by Jen Davis
This is my fault.
Aunt Chloe and Aunt Raven try to come to Mom’s side but their husbands stop them. There is a scowl on both my aunts’ faces as they watch Mom get up. She whispered, “Excuse me, please,” and after kissing me on the cheek, she walks off.
***
Jessica
I walk slowly up the grand staircase and turn corners until I reach his office where I know he is.
Anger is rising in me the longer I put off talking to him.
How dare he.
Closing the door firmly shut behind me I say, “Dominic Giovanni.”
His back is to me and he is looking out the window to the beach and the skyscrapers of New York City beyond. Oh, he can’t even look at me, this little shithead.
He doesn’t reply, as I expect. My husband hates to admit his mistakes.
I sit on the couch, tired from all the walking and talking that had happened in court today. “What was that all about?”
He doesn’t reply.
“I asked you, what the hell was that back there?”
Silence.
By this point, my anger has boiled over.
“Are you fucking kidding me? First, you insult me like I’m not your wife. And now you want to ignore me? We’ve been married for eighteen years, Giovanni, I’ve seen every part of you. But if you want to sulk like a child, fine.”
He finally turns around, the anger lessened from earlier. “Jessica—”
But now, my anger has reached its peaking point. “No. Now guess who’s getting the silent treatment?” I scowl at him and try to get up. But either the couch is too comfortable or my back is starting to ache from standing for so long because I seem to be stuck.
He comes over to my side quickly. “Let me help you, love.”
Love? Now he calls me that?
I hit his arm away, glaring, “Don’t even fucking dare.”
“Jess—”
“I can.” I grab the couch arm and try to pull myself up. “Do it.” I lift slightly. “Myself.” And…I fall back down.
There’s a slight smile on his face. I scowl up at him. “Just get out.”
He looks around. “But this is my office—”
I flash him a fake smile. “Do you think I care, Giovanni? I can’t get up and one of us has to leave this room, so get the fuck out!”
I kick his leg and he groans, rubbing it. “Can’t we talk about this?”
I don’t get violent often, but he is getting on my nerves now. I need some time to think and if he doesn’t get out soon, I am going to raise hell in this room.
I scoff and point at the remote on the table. “I tried like twenty seconds ago. You didn’t. So now, you get the silent treatment. Get me that before you leave, babe.”
He doesn’t move. Instead, he glares down at me. “Jessica Monics, my decision was final today. Caterina will not—”
I narrow my eyes at him and snarl. “I am three months pregnant with two babies.” His face softens at that as I knew it would. “I just had a horrible day at work. And you just insulted your wife in front of our whole family and snapped at our daughter when all she had done was ask a harmless question. So,” I flash a sarcastic smile, “move your legs, get me that fucking remote, and then leave.”
He quickly gets the remote without any more grumbling. I hide the smile that appears on my face. He points the remote up and presses a button, revealing a glass ceiling. I smile up at it, my heart filling up with nostalgia.
For years, Caterina and I used to sleep here when Dominic was off on business trips. She says it reminded her of him, and it does for me too. I can smell him all around me here.
Cat stopped wanting to come here to sleep when she turned ten, so I didn’t force her to. But I still miss those nights with her.
Dominic tries to speak, but I kick up my legs, and still looking up at the stars, say, “Out.”
As he leaves, I make up my mind.
Caterina is going to the dance, whether he likes it or not. He isn’t the only parent in her life and I am done always asking him to make the decisions.
Uh…Do you think he’s going to take it well, Jess?
A sneaky grin slowly appears on my face.
He has no control over this. I’m pregnant.
***
Caterina
On Friday, I wake up in a sour mood. Even Demi Lovato singing about love can’t get me out of it. Usually, listening to people sing about love makes me laugh. Now? Not even a smile.
Groaning, I slip into my flip-flops. I will have to face everyone today and say what I had said yesterday was a lie. I’m not going to a dance. Not with Chase, not with anyone.
Because my father is an overprotective prick.
I walk into the bathroom, bumping into everything as I go.
“Ow…Darn it…What the…There was a wall here?” I rub my eyes and yawning, get in the shower.
Suddenly, my bedroom door opens.
Mom walks in and opens the curtains, letting sunlight stream in. “Good morning sunshine!”
I cover my eyes and like a vampire and retreat. “Ugh, Mom, I told you to knock before you come in! And the curtains…We talked about this. I hate sunlight!”
She laughs, going to my closet. “Sunshine wakes you up. Otherwise, you’re like a zombie.” She looks at me with an eyebrow raised. “And I’m your mother, Kitty. There’s nothing that you could hide from me.”
I almost burst out laughing at that, Valentin coming to mind.
Instead, I continue tying my shoes. “Sorry about what happened yesterday by the way. I didn’t mean to make Dad angry—”
She turns toward me with a kind smile. “You didn’t.” Then she turns back and continues rifling through my closet.
