VIOLA
On the way back to the dinner table, I make a stop to my bedroom. On top of the door frame there’s a loose piece of wood. I jig it back now and retrieve my phone. I’ve gotten used to not having my phone on me at all times, and keeping it hidden so it can’t be used against me. But there are times when just sitting around waiting doesn’t quite cut it.
I need Dante.
This dinner is turning out to be a fucking nightmare.
I bypass the usual messenger app since I know my father has those tracked, and log into the secure vault Quinn and I used to use to communicate. There are a few new documents in there since I last checked. None from Dante especially. I create a new one titled ‘D’ and add a message, hoping that when he logs in, he’ll see it.
Where are you? I need you back here right now.
I don’t wait for a reply. Instead, I put the device back in its hiding place and replace the piece of wood. He’ll reply when he has a moment to, or he won’t. Either way, he knows I need him here.
When I get back to the dining room, Kristian and Dino are already back in their seats. Kristian’s eyes are shining brighter than before, as he stares at me intently from the moment I enter. He must have taken something. He’s completely off his face.
Dino on the other hand.
He’s looking at me like I’m the light of his life. I let my guard down when he kissed me, and he knew it. He’s always been the one to break down my barriers. Jude just plows through them and Lorcan waits patiently like a cat waiting for a mouse. But Dino is a coaxer. He knows just what to say to get me to open up.
I head to my own seat, glancing around the room as I do.
Griffin and my father are in deep discussion. Finn is smirking at me, looking me up and down in a feral kind of way. And Lorcan is just watching. His eyes are a dark forest green, shuttered and emotionless. Unlike Dino who wears his heart on his sleeve, I have no idea what Lorcan is thinking or feeling just by looking at him.
But I have a gut feeling he’s still angry with me. I’ve lived with him for long enough to be able to judge his mood. When he closes himself off like this, he’s annoyed.
“You’re back,” Adrien says, looking up. He nods at Gigi who comes over to where I’m sitting and puts her hand on the back of my chair.
“Sorry, women’s issues. Did I miss anything?”
Kristian snorts. “Only the main course. You missed the whole fucking thing, love. Oh, and your father just offered you to the highest bidder.”
I was waiting for this. Adrien announcing me as his second would come with a fucking price. I’m not dumb enough to think he rates women any higher than he did when I was born. The only reason he’s even entertaining me right now is because I bear his name. Once he sells me, he’ll have his much-coveted son-in-law, and I’ll be another fucking Rebecca. Another trophy that spits out an heir when needed.
Calmly, I take my steak knife and slice the bloody slab of meat on my plate into a small enough portion to eat. Then I proceed to devour my dinner. I’m starving. Once I’ve finished, and I’ve dabbed my mouth with my napkin, I turn my attention back to the room, secretly stashing the steak knife under my skirt.
There’s a silence mounting as no one says anything. Dino is watching Gigi like a hawk and Lorcan is frowning.
I’m ready for her when she wraps an arm around my upper half and tries to hold me down. Dino jumps to his feet and so does Lorcan, but Adrien calmly takes a gun from its hiding place under the table and points it at me. “Unless you all sit back down, she’s dead.”
Reluctantly they all sit down. Dino looks worried. Lorcan’s expression hasn’t changed but there’s a tightening to his jaw that wasn’t there before. Kristian drapes his arm around his brother, a dark grin plastered onto his face.
I’ll give them points for trying.
But I’ll get out of this myself.
Adrenaline surges as I stab Gigi in the thigh. She grunts, managing to keep her arm locked over me. I jerk back, smashing my skull into her nose instead. The crack is loud and she loosens her grip.
“Fucking bitch,” she snarls.
I don’t bother wasting my breath in a retort.
I twist my body and wrench the knife out of her leg, only to ram it in again. She crashes to the floor, taking me and the chair with her. Adrien’s men appear as I get to my feet and restrain me, while Gigi, red-faced, bleeding fast, gets up and limps over to us. She grabs a fist full of my hair.
Another one of Adrien’s men approaches with what looks like a tracking anklet, similar to the ones used for prisoners on parole. I kick at him but he seizes my leg. I can feel Gigi’s nails digging in my scalp as she yanks my head back hard enough to make it fucking hurt. I refuse to scream but I do stop moving. It’s taken three of them to hold me. I know when I’m completely overpowered.
Everyone in the room watches in morbid fascination as he places it tightly around my ankle. There’s a beeping sounds as he activates the lock.
“What are you doing to her?” exclaims Dino, probably dying inside that he can’t save me this time.