“Emilia.” Antonio spoke calmly. He too stood up, towering over me. He was standing close to me, too close for my comfort. He reached out and ran a finger down my cheek, causing me to step away. He grinned at me, looking me over like I was a delicious cut of meat. “You don’t have a say in the matter, darling. You’re marrying me, and that is final. We’ve made a deal.”
“You can’t make me do anything,” I snarled.
“You wanna bet, sweetheart?” he growled, the grin becoming frightening, revealing exactly what my life would be like with this man: horrifying. “When Antonio Lombardo wants something, he gets it. And I want you. One way or another, you will be mine.”
“I’ll never be yours.”
Antonio turned to my father as if I was no longer in the room. “It’s been a lovely evening, Mr. Bianchi, but I have other matters to attend to. I do appreciate your cooperation and willingness to work with me.”
“My father doesn’t own me. He can’t give me away,” I stated, holding my head up high as a sense of dread filled me.
Antonio turned to me with a smile. “You’re so adorable when you’re angry, darling. I’m sure you’ll learn to step in line before too long.”
Antonio walked toward the door, and my father followed. I remained in the dining room, my stomach twisting and turning. I would never marry that man. No one could force me to marry Antonio Lombardo.
I overheard my father talking to Antonio, and it only made me sicker.
“Will you guarantee that she’s a virgin?” Antonio asked.
“Yes, she is. I’ve always been very strict with Emilia. She’s a good girl,” he replied with complete confidence.
“Good. I expect not to be disappointed on my wedding night.”
I nearly retched as I heard the front door close. I couldn’t imagine facing my father. He’d done many questionable things in his life, always held my reigns a bit too tightly. I’d stayed by his side, even though questionable business deals because he was my father. Because he was all the family I had left. But I’d ignored the red flags for far too long. I’d allowed him to control my every move; that would stop today. My father clearly didn’t love me - not as much as he did money or power.
Tears stung my eyes as I thought about the picture of my mom. Why did she have to die? She loved me; she wouldn’t have let my dad sell me to the highest bidder. As much as it pained me to think about, I felt like the wrong parent had died in that car accident.
“Emilia, how dare you defy me in front of Antonio Lombardo?” Dad’s voice echoed through the room. He was furious.
I turned and found him in the doorway, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He frowned at me as he walked into the room.
“How dare you treat me like property?” I spat. “You can’t make me do this. There’s no way this is happening.”
“It’s happening, Emilia,” he replied, his expression daring me to challenge him. “You simply don’t tell the Lombardo family no. That’s not the way this works, child.”
“I’m not a child.” I clenched my jaw tightly as I stared into my dad’s eyes. “And I’m not going to put up with this any longer.” I turned on my heels and headed out of the room.
“Oh Emilia. You think you can do whatever you want,” he cackled. “But remember, all your accounts are in my name. My money pays for everything from the cell phone to your car to the clothes on your back. You have nothing without me.”
I glanced back at my dad as I stood in the doorway. “That’s not true, Dad. I have my freedom without you, and that’s more valuable than any expensive phone or designer bag.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Emilia.” The certainty in his tone stopped me. “You can’t.”
Just watch me, I thought to myself as I resumed walking. Just watch me.
This wasn’t just about my freedom now either – this was about my baby’s as well. Antonio expected me to come to him a virgin; he would never accept another man’s child. And what would he do to me – and my child— when he discovered I wasn’t a virgin, that I was pregnant. Even if I did want to go through with it – which I didn’t – I knew my child’s life would be in danger.
I had no other choice but to run. I’d wait until my father went to sleep that night and sneak out of the house. All the money in the accounts was his, but I knew people who would help me.
I knew where I had to go.
I was going home to Liberty.
Graham
A buzzing alarm jolted me awake. It wasn’t just any old alarm to wake up to, either, but some kind of warning. I grabbed my phone off the end table and read the warning, “Flash flood warning in effect for the following counties…”
Same warning they’d been sending out for days. I was new to Liberty, but even I knew the amount of rainfall was well above average for the area. We’d been having flash flood warnings for different parts of Utah for over a week. This was the first time Liberty County was amongst them.
I rolled out of bed, unable to go back to sleep, and pulled on my jeans. I had some errands to run anyway, requiring me to go into town. I would check the downtown area, which was located in the valley and in a flood plain, and make sure they didn’t need any help while I was down there. Liberty had an old dam off to the north side of town that held back most of the river – which was named Liberty River. When they liked a name, they sure as hell stuck with it.
Once dressed, I walked into the kitchen. My younger brother, Mason, was already down there, along with our mama, who was visiting for the moment.
My mother was a tiny little thing, and it was hard to believe she’d managed to birth four massive sons. My brothers and I all took after our dad. That included Jack, who had a different mother than the rest of us but was still very much a Harvey.
“Good mornin’,” I said to my mom.
“Morning,” she said. “Breakfast is on the stove if you’d like some.”
“Nah, I’m not much for eating this early in the morning,” I reminded her. “But you already knew that.”
She sighed but still smiled. “Some things never change. I was hoping one day you’d realize the importance of breakfast, but nothing I can do about it now.”
Mason, otherwise known as Doc by the rest of us, was flipping through a newspaper.
“They still sell those things? I thought everyone read their news online these days.” I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down beside my mama, who had the rest of Mason’s newspaper and was reading it.
“I was just as surprised as you, man,” Mason commented. “I can’t recall the last time I held an actual paper in my hand.”
“Some of us prefer real newspapers.” Mom peered over the paper and smiled at me. Our mother didn’t have a smart phone or any type of technological gadgets. She said she was too old for all that junk.
“So you’ve been out this morning?” I asked Mason, taking a sip of my coffee.
“Yeah, ran and got the paper for Ma,” he said. “Along with some groceries.”
“One less thing I’ll have to do while I’m out today, I suppose.”