Chapter 25: 25. Ginevra
I felt like I was going mad.
I was desperate and helpless.
After they had taken Lorenzo away, I had prayed and begged my father to leave him be.
I had cried and screamed until I was voiceless, but it had all been useless.
I had been forcibly taken away by two guards and locked in the bedroom I had when I lived in the villa.
I was forbidden to leave the house and go to the garden or my old annex without a guard at my side.
My cell phone had been confiscated and someone was always following me through surveillance cameras scattered throughout the property.
I had to wait a full day to be able to talk to my father again.
A whole day, when I felt I was slowly dying at the idea of what they were doing to Lorenzo.
Did they medicate him, or did they beat him again? Was he still alive? Did they give him food and drink?
A thousand questions filled my mind and I had no one to talk to, since they all refused to speak to me.
I had also tried to call on the home phone, but I was immediately caught.
However, who could I have called?
Maya had been forbidden to have contact with me.
The police? All Rockart City East police were corrupt and receiving bribes from my father.
The Mayor? He could have been the solution since he was outside my family after the White House emergency decree, but I knew he wouldn't raise a finger against the Rinaldis or Orlandos and put his life in jeopardy.
It filled me with bitterness to know that my city was the only one to have a Mayor appointed by the White House, after dozens of resignations and murders among those who held the position of first citizen.
For years, the role of Mayor had been alternately covered by a Rinaldi or an Orlando and every time the Mayor ended up killed by the opposing family or forced to resign if he did not want something bad to happen to him.
The climate of terror was so strong that, in the end, the White House had taken away the right to appoint our Mayor, but even then, things had not improved.
The two families had no longer dared to kill those who held that role not to antagonize the President, but on the other hand no new Mayor had ever had the courage to go against the Rinaldis and the Orlandos. Therefore, that was a ghost figure in our city. A character devoid of power and with the sole purpose of surviving until the end of the mandate.
Lonelier than ever and desperate, I ended up accepting that situation and apparently doing nothing until my father called me.
"Sign these papers," my father burst out as soon as I set foot in his office.
"What is this about?" I asked, taking a pen.
"You are not worthy of the name you bear. You have dishonored the whole family and with these documents I will prevent your villainous behavior from damaging all of us and the legacy of your brothers. "
"Are you disinheriting me?" I understood leafing through the file.
"I'm taking away from you any chance of accessing your share of the company, which would have been yours once you were married. Be thankful to your mother that I don't take away your last name. "
With a great sigh of relief, I happily signed those papers.
"I see you enjoy it," my father realized, deeply irritated. He was sure I would beg him not to lose my legacy and my wealth.
"You're taking a burden off me. I know it is inconceivable to you, but for me your money is worth less than nothing. I will move away, I will look for a job and ... "
"It is not necessary. Soon you will get married and ... "
"What ?!" I interrupted him in dismay.
"Ginevra, I will not allow you to tarnish our family with a pregnancy out of wedlock. Brian said he was willing to marry you anyway and recognize the boy as his. "
"I cannot believe it…"
"Me neither, really. I was convinced he would force you to have an abortion before the wedding, but he changed his mind and called me this morning begging me not to make it worse. "
I burst out laughing.
Brian was too smart and in a precarious situation for not realizing he could use Lorenzo's son to save his skin from the Orlandos when they found out what had happened to Lorenzo.
"After the papers I just signed, I can assure you that Brian will disappear from circulation and never show up again."
"What the hell are you saying?" My father was furious.
"I'm saying you're so blinded by your desire to have an outlet to the sea in the west of the city that you didn't realize that Brian is just using you."
"And what do you know?"
"I heard things ..." I sighed with an enigmatic smile on my lips. I felt that I was one step away from freeing Lorenzo.
"What things?"
"That depends. What are you willing to give me in exchange for this information? "
"Are you blackmailing me? I am your father! "
"No, you were my father," I reminded him, showing him the documents I had just signed.
"I'll allow you to keep the baby," he granted me with considerable effort.
"I'm not pregnant," I revealed with a shrug.
"You dirty liar ... you lied to me."
"If I hadn't, Lorenzo or I would already be dead."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to release Lorenzo."
"Never!" He thundered, slamming his fist on the desk.
"Then forget about this."
"Little dinky girl. Do you really think you can blackmail me and get away with it? Even though you're my daughter, I won't let you make fun of me. Now tell me everything you know or that bastard Lorenzo Orlando will die before tonight," my father screamed. At that moment I realized how dangerous my father could become and that there was a reason that he had managed to terrify half the city.
"Please don't kill him," I pleaded with a low voice.
"It all depends on you and what you tell me." Now I was the one being blackmailed.
"I swore I'd never say anything."
"Speak, if you want to see your lover alive again," he threatened me briskly.
"Ok ... Lorenzo has separated from his family, so I don't know anything about the Orlandos, but Brian has come twice to the Bridge and has always been treated like a friend. I felt him bragging to Lorenzo that you trusted him and that I would soon marry him. "
"Son of a bitch ..." hissed my father, who was beginning to understand that he had fallen into a trap.
"I asked Lorenzo for explanations and he told me that Brian was caught smuggling Salvatore Orlando's same merchandise and that now he had to pay for his mistake. It is the Orlando family who asked him to get closer and push you to get us married. He promised to give Salvatore Orlando the share of your company he would get with our marriage, "I revealed, making my father turn pale. "You would have had the pier, but in reality, the management was entirely entrusted to the Orlandos. Esposito only owns the property but does not control the area and you would have remained holding nothing. "
"I ... I don't believe you," my father mumbled in shock, even though I knew perfectly well that he had believed my every word.
"Just tell him that you have just disinherited me and that by marrying me he would no longer have his share of the company and the position on the Board of Directors. I'm sure he will refuse the deal. If you want to give him the coup de grace, tell him that I'm not pregnant and that there will be no child to protect him from the wrath of the Orlandos. "
"Who tells me you're not lying to me again to save that man?"
"Ask him in person."
"I will do it."
"Just promise me you won't hurt him."
"It depends on how he cooperates with me."
"Dad, please, it's an Orlando and you're a Rinaldi. He will never cooperate. "
"Too bad for him," my father chuckled maliciously.
"I want to see him!" I asked apprehensively and determined to give some relief to my suffering soul.
"No."
"I did everything you wanted. I signed the papers, broke an oath ... "
"I promised not to kill him, not to let you meet him."
"How do I know you haven't already killed him?" I attacked him, driven by despair and fear.
"Nobody."
"Let me see. Even for just five seconds. You owe me that."
"I don't owe you anything!" He got even angrier.
"Please. I will do whatever you want ", I asked him, feeling the tears overflow and streak my face.
"I want you to forget about him. Forever."
"Okay," I conceded by wiping away my tears.
"All right. I'll take you to him, but if I see anything that will make me suspect you, I'll take him out. "
I nodded. My father's inquisitive gaze held me back from saying or doing anything.
I knew that this concession was not the fruit of paternal love, but only a test to understand if I would betray him or not.
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