Page 3 of Unmasked Heart
We have the same golden-hazel colored eyes. His are hard around the edges as his anger takes over.
The only thing I see is the ruthless businessman backed by dangerous men.
“When you said you weren’t ready, I listened. Decker and I have been patient, princess.” His grip tightens and I bite back a tiny grunt of pain. I won’t give him the satisfaction. “I let you go to college when the original plan was that you’d marry his boy as soon as you were eighteen.”
Marry his boy. A boy that’s already taken more than enough from me. I’ve hated him since. I can’t marry him.
I swallow past the jagged lump in my throat. I will not cry in front of my father. I’m not strong enough to meet his gaze for long, though.
My attention slides away from him to the buildings reaching for the clouds beyond the window. A bird soars and dives towards Central Park. It’s carefree in its daring plunges through the air, swooping back up with grace.
I’ll never know that same freedom.
“Why do I have to marry him?” I whisper, hating the broken catch in my voice. No! I refuse to cry. My mouth purses to control the wobble of my lip. “This is insane, Dad. No one has arranged marriages anymore.”
“Yes they do. And so will you.”
He releases me with a disgruntled sound and I trip over my feet as I stumble back. Blonde waves of hair hang over my shoulder and I ball my hands into fists. My gaze snaps back to Dad.
“No. I. Won’t.” I suck in a breath, trying to control my panting. If I let my frustration and fury spiral, I’ll lose my footing in this argument. “You need my consent, don’t you?”
Dad snorts. He jabs a finger in my direction. “Hardly, pumpkin. You’ll do as you’re fucking told, or you’ll face the consequences.”
“What could possibly be worse than you forcing me to marry your crooked business partner’s son?” I yell, flinging an arm out to drive my point. “You’re a smart businessman! Why do I have to be the factor that makes or breaks a deal that, according to you, has been in the making for years? Isn’t Decker’s wife Mr. Mastriano’s niece? You’re already connected enough!”
There’s not a moment in the last nineteen years that I don’t remember Dad massaging Morris Decker into a partnership. And while Decker and Dad had their meetings, his son Cohen and I would play hide and seek through corporate offices. I contain a snort. That was back when I thought we were friends. Before Cohen became an unbearable asshole and started doing what his Uncle Albert told him to do.
Dad wanted Decker’s construction company—a business with the same dark beginnings as Noble Enterprise Inc. and even closer family ties to the Mastriano family—to work together to control the market.
But that’s only the Decker family’s public business that the tax man knows about. Morris Decker quite literally got into bed with the Mastrianos—Gloria Mastriano, to be specific. Being in construction comes in handy when the organization needs people to disappear. Cohen told me about it once to scare me when we were kids. It worked.
Dad doesn’t answer me. A muscle jumps in his jaw and he shoves his hands in his pockets with measured movements. Great, now I’m not even worth his full effort. I press a shaking hand to my temple, rubbing at a throb setting in above my eyebrow. I’m beyond late for class by now, but I can’t let him have the last word.
“Annabeth.”
I gulp at the icy chill in his voice.
With no remorse, my father lays out my sentence.
“You will go to the gala. It’s not a party for appearances.” Dad eats up what little ground I’ve gained and glares down his nose at me. How can he look at me like that? My throat and eyes sting and my chest heaves with each agonizing breath. “The whole point is to announce your engagement to Cohen Decker.”
“Dad,” I try, not ready to give up the fight even if it’s clear I’m losing.
“No, Annie. This entire spectacle has been organized because you asked for time.” Dad’s expression twists into a cold, closed off mask that I have trouble reading. “If you don’t do as you’re told, I’ll freeze your accounts and stop paying for school.”
His words slice me to the core, but nothing could prepare me for the latest ultimatum that cinches the noose around my neck.
Dad inhales slowly before he continues. “I’ll do all of that, and then I’ll take you straight to the courthouse to marry Cohen before going through the rest of the contract negotiations. Consider it a show of good faith to Decker and his extended family.”
My father could stab me with a thousand tiny needles and the pain would never compare to how he’s razed my world. I suspected he didn’t give a shit about me, but having the truth laid out like this cuts me deep. A shudder of indecipherable emotion wracks my petite frame.
“Are we clear?” Dad narrows his gaze.
All I can manage is a weak nod. Time to lick my wounds again. I need to come back stronger if I’m going to win.
Swallowing past the thick taste of betrayal in my mouth, I shrug my saddle bag higher on my shoulder. I’ll escape before there’s a chance for the tears welling and sticking my lashes together to fall. Small victories.
“Have a good day, Dad,” I mutter.