“Okay, I’ll start,” he said. “I grew up an only child with an aunt who didn’t give a fuck about me.”
“Were you able to leave the house at all?” Hope asked.
“Yeah. I had school every day. I played football and baseball, so I did some traveling.”
“It sounded like you had a lot of freedom.”
“Yeah, I guess. My aunt didn’t care what I did if I stayed out of trouble.”
“Did you ever leave the state?” Angelica asked.
He laughed. “Yeah.”
Faith sighed. “I never left the house after eighth grade. Before that, I went to a strict Catholic school that was horrible. I wasn’t allowed to have friends, not even my sisters. I haven’t been to the back garden of this house, but I got to look at it from my bedroom window.”
He couldn’t believe their lives had been that bad. “At least you had a mother that loved you.”
“We weren’t allowed to spend any time together. We could see her when Father had dinner parties, but he was horrible to her and ignored us until he dismissed us,” Hope said.
“We heard her crying out when we passed by her door for whatever reason. We always had a guard with us, so we were unable to do anything to help her,” Angelica said.
“Cry out?” he asked. “Why?”
“Yeah, when Father was beating or raping her.”
Fuck, it felt like someone smacked him. How could his father treat such a small woman like that? He was learning more and more about his father, and none of it was good. He had hated him before, but that quickly turned to pure, deep loathing.
Chapter Four
He focused back on the girls to see them all staring at him.
“Have you had a girlfriend?” Faith asked.
“A few.”
“Do you have one now?” Hope asked.
He shook his head. “I’m guessing you guys weren’t allowed a boyfriend.”
They laughed.
“No. Father wanted us to be virgins when he used us for business deals or gave us to a sadist.”
Jesus. What the hell? “A sadist? For what?”
“To torture and kill us when he was ready. The sick fucker was giving Father something he wanted, and in exchange, he would give the man one of us to play with. No one would ever ask questions because very few people knew of our existence or would never think to check on us.”
“Father knew this?”
Faith laughed. “Fuck yeah. He loved it.”
“What did he do to you?” Angelica asked.
Dominic sighed. “Besides, take me away from my family and lie to me for twenty-five years?”
“Yes.”
“He would slap me and tell me I needed to start acting like a Moretti. It sounds like I got off easy compared to you guys.”