Page 13 of Promised to the Killer

Which makes what I did so much worse.

“I don’t care that you snuck out last night, Siena. If I were in your position, I might’ve done the same thing. Only I’m curious why you didn’t run.” Papa tilts his head, watching me.

I shrug, try to meet his gaze, and fail. I stare at the floor. God, I’m so weak. I’ve always been so weak and pathetic. The boys know it too. Enzo uses it against me, and Santo thinks I’m worthless because of it, and only Santo tries to defend me.

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” I say. “Would you have let me go?”

“No, I wouldn’t have.”

“So I came back. No reason for everyone to suffer.”

Papa grunts his approval. “I can respect that, daughter. You understand why we’re here?”

“I think I know.”

“I’ll give you once chance.” He leans forward. “Look at me now.” I look up and meet his eye. “Tell me the truth. Were you involved with the Tianna girl’s escape?”

I open my mouth. I clamp it shut again.

I thought I could do this, but maybe I was wrong.

Last night, I felt like a different person. With Maxim, I could be sexy and free and exciting.

But now, here, this morning, in this office with my family, I know what I really am.

Nothing.

A bug. A roach.

A worthless piece of trash.

Always in the way. Always taking up space.

And maybe they’ve been right this whole time. Maybe I really am just a stupid little girl with an empty head where my brain should be.

Self-hate spikes, but I manage to nod my head.

“Yes, Papa.”

Santo groans. “Siena, why?”

“It doesn’t matter why,” Enzo says, his tone dripping with rage. “She betrayed the family.”

“It was just a whore,” Santo says, shrugging. He speaks quietly and doesn’t look at Papa.

“She betrayed us,” Enzo says louder. “She knows our rules. The girls that work our houses are our property. Helping one to escape is tantamount to theft. It puts us all in danger and it got good people arrested. One of our brothels was raided, and three of our workers are behind bars. If they talk, if one of those girls says something, we’re at risk. You understand that, don’t you?”

The office is dead silence in the wake of his speech.

“Answer him, Siena,” Papa says. “You understand all that, yes?”

I nod my head.

“I understand.”

How can I explain that it wasn’t supposed to go down this way?

Yes, I helped Tianna escape. She was just an eighteen-year-old girl that wanted to get back to her family and I took pity on her. She was nice to me, and whenever Papa let me visit the brothel to help with the girls, I spent time talking to her. I learned about her family in Mexico, and how she came across the border hoping her uncle would take her in, and how the uncle sold her to my father instead for drugs. It was such a sad story, and I wanted to help her.

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