She answers on the first ring. “Cara mia! How are you? I’ve been waiting for your call.”
The sound of her voice has me falling onto my bed in tears. “Mom,” I sob uncontrollably, all of the built up adrenaline hitting me hard. “I need your help. I need you to come get me.”
By the time I finish telling her all that’s happened, and the little I know, she’s crying as well. “I’m going to call your grandfather. He’ll know what to do.”
“Please hurry, Mom,” I beg.
I hang up the phone and curl into a ball on the bed, hugging the soft pillows. I’m not sure how long I cry for, but when there’s a knock on the door, my head is pounding, and my eyes are burning from the little bit of mascara I put on that’s now running.
Thinking it’s Phoenix coming back to check on me, I swing the door open, only to find it’s Aris, Kostas’s brother, the playful flirt I met at the bar last night. I shoot him a glare, and he flinches. Good!
“What the hell do you want?”
Aris raises his hands in mock surrender. “I didn’t know.”
“So, you’re telling me when we were talking, you had no idea who I was?” I tilt my head to the side and throw a hand on my hip. “You didn’t know I was my father’s daughter?”
“At first, no, but once we started talking, I put two and two together…”
I grab the edge of the door, about to slam it in his face, when he slides his foot in the doorway to prevent it from closing. His eyes land on my cheek, and he steps closer, widening the door.
“Who did this to you?” His fingers come up to touch my face, but I take a step back. “Who did this to you?” he repeats.
“My—Niles,” I say, refusing to ever refer to him as my dad again.
Aris’s jaw ticks. “He’s lucky he already got on that plane.”
“He may have physically hurt me, but what you guys are doing is even worse.”
Aris flinches at my words, as though I’ve slapped him like my father slapped me. His eyes plead with me to understand. Understand what? That he’s not the same monster as they are? But when his gaze softens, I find my heart does too.
“I didn’t know what my father and Kostas were planning,” he utters in a tone that begs for me to understand. “I swear. I only came by to see if you’re okay.”
I assess his features in an attempt to get a read on him, and for some reason, I believe him. His brows are furrowed in worry, and his lips are pursed in a concerned frown. I think back to earlier, during breakfast. When Ezio announced I was to marry his son, I had assumed he meant Aris. When I looked over at him, he genuinely looked as confused and shocked as I did. And then when his father clarified it would be his eldest son I would be marrying, Aris looked almost…angry.
“I’m not marrying your brother,” I state. “So, if you’re here to try to talk me into going along with this craziness, you can leave now.”
“That’s not why I’m here. I told you…I came by to see if you’re okay. Why don’t we walk down to the bar and get a drink?”
Figuring it’s probably better to have Aris as an ally than an enemy, I nod once. “Let me grab my phone.” I need to make sure I’m available when my mom calls back.
After grabbing my phone, I take a quick detour back into the bathroom to clean up my face and hair, so I don’t look like a hot mess. Then I slip on my wedges and grab my purse. It’s probably best if I bring it everywhere with me in case I need to run at any moment. It’s all I came with, and it holds everything I have. A little bit of cash, my credit cards, my license, and my passport. My passport! Why didn’t I think about that before? It won’t be easy, but at least I know I have a backup plan.
“You ready?” Aris asks.
“Yep.”
In the light of the day, the hotel is even more gorgeous. It was exquisite last night, but with the sun shining, I’m able to see every detail of the place. The pool is kidney-shaped, with a bar on one end and a beautiful rock waterfall on the other. Several people are already swimming in the pool and lying out in the loungers with drinks in their hands.
“Wine?” Aris asks, lifting the bottle from last night.
I shake my head. I need to keep a clear head.
“Just a lemonade if you have it. If not, water.”
He pours my drink then pops a top on a beer for himself. We take our drinks over to two empty loungers that are under an umbrella and have a seat.
“You’re from Italy, right?” he asks after a few minutes of silence.
“Yes, Rome, but I go to school in Florence at the Florence Art Institute.” And then it hits me. If somehow Kostas and his dad get their way, will I be allowed to go back to school in the fall? Or will he force me to stay here with him? Away from my mom, my family, my life.
“What’s wrong?” Aris asks.
“I was just thinking about school. I’m supposed to be starting my senior year. I hope this all gets sorted out before then.”
“Talia, I don’t think you understand—”
His words are cut off by the sound of my phone ringing. “I need to take this,” I say before I answer the call. “Mom.”
“No, Talia, it’s your grandfather.”
“Nonno!” A sob escapes my lips. “Please tell me I can go home.” There’s a deafening silence on the other line that causes my body to grow cold with fear. “Nonno,” I repeat.
“Talia, you need to listen to me,” he says, his tone unlike anything I’ve ever heard. It’s flat and cold, devoid of all emotion. “Your father made some terrible choices, and because of that, the Demetrious have decided the way for him to pay is through you. I’ve spoken to Ezio, and the decision has been made. You will marry his eldest son, Kostas, and become his wife.”
“No!” With a shaky hand, I set my drink on the table next to me. “Please, Nonno, I can’t marry him. I have a life. A boyfriend. I have my senior year! I didn’t agree to this.” Another wave of fury spreads through my veins like wildfire. How dare my father—No! Niles! How dare Niles use me to pay his debt! He’s a selfish bastard! “I’m not marrying him,” I tell my grandfather. “I don’t care if they kill Niles.” My eyes swing over to Aris, who is staring at me with pity in his eyes.
“You don’t have a choice,” my grandfather says so nonchalantly one would think he was discussing the weather and not the fate of my future. “The decision is final.”
At his words, I nearly drop my phone. My hands are trembling with fury, and I have to clasp the device tightly. “Ezio told me if I don’t marry Kostas, Niles will die. Well, fuck him! He did this to himself. Let. Him. Rot.” Without thinking about where I am or what I’m doing, I lean forward and swipe the glass off the table. It smashes against the ground, shards of glass flying in every direction. It’s not enough to tame the rage rolling through me, but it helps tamper it down a notch.
“Talia,” Nonno snaps. “Do not take up that language with me. I understand you are upset, and you have every right to be. But you will not speak to me with such disrespect.”
Seriously? All of these men want to jerk me around and dictate my life, then demand respect? Respect is earned. And as far as I’m concerned, they’ve all lost mine.