Page 105 of Bound By Threads
My fists clench so hard my knuckles pop. “We are nothing alike.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” he sighs, as if I’ve disappointed him by not bringing a report card home. “Watch who you’re talking to, Roman. You might be my son, but it’s not a hardship to replace you. Now sit down. Act like a grown-up and tell me what you think I’ve done to warrant this tantrum.”
“You’re a rapist piece of shit.”
His eyes flicker. That’s all. A twitch, so fast you might miss it if you didn’t know him like I do.
“Ah,” he says slowly, “so you found her then.”
My entire body goes still. “Found her? You knew she was alive?”
He shrugs. “We were told she was dead. No body, no proof. I’m not stupid, Roman. Just didn’t see the point in digging around for a girl who wasn’t worth the trouble. Maybe if Elijah hadn’t offed his daddy, James would’ve pushed me harder to find her. But he’s gone, and I moved on.”
He taps his finger against the desk like he’s bored with this conversation. “Where is she now?”
“Dead,” I lie, voice hollow.
My father rises from his chair like a storm gathering on the horizon, brushing invisible dust from his tailored shirt.
He rounds the desk slowly, each step deliberate, eyes locked onto mine. “Don’t mock me,” he growls. “The only way you would know what happened is if she told you.”
The room wraps around me as his words sink in. My ears ring, and my heart pounds so hard I feel it behind my eyes.
“Involvement?” I scoff. “Is that what you’re calling it. You raped her.”
He laughs. Actually laughs. Then—worse—he nods.
“And you and your boys left her locked up like a pretty little gift. Did you think no one would open it?”
My stomach twists. “Us?”
“James and I had the best time with the girl,” he says, eyes glowing with perverse nostalgia. “So innocent. So pure… and her screams. God, they were beautiful. Until she went silent, that is.”
My vision blurs, and for a terrifying moment, I don’t know if it’s rage or tears.
“Then why have us ruin her?”
He shrugs. “To break her. To make her compliant to be James’s wife. He was so set on it, and Tracey had no problem selling her daughter in exchange for more drugs… To see if you would.”
My gaze drops to the gun holstered on his hip, the one he wears like a symbol of his throne.
Could I grab it?
Would I be fast enough?
He sees where I’m looking and tsks, shaking his head. “Don’t even think about it, Roman. You’re impulsive, reckless. And worse—soft. Just like your mother made you.”
I snap. “She made me human, which is more than you’ll ever be. You’re a monster who just wants to see people broken at his feet.”
He grins. “And you don’t? You took great pleasure in breaking Scarlett until she threw herself off that cliff. I’m more human than you because I’m not a dog who follows orders.”
In one fluid motion, faster than I expect, his fist crashes into my face.
I hit the ground hard, back cracking against the edge of a rug, and ribs screaming as the wind is knocked out of me.
Then his foot is on my chest, pressing down.Hard.
“You always were weak,” he mutters. “A disappointment from the moment you were old enough to talk. I should’ve strangled that softness out of you years ago when I killed your mom.”
