Page 34 of Savage Heart

If only that were my fate.

“Perhaps we should get to know one another better,” he says with a dangerous smile. “Tell me something about you, Sienna Rossetti.”

I look into his dark eyes and say the first thing that comes to my head. “I was supposed to graduate the other day. Four years at college for that one day and I didn't get to have that because my brother kidnapped me.”

Lucius looks down and then shakes his head, almost as if he feels bad for what happened to me. But he’s smiling, a clear sign he doesn’t care that the biggest day of my life passed without me getting to enjoy a moment of it.

“That's unfortunate.”

That's it. Nothing more. He doesn't ask me what I went to school for or if I did well or anything else. Simply that's unfortunate.

“I knew your father years ago. We were the best of friends when we were around your age.”

My skin feels like it's crawling at his mention of being my age and being friends with my father. This is disgusting and wrong. I can't imagine how my brother thinks this is okay for me, but I force a smile because I know I must.

“That’s nice,” I say quietly in a voice I hope doesn’t betray how much he disgusts me right now.

“I remember you around the house when I was younger. I'm glad my father had a friend like you,” I say, all lies but needing to keep the conversation going so we don’t move to what’s about to happen next.

But none of my words mean anything. I just feel like if I stop talking, he's going to want to take this to the bed, and that's the last thing I want to do tonight.

“Your family, the Rossetti family, has a long tradition of being honorable. You should be proud of that, Sienna,” Lucius says as he walks over toward the balcony.

I can't help but laugh at the idea that anything about my family is even close to being honorable. Was it honorable for my father to order a hit on me? Was it honorable for my brother to kidnap me and keep me tied to a chair for days? Is it honorable that he’s sold me off to this man like a thing that can be handed over to anyone as long as they offer enough money?

In a moment of daring, I reply, “I have nothing really to say about the Rossetti family. I've never felt like one of them, and I don't think they ever felt I was one of them either.”

A look of surprise comes over his face. “Even your father? I know he loved you dearly.”

Laughter explodes out of me, partly because I'm nervous and partly out of disgust at the thought that my father ever truly cared about me. “Oh yeah, he cared enough to send one of his men to kill me. My father was a son of a bitch, just like my brother.”

Lucius’s eyes get wide for a moment, but then he shakes his head as if anything I've just said isn't the absolute truth. “That wasn’t your father, Sienna. Your father would never put a hit out on you. He would never put a hit out on anyone in his family. Salvatore Rossetti had his many flaws, but he was loyal to his family, if no one else. That wasn't your father. That was your brother.”

My entire body begins to shake as I take a step back, forgetting how tight my dress is and how little I can move in it as his claim sinks in. My brother ordered the hit on me? Not my father?

“No, my father did that. The hitman was my father’s man,” I mutter as all of this rambles around in my head.

Lucius hums and shakes his head again. “Matteo did that. Your father died not knowing his own son had put a hit out on his only daughter.”

My breath catches in my chest at what Lucius is saying. Is he telling the truth? Is this for real? Suddenly, I feel like I'm unsure about so much. I never doubted that my father would have put a hit out on me. I don't know why. He had no reason to hate me that much, but when his man said that to me in that tiny little field before I knelt down with my face in the grass waiting to be shot in the head on my own father’s orders, never did I doubt for a second that he had sent him there to kill me.

But now, standing here in this room after hearing Lucius tell me it wasn't my father but my brother who wanted me dead, a feeling of sadness washes over me. I have never mourned my father's death because I never felt he deserved it. Now, for the first time, emotion bubbles up inside me.

My father didn’t want me dead.

Lucius steps toward me and brushes his hand along my forearm. “I've got guests to attend to. Take a few minutes. I'm sure finding out the truth about who wanted to kill you that day is jarring. Compose yourself and come out when you're ready but don't take long. My woman is someone who needs to entertain people, and as the lady of this household from tonight on, you will be expected to ensure that my guests are always happy.”

I stare up at him in confusion. I've just heard that the person I believed had wanted me dead and put a hit out on me didn't do it, and in fact, it was my brother who sent that man to kill me, and all Lucius Angeloni can talk about is how I'm supposed to cater to his guests and make sure that their wine glasses are filled and they have enough food in their stomachs?

I don't care about any of that. I don't care about him or this wedding he and my brother are so eager to have happen.

When I don't respond, he turns away, walking out the bedroom door and leaving me alone. I can't stay here. I need to get out of this place. I need to get away from him and my family.

Frantic to find a way to escape, I run to the balcony doors and throw them open. The warm night air rushes over me, and as much as I want to believe I'm this close to freedom, I'm still alone. I don't see Alaric. I don't see Gideon. I don't see anyone who can help me.

I look out off the side of the balcony, hoping to see a friendly face somewhere nearby but there's no one. “Alaric,” I call out. “Are you there? Are you anywhere nearby?”

The sounds of people enjoying themselves at the party coming from the other side of the house are my only reply. In the distance, the sound of a boat's horn blares into the night. But no Alaric.