Chapter 4

Violet's Pov

I'd come across cruel people in the Romano estate including Romano himself but no one told me about the devil that prowled the mansion — Vlad Romanio.

The first time I met Vlad, I thought he was a ghost.

 That's because he moved like one.

His presence seeped into every room he entered before you even knew he was there.

 He was quiet.

At least I thought he was until the moment he spoke and the illusion that he was quiet, shattered.

Ghosts didn't carry the kind of cruelty he did in his voice. 

“Buenos días,”

I flinched at the sound.

I was scrubbing the floors of the grand dining hall when he appeared, leaning against the jamb of the door with a smirk on his lips. 

“A little lower, no?”

 He mused, mischief glinting in his eyes. 

“Comon una Buena .”

Like a good servant.

I clenched my teeth, forcing myself not to react.

 It had been 5 days since Don Romano decided I was his new maid. 

5 days since I had been stripped of my dignity and thrown into a world that was sharpening its knives and waiting for me to bleed. 

Vlad stepped closer, the scent of his expensive cologne and cigarette, filling the space between us.

 He crouched down, studying me like I was some exotic animal in a zoo.

 “You don't belong here,” 

he said in flawless Spanish.

His tone was so gentle that for a second, hope flickered inside me.

He was right.

 I didn't belong here. 

Was he going to help me escape?

But then he grinned. 

“It doesn't matter anymore.

 You're here so y me a mí hacerte hablar.

”You're here so it's my job to make you talk. 

His job?

Wait.

 I hope it isn't what I think it is…

His grin deepened and a chill ran down my spine.

This again?

“I thought I told your father that I don't know anything.”

 I said through gritted teeth.

Vlad shook his head as if dealing with a stubborn refusal to admit the truth. 

“Maybe or maybe you're just a very good liar.”

“Fuck you!”

 Suddenly, his fingers shit out and gripped my chin so tightly I gasped. 

“Don't worry, love. I'll find out what you're hiding soon enough.”

 Does crazy run in their family? I told them I don't know anything.

He smiled and shoved me backwards, standing up with casual grace.

“Nos vemos, princesa.”

See you later, princess.

I didn't realize I had been shaking until he was gone.

***Men like Vlad didn't just torment out of duty.

 He tormented and enjoyed it.

It began with little things — spilled trays, locked doors when I wanted to clean a room or my food mysteriously disappearing.

 Till it became worse.

One time, he “accidentally” pushed me into the pool when I was carrying fresh towels to the guest wing.

 Another time, he cornered me in the hallway and held a knife to my throat, murmuring in my ear how easy it would be for him to make me disappear.

 I wanted to fight back. 

I wanted to scream but I was in a house where screams aren't calls for help. 

A house where everyone was watching and listening.

And Vlad was doing both. 

He was hurting me for fun. 

Waiting, testing.

He believed if I make one wrong move or even give in to one moment of hesitation, that he would know

.Know what?!

 I didn't know what he thought he was looking for but I knew one thing — 

he was looking for a crack in my armour.

 And when he does, he won't hesitate to tear me apart.

The night it all escalated, I had just finished cleaning Don Romano's study. 

My wrists ached from scrubbing all day and my body was exhausted. 

As I stepped into the hallway, I felt a shadow move behind me but before I could turn, a hand slammed over my mouth.

 Panic flared in my chest and when I almost screamed, he breathed against my ear.

 “Scream, and I'll break your pretty little neck.”

 My heart slammed against my ribcage as he dragged me backward, showing me against the cold, marble wall. 

His grip loosening, giving me a chance to suck in a shaky breath.

“You're shaking,” 

he mused, tilting his head. 

“Qué lástima… 

I thought you were stronger than this.” 

“Go to hell.” 

I said, still gasping for air. 

He laughed, the mere sound rippling through me

 “Oh, you're wrong. 

I am hell.

” Something cold pressed against my cheek and I felt the sharp bite. 

M****a

“You're going to tell me where your papa hid his secrets or I'll carve his answers out of you.” 

He whispered.

I froze. 

If I move, the blade will sink inside my face.

I forced myself to stay calm and whispered each word. 

“I Don't Know I Swear.” 

Vlad's eyes darkened. 

“Well, that's unfortunate.”

The blade pressed against my cheek and I closed my eyes. 

I felt a sharp sting before the warmth of blood followed. He had cut me. 

He wasn't kidding when he said he'd carve the answers out of me. 

But what answer was he hoping to carve when I had none. 

A silent chill brushed past and I clenched my jaw, a fresh wave of anger surging through me.

“What's wrong?” 

