Twisted Loyalty

Chapter 36: No Escape

Sienna

The phone clicks dead in my father's hand, the line cutting off Dante's voice, and I feel something inside me break. The fear I'd been trying to hold back, the terror I'd been desperately keeping at bay, finally swallows me whole. The sobs come before I can stop them, my body shaking as I cry, gasping for air through the pain and the panic.

Luca looks down at me with disgust, his cold eyes narrowing as he wipes his hand across his face where I had spit on him earlier. "Stop crying," he growls, his voice sharp like a blade. "Crying isn't going to help you now."

I try to pull myself together, but the tears keep falling, the hopelessness wrapping around me like a noose. I can't stop thinking about Dante, about how close he sounds to breaking—how much pain he's in, just hearing me like this. But I'm stuck here, with Luca, who only sees me as an object, something to be controlled.

"He's not coming, you know," Luca says, his voice venomous as he circles me, like a predator waiting to strike. "Dante. He's not going to get here in time. And even if he does, do you think he really cares about you? If he cared, he wouldn't have left you alone in the first place."

"That's not true," I whisper, but my voice is weak, trembling. I don't even believe it myself right now. My father's words are poisonous, worming their way into my mind.

"Isn't it?" He crouches down in front of me, his gaze boring into mine, a sneer twisting his lips. "If he truly cared, he wouldn't have let this happen. You'd be safe, wouldn't you? But instead, you're here with me. Like you've always been."

I shake my head, tears streaming down my face, my body trembling. "Please, papi," I sob, using the name I haven't called him since I was a little girl. Desperation claws at my throat. I can't stop the word from slipping out, hoping—praying—that some part of him, some part of the father I used to know, is still in there. "Please... let me go. Don't do this."

For a moment, Luca pauses, something flickering in his eyes. For just a second, I think I see a shadow of the man who used to be my father. The man who once cared about me.

But then it's gone.

Luca throws his head back and laughs, the sound cruel and hollow. "You think words are going to work on me now?" he sneers, standing up and looming over me again. "You're pathetic, Sienna. Just like your mother."

His words slice through me like a knife, and I wince, my heart splintering even further. I can't breathe, the pain of it choking me as he stands and turns away, heading for the door. He doesn't even spare me a second glance.

"You'll stay right here," he says, cold and detached. "I'll deal with you later."

The door slams shut behind him, the sound echoing through the empty room, and I'm left alone with nothing but my own sobs and the crushing weight of his words. I curl into myself, hugging my knees to my chest, and cry harder than I've cried in years.

How did it come to this?

Hours pass, maybe more. I don't know anymore. The light in the room dims as the day turns to night, and I'm left alone in the cold, the weight of the situation pressing down on me. My father doesn't care about me. He never did. All he wants is control, and now he's using me to get it.

The door creaks open again, and I flinch, expecting more taunts, more cruelty. But this time, when Luca steps into the room, he doesn't speak. His face is twisted in anger, and before I can react, his fist connects with my side.

Pain explodes through my body as I gasp, collapsing onto the floor. He grabs me by the hair, yanking me up, forcing me to my knees. "You thought calling me papi would change things?" he growls, his voice venomous as he hits me again, this time across the face. My vision blurs, and I taste blood in my mouth.