Once Broken

Chapter 39

Nicole POV
When Daniel's dad said my name, I was shocked. He knew my true name. He knew my father, Mario Karade. My first question was how he knew my dad. My father had no close friends, aside from my Jacob (he thought of him again made me shiver, and rather fearful), and Ray Batio, his second in command. But even they were more just business partners than anything.
Daniel and I went into his room, where I sat on a chair, a couple feet from him, who sat on the bed.
"I'm sorry for him... he's a liar. Don't worry, I know you aren't a daughter of-"
"He's right." I said, mustering up the courage to say it. I didn't want to lie. Daniel didn't deserve it. Maybe he'd have mercy on me...
Daniel scrunched his eyebrows in a manner of confusion, but then that slowly went to an expression of shock as the realization hit him.
"You... are the daughter... of Mario...? Mario fucking Karade?" His harsh words made me flinch.
"Not willingly, but yes..." I said, hanging my head.
He let out a loud, angry sound, somewhere between a groan and a growl of sorts. My palms started to sweat uncontrollably, as did my brow. My heart was beating at a million miles an hour, and I was looking around for all possible escape routes. Daniel paced around the room, doing circles around me. I felt like an animal about to fall prey to a lion, and with this, I never took my eyes off him. I was tense, ready to sprint away, but upon further thought i remembered all that time ago when Daniel had caught me so easily when I tried running.
He suddenly stopped and turned to me, his hazel eyes piercing my soul. I held my breath, staring right back. There was a big show of anger... but also an underlying show of hurt and sadness.
"Why didn't you tell me when we first met...?" He asked.
"I know the relation between you and my dad.. I'd heard a lot about you from him. Heh, and its not exactly comforting when you had a gun pointed at me." I laughed with a stale tone from this.
"But why now?"
"I've been holding this in since I first told you my fake name... the feeling has been unbearable... I told you now because i didn't want to lie again. You don't deserve that."
He didn't say anything for a little bit, seeming to take it all in. He paced around the room, in circles around me. I felt like an animal about to fall prey to a lion. I stood tense, looking at all my possible escape routes that I could take. I was ready to run as soon as he showed any signs of hostility or danger, though remembering back to when he had chased me before, i knew he could catch me. I never kept my eyes off of him, for this reason. That, and I wanted to see how he was taking all of this.
"I admire your courage. You say you've heard lots from your father about me, so no doubt you know my... alternate ways, of dealing with those who betray or cross me. So telling me this definitely displays a level of trust you have in me, with which i respect as well. You seem like you never would want to hurt me. I will spare you. And furthermore, you can remain under my roof."
I let out a sigh of relief, loosening up, but not completely.
"The one thing I'd like you to enlighten me on, is why you came here. No doubt, being the daughter of the Italian mafioso, you would be treated like a princess by everyone. Endless supply of clothes, food, water, friends. Why are you here? Did you get chased here by my men to get revenge on your father? If so, why have none claimed responsibility... Or did you get lost?" He asked.
I sighed heavily, looking at my feet. Memories came flooding back. I tried to hold back tears but time had built so much pressure in me that i burst. I fell to my knees and cried, tears streaming down my face. Daniel immediately came to me, wrapping his arms around me in a hug.
"Sh... its okay... its okay... you can tell me.." He tried to comfort me.
After a couple minutes of crying, snot was now running out of my nose, and my eyes were red, puffy from tears. I sniffled, trying to stop the runny nose.
"The reason.... the reason I left... Jacob was due to marry me.. the Russian mafioso... my father set it up... i didn't want it.. well.. Jacob would rape me.. Every night. He would rape me till I would loose consciousness. I had bruises. Then he'd take pictures of me. He threatened me if i ever told anyone or left him, he'd expose them to the world... i don't want to be seen that way by everyone, Daniel.. but I'd had enough. He was going to try to do it again, the night before i showed up in your garage. I'd run from our hotel, all the way to a couple blocks from your garage But a couple of his people found me, and I just dove under the slightly open door, and hid in the diablo." I told him, sniffling occasionally.
"Jacob... raped you?" He asked, anger seeping in his voice. At first i was affraid.
"y-yes.."
"I'm going to blow his fucking brains out... but not before i cut off his own dick and make him suck it..." He growled, grinding his teeth.
He looked into my eyes, the fire in them suddenly becoming soft. He stopped grinding his teeth.
"I'm never going to let anyone ever hurt you again... okay Nicole?" He asked softly.
"O-okay.." I said hesitantly. I didn't completely believe him, but i had to say yes.
He hugged me closer. And for once, i felt like i was truly safe..