Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
The expectation my brother had from the Severino family was too much for him, but he realized it much too late. He idolized Alessio, both he and Marcello following the older Severino brother around every chance they got. Elio committed fully to the physical training expected of him. Although my mom wasn’t exactly happy about it, I think she felt a certain kind of confidence in how close her son was to the heirs of the family. She must’ve thought they provided a certain level of protection. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
I have no idea what was going on in Elio’s head the night he decided that driving his car off the cliff was his only choice. I don’t know if it was threats coming from the Severinos or if it was his own guilt over what he did or what happened to Maya, but he never hit the brakes. Marcello taunted me with that information as often as he could.
“He couldn’t wait to leave you alone with us,” he said.
It all comes back in rapid succession—the phone call, the way my mother fell to her knees, the single tear falling down my father’s cheek, the closed casket memorial, my mother’s declining health, the refusal of the bank to give my father access to my mother’s inheritance after her death, the way the Severinos kicked in our front door, the promise my father made to save his own life.
“Please,” I beg against the gag in my mouth but the word isn’t discernible.
I don’t know what I’m pleading for. I want to be released. I want these memories to be forgotten. I want my life to be different.
I’d give anything to have been born a different person. I’d give up the laughs I had with Elio just to avoid the pain that came later. I’d give up my smiling mother from my childhood in order to not have to suffer through watching her take her last breath. I’d give up the money and wealth to avoid what will happen at Alessio’s hands once this man is done with me.
I know how men assert their power.
I’d be a fool to think the man who abducted me won’t utilize that weapon against me.
I should be terrified of it. The threat of it from Marcello sure made me want to curl into a ball, but most of my fear stems from what will happen after I’m returned. Death would be easier, I’m almost certain.
I didn’t mention him earlier after the meeting Alessio had with Raul. I nodded and confirmed the crude sketch of the blond man mere seconds after seeing the man who killed Marcello, fifteen feet away, in a different booth, in the restaurant the meeting took place in.
I let myself imagine that he was one of my father’s men, that I got it wrong, thinking he was a gun for hire under contract with Alessio.
He’s here for vengeance. He made that clear days ago when he killed my tormentor. He’s not here to rescue me. He hated me on sight. I concluded that with just the way he looked at me.
Tears tease my cheeks, tickling my face as they fall, but I have no way to wipe them away. It’s an unintentional part of this man’s torture.
The vehicle travels for a lot longer than I imagined it would. I don’t know many people who are brave enough to drive anywhere with someone in the passenger seat with a bag over their head, but it makes me think this man is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous than Marcello, who was too narcissistic to think he’d ever get into trouble while hurting people. It was proven wrong that he wasn’t as indestructible as he lead himself to believe.
My shoulders are screaming out in pain, and I grow more fearful as we travel. The rev of the engine tells me he’s driving too fast, and as a captive, he didn’t bother putting the seatbelt on me. My breathing grows rapid, the humidity of my breath making sweat drops co-mingle with my tears. I just know we’re going to get into a wreck. I’ll end up dead after flying through the windshield.
My trembling tells me that no matter how little, there’s still an urgency to live inside of me. That will either help me later or complicate things further, but I don’t have time to consider which as he slams on the breaks, my worst nightmare coming through. His arm sweeps out, pressing against my chest before I can slam my head on the dash.
He grumbles under his breath a second before his door opens and then almost as quickly slams closed again.
I hear nothing other than my own terrified, ragged breathing.
I try to move away when my door is ripped open, but his hands are too fast. I’m pulled from the truck, my legs buckling under me. He doesn’t stop me from falling this time, and I scream out in pain as my knees crash to the ground. I hate Alessio for insisting that I wear dresses. It will do nothing to help slow down this man’s attack. Instead of him pushing me to my back, he wrenches me up by my clasped hands, and it hurts so much, I imagine I’d have the ability to walk on water just to get away from him.