Her father was in her room. Claudia's grip tightened on the door, her nails digging the wood. Her father was in her room, sitting on her bed. The sight of such a large domineering man surrounded by so much pastel would have been amusing if it wasn't for the fact that he hadn't been inside her room in years. A strange feeling bubbled from inside, it was a mix of anger and trepidation.
This was her room, a space that was all hers. Why was he there? They were father and daughter that lived in the same home but seeing him there rubbed her the wrong in a way she couldn't explain.
" Do you plan to stand there all day?" Gabriele turned to stare at her. He
gestured for her to sit on the armchair at the other side of the bedroom.
A minute passed, then two. Claudia remained standing. She and her father were locked in a battle of wills, neither of them willing to break first. Claudia always made it a point to challenge her father's authority at almost every turn, she did it in the littlest ways as well. She did it in small things like driving alone whenever he tried to assign her a bodyguard, or simply doing the opposite of what she was told, like choosing to remain standing when she was told to sit. Small enough to irk him but inconsequential in the long run.
There was nothing her father loved more than power and full control over the people he believed to be below him. He was obsessed with it. He craved it daily. Claudia took it upon herself to make sure he knew he would never get it.
" I can hear you just fine. Go ahead, tell me why you are in my room." Claudia's gaze never left him as she spoke. She noticed that he never glanced around her bedroom once since she stepped in. He never gave time to things he didn't deem important. Nothing in this room mattered to him. He didn't even look at her until he needed something, until she became important.
Gabriele's lips thinned in distaste. He hated the tone she used and the thought soothed something within her. Gabriele's displeasure always brought her a sick sense of joy.
" It's not going to be your room for much longer." He said it like it was obvious and she was stupid for not knowing it sooner.
Claudia folded her arms over her chest. She tried her best not to glare at him but it was hard. It was one thing to hate and fear someone, it was another thing to harbor zero regard when it came to them. She felt nothing when she stared at her father. Growing up, her father was a tall mass of shadows that always loomed in the corner of her subconscious. Gabriele Santoro was the darkness that tainted every one of her earliest memories. There was no love lost between them and it suited them both just fine
" Did your charity finally run out? What will the people you are desperately trying to impress think about you kicking your own daughter out of the house?" Claudia's stance was confrontational. A part of her knew she was looking for a fight and their fights were never fair ones. The bruise on her left cheek from the last time Gabriele felt disrespected was just beginning to heal, it wouldn't be good if she got a matching fist shaped bruise on the other cheek. No one ever spoke to her father like that without consequences. Not even her. She just didn't care enough to bother pretending that she respected him.
She didn't like the look on his face. It was an expression she could only describe as mean looking. It was twisted and evil, just like the man himself.
" On the contrary, you're getting married." Gabriele's words hit her like a freight train. Hard and swift with devastating impact.
Claudia raised a brow. " I don't remember agreeing to marry anyone."
She refused to show him how much his words had caught her off guard.
" You didn't need too. But you're going to." There was a sense of finality in his tone that raised Claudia's hackles.
" Unless you are going to be standing on the alter next to this mystery man, I don't see how you are going to force me..." The words were barely out of Claudia's lips when Gabriele suddenly rose to his feet.
He glowered at her, taking one threatening step after another towards her.
" Enough!" He bellowed. He pointed a finger in her face. " I don't want to hear another word from your mouth."
He towered over her, blocking the rest of her room from view. When she looked into his eyes all she saw was anger.
" Salvatore Kane and I have already made it official." Gabriele continued. " You will be marrying his son whether I have to drag you down the isle broken and bleeding."
She paused. All her thoughts came to a sudden halt. Salvatore's son?
" You want me to marry Salvatore's son." The words were meant as a statement but came out sounding like a question.
Gabriele saw the confusion on Claudia's face before she could hide it away.
" We have been discussing about uniting the families. An agreement between the Santoros and the Kanes. The event last week was so we can make it official."
Confusion was the only thing that made her less combative because she could no longer muster the will to argue. Her father knew this as well, it was why he laughed derisively in her face the next second.
" Do you really think something happens in this house without me knowing about it? I have known about your silly friendship with Salvatore's kid since the day it started. I know all about your meetings and about Elio taking you to see him. I wanted to put a stop to it at first, I didn't think anything would come out of it but then again I'm glad I didn't." Her father smiled but it wasn't kind. " I should applaud you. You managed to get the attention of Salvatore and his son."
With that, he walked passed her and out the door. Claudia was left reeling. Her mind whirled with thoughts. Did Dominic really speak to her father? It had been almost three weeks since they last met in person, since the kiss they shared. She loved him, there was no doubt about it in her mind. He was the only one capable of making her feel such a strong emotion but faced with a situation like this made things so much harder. She wasn't ready for marriage, to be someone's wife, not yet. Not this soon.
She lifted her hand until her finger felt the cold metal that hung around her neck. The necklace was a gift from Dominic. He had given it to her the day she turned sixteen. She still recalled how her skin tingled everytime their skin brushed as he put the necklace on her for the first time.
A noise from outside her room made her snap her head in its direction. She walked toward the window and peered through the glass. She spotted her little sisters playing together in the yard, giggling and chasing after each other. Not for the first time, she wished her sisters would never get to meet the side of their father that she experienced on a daily basis. Their father was gentle when it came to her little sisters. She hoped it stayed that way. And if it didn't, she hoped they would find a way to escape before then.