Secret Crown

XXIII. Twenty-Three

Scarlett

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My body was frozen. My muscles were tense, and my eyes were wide open. I had to grab onto Luca's arms to not fall to the floor as my father rose from his seat and walked over to me with a cigar in one hand and said, "Sei cresciuta Scarlett (You've grown up, Scarlett)."

"Lei non parla Italiano (she doesn't speak Italian)." Luca responded. My father stood hovering over Luca and me, observing us. His face hardened at Luca's response: "I'm not surprised." He took a drag of his cigar and blew the smoke in my face. "It's all that bitches fault. She didn't grow up Italian."

"What bitches' fault?" I raised my voice with anger. "Father, what the hell is happening?" Tears pooled in my eyes as I looked at the man before me. "We thought you were dead!" He grinned as he sized me up and continued talking to Luca in Italian. Towards the end of it all, he gave me a look of disgust that made me realize nothing about him was kind or caring. His energy was dark, but not like Adrián's. My father's darkness was pure evil, with no motive or reason behind it. The small hint of affection that rested in his eyes diminished as soon as he heard Luca's responses. I had come here to find the missing clue and revenge, but instead I found a ghost.

"I was never dead, my child." He grinned as he went to pour himself a drink from the shelf bar. "I simply made it that way to evade Mateo De Leon at the time. That name rang clear in my head. He was talking about Adrián's father.

"Years ago, Mateo had just wiped out all his rivals while securing his future through his sister Elena's marriage to the Polish. We caught word of his plans to take us on right after he found out we funded their rivals, the Santos family. Funding the Santos family was a big financial mistake; if the Leons had found us, they would have been able to take all our money. We couldn't face Mateo after he had ordered a hit on me. So, I staged my own death in a car accident."

"The same one that left my mother paralyzed?" I yelled, "That was you? You did that to her!" I let go of Luca's arms and banged on my father's chest with rage as every memory I had of him shattered and whatever ounce of respect disappeared. "Why did you do that to us?" I cried. "I meant for that accident to take you out too, Scarlett," he boldly said.

"I staged my own death and planned to take you and your mother's lives away that night too." He continued, "Your life was supposed to end so that you didn't have to suffer after I was gone and in hiding."

I stood frozen and in disbelief. "It wasn't until a couple years ago that I learned you and your mother were still alive." He continued.

"And what about my mother? Does she know that you were behind the accident?" I cried.

"No, she didn't." He coldly said, "Why should she have known? It would have made things complicated. She wouldn't have accepted death for both of you. But after knowing you were alive, it brought me joy." He smiled.

"Why is that?" I asked. "So, I can be married off to the asshole next to me?"

The next thing I knew, his hand was flying across my face. "Respect your future husband, Scarlett!" He roared. "That puttana didn't teach you any manners; I see that now. Just like she wiped any memory of who you are!"

"Who am I?" I yelled. "You are Scarlett Catalano, heir to my fortune, and soon to be Scarlett Romano. "No, I'm not," I fumed. "I am Scarlett Rivera. And I have no father now, and we don't have your fucking money!"

"Oh, but you do, my child." My father clasped my cheeks and said, "Part of the money has been with you all along." He smiled. "Everywhere you've been, it's been hidden in plain sight."

A lightbulb went off inside my head as the first thing that came to mind was my car. "Where is your car now, Scarlett?" he eagerly asked with a smile on his face.

"I don't know." I answered. Everything had been shattered about who my father was. I was nothing to him, and now I really do wish he was dead. This man cared nothing for my mother or me. It was all about power and money for him. He chose a cowardly way out and wanted to take us out with him out of selfishness. My mother had hidden us from our enemies, but luckily, with her efforts, she had also hidden us from this monster.

I could see the rage growing in him as he lifted his hand up to strike me again, but Luca stood between us both and said, "The Leons had her captive Vicenzo; they probably have it. We'll get the money back tonight at the meeting." He defused the situation. "You're right, Luca." He took a deep breath and went to sit in his seat again. "The car was only a small portion of the money; always, it's your mother's locket that I want. My second in command had buried the money and had him hide the coordinates hidden behind a photo your mother has in that locket. Without even batting an eye, he continued, "I had him killed after he made that necklace so that not even, I knew where it was buried in case I was captured, or he double-crossed us. We couldn't have it fall into the wrong hands."

"Valentina is being held captive by the Leon's at an unknown location." Luca said, "Then let's set a plan into motion to get her back after tonight's meeting." My father said, "We'll have ourselves a little family reunion." He grinned. "In the meantime, have someone lock her up." He ordered, "And have Chiara get her into something else before we leave! She is the Catalano heir, not some fucking whore!"

Hulked out Fabio came into the room and dragged me away. I didn't even pick up a fight anymore. What was I doing here? Everything I had remembered about my father was shattered. He wasn't interested in my well-being. He was more concerned about his game and whatever vendetta he had with the Leon family. I could also guarantee he didn't care about Luca; he was just a pawn in whatever my father had cooking and needed me to secure their connection.

Fabio threw me back into the room where I had first woken up. Chiara was already impatiently waiting for me with a brand-new outfit spread out on the bed for me. "Change into this," she barked at me. I listened to her and quickly changed; the sooner we were at that meeting, the sooner I could see Adrián, tell him what I had learned, and warn him that my father was alive and coming for him. When I was done, Chiara sat me down again and began doing my make-up. "Tsk, "tsk, tsk, you're bleeding," she snapped as she saw the cut on my lip. It burned from where my father had slapped me.

The pain radiated as Chiara peeled the small scab that had formed just for fun and covered it up with lipstick. I was dressed in a beige knit turtleneck, white jeans, and black heels. Chiara and Fabio left me alone for an hour before Fabio came and fetched me, yanking me by my arm. He led me out of the house and into an armored Range Rover, where my father and Luca were already sitting. Luca looked worried as he kept checking his phone. My father turned to Luca and began speaking in Italian to each other. I couldn't understand much, but I caught Salvatore's name, and the look of worry on Luca's face meant that they didn't know his uncle was dead yet. The sun was setting as we drove through the city. The last hints of the sun were kissing the tall skyscrapers above us goodbye as the nightlife below was coming out.

I could see Adrián's building towering over us, covering the car with its shadow, as we turned onto the same street it was on.