Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Me: You okay?
Magic: No, the coroner just put in the report. Cause of death for both was a bullet to the head. Also, not one hospital in a hundred miles of that location treated anyone for two gunshot wounds last night.
Ocean: Mystery man is in the wind.
Me: Find him.
That is not good. He saw my face, and I saw his. There was something familiar about him that still pulls at the back of my mind, but I can’t place it.
Magic: I’m trying.
A knock sounds at my door. I message the girls that I’ll check back in later.
“Come in,” I shout, knowing it could only be a handful of people that would knock on my door. Angelica pokes her head in.
“You ever coming out of your bedroom?” I see her sister Bianca behind her. Bianca is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life.
Is that what I’m lacking? Angelica has an inner sweetness too. Is that why I’m not so appealing? Gilly’s words from last night run through my mind. Am I just a brat who's gotten everything she wanted handed to her in life? Well, everything besides Gilly, that is.
“Yeah.” I slip my phone under my pillow, getting up from my bed. I can only hide out for so long. It’s already afternoon, and I’m starving. “I need to talk to my brother.”
“He’s in his office with the boys.” Angelica steps back, opening my door more.
“Boys.” Bianca giggles.
Yeah, thinking of Antonio or the Butcher as boys is laughable. As for Gilly, I don’t know what I think he is anymore. I swear for a moment I saw need in his eyes for me, but I’m sure it was just a normal male reaction. Probably went out and had someone else handle it for him while I had to lay in bed and ache alone.
I can’t stay here. Those are the kinds of thoughts that will start to eat me alive. I’ll become bitter. Watching Angelica and Bianca be so madly in love only makes that bitterness grow, and I refuse to let them know that because they’d have guilt, and it’s not a guilt they need to carry. They’ve been through enough in their lives. They don’t need me to add to it.
It’s strange how I was protected more from things while they had to often stare evil in the eyes, but they turned out one way and I another. Why am I harder? My brother would tell me it’s the Palermo blood in my veins. But that can’t be true. He crumpled like a cheap chair when it came to Angelica. So I think we can throw that theory out the window.
“Something is off with you,” Angelica says as we make our way down the hallway toward the stairs.
“You missed breakfast,” Bianca points out. As though that alone was the giveaway that something was up with me.
“It’s more than that.” Angelica grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. We grew close when she first married my brother. I was a tad jealous when Bianca showed up, but she too treated me as if I was her sister. I adore and love them both, but I think change is needed. A new chapter has to start for me.
We descend the stairs together. I go straight for my brother's door that is cracked open, which means it’s all clear to enter. I still give a double knock before I push it open. My brother sits at his desk while Butcher stands with his arms folded over his chest. Gilly has his hands placed on Antonio’s desk, leaning down. The two of them look to be in a serious conversation.
Gilly stands while the other two's attention swings to their women behind me. “Everything okay?” my brother asks me. Gilly doesn’t even glance my way.
“No,” I respond.
“No?” my brother repeats.
Gilly tries to remain relaxed, but I can sense his tension. Does he think I’m going to tattle on him for spanking me? Not in a million years. He can grow a set and tell my brother if he wants him to know, but that’s the problem, isn't it? He doesn’t want him or anyone else to know.
“I want to leave. To move away from home.” Both the sisters let out a small gasp from behind me. “It’s time. I need to leave the country for college.” That would be the safest bet and keep me off the radar. Then another sentence springs to my lips, likely whispered from the devil on my shoulder. “Or consider marriage.”
“Marriage?” both my brother and Gilly shout.
“Not an arranged one, but I’m sure there are potential suitors out there. I suppose I’m asking to be courted. Will you at least think about it?” I give my biggest smile before I turn and leave my brother's office. This time it’s me that gets to turn my back on Gilly.