I stand up and start checking if all my homework is in my bag. “What are you looking for anyway?”
“A dress.”
“For what?”
Her voice lowers, and finally, she turns, something red in her arms. She has a sneaky grin on her face and instantly I know that she’s going to tell me something that she’s hiding from Dad.
“For your dance, of course.”
Chapter 11
My eyes widen and my gaze flickers to the doorway as if Dad is going to burst in at any second. “But Dad said—”
She scoffs, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t care what he said. I’m your mother and this is my area of expertise. If he wants to fight me on this, he can. Anyway,” she holds up the dress against me and nods with a grin, muttering, “this will definitely do.”
“But—but—how am I going to hide this from him?”
She winks. “We’ll pick you up from school later today. Once you get home, you’ll get dressed and I’ll sneak you out. Robin will give you a ride back to the school.”
“You have this all planned…” I cannot believe that we are about to do what she is suggesting. Hiding things from Dad is the biggest offense that can be done in this house.
Every other time we have tried, we have both gotten caught. Nothing slips past him.
She laughs, a side of her coming out that I don’t get to see often. Usually, she is Mom-Jessica or Lawyer-Jessica. Apparently, this is Rebel-Jessica…or maybe Jess without any label. I nod with a laugh.
“I like this side of you, Mom.”
She ruffles my hair with a smirk. “I like it too.” Suddenly, she narrows her eyes. “But nothing better happen at the dance. Do you hear me?”
“Mom!”
“Not a thing! You can dance with your friend Mell, hang out, laugh, have fun but if you—”
I cover my ears, my face scrunching in disgust. “Mom, stop!”
She laughs. “Okay, okay. I think you get the memo. Now, remember,” she looks at me with a warning, “do not let Dad know. No matter what.”
“Got it.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“No.”
“No?”
“More.”
***
As I walk to my locker, I feel everyone’s eyes on me, calculating.
Oh god.
Groaning, I start putting my binders in.
Suddenly, I hear a loud and booming voice above me. “Chase Lannister?”
Without even looking up I sigh. “Valentin.”
The locker slams shut and I look up, angry. “What is your problem?”
His face is contorted in anger. “Are you kidding me, Caterina?”
It feels weird that he is calling me by my actual name. Good, but weird. I guess I have started to get used to ‘Kitten’. “Always a pleasure to see you. Now, why don’t you leave me alone?”
“So you won’t sleep with me to cover your ass but you’ll willing to whore yourself out to a piece of trash like Lannister?” He looks down at me with disgust.
How dare he!
I get up and snarl. “Watch your mouth, Valentin. And on that note,” I lower my voice to a whisper as I say, “Give me back my gun.”
He laughs, leaning against the locker. “Why? So you can shoot me?”
I flash him a fake smile. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
He raises an eyebrow, his eyes laughing cruelly. “You would never have the guts to pull the trigger, you know that, right?”
Maybe he is right, but I’m not going to let him know that. I wink at him, opening the locker again and gathering my notebooks. “You have no idea about the men who trained me, Nikolaev.”
There’s a dark and strange look that comes over him. “Oh, trust me, Kitten, I have an idea.”
What does he mean by that?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if you’re done,” I look past him and at my homeroom, “I have to get to class.” I smile. “School was going great with you not in the picture, you know.”
I try to maneuver past him, but he grabs me and slams me against the locker. “You’re not going anywhere, Kitten.”
I hiss, “We’re in the hallway!” I look past him and see people staring at us from their lockers.
“And?” He sounds amused.
I look at him like he’s stupid. “Everyone can see…”
He winks, bringing his face closer. “That’s what makes it all the sweeter.” His thumb brushes against my cheek and I flinch. “You look adorable when you blush.”
“That’s what Chase told me.” I have no idea why I say that. Maybe because I know it will get him angry. I have no idea why. I just know. I remember what Tom had told me on the first day of school:
Valentin Nikolaev is possessive about everything.
He probably thinks he has some kind of ownership over me.
I laugh inside. He thinks I am his to torment. Little does he freaking know.
Once Chase’s name leaves my mouth, Valentin’s grip on me gets tighter. His eyes turn dark and cruel like always. But then, what’s new?
I try to slide under him but I’m stuck between his legs. “Why are…ugh…you always…so close…can you please just…?”
“You know what I want, Kitten. I don’t know why you want me to say it out loud.”
I blink up at him, falling into the trap. “What?”
He bares his teeth and his voice lowers. “Your virginity.”
Darn it, why do I keep asking this question? I take a deep breath to calm myself. I don’t want to make a scene here. “I told you there’s no way in holy hell that’s happening and I have no idea where you’re getting this ludicrous idea but—”
One of his hands presses against my mouth. He smiles. “That’s better. You talk too much.”
I cannot believe that he is covering my mouth! “Umgfh! fdgdf shph soh!”
He laughs, but nothing about it is humorous. His lips touch my ear and all I can think is:
I’m suffocating.
