Alpha Damon novel Chapter 116

Giovanni:

The moment the door shut behind Lysandra, I exhaled slowly, setting my glass of scotch back on the table. My hand lingered on the rim for a second, letting the weight of the silence stretch around me. She was upset, confused, and more than anything, threatened.

Good.

She should be.

She might have been my daughter, but she’s been living in a safe zone for far too long. She’s been taking things for granted for far too long, and I knew that it was time for her to learn that there would be a limit to things, that things are not easily granted, and they can just be taken away from her.

I stood, straightening my cuffs as I walked toward the far end of the study. The wall was just that to the untrained eye, a wall. But behind it, behind the lacquered wood and the frame of an old portrait, was something else entirely. With a flick of my wrist and the turn of a hidden mechanism, the panel slid open with a soft click.

And there she was.

The one person that I was willing to do everything to protect to some place, he’s smiling and also to use to my advantage. To try and play to my own benefit because I knew that she would be willing to stand… and when she stood, she was going to be the one person to put every one in place.

“About time,” Delilah said, stepping out from the darkness like she belonged in the shadows. Her voice was smooth, with the kind of sweetness that made men mistake honey for poison. She smiled at me, her green eyes, so much like her mother’s, glinting beneath the low light of the study. “I did not expect to see you spending this much time allowing anyone to talk back out to you or even argue with you. Even the idea of someone questioning your decisions was not one that I had in mind.”

I studied her for a moment. Dressed in black, fitted and poised, not a single trace of a scent lingering off her. She’d trained herself well.

“I assume you heard everything,” I said. “I do not need to tell you what you need to do or how she seems to be fearing you.”

She gave a soft laugh, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “Of course I did. Your walls may be thick, Father, but not nearly thick enough to keep me out. Besides, I’ve been waiting in that little space for almost an hour. The least I deserved was a show. The fear that she is having is one that I did not find amusing. That is something that I will admit to you have not done your best to in trying to control it.”

I arched an eyebrow. “And I would assume that you have an opinion on your sister that is not just about her fear.”

Delilah’s expression shifted, her smile curving into something colder, something sharper. “She’s emotional. Unstable. But that’s to be expected. You’ve raised her in your image, but not in your shadow. She was never meant to carry your legacy. You did not raise her to be willing to do so. You raised her to be playing the part. I see him, but that stays there.”

“She thinks she was,” I said flatly. “I would have allowed her to take her parts, but she failed more than once.”

“I know,” Delilah replied. “And that’s what makes this fun. For her to know that she was nothing more than a failure. As much as I hate to admit it, but I would have expected you to do a little better, Father.”

I kept my eyes on her. She was the one person who was allowed to speak to me the way that she wanted to, and she knew that. She held my strength and my power, and more importantly, she was my pride.

I walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You are my daughter. You carry my blood and your mother’s strength. There is nothing in this world that can stop you. Your mother would have wanted this. They took you from her. Had I not found you, I know that they would have harmed you. They would have tried to get rid of you just as they got rid of your mother.”

Her eyes darkened, but I knew that adding a few spices to this was going to make her react. In her mind, Sienna was upon that they used She did not know that she had lost her father on the same night that her mother, their mother died. She did not know that it was a sacrifice that she chose to make, that the two of them chose to make side by side. And I intended to keep it that way. At least she would obtain the power that she deserved and for her to feel sorry for anyone that was not going to help her with anything.

“And Sienna?” she asked. “I would assume that you already have a plan for her.”

I smiled, cold and cruel. “She’s never met you. She doesn’t know you exist. That’s your power. She won’t see you coming until it’s too late.”

Delilah tilted her head. “You want me to break her?”

“No,” I said, stepping back. “I want you to replace her.”

She gave a soft, chilling laugh. “I’ve waited long enough, Father. It’s time the Lockwoods learned what it feels like to lose everything. And this time, the one coming for them… will share their blood.”