Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 13467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 67(@200wpm)___ 54(@250wpm)___ 45(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 67(@200wpm)___ 54(@250wpm)___ 45(@300wpm)
When both my sleeves were above my elbows, I glanced at Lorenzo again. He had dry, rust-colored blood smeared across his cheeks and neck.
Although I was outwardly collected and calm, inside, I felt this brutality building within me.
I thought about Nina. I was to marry her soon, and no matter how she acted or what she looked like, she was still the daughter of a family I despised.
It made that volatile energy build even more, and I bared my teeth.
“Nothing to say in your defense?”
Lorenzo didn’t speak at first, but then he shifted, the wooden chair scraping against the floor. “I have nothing to say in my defense, Antonio.”
I slowly smiled. “It’s funny you actually thought you could get away with it.” I let a low laugh spill from me and saw Lorenzo’s fear come to the surface.
I held my hands out, palms up, waiting expectantly for him to dig his grave faster. “Are you going to tell me what you did was a mistake? That you regret it?”
“You know the truth, which is why I’m here. I don’t regret what I did. I’m just sorry I got caught.”
I laughed at his audacity but inclined my head—the only acknowledgment I gave him. At least he wasn’t being a little bitch or trying to play innocent.
“But let’s keep things real. This isn’t just about you being a traitor, is it, Lorenzo?”
He started shaking harder, and the men all around me laughed.
“That’s right. You think we only knew about you selling product behind the Family’s back?” My voice was deadly low, and Lorenzo’s breathing picked up. “You think we didn’t find out about what you were also doing?”
The room went silent. The air grew thick.
I didn’t stop my growl when he started whimpering. “Shhh,” I cut him off and turned to one man who stood behind me. “Hand me one of the tools,” I addressed no one in particular.
“Which do you want?” one of my men asked.
“Surprise me,” I replied with amusement but kept my gaze locked on Lorenzo.
“I know the Family deals in the same—”
I bared my teeth, and there was heavy silence.
“When The Family deals in flesh, it’s our call and right. You went rogue, Lorenzo. You thought selling pussy on the side would make you a little extra coin. You cut us out. You went behind our backs. It’s time you pay for it in blood.”
Someone stepped up beside me, and I didn’t look to see who it was, just held out my hand. I felt the heavy, cold tool in my palm, and I curled my fingers around it, the metal warming the longer I held it.
“I’ll make sure your death is as slow as possible and that you’re begging for me to end your life when this is all said and done.” My pulse raced, and a faceless image of Nina came to mind making me take a slow step toward him.
I lifted the tool and showed him the garden shears. Lorenzo started crying.
“Cry harder for me, motherfucker.” I turned the tool over in my hand, the metal old and worn, rusted and dinged. “Take the fucker’s pants off.”
Lorenzo struggled, and I stepped back as they tore at his ripped and bloodied jeans. When he was nude from the waist down, I laughed at his tiny, flaccid cock.
“Hold his dick up. I’m gonna cut it off.” I stared into Lorenzo’s eyes, and he started pleading for his life as I moved closer. I leaned down, and with a grin on my face, I snipped his dick right in half.
It was the sound of his screams, the smell of his blood, and the splattering of that visceral fluid on my loafers that had me laughing hard.
Now…now I was ready to marry Nina and fuck her into my perfect wife.
3
NINA
I knew my role in this life. I knew I was to submit, to be quiet, and to do what my husband said when he said it. I’d been raised that way from birth. It was all I’d ever known.
And I kept my mouth shut when I disagreed with any of it.
“I’m going to die today,” I said to myself as I stared at my reflection.
Today was my wedding day, the first day of my marriage. An arranged one to a cruel, heartless man.
I’d heard the countless rumors of Antonio Luciano before. My mother’s nephew.
He was a killer, a torturer. He reveled in being brutal and vicious.
And now I was going to be tied to him for the rest of my life.
My gown was nothing more than a costume for a wedding that was just for show, when the marriage itself was merely based on blood, money, and power. I was a pawn in a deadly chess game. The mouse for a hungry feline.
“Look happy, Nina, or you’ll ruin the day,” Lilliana, my mother, warned as she walked around me and picked off nonexistent lint from my crystal-studded dress.