CHAPTER 74

Don't look at me, please. It's not something I'm proud to narrate

Sharon said, turning her face inches away from him

He let her

Sharon twisted her hair to manage her nervousness

When I was a child, I used to think I was very lucky. I mean I was born to a rich, influencial family.

But as I grew, my parenting became stricter, more complicated. I was made to understand that I had to earn the right to be loved. My mum did her best to encourage me, but she was just a background character. A puppet, my father's puppet.

She had no jurisdiction over anything that happened. My dad never hid his hatred for me, and he did everything he could to express it. Sometimes I felt that my mum didn't love me, because she never said anything. Never did anything—

Until I grew old enough to understand the severity of the scars I saw on her body. They were very deliberate, and they always took time to heal. My mother was always in pain

And later I came to understand that it was my fault, all my fault.

Sharon sobbed silently, as she continued

I grew older, and I began to understand the sort of Man my father is. He's a maniac, a fucking maniac. And I hate myself for being born to him

He would torture my mother, and then she would hide the scars, and give the public an impression that we were one happy family—

When I got to middle school, he started inflicting his mania on me. He got angry when I failed a test, whipped me if I made a little mistake—

Then he started hitting me, for no reason I guess. He hit me till I fell unconscious one day, but we had a private doctor. Anytime something like that happened, I would be treated privately, locked up in a dark room for days. And my mother, she had no idea

I couldn't tell her, because she was going through a lot already.

He ruined my fucking childhood, and now every time I close my eyes, I see him—

Luca had her around him, and she was now sobbing into his neck

When I graduated from business school, I became his business tool. Of course he was going to marry me off to some rich influencial family, because he needed more power, more influence, and he needed to stop seeing my stupid face

“Hey”

Luca raised her chin, and slowly wiped away her tears. His shirt was already soaked with her tears

“It's okay, he's not here, you don't have to worry”

“Oh fuck, he still beats up my mum”

Luca ran his hands down her back and patted her softly, until she stopped sobbing

“Sharon”

“Yes Luca”

“Did he ever touch you?”

“Occasionally, during my private treatments”

Luca balled his hands into fists

“That explains a lot”

Sharon nodded slowly

“I could kill him”

Sharon looked up at the man that had been comforting her

His eyes were cold, and he had a dark expression. Sharon knew he was serious

The Pavilochenkis had no enemies, because they had a way of getting rid of them. So if Luca said he was going to have her father killed, it was going to happen

Sharon placed a kiss to his temple

“No”

He looked at her from the corner of his eye

“He's my family, the only father I'll ever have. And if he didn't arrange my marriage, I probably wouldn't have met you after our one night stand”

“You're so innocent, so vulnerable”

He ran his finger through her face, and placed his thumb on her lips

“You're not supposed to have experienced that baby girl, not you

You're safe now, and I promise you, that I'll die before I let someone else hurt you. No one else is going to hurt you, ever!

*****************

Luca stared at Sharon's disheveled sleeping position, and smiled. Her hair was scattered across her face, on her bed, a strand had found it's way to the corner of e

Her lips. She clutched a pillow tightly to herself. The pillow he used to compensate for his leaving the bed.

Her face was relaxed, glowing in fact. Like she didn't just narrate her most traumatic life experience. He tried to be as calm as possible the previous night. He was holding back, trying to make her find a sense of stability in her chaos, trying to be that stability, to comfort her—

But in reality, he wanted the bastard to pay, and he didn't mind doing it himself. He wanted to see Hillary Gray beg to be spared, he wanted to make the man suffer.

He had already made a phonecall

Sharon insisted that she didn't want him to kill her father. She still loved him, even after everything he did to her

But Luca had his mind made up. Sharon said he couldn't kill him, but that was all she said. There were other ways of making the man suffer

Luca walked to Sharon's bed, and placed a kiss on her cheek. He swiped the rogue strand of hair from her lips, and gently stroked her forehead

“I have to leave Baby girl, I'll be back”

Sharon mumbled something incoherent in her sleep, and hugged the pillow tighter

She probably felt the flange in temperature, or texture, or she figured out that Luca wasn't the one she was holding. She half opened her eyes to see him standing by her bed, staring at her.

“Don't go”

Sharon whispered. She raised her head slowly, but it was obvious she wasn't fully awake. She stretched a hand towards him face, and he brought his face to her to ease her struggle

“Don't leave me”

He placed a kiss on her chin, and she used her other hand to cup his face

“Stay with me”

Luca moved the kiss to her mouth to quiet her, and gently sucked on her bottom lip.

He felt her relax slowly, as he took the kiss to her neck

“I'm just going to grab a few things from my apartment, I'll be right back.

Is that okay?”

“Okay”

“That's my girl”

He whispered against her ear

She mumbled something he couldn't hear, and he could tell she was slowly slipping back to sleep

“I love you Sharon”

He said, as he adjusted his suit, and straightened himself

He looked at her one last time, before he closed the door

And walked out of her house—