People are looking.
He’s going to kill me.
Where is my gun?
Repeat.
“See, Caterina, you’re proving a lot harder to break that I thought you would…”
Again with the name.
Finally, I manage to pry his hand from my mouth with both my hands. I turn my face away, growling, “So what are you going to do?”
He takes a step back, and his face goes blank. “I know secrets about your family that I could use to destroy them.”
There’s complete silence for a moment and so many thoughts go through my head.
What.
The.
Heck.
Gritting my teeth, I swing my backpack over my shoulder and start to walk away. “My family has nothing to do with this.”
I hear his laughter behind me. “You are so naïve, Kitten.”
I turn around, tired of all his name calling. “It doesn’t matter anyway.” I smirk. “You can’t come after them.”
A cocked eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I look at him darkly. “Because of my father. And trust me,” I say, tucking my hair behind my ear, “you do not want to cross him.”
I’ve never seen Dad get really cross with someone, but I had no doubt that when he did, it wasn’t pretty.
Valentin shrugs, his hands in the pockets of his grey sweatpants. “I am sure you are right.”
“But?”
“But the information I have will do my job all by itself. If there’s no love between your parents, then…” He winks, leaving my mind to fill in the blanks.
He has no idea about my parent’s relationship. Why is he talking like he knows them?
My teeth grind against each other in anger. His arrogance is infuriating. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
“Really?”
“Yes, my father will never not love my mother. Ever.”
“I’m sure you’re right about that, Kitten.” He sounds like he is humoring me.
I am getting wary now. “So…”
“But what I have is something that will break her. Something that he did. She will never forgive him. Trust me on that, Kitten.”
My face twists in confusion. “What the heck are you talking about?”
He looks at me darkly, as if he knows something that I don’t.
What don’t I know about Mom and Dad?
“Kitten, this is for the best.” He sighs. “Just do what I say or your mother will end up destroyed and alone. I will be forced to break apart your family.” He looks like a monster, way older than seventeen. He looks like someone who has had experience doing this.
My breath hitches. I believe him.
I have no idea how, but I know that he means what he has just said.
“And if you want me to consider giving you your gun back,” he crosses his arms and growls, “don’t come to the dance today.”
A herd of people suddenly come from behind us and Valentin starts greeting them.
Cassandra steps from the group and smirks at me. “Hey, whore! Don’t look so shocked.” She grabs Valentin and kisses him while still glancing at me with a smirk.
I’m still stuck on our conversation that I don’t notice what she’s doing,
“He promised he would tell you to fuck off and he did.” She turns toward him with disgustingly lovey-dovey eyes. “Didn’t you, baby?”
He nods, grinning down at her. “I did.”
Did she not hear him demanding my virginity though?
I blink between them, speechless. “Are you…are you kidding me?”
She snarls, linking their hands together. “What? Are you jealous?”
I stand there speechless with my mouth wide open. Maybe I am in a twilight zone?
Valentin knows something about my family that I don’t.
If I don’t give him my virginity, he is going to hurt my mom.
Half the female population thinks I’m trying to steal Valentin even though he is the one coming at me from every single direction.
>
Not to mention Cassandra hates me with every single atom in her body.
Valentin sighs, looking at me with pity. He shakes his head with pursed lips. “Probably. She told me she was very lonely. She was actually begging for my company.”
My mouth drops open as everyone around us starts laughing. “What the…”
His brother turns toward me with a lewd grin. “Hey, I can keep you company—”
“Nate.”
Valentin’s warning causes Nate to roll his eyes. He starts walking off with a girl on his arm.
“What? I was only trying to help a distressed princess.”
Why is he even ‘flirting’ with me if he already has someone?
Because they’re a bunch of whores.
The bell rings and the whole group, thank God, starts walking off with Nate. Valentin, his arm still linked with Cassandra’s, winks at me and turns to leave.
You can’t let him get the last word, Caterina.
Not like this.
I know I look pathetic staring after them like a sad puppy. And as they reach the middle of the hallway, I blurt out loudly, “Valentin!”
The whole group turns toward me, but I only focus on him. I can feel his eyes saying a thousand words. I grin and wink at him. “See you at the dance!”
There was my answer to his demand.
A dark look comes over his face and I congratulate myself. Let’s get it, Kitty!
And before he can say anything else to mortify me, I turn and run to my homeroom.
Whatever game he is playing isn’t going to work with me.
Whatever he has on my family, I am going to find out and turn it back on him.
***
“So what is it like?”
“What’s what like?”
Mell watches me with amusement as she takes a bite of her sandwich. “Yesterday when we were texting you said ‘it’s not like that’. But I can only think of one reason you’re going to the dance with Chase.”
“Hm?”
“To lose your virginity.”
I start choking on my water. Mell bursts out laughing. Leaning over, she pats my back. “There, there.”
I glare up at her. “Don’t ever say that.”
“So you are a virgin?”