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)
It doesn’t matter.
My decision made, my mind does me this one mercy, and I stop breathing.
Painful minutes pass and my lungs burn.
It figures that dying would take such a long time.
The ground below me is crumbling. The stars above me are falling, shattering on impact. The sea rages and I feel my ship capsizing, slowly sinking to the dark depths of the furious ocean.
But then an unfamiliar voice sounds into the darkness, a light guiding me home, and I’m being lowered to the cold ground. “Ana? Ana, fuck! Stay awake. Shit, wake up. Live, goddamn it!”
The voice sounds again, and although his voice is muffled as my consciousness fades to black, his words penetrate my frozen heart. “Live. Come on, girl, breathe. Do it.” He holds me tight, rocking my limp body, his pleading words whispered directly into my ear. “If you can’t do it for Julius, do it just to spite those motherfuckers.”
An inner struggle takes place, my mind fighting my body, and those words echo throughout my head for what seems like forever.
“Live, goddamn it!”
Then something strange happens.
“Come on, girl, breathe.”
Something comes down hard on my chest, again and again, until finally, my eyes shoot open. My mouth widens in a silent scream and my lungs open up.
“Do it to spite those motherfuckers.”
Lightning strikes.
And I breathe again.
Sneaking up on a sleeping Gio Gambino was satisfying. Evander and I approached with caution, expecting the unexpected, but the asshole was actually sleeping.
When I pistol-whipped him across the head, he woke with a start, scuffling about, pulling off the covers and yelling, “What the fuck?” When he finally sat up, Evander switched on the lights to reveal a bloody-faced and manic Gio Gambino, gripping his grazed forehead like a pouting child. Gio locked his eyes on Evander and boomed, “MacDiarmid, you don’t come into a guy’s house in the middle of the night, let alone creep around his room, you ill-mannered fuck!”
With my half mask covering most of my face, Gio Gambino wasn’t able to see my lip curl, but he heard my growl, and when he looked over at me, his anger abated slightly, realizing he was in a scrape. Getting a hold of himself, he calmly asked Evander, “What’s this about?”
I kept my place, close to the foot of his bed, pistol in hand, while Evander moved about the room, speaking as he went. “I’ve always known you were a bad seed. There was always something not quite right about you. I wasn’t the only person who felt it, but you, being a Gambino, well, no one really wanted to deal with the violent temper tantrums that would come from bringing it up with your father.” He stilled then turned to face him. “Something about you is simply wrong.” He came forward, closer to the bed. “And when I heard that Alejandra Castillo was missing, there was no way I thought you’d done it.” Evander looked to me with a cool smile. “I thought, ‘He wouldn’t be so stupid. Not a chance he’d taken her.’”
My voice came out slightly muffled from behind the mask. “But he did.”
Evander nodded once in confirmation. “But he did. Mutilated her, too.”
Gio shook his head in disbelief. “That’s why you’re here? Because of her?” He laughed a short moment before his face contorted. He reached up and gripped his hair with both hands, pulling in absolute fury, before roaring, “What the fuck does everyone see in her?”
“Where is she?” I asked, but we all took it for the demand it was.
Gio closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly. “You have to understand, this is her fault. She caused this. She took my brother from me, and now she’s going to die for it.”
Evander frowned. “No, Gio. All she did was end the daily torture you and Dino conditioned her to take. Had I but known…” Evander’s words were quietly spoken. “Oh aye, it’s all come out now. No hiding from it. Your family has been completely wiped out for the disrespect you’ve caused. She didn’t do this, Gio. You did. If you need to lay blame on anyone, look in a mirror and you’ll find the man responsible.”
Gio shakes his head in disagreement, and I ask once again, firmer than the last, “Where is she?”
Gio’s eyes snap open. “You want her? Fine. Take her.” His lip curls in disgust. “Take her and get the fuck out of my house.” He smirks as if his words are some kind of personal joke. “She’s in the basement.” When neither of us moves, he blinks up at Evander. “Well? Take her and fuck off.”
From his pocket, Evander pulls out a pair of black leather gloves and puts them on then removes a pistol from inside his jacket. He asks me, “What do you do with a rabid dog?”