Page 10 of Bound in Vengeance
And my father… I look at Massimo Caruso and nearly laugh despite the nightmare unfolding in front of me.
For the first time in my life, I see my father actually looking shocked.
His eyes widen the slightest fraction, his grip tightening around his cane so hard his knuckles pale beneath his skin. If the situation weren’t ruining my life in real time, I would frame this moment and hang it in a museum.
Rare sighting: Massimo Caruso acting like a human.
Alessandro still hasn’t looked away from me.
There’s no smile on his face, but amusement glints in his dark eyes. He’s enjoying this.
The bastard.
He wants me to explode. I can feel it. He’s waiting for me to start screaming so he can pin me down with that terrifying calmness of his and make me feel hysterical.
I almost give him what he wants.
There’s a vicious response sitting right at the tip of my tongue. Something dramatic. Possibly involving prison, hellfire, and erectile dysfunction.
But then my brain catches up.
If Alessandro wants me…
…then he doesn’t want Camilla anymore.
I glance at my sister.
She looks devastated, confused, terrified—but beneath all that, I see relief. It’s tiny and fragile, but it’s there.
And just like that, my anger tangles into something heavier. Because this was supposed to be me from the start.
Not Camilla.
Massimo only chose her after I “ruined” myself with Domenico.
The memory slices through me so suddenly my chest tightens.
Domenico smiling at me across a fire escape.
Domenico whispering ‘let’s run.’
Domenico dead because of me.
Guilt slithers into my throat like poison.
I swallow hard.
No.
I won’t think about him right now.
My father finally clears his throat, the sound sharp enough to cut through the tension.
“Very well,” he says evenly. “I agree to your deal.”
Of course he does.
A bitter laugh almost escapes me.
