Chapter 27: Chapter 27
GISELLE
"Yes."
"Yes?" I repeated to make sure I heard Nicholas right.
"Yes. You can go. Take security with you."
"Oh. I thought you would say no after I slapped Eduardo."
"Eduardo wouldn't strike so soon," he replied. "He stalks his prey first. You should be fine with the guards for today. I have people monitoring Eduardo, too."
Prey. That was what I was to Eduardo, and I was just putting this out there; it wasn't a pleasant feeling. I felt like I was a child all over again, always on alert in case there was someone following me.
"I'm stopping on the way to get art supplies."
"Whatever you want." His voice sounded off, like he wasn't paying attention to what I was saying. "There's money in the bedside drawer."
I was almost sure he wasn't paying attention to me. Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed so easily, but I wasn't going to stick around long enough for him to change his mind.
***
"I see you've been feeding things into Nicholas's head."
My spine stiffened when I heard my father's voice from the doorway. I'd been elated when the butler told me my parents weren't home, but with my father's sudden arrival, my plan to sneak in and out unnoticed wasn't going to work.
I turned to face him, my smile in place. "Hey, Father. I didn't know you were home."
He shot me a nasty glare. "Spare me the greetings, little snake. I see you've been working your magic on Nicholas."
My smile fell. "What do you mean?"
"Why is Nicholas suddenly questioning the things that happened seven years ago?"
Everyone had swallowed my father's version of the story hook, line, and sinker. Nicholas hadn't been an exception to that. We didn't talk about Gianna's death recently, so why was he questioning everything now?
I shrugged. "I don't know."
"He was here this morning, and he asked for the tapes. What lies did you tell him?"
That had to be before I came down for breakfast because I woke up late, but why the sudden desire to get additional information on what happened?
"I said nothing to him. I remember nothing that happened that night, remember?" I wish I did, but shit happened.
"I do. You murdered Gianna out of jealousy. She was driving home, and you took over the wheels, leading to an accident."
"N- no. That wasn't what happened."
An image of me sitting in the driver's seat while Gianna sat next to me in the passenger seat hit me, and I took a step back.
"I was the one driving," I muttered, my vision blurring.
Father scowled at me. "No, you were not. Lying again, are we? Gianna was in the driver's seat, and you know it. Your made-up touchy memory story will not fool me."
Was he telling the truth? Had my memory made up that little detail from that night? For years, I had nightmares with me in the driver's seat.
That was the only thing from that night that stuck with me, and it reinforced my belief that I wasn't the cause of the accident because they all thought I had been in the passenger seat.
What if I had been wrong for seven years? What if I did cause the accident on purpose? The thought had my stomach rolling. What if I wasn't as innocent as I thought?
"Now that you are here, why don't you bring my daughter back to me?"
I shook my head. There was no way I was budging on that. "I'm sorry, but Cara can't return here. She's better off with me and Nicholas as her guardians."
"Your act isn't fooling anyone, Giselle. Nicholas doesn't care what happens to Cara. I don't know what's gotten into you, but you seem to have forgotten your place since Nicholas married you. Remember, he never married you because he wanted you."
I reminded myself of the same thing every single day. If he intended to hurt me, he was failing miserably.
"It's not an act, Father. Cara is now a Rossi."
Father threw his head back in laughter. "You fool! That's not how it works."
I grabbed the closed luggage from the bed, holding it next to me. He blocked my path when I sidestepped to walk out of Cara's room. He was getting on my last nerve, and from his smug smile, he knew that too.
I plastered on a huge smile. "I don't care how it works. But I do know how one thing works. Nicholas knows I'm here. He'll kill you if he finds out you touched a hair on my head." It was all false bravado and lies, but hey, Father didn't have to know. "You wouldn't want to start a war between the Rossis and the Fanellis, would you? Now, why don't you get out of the way? My husband awaits my return."
"You stupid bitch!" He snarled.
My smile grew wider. He was the one with his panties in a bunch now. "I have my finer moments, Father. Thanks for the compliment. And don't think I'll hesitate to call Nicholas if you don't get out of the way."
"I should've killed you when you were in Lucia's womb."
"If you want me dead, I suggest you wait your turn. From the look of things, Eduardo is itching to get his hands on me. Move." I enunciated the last word, watching with satisfaction as he stepped out of the way.
I was done being the docile little girl he could always talk down on. Since I was no longer a Fanelli, I didn't have to keep my mouth shut for fear of getting married off to a disgusting man.
"You'll regret this, Giselle," he swore. "I'll make sure you regret your existence."
"That's the thing, Father. I already regret my existence. You can't make me suddenly start caring about my life because of your little threats."
I'd given up a long time ago. I didn't have the courage to take my life, or I'd have done it myself, and for that very reason, threats of death didn't faze me. Not as much as it should, anyway. But when it affected the people I cared about, that was when I took a stand.
That was the other reason I'd longed for a family of my own. Maybe they'd get me to care about life or death. It was probably a selfish reason to have kids, but from the look of things, I didn't have to worry about that. I wouldn't be bearing children for Nicholas.
My parents knew the only way to get me to care was by hanging Cara over my head. Now that she was out of their reach, they had no ammunition against me, and that didn't sit well with them.
"Get out of my house," Father roared.
"I already am. Oh, and Father?" I called out to him over my shoulder. "I have good news for you. You should be expecting a grandchild soon. Your precious son-in-law had unprotected sex with me. Guess he doesn't hate my gut that much, huh?"
"Get. Out."
I laughed, wheeling the bag behind me without sparing a glance at my father. Father didn't have to know that I had an IUD inserted a year ago. I enjoyed the little reactions I got out of him. One of Nicholas's men, who stood at the bottom of the stairs, rushed up to help me with the heavy bag.
"There's more inside," I told him.
He nodded. "I'll get them for you."
I followed him down the stairs, and it was only when I was safely in the car's backseat that I took my first deep breath with one thought still lingering at the back of my mind, a thought I never considered in the past until I talked to my father today.
What if I was responsible for Gianna's death?
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