Sins of the Father

_Sienna's POV_

An overwhelming feeling of deja vu washed heavily over me as I opened my eyes. Pitch-black darkness greeted me, thick and suffocating. The stagnant air felt heavy, pressing down on my chest and stealing the oxygen from my lungs. My breathing grew shallow. Frantic gasps tore from my throat as I blindly reached out into the void. This dense darkness instantly triggered the deep-rooted childhood trauma inflicted by my abusive father. He used to lock me in windowless rooms just like this, leaving me to drown in the terrifying black emptiness for hours on end.

I shifted my weight on the mattress, bracing myself for the harsh bite of metal against my skin. I moved my arms in a wide, frantic arc. My wrists were free. I let out a shaky breath of relief. I was not chained to the bed this time.

I also noticed the painful constriction of my tight wedding dress was gone. The heavy tulle and suffocating corset had vanished. Someone had changed me into an oversized cotton tee and a pair of loose shorts. The fabric was soft and comfortable, swallowing my small frame. The horrifying realization that someone had stripped me while I was unconscious sent a fresh wave of panic through my veins.

"Glad to see you awake."

Alessio’s deep, rumbling voice echoed ominously from the unseen corners of the shadows. I yelped in surprise, my head snapping around wildly as I tried to pinpoint his location. The pitch-black room offered no clues, turning his voice into a ghost haunting the darkest corners of my mind.

I pulled the bedsheets up to my chest, my rising panic warring with my intense hatred for the dark. "What is it with you and the dark? Turn the damn lights on!"

A sharp click echoed through the room. The bright lights snapped on, blinding me for a split second. I blinked rapidly, throwing a hand over my face to let my eyes adjust to the sudden illumination.

Alessio leaned casually against the far wall. An unlit cigarette rested between his lips. It was a subtle nod to the asthma comment I had made earlier, a silent acknowledgment that he remembered my physical weakness. He looked massive in the stark bedroom lighting, his broad shoulders practically daring the walls to close in on him.

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat and forced myself to speak. "Uncle Alessio—"

His jaw clenched tight, shutting me down. "Just Alessio."

His sharp tone sliced through the tense air like a razor blade. I was incredibly happy to comply. The twisted reality of being forcefully married to my own uncle was wrong and sickening enough without adding the formal title into the mix. Calling my husband 'uncle' made my stomach churn with fresh bile.

He pushed off the wall and took a slow step forward, quickly shattering any lingering, desperate illusions of safety I might have held.

"If you think I will treat you differently just because you are my niece, you are dead wrong. To me, you are nothing more than my enemy's daughter. I will do whatever it takes to make your life hell."

My jaw dropped at the raw malice in his words. My mind struggled to comprehend how the man who had once carried me on his shoulders as a tiny child now wanted to systematically destroy my life. The uncle from my faint memories was gone, replaced by a cold-hearted stranger.

I pushed myself up until my back hit the solid wooden headboard, gripping the soft cotton sheets tight in my fists. "Why do I have to suffer? The beef is between my father and you! It has nothing to do with me!"

His stare was blank and terrifyingly emotionless. It made my blood run cold in my veins. "A child has to pay for his father's sins."

The sheer cruelty of his logic left me breathless. I was a victim of my father's ruthless nature too, yet here I was paying the ultimate price for his bloody actions.

I narrowed my eyes, finding a spark of courage buried deep under my fear. "You legally married me. I am your wife."

Alessio was merciless in his dismissal, his expression hardening into unreadable stone. "This marriage is nothing to me and so are you. Do not expect anything from it, and definitely do not expect anything from me."

I scoffed, my chest heaving with indignation. I certainly did not expect a fairytale romance from the monster who kidnapped me right off the altar, but he was the one who orchestrated this twisted wedding ceremony.

He paced a few steps closer to the foot of the bed, aggressively dictating the parameters of my new, grim reality. "There are rules in this house. Do not try to run away. Do not speak to my armed men. You are not allowed to leave this bedroom except to go to the kitchen to cook your own meals. You are no longer a pampered mafia princess. You will do everything yourself."

I glared heavily at him, challenging his ridiculous demands. "And what exactly am I supposed to do locked indoors all day like a caged animal? I cannot even leave the room."

His cold stare hardened into solid granite. "Are you forgetting that you are a prisoner here? You are not on a vacation. The sooner you come to terms with your kidnapping, the better it will be for you."

My long-suppressed anger boiled over. I was sick of being treated as a mere political toy by my father, and now as a literal object of revenge by Alessio.

I threw the blankets off my legs and screamed at the top of my lungs. "I didn't ask to be kidnapped! I didn't ask you to marry me, and I didn't ask for any of this! Why should I just come to terms with it?"

He remained perfectly still, watching my outburst with a predator's calculating gaze.

I slid off the edge of the mattress, my bare feet hitting the cold floor as I aggressively demanded answers. "Why did you even bother marrying me if you hate me so much?"

His reasoning was deeply chilling, echoing in the quiet room. "Your father would be thrilled to know that I am married to his precious daughter. A daughter for a daughter."

The words hung in the air, thick with unspoken tragedy and bloodshed. It made no sense to me, but I refused to be easily controlled or cowed by his cryptic threats. I stared at him with intense, fiery defiance, wanting to strike a nerve. I needed him to know I would not break easily.

I lifted my chin, locking eyes with him. "You are old enough to be my father."

A questioning, arrogant brow rose slowly on his handsome face. He looked me up and down, his gaze lingering on the oversized t-shirt hanging loosely off my trembling frame.

"And best believe I would have you flipped over my knees in a split second, spanking the living daylights out of you."

My breath hitched at the explicit threat. I stepped closer, closing the distance between us until I could smell the faint scent of tobacco and expensive cologne clinging to his skin.

I tilted my head back, my voice steady despite my racing heart. "I dare you to."

We locked eyes in a heavy, suffocating silence. My fiery, rebellious glare fiercely battled his icy, unyielding stare. The tension in the room thickened, transforming into a tangible, electric force that pressed against my skin. Despite the unwelcome, deeply confusing stir his dominating words caused in my lower stomach, I fiercely rejected any creeping thought of Stockholm syndrome. I would never fall for my captor. I would not jump from the frying pan of my father's abuse straight into the fire of Alessio's twisted revenge.

I leaned in just a fraction closer, putting every ounce of hatred I possessed into my next words. "Fuck you."

He didn't flinch. His voice was smooth as velvet but laced with lethal intent. "A lot have tried, and they always end up dead."

His deadly serious tone and the utter lack of emotion in his dark eyes made my blood run ice cold. A shiver raced down my spine, settling deep in my bones. I realized in that terrifying moment that I had gone from living with a demon to being owned by the devil himself. Alessio Ferara was not a man who made empty threats. He was a ruthless killer who played with human lives for sport.

I desperately needed to find a way to escape this estate before he devoured my soul.