“Sebastian, you need us and you need Marinka. She looks like your wife, so she can be your dead wife. This is our repayment for the mistake we have made. Vlad gave orders to his men—they weren’t supposed to hurt Russina, but something went wrong. Think about this, Sebastian. We will sell her to you in exchange for our lives,” my mother rambled on.
At first, I didn’t register what she was saying, but then I began to realise she wasn’t joking. She was absolutely serious.
Had she lost her mind?
My father shifted his stare from Sebastian to her, his mouth wide open in disbelief as he realised what she’d just said.
My heart was jackhammering inside my chest. No, I couldn’t have heard right. She couldn’t have just offered to sell me off because I looked like this man’s dead wife.
Sebastian let go of her, his face impassive. He finally looked at me, so stoic—stone cold—I couldn’t read him. I felt like this man didn’t have a soul. Deep inside, he was empty.
He sighed loudly and then walked over to kneel in front of me, still holding that knife in his right hand.
“Are you saying you’re ready to sell your own daughter to me, just to patch up the deal I had with the Italians?” he asked, his back to my mother yet addressing her. “Is this supposed to be some kind of compensation?”
My stomach roiled and I felt like I was going to throw up as I suppressed a shrill scream.
No, I kept thinking, my mother wasn’t capable of doing something like that. She couldn’t just sell me to his man.
Yet, I was well aware of the terrible things she’d done in her past. So, I had no reason to be as shocked as I was.
“Marta, what are you doing? You can’t … it’s Marinka…” my father ground out, then he groaned in pain, breathing hard.
“Shut up, Vlad. This is all your fault. Everyone has always believed Marinka is the split image of Russiana. Sebastian is going to spare us because of her!” Mother yelled, seeming so proud of herself.
I swallowed, the implications of what was going on sinking in. How could she?
“That’s a very good idea. I do need her to play my wife. You have killed the only woman who could have kept the peace between the Russians and Serbians, so now I’m going to take your daughter away in exchange for both your lives. It seems your wife has more brains than anyone has ever thought, Vlad.” Sebastian gave me a dark smile that nearly twisted my heart.
“Mum, what are you talking about?” I cut in, finally finding my voice. “Please, can someone explain what is happening?” The darkness was slowly obscuring my vision. I wanted to go to sleep and wake up to a different reality, to find this was just a dream. A nightmare.
I wanted to make it all go away.
My father whimpered again, his hand pressed over his leg. Blood stained the deck all around his limb.
Sebastian pointed the gun at me and in that moment, I knew I was going to die.
I met his gaze. “Just do it already. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be anyone’s possession ever.” His stormy gaze fixed on me, and his very presence gave me chills. He looked down at me as though I was the most insignificant creature in the world.
“Unfortunately for you, none of this is up to you. Right now, you should be dead along with your mama and papa, Marinka,” he growled, his tone even. Controlled. “Dead.”
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Bringing down the Star: Small Town Bully Romance Book 1 Page 17