Chapter 7: Swapped for power

LUCIA

Now that the words slipped out of my mouth, I was starting to realize that maybe I shouldn't have actually said that. Because the instant the words left my mouth, Alejandro paused in his tracks and then he turned.

The corner of his eyes darkened as he stared sternly at me. Then his brows furrowed.

“What did you just say to me Lucia?” He asked coldly.

My heart dropped. It dropped deep down to my belly. My stomach instantly felt heavy and I felt sweat start to trickle down my face, but I kept a straight face.

I may have said things out of place, I may have overstepped my boundaries by speaking to him in that manner, but I know one thing for sure. I was right. He had no right whatsoever to order me around.

I wasn’t some runway puppet that he could move around with his hands. I was human like him too, and I had feelings. Not that he had any to be honest. He was practically heartless.

I kept quiet and didn’t respond to his question. I guess this got him really pissed because within seconds, he was standing in front of me with his hands tightly gripping my shoulder.

“What did you say to me, Lucia?” He repeated, but this time he didn’t have that look of calmness. Now it was anger.

His grip on my shoulder tightened and I was starting to feel slight pain. I struggled to get out of his grip but it was no use.

“Let me go Alejandro! I don’t owe you no explanation” I muttered as I struggled to get my shoulder out of his tight grip.

“Oh but you do Lucia. You do. You are mine!” Those words irked me, and I felt my belly scream in disgust.

No! I wasn’t his. I wasn’t tied to him.

“I’m not yours! You took me away from my family. You took me away from my father that loves me, from my brothers that cherish me, from my boyfriend! You took everything away from me. My happiness!” I screamed out in pain as everything I had been through started flooding back to me.

Anger enveloped me at that moment. Why exactly did I have to go through all this? Why did it have to be me? What did I ever do to deserve this? I just wanted to live a normal life away from all this mafia bullshit, but instead I was thrown directly into it.

“Let me…” I was about to struggle and fight him again when I saw him grin.

What the fuck? What was funny about this?

“Are you laughing at me?” My eyes burned with anger as I stared directly into his eyes.

If this whole thing felt like a joke to him, then I regretted ever feeling guilty for talking to him in that manner. For overstepping his boundaries.

I waited for his reply. But he didn’t say anything, he just scoffed and then he released me.

He moved away from me and I was never ready for the words he said next.

“Lucia” he called my name, as he held a smirk.

“Your father who loves you so much sold you to me”

My brain took a pause.

I could swear that my heart stopped beating for a second as I took in what he said.

“Wh…what are you talking about?” I asked, confusion brewing in my belly.

Surely, he didn’t mean that right? Maybe this was just his way of wanting to torment me. Maybe he just wanted to punish me.

Yeah, that had to be it.

I let out a laugh in disbelief. “Come on Alejandro. It’s enough with the jokes” I expected him to laugh too, to tell me that yes he was just joking, but he didn’t.

Instead, he held a calm expression.

“Wait, are you serious?” I asked.

He pulled his hand into his pocket and leaned closer to me “you are mine little one, you were swapped for power by a power hungry man”

He pulled away, but his words still lingered deeply in my thoughts.

I felt a pang of pain in my chest as thoughts began to run wild in my brain. What did he mean by I was sold to him? What did my father do?

I had questions and I didn't even know which one to ask first.

“Wh…what are you talking about Alejandro?”

He groaned like he was getting impatient with my question. But I didn't care at that moment. All that filled my head was what he meant by his statements.

I wanted to fully understand what he was talking about.

“Your father sold you to me, Lucia. How hard is it to understand that?” He said but I shook my head.

No, that cannot be true. Never.

“No, you are lying” I muttered as I moved away from the wall.

His face contoured into a frown.

“What?” He asked.

“That’s not possible, my father will never do that to me. He would never do that to his daughter. He loves me” I tried to make out reasons why he would never do that to me.

“But he did Lucia. He swapped you for power. Your father is so power drunk that he gave his only daughter up for power” his words cut through my chest and i felt my legs and hands start to shake.

Tears started to cloud my vision as my thoughts began to run wild.

My father sold me? I wanted to believe it wasn’t possible. I deeply wanted to believe that Alejandro was playing a prank on me, but his calm expression and carefree stance told me otherwise.

If this was true, then I had been really sold by my father?

I shook my head as tears streamed down my face. Reality started to dawn on me. There was no escaping for me.

The home I thought awaited me was no more than a cage of lies and betrayal. My father betrayed me just for his own selfish needs.