Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
He releases me a moment to reach into his pocket before bringing his arm up around my shoulders once more, holding me tighter than before. When I spot what he holds in his hand, a petrified sob escapes me. My body trembles so hard that my teeth chatter.
I await what is coming as icy, cold dread rots like road kill in the pit of my stomach.
Gio speaks directly into my ear, his breath warming my neck, and I shudder at the feeling. “You know, in the eyes of God, you’re nobody’s bride, Ana. You betrayed your husband, and to be honest, I think He would be livid to know you’ve taken another. I mean, you’ve clearly proven you’re not wife material. Who are you to shit all over the sanctity of marriage?” He pauses a moment. “When I marry your sister, you better believe what happened to Dino won’t happen to me. I won’t allow it.” I feel his smile stretch at my cheek. “I’ll kill her first.”
His fingers close around my ring finger on my right hand, and he jerks it upward in front of my face. “Now, I’m going to make sure everyone knows your sins, and if that fucking scimmia Julius ever gives you a ring,” his laugh is pure evil “I’d like to see you try to wear it.”
The gardening sheers he holds come closer toward my hand, and although I plan not to fight, my body goes into preservation mode, and I lash out, kicking and growling through pleading cries.
But he’s bigger than me. He’s stronger than me. He’s more of a psycho than I am.
Nothing will deter him.
“No, Gio, don’t. Please.” My sobs are pointless. I try to pull my hand out of his hold, gasping out a weak, “Oh, God, no. Please don’t.”
But the shears inch closer, and I gasp out tired, hopeless cries, knowing what’s coming.
As he rests the open, shining, polished blades around my finger, I still. And when he squeezes them closed in one swift movement, my ring finger lands on the floor in front of me as thick red blood oozes down my knuckles, coating my hand.
So I do the only thing I can.
I raise my head to the heavens, my body quivering in distress, and screech out my agony.
Two days later…
My eyes rimmed red, with a four-day growth on my jaw, I speed up the long road to the address I obtained in ways that did not please me.
This is not a smart move, not in any way, shape or form. In fact, I am almost entirely sure I will be leaving this residence in a body bag. Hell, I even called Tonya before I arrived, just so I could hear her voice one last time.
What I am doing is reckless. That in itself is so very unlike me, but I am a man mourning.
Arrangements have been made. My sister will be a very wealthy woman when I pass on.
Because my wife…
I look across at the white rectangular jewelry box resting on the passenger seat, and the thought of what it contains makes my chest seize. Again and again, over and over, and it will continue to do so until I get this over with.
My wife is dead. I’m almost sure of it.
When Ling went offline, I knew something was wrong. She’d never turn her phone off, not when I needed her. The motel room was trashed, and the owner of The Sunflower Inn, Duane, had been knocked unconscious—his grandson Wyatt had told me.
Only one thing was found in the room, and I knew then that Alejandra was gone.
In my soundless grief, I wondered about my partner.
I know Ling has her issues, but she’s not completely stupid. Ling is reckless, not foolish. She knew abandoning her post would mean I’d kill her, and I’d not hesitate in doing that shit. Not when Alejandra was involved. Now, the situation as it is, in the span of a day, I’ve lost two women I care about deeply.`
I’ve searched high and low for Ana, not at all courageous enough to hope to find her alive, but to retrieve her body and give her peace through a burial.
My self-loathing is at a high. This is my fault. Unexpectedly, I may have pulled a Twitch.
I got too confident. Got too cocky. Started to feel invincible. And it would have been fine if I were the one to suffer, the one to die, but I wasn’t.
She was.
Right now, feeling as I am, raw and torn and broken, I understand why Twitch did it. I understand why he stepped in front of that bullet.
To save my little sparrow, I would have done the same. I would have done anything.
Yes. It’s my fault. I can’t lay the blame on anyone other than myself.
Ana was loyal to a fault. She would have never left me to find Gio on my own, and so, in an attempt to keep her out of harm’s way, I cast her out. I had the best of intentions at heart. I left her safe and with protection, and I would come to claim her when the danger had passed. After all the shit she’d been through, she deserved a life filled with love. And that was something I could give her given the right circumstances. But she was a distraction I did not need as I went about my mission and, because of my decision, I am the true cause of her demise.