Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“I’ve had enough parties to last me a lifetime, and I still don’t think we have reason to celebrate just yet.”
“When I was your age, I didn’t say no to a party or pussy.”
“So nothing changed,” I said with a grin.
He chuckled then coughed and finally took out the cigar. “What did the bitch say? Did she cry and beg you to release her?”
I shook my head. “She’s too proud. Got more of her father in her than I thought.”
Earl’s expression darkened. “We’ll see how long she keeps that Vitiello arrogance.”
Something in Earl’s tone made me uneasy. If he disliked someone, truly disliked someone, that person better made sure to stay away from him.
“When are you going to ask Vitiello to exchange himself for his daughter? I want to get this over with and finally get my hands on Vitiello himself.”
Earl didn’t react, only squinted down at the cigar in his hands.
“That’s still the plan, right?” After my initial reluctance regarding the kidnapping, Earl had insisted we’d keep Marcella as briefly as possible. Now he seemed to be having his thinking hat on again, and that was never a good thing.
“It is, but it would be too easy, and that’s the last thing I want to give Vitiello, an easy way out of this. He needs to suffer emotionally before we really tear him apart.”
I was the last person who wanted to spare Luca Vitiello pain in any form. He needed to suffer as much as possible for ruining my childhood.
“We’ve gone through plenty of shit but we need to stay on track or we risk getting our asses kicked again. I’m sure the asshole already suffered plenty after he found out we got our hands on his daughter.”
“One night. That’s what you call plenty of suffering? You pissed your goddamn pants every night for the first three months you lived with me. That’s suffering, Mad. Let Vitiello piss his pants from fear for his precious daughter’s life. Once he’s come crawling, we can still exchange her for him and torture him to death.”
Earl’s voice made it clear that the discussion was over for him, and he being as stubborn as a mule, I knew it was futile to keep talking.
A man’s scream rang out, followed by cursing and Marcella’s cry of pain.
“What now?” Earl muttered, annoyed, pushing out of his chair, but I was already on my way out of the room.
I stormed out of the house, my eyes darting to the kennels where the noise was coming from. The dogs were barking up a storm, jumping against the cages, but my eyes were drawn to Marcella’s cage. Cody was inside, grabbing Marcella by the arm and shaking her.
He slapped Marcella across the face so hard she fell to the ground with a yelp. I charged down the pathway and into the cage and grabbed his arm, stopping him from hitting her again.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I growled.
Marcella sat on the ground, touching her cheek, which was bright red. From the way she pressed her lips together, I could tell she was fighting tears.
“Answer me,” I hissed, giving Cody a shake.
He shook off my grip and clutched the side of his head where he was bleeding profusely from a cut in his hairline. He made a move as if to attack her again but I shoved him against the bars.
“What happened here?”
Why the fuck wasn’t anyone answering me?
“The whore attacked me with her fucking shoe,” Cody seethed.
I followed his pointer finger toward the high heel on the dirty floor, and almost started laughing.
“That’s a Louboutin, not some shoe,” Marcella said haughtily, still holding her cheek, but no longer appearing close to tears.
I had no clue what that meant. I owned exactly two pairs of shoes.
I sent her a death glare. “You better shut up.”
Cody was a vindictive asshole. Provoking him would not only make her life a whole lot more difficult but also mine if I wanted to make sure she got out of this unscathed. Earl stood on the porch, watching over the events. I wasn’t sure what his angle was, so he probably wouldn’t keep Marcella safe. It was ironic that it fell upon me to protect my worst enemy’s offspring.
“What were you doing in her cage?”
“I was supposed to feed her. The cunt doesn’t deserve food, if you ask me.”
“Nobody asks you, Cody. Next time you better pay attention before she pokes your eye out,” I told him. “Or better yet, let me or Gray handle the meals.”
I preferred Cody far away from her. Eventually he wouldn’t be able to keep his ugly dick in his pants. I really didn’t want to add that kind of shit to my list of sins.
“Whatever,” Cody muttered, rubbing his head as he left the cage. The last look he sent Marcella told me I’d have more sleepless nights. He stalked away, muttering insults.