His Corruption

Chapter 20

~Elena pov~

"When are you going to start acting fucking responsible?!" Papa yelled, pacing behind his desk. "Vito's engagement party and you spend half the time outside, with Beverly you're saying?"

I lowered my face, too ashamed to look Papa in the eye and repeat my dishonesty. He'd never been this angry at me and it was scary.

He put his hands on his waist. "Beverly was inside the whole time! You were with a man, thats what the guards are saying, the ones who scoped out the hall to prevent another shooting!"

"I wasn't doing anything with any guy, I swear Papa-"

"I thought you were doing good without Pietro. I'm going to have to call him again."

My heart dropped. No, this was bad.

"He will accompany you wherever you need to go and I'll make sure you stay away from any man until your marriage. We have a reputation to uphold."

A reputation based on my purity. If I could just see the look on my dad's face if he found out I wasn't a virgin, maybe I'd risk the punishment.

But I bit my tongue harshly, hoping I wouldn't say something I regretted.

"There have been proposals flying in recently, soon you'll be matched with someone I approve of."

"I don't want to marry a man of your choice! He won't care about me Papa!" I exploded, snapping my mouth shut when I realise what I'd done.

My father turned to face me, the impact of his palm throwing my head to the side. His slap was just as sharp as his glare, settled on my cheek and stinging.

Tears pricked at my eyes. This type of slap was usual when I disobeyed him but he'd never hit me this hard before.

I held my cheek and tried hard not to cry, a bitter resentment crawling up my throat for Papa. I could never do anything right in his eyes. No matter how hard I tried to please him, nothing was ever good enough.

And now, the little bit of freedom I had was the cost of my slip ups. But at this point I didn't care. My father always kept me sheltered from the world like an untouchable gem.

Let's see what it would take to ruin my value.

~Cristian~

It had been a month since that engagement party. Leaving New York was always a fucking inconvenience, especially when I had a beast on my back tracking my every movement.

When the wedding invitation arrived, I told myself I wouldn't accept it. I knew Giuseppe was trying to shove himself up my ass, but it took just one thought of a certain brunette and my decision changed.

I wish I knew why. I couldn't stand her innocent act, we both knew was a facade. Those brown eyes taunting me of what I was missing out on, the memory of her soft palm beneath mine...

I needed to clear my head and decided this was the best way. I missed the ceremony, not wanting to see another one of the 20 Ricci kids get married, but I stopped by at the afterparty.

Me and Adrian talked business, and by that I mean he gave me a list of hits he'd wanted done for a while.

Sipping a glass of champagne, Adrians words drowned out in a blur. Elena had chosen a tight fit as usual, a purple dress that reached the floor.