Sempre (Forever Series #1)(55)

“Yes. I spent my whole life with her. She told me to run, to try to escape, but I got caught. That’s when your father took me.”

Dominic stared at her. “My father took you from your mother? Does he know that?”

“Yes, he knows.”

They were quiet for a while, Dominic sitting in thought as she stomped around in the creek. “I’m sorry you’re here,” he said eventually. “It stumps me that he’d take you from your mother. That’s wrong.”

“It was scary to leave her, but I wouldn’t call it wrong,” she said. “Compared to where I came from, my mama would say he did me a favor.”

Dominic stared at her in silence for a while before telling her they needed to get back. Although she hadn’t wanted to go inside, she tentatively stepped out of the water. Her feet were covered in mud so she cleaned them off, figuring Dr. DeMarco wouldn’t be happy with a dirty-footed servant scampering around when he had company.

They strolled toward the house in silence, finding a large white box truck now parked in the backyard. The men from last night were unloading boxes, taking them into a door in the side of the house, hidden under vines and green growth, blending into the surroundings.

“I didn’t know a door was there,” she said.

“It leads to the basement,” he said. “Trust me when I say you don’t want to go down there.”

Nunzio stepped from behind the truck with a box then, his eyes drifting toward her. Haven moved closer to Dominic and focused her eyes on the ground, not wanting to give him the wrong impression.

* * *

Dominic went to take a shower when they made it inside, while Haven gathered Carmine’s laundry, intending to start her daily cleaning. A foot or so from the top of the steps, she froze when she saw someone heading toward her. Fear ripped through her, so powerful she lost her breath.

Nunzio.

What she saw in his eyes alarmed her, hatred and lust thrown into a big frenzy of excited emotion. Her heart pounded fiercely, that voice in the back of her head telling her to get away. She took a few steps back and dropped the hamper, the clothes spilling out into the library as she sprinted to her room. She could hear him behind her as she flung the door closed, his foot blocking it before it could latch.

She backed away, looking around for some protection when he stepped into the room. Nunzio closed the door behind him, and Haven’s knees nearly buckled when the lock clicked into place.

She was trapped.

Nunzio calmly pulled off his coat and tossed it on the table, the nonchalance when he spoke making it sound as if they were old friends. “Alone at last.”

Loosening his tie, he pulled his shirt from his pants and let it hang as he sauntered toward her. Haven let out a scream for help, but Nunzio backhanded her before it could echo from the room. The strike stunned her into silence. “Behave, and I’ll make it worth it for you.”

Tears flowed from her eyes as she stepped back once more, her legs colliding with the footboard of the bed. “Don’t touch me.”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” He smiled vindictively. “Don’t you like making people happy? That’s all you gotta do. Be a good girl and please me. After all, that’s why you exist. It’s all you’re good for. It’s not like anyone could actually love someone like you.”

He closed the distance between them as he unbuckled his belt. She fought the urge to heave, her body trembling. Stepping to the side, she tried to dart around him, but he blocked her path.

“Don’t bite, or I’ll knock your teeth out,” he said, his voice gritty. Grabbing her head, he tried to force her to her knees as his other hand snaked into his pants. Out of time, panicked, Haven snatched his gun from his waistband. Using every ounce of strength she could muster, she swung and smacked him across the face with the butt of the gun. Nunzio stumbled, stunned, and let go of her.

It was all Haven needed to slip away.

Throwing the gun across the room, she sprinted for the door. Nunzio recovered and came after her, yelling. Her hand grasped the knob as she unlocked the door, but he grabbed her before she could open it. She screamed Dominic’s name as he turned them around, pushing her roughly toward the bed. She fell and scurried away as he stalked toward her, the bang of the door being forced open her saving grace. Dominic ran in, a towel around his waist but still dripping water from his shower, and shoved Nunzio out of the way before helping Haven to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“It’s fine.” Haven wiped her tears. “I’m fine.”

“He didn’t hurt you, right?”

She shook her head as Nunzio scoffed. “Me, hurt her? That bitch attacked me!”

Dominic’s face twisted with rage as he snatched the gun from the floor. “Haven, leave. I need to have a talk with my old friend.”

Haven ran out and hesitated in the library before darting for Carmine’s room. Locking herself in there, she sat on the edge of the bed and covered her ears to drown out the fighting.

* * *

Carmine knew something had gone terribly wrong when he made it home from school and walked into a house filled with fighting. Curses and insults flew around in multiple languages, the anger and hostility coming from the kitchen palpable. Stunned, Carmine paused in the doorway, seeing his father sewing up a cut on Nunzio’s face. “What the f**k happened?”