Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“Tell me!” I snarl, pushing the knife in with more force. His eyes widen, and his breaths become pants. He is going to have a heart attack if I don’t kill him soon.
“Luccio,” he says the name as if it is one he knows well. I narrow my eyes at him, trying to determine if he is, in fact, telling the truth. Luccio had been the very person to warn me… Could he be the person who set me up, to begin with?
“What about him? Tell me everything or so help me fucking god, I will cut your throat open and watch you suffocate.” Each word is something I mean. I don’t make promises, I just do it.
“I work with him…”
Tilting my head at him, I grip his shoulder harder. “What are you doing on my property?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Well, that’s a shame.” Taking the knife, I slide it across his throat—blood pools from him like he is a leaky faucet. I watch the life leave his eyes as his last breaths are nothing but gurgles. Then I bend down, place a kiss against his forehead, and head back inside. I will find out who it is he worked for and what they wanted.
14
Amara
“Let me the fuck out of here!” My fists pound against the door with a ferociousness that hurts my skin. I have been locked down in this hell hole for days.
The only thing that can be heard is my pointless pleas for release. Enzo said he would come back, but that was two days ago. Two fucking days I have sat down here waiting and silently hoping for him to come. Then again, at the mere mention of his name, I want to gouge his eyes out.
He makes my core clench, but at the same time, he makes me want to puke. The thought of being attracted to him—wanting him—makes me sick. How can I want such a heartless killer? It’s as if God is playing a cruel game with my emotions.
Since listening to my own pleas is exasperating, I pull myself away from the door and throw myself onto the bed. There is no way out of this hell hole other than through the door that I obviously don’t have a key to. Eli hasn’t come down to check on me for hours, but I’m relieved about that. He scares me and creeps me out. I know if given the chance, he would fuck me and then kill me without a second thought.
When he came down the time before last, his neck had purple bruises on it. He looked as if he had been choked, but I was not going to ask him about it.
I don’t think Enzo has it in him to kill his own family or friends. It doesn’t seem like something he would do. Neither does keeping me alive, but here I am.
I’m not afraid that a part of me wants him. It’s a dark part of me, something that craves the fear and darkness that only he can bring out. I’m not stupid, though. I know the path that he is on will only lead to death. I don’t want that, I want to live. I want to be happy and go back to college and grow old with someone who loves me.
That thought makes me think of my mother and the days before she died. She begged me to make promises to her. They were petty, little things, but I agreed to them simply to put her mind at ease. She was already going through so much, and if making a promise made her day better and brought life back into her for just a moment, I would do it.
My mind drifts to the most important promise I made. . .
“Promise me. Promise me that you’ll take care of your father. He’s a man, a stubborn one, but with your guidance, he can move on.” Pain showed in her eyes, and I knew how hard it was for her to ask me to do something like that. She had always been the one to carry the weight, the one who made sure everything was okay.
With tears in my eyes, I promised her. “I promise, Mom. I promise to keep him in line.” She smiled at me gently. I cursed God, wondering how he could take such a precious person from us. My mother must have noticed me pulling away because she spoke to me with so much love that I was shaken to the core.
“Don’t fret, child. I will always be here. Right in there…” She pointed to my heart. She had given me life, had shown me the meaning of love through her relationship with my father, and I had always thought she would be here.
“When you get lost, or you’re worried, and you don’t know what choice to make, listen to your heart. I’m in there, and I’ll guide you the best that I can. Remember that…”