Page 57 of Lorenzo's Claim

As we turned the corner from the corridor I realised why we were here and why he looked like a cat who got the cream. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I spotted the single chair in the vast and empty space.

“Surprise.” He chuckled, closing the door with a click behind me. “I thought you and your father could use a little heart to heart, reconcile perhaps.”

“What’s your plan, Lorenzo?” I asked, not letting my mask slip no matter how much my father stared at me. Chains bound his wrists to the arms of the chair, blood trickling down his fingers as the rough metal bit into his skin. The man who raised me sat there bloody and bruised, but fuck, he sat prouder thanever. Not letting Lorenzo or anyone else faze him. “Let me guess, you want to kill him, and for me to watch?”

“Wow. Ding, ding, ding.” He laughed, and it took all I had not to smash his damn face in. “Are you surprised though?” he whispered, leaning into me as his lips brushed my ear.

“Nothing you do could ever surprise me. You’re a sick and twisted bastard, I expected nothing less.” I retorted. “You deserve to rot in hell alongside your father,” I sneered, shoving him away from me.

He pulled my body flush to his, his eyes burning with anger. “Repeat those words again, and I’ll end you the same way I’m about to end him.”

“Do you really think you could pull the trigger on me if it came down to it? Because I know you wouldn’t. You don’t have it in you, Ricci.” My lips curved up into a cruel smile as I spoke.

“Don’t question what I can and can’t do, Ana. You’d be surprised.” He dipped his head, running his tongue along my neck, his grip never loosening on my waist. “I’m going to make sure you watch as his life drains away. You’re going to listen as he chokes out his final words to you. You’re going to hear, see, and feel everything I felt.”

“His final words would be to his golden child.” I glanced over my shoulder as my father before giving Lorenzo my attention once more. “And in case you haven’t yet guessed, that’s never been me.”

He stood quiet for a second, as if working out his next move.

“What? Did you think his golden child was me?” I cackled. “Poor, poor Lorenzo.” I slapped his hand away from me, unable to control my amusement. “If you wanted to hurt or upset one of my father’s children, you should have picked my brother. He’s the easily broken one.”

He reached for his waistband, the cocking of the gun cut through the silence as my father remained expressionless, barely able to look at me.

“Do you not wish to plead for your life, Fedorov?” Lorenzo laughed, directing his question to my father.

“We never plead, Lorenzo. I thought you’d have gathered that already.” I scoffed. My heart froze the second he aimed the gun at my father’s head. Right between his eyes. My father’s gaze dropped to mine as if to say goodbye, but I had other plans. This wasn’t how tonight was going to go.

I would run the show, not Lorenzo.

Something inside me snapped. Without thinking too much, I lunged, snatching the gun from Lorenzo’s grip. My movements were swift and somewhat desperate, but my aim was steady and remained unmatched. With a sharp crack, I fired, the bullet tearing into my father’s shoulder.

For the first time ever, Victor looked proud.

So fucking proud.

He knew that no matter the outcome of tonight, Lorenzo wouldn’t break me. He wouldn’t see me cry or fall apart like he wished. Lorenzo’s eyes widened ever so slightly, and for a moment, neither of us moved. We were frozen in the moment, my arm outstretched, the gun still aimed at my father while Lorenzo stared at me in disbelief.

“You shot him… You shot your own father?” he stammered, his voice nowhere near as confident as it was previously.

My eyes dared him to underestimate me again. “I’m not the puppet you thought I’d be,” I said, my voice low and emotionless. “And neither is he.” I cocked my head towards my father who watched the pair of us intently.

Lorenzo’s face twisted in anger, but there was something else there too. Respect or fear but I’d never know which. He’d never give it away. “You’re full of surprises, Ana.”

I was and I would continue to be. My grandfather taught me too damn well to succumb to someone like Lorenzo Ricci. He always said that no matter how scared you felt inside, you had to push it aside, slip on that mask, and let it remain there until you were ready to remove it. That’s why I shot my father. I knew it would injure him but wouldn’t cause any lasting damage. It was just enough to show my so-called husband who he was messing with.

“This isn’t over,” he snapped, snatching the gun from me.

“For tonight it is,” I told him, having the upper hand with no plans of letting it go. “I suggest you call Red to drive you home because I am taking my father in your car.” I sneered, grabbing the key off of the table that held an array of torture devices. “Have fun, did you?”

“Not enough.” He scoffed, his eyes narrowing at me. “I will kill him, Ana. That’s a promise.”

“Then go on. Be my guest.” I stepped to the side as he watched me with confused eyes. “The target is there, so what’s stopping you?”

For once, he seemed lost for words. He clutched the gun in his hand, and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head.

“Lorenzo, if you thought I was brought up to be a yes, sir, no, sir, kind of woman, you’re wrong. I was taught that, no matter the situation, to never show any signs of weakness. So, if you want to kill my father, go ahead, but you won’t get the reaction you want from me.” My voice was cold as I returned my attention back to my father.

“His days are numbered,” Lorenzo threatened as I unlocked the chains around Victor’s wrists, the welts and cuts seeping and sore.

---