Taken (Dark Legacy Duet 1)

I shake my head.

“I’m not surprised. Our name is on it. The Scafoni family owns the estate.”

I snort at that. “You want me to believe you own our house?”

“And the land it’s built on.”

“I don’t believe you. The house has been in our family forever.”

“Not really. Not in almost two hundred years.”

“What are you saying? You…buy the Willow Girls?”

He shrugs a shoulder. “I think of it as more of a lease.”

“What are you talking about? My parents wouldn’t allow—”

He leans in close. “Your parents were eager, Helena.”

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. I don’t know if that’s what he intended, because he picks up his wine, gives a shake of his head, and swallows a large mouthful.

The waiter appears with our lunch, but I’ve lost the little appetite I had.

Without a word, Sebastian picks up his knife and fork and cleans his fish, then takes a bite. “It’s good. You should eat.”

He puts another forkful into his mouth. I don’t move, I don’t touch my utensils.

I look up from my plate of pasta with red sauce, notice the anchovies lying on top. Why do people think vegetarians eat fish?

“I don’t believe you,” I say.

“I made the first payment the day you got to the island. It was on the statement you were holding when you were snooping in my room.”

“You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie? Why would I need to?”

“You want to turn me against my family.”

“What purpose would that serve?”

He’s right.

“I mean, think about it, a sacrifice of one for the survival of the family. It’s a deal I wouldn’t make, but the Willows never did have much integrity. Even family doesn’t mean anything to them. They sell off their daughters like they do a prize pig.”

I meet his eyes, and he’s dead serious. He’s not making fun of me or trying to injure me.

“I can prove it to you if you want. I’ll show you all the bank statements. All the payments made to the Willows for the sacrifice of one daughter with every generation.”

I pick up my glass then, take a long swallow. My hand is trembling when I set it down.

“And you’re okay with it? With taking me? Knowing I don’t want to be here. Will you be okay to hand me to your brothers?”

At that, he pauses, exhales, takes a moment to look across the room then back at me. “What I want and what I have to do are not always one and the same, Helena.”

“So you don’t want this?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Could you have said no?”

“What do you think would have happened if I did? Do you think Lucinda or Ethan or even Gregory would have let it go?”

“What do you mean?

His face darkens. He sets his utensils down and leans in.

“I mean if I chose not to participate, Ethan would have happily taken my place. But I guess that would have been good news for you. He’d have chosen one of your sisters.”

He sits back, picks up his fork and knife again.

“You talk about a way out, but there isn’t one, Helena.”

He reaches across the table and forks through my pasta, shakes his head. I just watch, slow to process his words, as he calls the waiter over. I know he’s sending my plate back, explaining about the fish.

The waiter apologizes, and I nod my head, but I’m not really listening. He’s back a few minutes later with a fresh plate minus the fish.

But it’s a waste of food.

I can’t eat a bite.I’m on my fourth glass of vodka as I stare, bleary-eyed, at the papers before me. I guess I can’t understand why he told me. What’s the point? To hurt me? To make sure I know I am fully alone? Because I already knew that. I’ve known that for a long time.

As promised, Sebastian delivered the statement I’d found while snooping to my bedroom the next night along with records of past payments, almost two hundred years-worth of them. He also showed me a copy of the deed.

It’s true. We live on Scafoni land.

I wonder if my Aunt Helena knows. If my sisters know, now that I’m gone, and it’s settled, at least for the time being. Until they have their daughters, and the Scafoni have their sons.

There’s one discrepancy I don’t understand, though. The payments are made three times, once every year. I assume it’s done when the Willow Girl is passed from brother to brother.

There used to be four payments, but for the last several reapings, only three have been made and there are only the three brothers.

But that thought is pushed aside by the others. Mainly, my parents’ betrayal of me. But also the other thing. About having no choice.

I have a hard time believing Sebastian doesn’t want this, not now that he has it, even if he didn’t think he wanted it at first. And I can’t think about what will happen in a year’s time.