Page 30 of Don't Break My Heart
“You did good last night, trouble. We would both be dead if you didn’t think so fast.”
“Thanks, big guy. Maybe later today you will let me watch you while you sleep.” I wink back in his direction.
My world might be upside down, but something shifted for us in the last twenty-four hours. And now I feel like Onyx might have just earned a little more respect for me.
Chapter 14
Wearrivedattheboys’ parents’ estate just after five, and I have been shown around the insane historic stone mansion, an eerie cool following us through the long halls that sends a shiver down my spine. I can see it in their eyes, the twins don’t want to be here any more than I do. I don’t know half of what they suffered at the hands of their papa, but I can feel it as we walk from room to room. If the walls could talk, they would speak of the horrors they endured growing up in this family.
Their ma is a dainty lady who looks like she might blow over with a strong wind. Dressed in black from head to toe, the only sounds she utters even when greeting me were in Italian. It’s obvious she’s in mourning, but I’m not sure if she is really sad about the passing of her husband of forty-odd years or it’s more an act to look the part. How could anyone have loved that man? It’s not humanly possible.
I lean into Daisy as we walk toward the back of the property. “Let’s get out of here and go have some fun,” I say quietly so only Daisy can hear me. I’m half joking, but after the other night, I think she needs it just as much as me.
She looks down her nose at me, confused by my suggestion, a coldness to her I don’t understand when I felt as though we had become friends instantly the other night. Is this her husband’s doing? He did say I needed to stay away from her, so maybe she got the same warning.
My hand wraps around her wrist. “Come on, I saw a bottle of champagne on the kitchen counter,” I suggest with a cheeky grin, knowing I’m going to need something to take the edge off, and the girl likes the stuff.
Her body recoils, a visible shudder passing through her as she flinches away from my touch like I just hurt her.
What the fuck? I glance back at her, and her head drops.
The men continue outside, and I stop her from following along behind, her behavior too odd for me to ignore.
Onyx watches us but doesn’t come back inside. The other men, unconcerned by our absence, continue their stroll along the outdoor patio with their mother.
I pull Daisy’s long sleeves up a little further so I can see her wrist where I touched her. She stares up at me, swallowing hard. “What happened?” I seethe, a fresh wave of anger radiating through me for her. There on her wrists is very dark, painful bruising, the kind I know can only be inflicted by another human.
She pulls her sleeves down in a rush, glancing over her shoulder toward her husband. “Nothing, I just ran into a table.”
I raise an unimpressed brow. “I have worked with women whose partners abuse them for many years. I know fingerprints when I see them, Daisy. What the fuck did he do to you?”
“Valentine has a temper sometimes. It’s really not as bad as it looks.” Her head drops, and I see the tears she’s been trying to hold back as her eyes meet mine. “I’m not supposed to dance. Valentine doesn’t like it.”
Every muscle in my body tightens and my hands ball into fists. I should have killed the fucker when I had the chance. “He did this to you because he didn’t like you dancing with me the other night?” I snap back, ready to fight this fucker.
She nods slowly, nibbling on her bottom lip, still watching him.
“He’s the reason you had to stop dancing,” I say, understanding her comment from the other night.
She takes hold of the door frame as if she needs it to stay on her feet. “My whole life my mother told me I could be whoever I wanted to be. She taught me to reach for the stars. I was a natural dancer, built with the petite body and perfect turn out. I had dance schools begging me to sign with them from a very young age. I never understood why my papa wouldn’t allow it.” She stares out the open door, watching the boys as they fill their glasses with wine, and I can see she’s trapped in her past. “My life was a lie. My childhood an illusion of the life my mother dreamed for me.”
I place a hand on her shoulder, feeling her pain.
She turns back toward me, sadness overwhelming her. “She knew all along my papa had traded me to the Morettis, I was always going to marry Valentine. And she knew I would never be able to follow my dancing dreams. Moretti women don’t have lives of their own. We serve one purpose only, to serve our husbands. You will see.”
Anger pulses through me, for her and for myself. “No, I won’t. I don’t care what my birth parents did, I will never serve Orlando. We are equals or I leave and never come back.”
She smiles softly, like I’m the weak one, like I’m naive for ever thinking my situation could be different to hers. Her eyes shift to Onyx who is still watching the two of us. “You know your guards aren’t just there to keep you safe, Sloane, they follow you around to make sure you can never run. You can never escape these men. You are a possession to them, that is all. And you, you are the one who will never escape, because you fell in love with them. From what I can see from the way they look at you and you them, it’s all four of them, your guards and the twins. I don’t know how it’s possible, or why Orlando lets you get away with it, but I can see it.” She shakes her head. “I don’tneed your pity. I live my life safe, knowing I have kept my heart locked up tight. Valentine might control my life, but he will never have my heart.”
Sickness crawls over my skin, infecting every part of my body like a disease, because I know she’s right. I can’t escape my current situation, it’s why I went from being trapped on a fucking island to trapped in a foreign country. Away from my friends and family, the job that I love. They have isolated me, taken away all my power, making me just as weak as poor Daisy. Because I’m in love with every one of them, and if I walk away, if I escape, it will kill me because it will break my heart along with all of theirs. “Never stop trying to get out,” I whisper for myself just as much as her. I can’t give up hope. I won’t. I have to be stronger than this pathetic girl who will let her heart dictate her life.
Her face rises, her pretty blue eyes meeting mine. “The only way out is death, Sloane. The sooner you accept it, the happier you will be. I know what my life is, it’s why I can get out of bed every day and continue on. You need to stop fighting it, be who they want you to be.”
“No.” I shake my head, a tremor of fear rocketing through me. “There is another way. I’ll show you, I’ll get us both out.”
She shakes her head. “Whatever you’re doing, leave me out of it. You’ve already caused me enough trouble. I don’t want to die at his hands, Sloane. You should think about that.” She says it softly, but there is a warning to her words that I know is true. She lives with the threat that she will die any day by not following his orders. And she’s well aware that he wants me dead as well.
Sickness overwhelms me for her. With my heart hammering in my throat, I step away from her. She’s resigned to this life, to an abusive husband who sleeps around. I almost can’t believe that she would just give up on the life she dreamed of. She’s strong deep down inside, Ican see it; he’s just stomped it out of her. She’s broken, but she doesn’t have to be.
