Page 72 of Forbidden Eyes
My head shakes as all three close in, and I glance at the bedroom door, moving myself towards it to block their access. They’re not getting in there; that’s for damn sure. I’ll die before I let any one of them touch her.
No one’s touching her now I have.
She belongs to me.
Twenty
The respite in the shower is certainly needed. My body has never felt so ... relaxed, but at the same time, energised. Like I have a new type of energy in my veins, and it’s satisfying in a way nothing else in my life has been. And after all the sex, I’m a little sore.
I’m careful to wash around the cuts that have started to heal up. Carter was right; there isn’t going to be a scar. Not like his, anyway. I think over Carter’s diagnosis and watching him inject at the restaurant and try and wrap my head around it. All the signs were there, now I have context for them. I just assumed that someone like Carter, so strong and young, wouldn’t be suffering from a disease like that. It’s become such a serious illness all over the world I’ve forgotten you don’t just develop diabetes because of poor life choices.
There’s a dull thud and something breaking shatters my peace and calm. My body strains to hear what the commotion is, and I shut off the water to listen for a moment.
Nothing.
“Carter?” My paranoia grows the longer he doesn’t answer me. I step out from the huge shower area and wrap myself in the marshmallow-soft robe that’s hanging on the door just for me.
With no other noises coming from the apartment, I step out into the main room, and my heart freezes in my chest.
Carter’s arm is twisted up behind his back by two men I’ve never seen before, and another man seems out cold by his feet. His eyes flick towards me and then to the door. I follow his line of sight right to my dad.
I instinctively pull the robe tighter around my body, as if it can hide more of my skin, or perhaps act as a shield for what I might be about to face.
“Dad?” He doesn’t respond, just stands a few steps inside the room. His eyes bore into me and for only the second time in my life, I can see the man everyone is afraid of.
We stand locked in a silent standoff, neither of us wanting to make the first move. I don’t even know what I could start with to explain any of this beyond the obvious, which isn’t going to do anyone any good in this situation. “Dad?” I try again. His arm flies up, pointing at me. The instant he does, Carter moves to try to stand between us, elbowing one of the men holding him in the jaw and fighting to free himself and get to me.
“Carter!” I cry, now seeking him rather than my dad.
My body drops to the floor in a panic the second I see a gun being pulled. It only makes Carter fight harder even with the metal now being shoved in his face. Scared tears roll down my face as I realise the severity of the situation. As I see Carter still struggling, I crawl over to him, a vital part of me now desperate to try to help.
“Don’t you move, Sofia,” Dad’s voice booms out in the airy room. “Or I’ll put a bullet in his head right this second.”
My eyes fly to his, the reality of his words sinking in, and I obey and pull my robe around me. Vulnerability takes hold of me, transporting me back to being a little girl with the man I thought I knew. How wrong was I? He's everything I now know of him, and the tears continue to race down my face as I try to meet Carter’s eyes in the struggle.
His arms are bound behind his back, one of the men pinning him with his knee on the floor, and I can see redness on his jaw. When I look around, my eyes running over the guy beginning to wake up on the floor, I notice there are other signs of a fight. I watch him stand and right his clothing, his eyes immediately looking at my dad for instruction. Guilt falls heavily on my shoulders as my mind extrapolates the situation brewing out to a conclusion.
None of the scenarios are very promising.
The tension builds around us in the room as we all wait for the next move. It’s not obvious what will happen, and for a moment, I wish I weren’t here, that I didn’t bring my father right to Carter’s door.
With confidence I shouldn’t be feeling, I pull myself up from the floor and stand to look at Benjamin Vico.
“Fia,” Carter warns as he's dragged to his feet. I don’t listen, can't. This is my fault, all of it.
“What do you think you are doing here?” I question, with as much attitude as I can find.
Dad tilts his head and narrows his eyes like he’s working me out. “I think I warned you what I’d do. And I think the bigger question is why the fuck are you here? With this parasite?” His eyes stare right through me, but I hold my ground. I can’t back down.
“I’m nineteen years old. I can do as I please.”
“And I thought I told you the rules don’t apply to you. You are my child, Sofia fucking Vico. You don’t get to have a normal life. And you'll damn well do as you’re told from now on.”
“Well, sorry, Dad. I don’t care what you say. There is no way you can treat me like this.” I cross my arms as if the defiance will finally win him over.
He steps closer to me, leaving only inches between us. “You ran off to fuck this piece of shit. I thought I raised you better, Sofia. He’s just some lowly criminal Quinn decided to take under his wing. Fucking soft.”
His voice, his words, they crawl under my skin and break down the vision I’d held of my father for years. How can the man in front of me be the same person my mother loves? That I love? Loved.