PRINCESS

XIII

"Huh?" I didn't hear right, "Get married?"

He walked over to his desk and sat down like he hadn't just murdered a man in front of me.

"You heard me clearly, Annie."
The nickname was like a slap to my face, my features hardened.

"You are not my father." I nearly screamed out loud,

"Proof?" He smiled,

"You said it... don't do this to me, I don't want to get married. There has to be another way."

"Well, Roxanne, I don't run a comedy empire here, so you either get over your shit and move on, or you stew in your despair. Neither affects me so that's your problem."

"I can't..." I sniffed, "She's the only one-" I cut myself off, the pain was excruciating.

"Oh, well. How sad. She's about to die now, because the moment I get my hands on that whore, she won't live to tell you the story."

I gasped loudly, "You can't do that-"

"I can. I will, try me, Roxanne. I have given you my conditions, you either take it or leave it."

This was surely a trap, but what else was I going to do? I was already caged. My life was in disarray and Giovanni was refusing to acknowledge that he had literally accused another man of being my father.

A man who was now dead.

"I'll do it. I'll get married to whomever you choose."

"Good. He will be here for dinner, get ready."

***

"For fuck's sake." My father wrapped his hand tightly around his glass,

This was an act of rebellion. MY act of rebellion, it might be little...but it still counted and I knew right now that most of the men at the table were beyond irritated.

"Thank you for finally deeming it fit to join us, Roxanne." My uncle, Enzo, spoke through clenched teeth, for a person who just lost his brother, he was taking it really well.

Then again, word was he hated him.

I purposely refused to comment, they could all get angry at my lateness, especially when he had a 'special visitor.'

I took a seat and focused immediately on my plate.

"Annie, this is Angelo," Giovanni spoke first,

I took a deep breath before looking up. This was it. This was the man they were marrying me off to. I gazed up and I wasn't very disappointed. My expectations were low, and it hadn't managed to go lower.

That was good.

I tried not to recoil in disgust as I look at my 'fiancé' a balding old man in his late sixties who was probably looking for a trophy wife and an easy fuck.

"Annie, your to-be husband, Angelo Thorne, is the leader of the largest drug cartel in Italy."

I felt especially annoyed by the way he said it. Like it was something to be proud of. I didn't care, I couldn't give a lesser fuck if he owned half of Italy, but that's nothing... because no matter my protests, I still had to marry this man who was going to lose a few teeth in the coming years.

The man leaned against the table and I reluctantly offered my hand to which he delivered a wet and sloppy kiss. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Annie." He smiled,

"It's Roxanne." I started saying, but I could feel my father's eye boring holes into the back of my head, "But Annie's fine." I continued, withdrawing my hand and wiping it against the skirt of my dress.

"You are very beautiful." He said again, and I automatically wanted the conversation to end,

"Thank you, sir," I replied,

"No need for formalities, after all, we are going to become family soon."

I nodded stiffly.

The dinner continued with a lot of business talk that I drowned out. My mind immediately went to Sasha and my body felt tingles all over.

I didn't want to think about him. I hated him and he just complicated things more, I was relieved he stayed away. The last thing I needed now was another controlling man in my life. I already had enough.

I wondered if I would react to any man's touch as I did to Sasha's. My body ached, but my mind stayed strong. I didn't want him near me.

"I would like for us to discuss in private." It took a minute to understand that Angelo was referring to me.

And he wanted to talk. In private.

"Uh, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Good." He stood up and beckoned me to follow,

"Now?" I asked, confused,

"When else?" He let out a boisterous laughter and others joined in, like something was funny.

I stood up hesitantly and took his outstretched hand, he led me down the hallway into an empty room. I started to feel uncomfortable and didn't want to prolong this discussion any further,

"So what did you want to say?"

"You see, Annie, you are a very beautiful girl."
He had said this earlier and I didn't know what to say, so I kept mute.

"I wonder what you are hiding."

I chuckled nervously, "Nothing, certainly."

"Strip, I want to see what I'm paying for." He suddenly ordered,

"What?" I echoed, I wasn't sure I heard him clearly,

He gave an exasperated sigh, like I was the problem here.

"You heard me, Roxanne."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't-" before I could complete my sentence, he tugged me towards him and tried to tear off my dress,

My mind reeled and I reacted almost instantly. I planted my teeth on his shoulder and bit down. Hard.

He let out a shout of pain and pushed me away, I took the opportunity and ran away like my life depended on it, and maybe at that moment, it did.

I collided with my father on the way, which was, if I might say, good timing. But it only got worse.

"Dad, I can't do this...he tried to rape me." I said,

"What are you talking about?" His eyes flitted to meet something at my back and he went over to it. Him.

"What's wrong?" He asked Angelo,

"Your whore of a daughter bit me!" He told him,

"I'm sure we can talk about it," he led Angelo to his office, but not without giving me one last glare.

I couldn't do this.

Fun fact: I run out of words faster than you think.