him my eldest was available, and it is my right as Don to marry off my daughters in chronological order. Salvatore doesn't give a shit which one of you wears the dress, as long as the port is secured."
"Cassio won't accept it," I say, desperation making my voice thin. "He hates me. He despises me. You know we have a history."
"I don't give a fuck about your history!"
"He humiliated me, Papa!" I shout, stepping forward, the memory flashing behind my eyes like a branding iron.
"He hates me," I repeat, my voice trembling now. "If you force me into his house, if you replace the beautiful, obedient sister he asked for with the spinster who insulted him in public... he will punish me for it. He will make my life a living hell."
My father steps into my personal space, his towering frame casts a dark shadow over me. The smell of scotch and stale smoke is suffocating. He reaches out and grips my jaw in his massive, calloused hand, his fingers digging painfully into my skin, forcing my head up to meet his furious, unyielding gaze.
"Listen to me, you ungrateful little bitch," he hisses. "You have been a burden on this family since the day you realized you had a voice. You have chased away every decent suitor I put in front of you. You have mocked my authority, you have disrespected my Capos, and you have humiliated me with your endless, stubborn defiance."
I try to pull away, but his grip is like a vice, his nails bite into my cheeks.
"This is your penance," he growls with malice. "You want to act like a tough, independent woman? Prove it. You will put on a white dress next week. You will walk down the aisle. You will say your vows to Cassio Vellutini, and you will secure my borders. And if you refuse..."
He leans in closer, his lips practically brushing my ear.
"If you refuse, I will drag you down to the basement of this house, I will lock you in a cell, and I will leave you there to rot inthe dark until you forget your own fucking name. And to make sure the alliance holds, I will give Cassio exactly what he asked for. I will hand him Lucia."
A paralyzing terror washes over me, drowning out the fire.
He means it. He would do it in a heartbeat. He would sacrifice my sister to the monster, and he would bury me alive to punish me for making him do it. He holds all the cards. He holds my freedom, my life, and my sister’s innocence in his bloody hands.
My father releases my jaw with a violent shove, sending me stumbling backward a few steps until my back hits the heavy oak door of the study.
I reach up, my trembling fingers brushing the tender, red marks he left on my skin. I look at him, this man who shares my blood, this tyrant who is supposed to protect me from the evils of the world, and I realize he is exactly the same as the monster he is selling me to.
They are all the same. Cassio. Orlando. Salvatore. They are all just violent, selfish men playing God with the lives of the women trapped in their cages.