Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Renzo doesn’t stop the guard as he repeatedly starts to slam the butt of his gun into Dr. Bentall’s face. The violence and horror have me falling to my side, and I try to scramble away from it.
Droplets of blood spray over my legs, and I feel faint.
Only when Dr. Bentall slips in and out of consciousness, and the left side of his face is bloody and swollen, does Renzo say, “Enough.”
Instantly, the guard steps back and resumes his standing position near the wall.
Holy shit.
We’re going to die.
We’re really going to die.
I’m reeling in horror when Renzo stands up and orders, “Bring the woman.”
Turning around, he stalks away while the guard comes to grab my arm, and I’m hauled to my feet.
“No! Please,” Dad shouts as he struggles to his feet. “She’s innocent. Take me.”
I meet Dad’s frantic eyes for a moment, then the guard shoves him hard, making him fall on the floor.
I’m dragged out of the room, and another man shuts the door and locks it.
“No! Please,” I hear Dad shout.
His pleas die away when I’m shoved into a different room. Instantly, my eyes land on the table where various tools and knives are spread out.
Renzo shrugs off his jacket, revealing a vest that fits his muscled chest and trimmed waist like a glove.
Oh, God.
No.
NoNoNo!
I rear back, wanting to get out of the room. I struggle with all my might, but the guard shoves me to the floor.
I hear the door slam shut, and when I look at it, I see the guard standing in front of it with his gun still in his right hand.
My head swivels to where Renzo’s picking a knife from the selection, and I start to stammer, “P-Please. D-Don’t k-kill m-m-me.”
When he walks closer to me, I swear I feel my brain trembling in my skull as the cold, hard fact that I’m about to die hits me.
I try to scramble to my feet, but when Renzo’s fingers clamp around my arm and I’m hauled up, I can only make a squeaking sound.
Bracing for the sharp pain of being stabbed to death, I’m surprised out of my everloving mind when the cable ties are cut, and my wrists are freed before he lets go of me.
Spinning around, my hair flies through the air. I tilt my chin head back and stare up at the man who’s put the fear of God in me.
The only expression in his eyes is rage.
Slowly, he tilts his head, and his gaze narrows on me, making a hard tremble wrack through my body.
Somehow, I manage to find my voice and ask, “Who are you? Why are you doing this?”
The flash of rage on his face is so freaking brutal I feel the force of it in my bones. Faster than I can process, he moves, and my feet are swiped from under me.
As I fall back, I see Renzo come after me, and when I slam into the floor, he’s on top of me like a vicious animal. The knife presses into the skin beneath my chin, forcing me to tilt my head backward.
My hands fly up, and I grab his wrist, trying to pull the blade away from my throat, but he’s incredibly strong, and all I can do is hold onto him.
His lips pull back in a sneer, and with his face right by mine, he growls, “I’m one of the heads of the Cosa Nostra, and the kidney in your body belonged to my little brother.”
Cosa Nostra.
I’ve watched a documentary about the mafia and know just how ruthless the group of criminals can be.
Renzo leans even closer, and his words are haunting and ferocious as he says, “My little brother was killed so you could fucking live.”
Little brother.
Killed.
Unshed tears blur my sight, and I can’t think of a single thing to say as I try to make sense of what he’s telling me.
Being face-to-face with this man and feeling his breaths on my skin is unnerving, making my mouth grow bone dry.
He tilts his head slightly. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Slowly, I shake my head.
The tip of the knife presses into my skin, and a petrified shriek escapes me. My nails dig into his skin, and I squeeze my eyes shut.
“They fucking killed my brother in an empty lot at the back of an alley. They gutted him open like an animal and ripped his kidney from his body.” With every word leaving his mouth, I hear the incredible pain he’s in. “He was only twenty years old.”
No.
I shake my head and cringe when he shouts, “Open your fucking eyes!”
They pop open, and immediately, tears spiral into my hairline.
With his brutal gaze holding mine captive, he hisses, “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
This time, I nod.
As he stares at me, the intense rage returns until his features seem to be carved from stone.