Page 95 of Savage Don

“That’s what I’ve done.”

“I’m not talking to you, Sonia. I’ve told everything to Father already.”

“Your father’s judgement is clouded by anger and shame. He let someone take his precious little princess. That’s enough to fog his vision and corrupt his mind. We need answers, Francesca. And I’m here to get them.”

“He sent you?” I gulp. For as much as I hate this woman, I’m also smart enough to fear her.

“No one sent me,” Sonia says, sticking a finger in a cold bowl of uneaten spaghetti. Slipping that stained finger between her lips, she sucks off the sauce. “I’m my own woman. And I won’t be distracted by such silly emotions as anger and shame.”

“I already knew you had no shame,” I sneer, backing up into a wall as Sonia leans against my dresser drawer.

“And I already know you’re going to give me the answers I need.”

“And if I don’t?”

“If you don’t, then I’ll get one of those boys out in the hallway to unscrew the hinges on your door and take that thing to the garbage dump. That way, we’ll never have to worry about anyone taking you ever again, because we’ll always have eyes on our little princess.”

The threat nearly makes me vomit. That’s a nightmare I hadn’t even dared consider yet.

This woman is pure evil. And she knows how to play this game in a way that no man ever could.

But I’m not some defenceless damsel.

“If you do that, then I’ll tell Father about how you’ve been keeping the guards happy.”

Even through all of the Botox, Sonia’s brows raise at my threat. Hell, for a brief moment, she almost looks impressed. But then the reality of what I just said settles in, and I can see a familiar darkness wash over her face.

“Let’s not fight,” she says, her voice cold and emotionless. “We’re supposed to be family, after all.”

“You’re not my family,” I spit. “And you never will be.”

Just like that, the phony warmth spreads over Sonia’s evil face again, melting away the dark truth in her frigid glare.

“Oh, honey, we both know you’re not that naïve. I will be a part of your family for as long as I choose to be. Just as you belong to your father, he belongs to me. No one will protect you from this fact. I’m your mother, dear. Now, give me a kiss.”

Turning her cheek to me, she taps a long bony finger right beneath her eye.

Rage fills my tensed limbs and I take a step forward, ready to claw her eyes out, but I stop myself before I can do anything too stupid.

Sonia is right. My father is wrapped around her wrinkly finger. If I attack her, the door to my bedroom will be ripped away, and I’ll never get a chance to escape this cage again.

“Ask your questions,” I hiss. Reaching behind my back, I feel over the plates and cutlery that have been left around my room. My fingers find a fork, and I take it, careful not to reveal my hand to the wicked witch leering at me from across the room.

“Thank you, dear. I think you’ll find that I only have your best interests at heart,” Sonia teases. “Now, my first question. What is your relationship with Ray Byrne?”

The question is so unexpected that I nearly drop the fork tucked against my palm.

“Ray Byrne?” I rasp. Just the mention of his name makes my heart beat harder. But it’s not just because of what we shared, it’s because no one is supposed to know about it.

What the hell is Sonia getting at?

“The one and only. I’ve been told he rescued you. When was that?”

“The morning he returned me home,” I say, trying to hold back the sneer that wants to take hold of my face.

“And you had met him before that?”

“No.”