He asked, feigning concern. 

“Still waiting for someone to save you, ?”

 Stop calling me that!

Vlad leaned closer and whispered enough for me to hear. 

“No one's coming, Violet.

 No knight in shining armour. 

No superhero. There is just me.” 

I swallowed hard. 

“W - what do you want?”  

“It's very simple, love,” he said.

 “Tell me where Intel is, and this all stops.”

 I took a slow breath.

Then I did the one thing he didn't expect.

I spat in his face.

Vlad stilled and for a moment, the world held its breath.

 Until he moved. His hands gripped my arms.

“Big mistake, .”

 Pain exploded in my side and he slammed me against the wall.

 I gasped at my vision swimming. 

I couldn't cry out not when the pain had its grip around my throat.

 “If you want to play dirty, we'll play dirty.”

 He said, his voice sharp like the blade in his hand. 

“And when I'm done, you'll break, Violet.

 And when you do, you'll beg me for mercy.” 

He let go of me and stepped back.

“I'll see you tomorrow.” 

He smiled. 

“Good night.”

Then he walked away, leaving me gasping for air, my hand pressed to my ribs where bruises had already appeared.

Tears burned in my eyes but I refused to let them fall.

I wasn't going to break.

Not for Vlad.

Not even for Don Romano.

*****They say grief comes in waves — anger, sorrow, guilt.I expected anger but I wasn't angry at all.

I expected sorrow but I didn't feel sad.I even expected guilt but I never expected this — doubt.

Cold, gnawing doubt.

The father I loved — the man who on my birthday promised me that we'd travel the world together again — was not the man I thought I knew. 

He wasn't Roberto Fernandez, the loving single father.

He was Roberto Fernandez, the traitor.

He was a spy, a liar, a man who played both sides of a war he wasn't going to survive. 

And now — He was dead.

Killed because of secrets I knew nothing about.

 Secrets that, somehow, had put me in the crosshair of killers.

 I should hate him for it.

 I should curse him for leaving me to pick up the shattered pieces of his double life. 

But I couldn't.

No matter how many terrible things Don Romano had told me,No matter how much Vlad had tormented me, I couldn't bring myself to believe that papa was truly a monster. 

I had to find out the truth.

 There had to be more to this story.

And I had to start from somewhere.

I started with small things.

 The first was his study.

 Before his death, papa never let me side.

 He had said it was off-limits and now, I understood why. 

I remembered the way he always locked it when he was home or how he'd rush into the room to take mysterious calls.

 Was he speaking to the Mexican cartel back then? 

The Italian Mafia?

Was he making deals?

Was he choosing which men to live or die?

The mere thought made my heart sink.

 Just what if he was?

Then it clicked.

 The trips.

Papa always traveled. 

He'd always come up with vague explanations. 

When I'd ask, he would always say :

 “It’s the nature of my business. I have to be on-site.” 

Business.

Work.

I had assumed he was some kind of consultant.

Now, I realized he was probably selling secrets across borders or playing some kind of dangerous game with the world's deadliest criminals including Don Romano.

And now, I was a prisoner in his estate. 

But that didn't mean I was blind.

 Whenever Romano's men saw me, they would begin to whisper. 

They would begin to call papa names — names that didn't sound fake.

“Espía de m****a.”

“Bastardo traicionero.”

“A coward who played both sides and lost.”

The worst was — 

“Roberto deserved worse than a bullet.”

And each time that happens, I'd have to bite my tongue to keep myself from screaming. 

No matter what he did, Roberto was still my father. 

And if there was even the smallest chance that he had done all of this for a reason.

 If there was any truth he died to protect, I swore that I would find it.For me.

Because I refused to be a pawn in a war that isn't my own.

 I didn't stop taking steps in finding the truth. 

And finally, the breakthrough came in the dead of the night.

I had been wiping down the table in the garden when suddenly, I overheard two men talking nearby.

“Boss still hasn't found the document.” 

One muttered.

The other asked. 

“They're not in the study?”

“No.

Roberto must've hidden them somewhere else before he died. 

If Boss doesn't get them soon, Mercanti is out to lose his shit.”

 Who was Mercanti?

Wait!

Carlos Mercanti?

 The Mexican Cartel boss?

A sick feeling formed in my stomach.

Whatever papa was hiding,

Whatever secrets was worth his life,It wasn't just the Italian Mafia that wanted it.

The Mexican Cartel wanted it too!

I waited until they left before slipping back into the mansion.

If Romano's men hadn't found anything, that meant it wasn't hidden in the obvious places.

 Which meant papa had been smart enough to hide the secret documents out of reach.