Page 5 of Forbidden Eyes
“No.” I hold my ground and puff out my chest.
“Excuse me?”
“I won’t have you dictate my every move anymore. Dad, you’re stifling me. I’m not allowed to even breathe,” I wail, anger coursing through me. Years of hearing no, having to miss out and stay hidden, claw their way from my memory to bring reinforcements to my fight.
Footsteps interrupt, and I turn to see Mom hovering in the doorway. She looks to Dad, and unspoken words hang between them before she shakes her head and comes to stand behind me.
“Benjamin, this is important to Sofia. I’ve given her permission to go. Torino will be there.” Her soothing words might help to calm me, but they just roll right off Dad’s back.
As usual.
“No. She is underage. She’s not going anywhere.”
“For God’s sake. Do you even hear yourself? I’m nineteen-years-old. I have a degree in chemistry from Columbia, and I’ve got exactly three friends. Three, Dad.” I point my finger at him, heaping in all the anger and pain I’ve felt from all the rejections he’s given me over the years. “And that’s on you.”
“You have a degree from a fucking Ivy League university. Do you know the kind of head start in life that’s going to give you? Don’t be so ungrateful.” His hands clench at his sides, and I know he’s nearing his limit in this fight. When that happens, and it’s not often, I know he’s going to show the reason plenty of people are scared of him.
I throw my purse down on the chair. “I’m not ungrateful. But the reason I’m so smart is that I’ve had nothing in my life but study. I’ve never been allowed any form of freedom. Hell, I couldn’t even live on campus like everyone else. I had to come home on the weekends and live in your apartment during the week with Torino guarding me as if I was some Princess. Do you know what that did to me?”
“Sweetie, why don’t we all calm down? Talk about this properly?” Mom’s hands rest on my shoulders, but the tension and frustration are out now, like I’ve finally broken the seal on the last nineteen years of my life, and I can’t bottle it back up. I shrug her off, moving away so I can have some of my own space against him.
“No, Mom. Not today. He has to hear this.”
“Benjamin.” There’s a warning in her voice, but he’s stubborn, just like me.
“Sofia Vico, be very careful.” It’s too late for his warning.
“Both of you, think about this,” Mom pleads, but we both plough headfirst into this, neither one of us ready to back down.
“It’s Winters. If you won’t treat me like a Vico then I’m happy to be a Winters. I’ve told you this before.”
“And I’ve told you, you’re a fucking Vico.”
“No. I’ve always done as I was told. I’ve always bowed to your overprotectiveness. It’s all I’ve known, but you can’t do this forever. You can’t keep me locked up, hiding me from the real world, the world you’ve built and now refuse to allow me into.”
“You are my child, and I’ll protect you any way I see fit.” His jaw tightens, as he grinds the words out.
“From what? You’ve never told me why I need protection. You never tell me anything about your business. All I have are smoke and rumours. And I’m an adult who can take care of herself. You saw to that. I’m not some little girl. But you’re going to lose me if you keep doing this. Give me some freedom for God's sake. Let me start living my life and give me a chance to build some experiences for myself.”
Tears threaten, but I don’t let them fall. Not in front of him. Every vertebra of my back stays locked in place, as I stand my ground. There’s no backing down. Not tonight. He needs to see the damage he’s doing to me. Mom has always tried to moderate his behaviour, given me the space that he won’t, but it’s been a small reprieve from his oppressive and smothering ways. It wasn’t until high school that I realised just how strict his behaviour was. All my friends had boundaries, curfew and chores, but I had a wall of no. No, no, no.
I excelled at school, and that made the gap between the peers I could have called friends and me even wider. So, I embraced my ability and pushed myself all the way, graduating two years early and being accepted into one of the country’s top universities. I used my brain smarts to buffer the real reason I couldn’t go out to parties or hang with friends. It was a better excuse than the truth.
“You’re not acting like an adult," he says, starting to inch closer and crowd me. "You’re acting like a spoilt child.”
I snap. “Stop treating me like a fucking child then!” My lungs burn as I scream and storm forwards. He won’t listen. Fine. He can’t physically stop me.
“Don’t think so, Sofia.” He grabs my wrist and pulls me away from the door. “You’re staying here. There’s no way in hell you’re going out tonight. Not after this.”
“Let me go.”
He doesn’t release his grip, so I bring my elbow up and put my bodyweight behind me, pushing it towards his arm while pulling my arm away, breaking his grip. It's one of the many moves I’ve learned and perfected over the years. Because of him. He looks at me for a moment, and I think if the situation weren’t so dire, I’d see pride in his eyes.
“I’m not staying.” I stride to the door and walk through it, out into the evening air. Maybe there's some damn sanity out there, but before I make it to the end of the drive, I hear footsteps following.
“Fia, come on. You can’t walk to the city.”
“And I suppose you’re not going to take me now,” I snap, turning to see the look on Torino’s face. He stands still, a look of helplessness on his face. “Guess not.”