She didn’t answer me right away. I almost didn’t think she would until she said, “Yeah.”
“You know, there is so much more out there in this world than just this house.”
I could hear her swallow. “Is there? The world is a dangerous place.”
“This house is a dangerous place. Do you really think your father and your uncle will let you live here until you're old and gray?” She sucked in a sharp breath from my words. I forged on. “And even if that is the case, is that how you want to live your life? Forever stuck here?”
I didn’t know what her purpose for being here was, but I knew it couldn’t be good.
“There’s nothing I can do. I’m stuck here, and tomorrow, after you marry Uncle Waylen, you’ll be stuck here too.”
My blood ran cold from her words. I was running out of time.
I tightened my grip around her hand, and she didn’t say anything about it.
“There is something you can do,” I said.
“What?” she whispered, her voice low and terrified. I closed my eyes, not even knowing if this would work.
“Help me get in contact with my brother. With my…boyfriend.”
It was the first time I had ever referred to Elio as such. I just wished it were under different circumstances.
“What can they do? Waylen is?—”
“Not as powerful as you’re making him out to be.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know him.”
“But I know my brother. I know the men under him. And what’s more, I know Elio. And he wouldn’t give up until he found me. And your uncle is scared of him.”
“Waylen isn’t scared of anyone.”
“That’s not true. He just wants you to think that. He’s a weak man who’s desperate for power, and that desperation will get him killed. Don’t go down with him.”
I knew that to be a fact. If he were as powerful as he had Nova convinced, he wouldn’t be hiding from the De Lucas. He wouldn’t have taken my father up on his help and accepted me as his bride as some sort of consolation prize. I wasn’t conceitedenough to think he was enraptured by my beauty, and that was why he needed to marry me. This was about power.
And it was about him thinking he had a bargaining chip with my father for holding his precious daughter in his hands.
I could laugh at his stupidity if my safety weren’t at risk.
I wasn’t my father’s precious daughter. And he would learn soon enough that Joseph Gambino only cared about one person, and it was himself. He couldn’t give two shits if I were to die.
“I don’t have a phone.”
“But you can get access to one, no?”
If there was one thing Nova had, it was resourcefulness. She wouldn’t have survived in this house for so long if that weren’t the case.
“Help me. And Elio will help you. He’ll create a safe passage for you to leave this life behind once and for all. I saw the metal bars outside your window. I bet they put them up there after you tried to escape. You want to escape. And you haven’t given up, yet, have you? Come on, Nova.”
She was silent beside me. For a moment, I really thought I had gotten through to her. Then she pulled her hand away and turned her back to me.
I let out a small sigh in disappointment.
“I’m sleepy,” she said. “And you should sleep too. We have a big day tomorrow.”
Yeah, a big day tomorrow. How could I forget?
