Page 7 of Off-Limits Protector Daddy

More than once, he has made me stand against a wall and shot a target just above my head as a punishment. He likes to claim to this day that it was a method of teaching me not to flinch but I’m certain it’s because he liked the feeling of power it gave him.

“Aria, did I raise you to whore around with FBI agents who seem to be sniffing around my business or are you trying to send this family straight to hell?” Dad asks, his voice booming through his office even as I shut the door.

“What are you talking about?” I say, still deciding that ignorance is my safest bet. “Is this about last night? Because all I did was meet a man and go home with him but I don’t even know his name.”

“So, you are just a regular whore, not one who is trying to destroy her family? That makes me feel so much better, Aria.”

He sighs and gets up from his desk. “I don’t know why you’re lying to me. I have officers on my payroll and you know this. They saw that agent questioning you yesterday.”

“Was that him?” I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. “I had a lot of tequila last night, Dad. I’m not quite sure I even remember what the man I slept with looks like.”

“You don’t need to. Do you honestly believe that I don’t have men tracking my most valuable possession at all times?” he asks, picking up his gun and checking the magazine.

His possession. That’s all I am to him. Though it’s a struggle, I keep the scowl off my face. I amnota possession, but he comes from the old way of thinking where the women involved in his mafia are only there to be married off to his men or playthings for them. While he taught me how to hold my own, it was only so I could protect myself from the people he was closest to.

There is a solid click as he slides the magazine back into place and flicks the safety off.

“I thought you knew better than that, Aria.”

“Dad, it was just a little bit of harmless fun. I promise, I was drunk. I had no clue who I was sleeping with. If it was that agent, he looked nothing like he did when we met earlier in the day, otherwise I never would’ve talked to him. You know me, Dad. Family first. Always.”

He smiles but there’s something dark and sinister behind the smile. In that moment, I’m not looking at the father who doted on me. I’m looking at the father who abused me and called it love and duty to the family.

“You know, it’s interesting that you should say that because I’m not sure you actually believe that,” Dad says, slowly walking toward me with the gun still in his grip. It hangs loosely at his side but I know better than to trust him.

“When have I ever given you reason to doubt me?” I ask, my voice hard as I stand up straight and cross my arms.

He won’t back off if he thinks that I’m showing the slightest hint of fear. There are times that I think he gets off on fear. I won’t give him the satisfaction, even if I’m am scared senseless of the things he’s capable of.

“Aria, you are my only daughter. You are your brothers’ only sister. You will not disgrace this family and you will not spend time around an FBI agent. As much as I want to kill him for laying a hand on my daughter, the FBI tends to start digging deeper when one of their own disappear.”

I nod, hoping that this will be over soon. I just want to be handed my punishment so I can move on with my day and maybe get some sleep.

Heaven knows I didn’t get any last night.

“And it seems like it’s not just you that’s been running around behind the back of this family,” Dad says, his voice growing louder.

The door to his office opens and I can hear screaming coming down the hall. The screams are bloodcurdling. My heart is pounding and I feel like dropping to the ground the moment I see my best friend dragged through the door.

Her face is battered and bruised. Blood drips from every limb. She’s barely recognizable.

I know in that moment exactly what my punishment will be.

My dad won’t make me kill my best friend – no, that would be too much for his little girl – he’ll kill her himself and make me watch.

If I bat an eye, shed a tear, or flinch, I lose his little game.

I stand as straight as I can, tilting my jaw upward slightly as I make eye contact with my father. He doesn’t get to know how much he’s about to hurt me. He doesn’t get to try and break me when I’ve done nothing wrong.

“It would seem that Erin here has been meeting with another FBI agent that’s been snooping around the property on a regular basis,” Dad says, nodding to the man holding Erin.

Erin is tossed to the ground. She screams as she falls and I wonder how many of her bones he broke before bringing her here. Erin looks up at me, tears streaming down her blood-stained cheeks.

If she really did turn against the family, there is nothing I can do to save her.

“You know what we do to traitors here,” Dad says as he crouches down, placing the barrel beneath Erin’s chin and lifting her face up so she’s looking at him. “I gave you a home, money, a career, and you have the foolish inclination to betray me?”

“I’m sorry,” Erin whispers, her hands shaking as she reaches for my father. “I’m so sorry. They told me that you were going to kill me if I didn’t help them.”

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