Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 51733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
At all.
He knew faith was supposed to move mountains, but as the cold seeped deeper into his bones, and his vision started to blur...
Please don't.
Not this, God.
Please don't....
Giancarlo found himself struggling to even remember what he was praying about.
Don't...
Don't...
Don't...
And that was when the devil began to whisper into his ear.
The world isn't going to stop turning if you die.
So why not give in?
What else are you living for?
A monster started clawing at the walls of his mind.
No!
Its name was Delirium, and it would not be denied.
HIS GRANDMOTHER SNAPPED her fingers at his face. "Giancarlo?"
Was this really happening?
Potenziana looked at him oddly. "Are you alright?"
He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."
The older woman pointed at his hands, and when he glanced down, Giancarlo was stunned to find himself holding a folder.
"Aren't you going to read it?"
His heart started pounding for some reason as he opened the folder. It was an investigative report about the bloodiest day in their famiglia's history.
"What's this?" he heard himself ask.
"What do you think?" his grandmother snapped. "It's a list of all the things that went wrong that day. They're the reason why your father and grandfather are dead."
Giancarlo looked at the list once more, but it was as if he had suddenly turned dyslexic. Everything was a jumbled mess except for one word.
CRIPPLE
"You get it now, don't you?" his grandmother demanded. "Don't bother coming back if you're less than your old self."
Giancarlo closed his eyes.
No.
No.
No.
WHEN HE OPENED HIS eyes, he was no longer in his grandmother's office.
Instead, he was in her bedroom.
And she was crying.
"Where have you been? Why did it take you so long? They all wanted to hurt me. And my father wants me to marry one of them."
He could feel himself whitening at the terror on her face.
"I'll protect you—-"
"How?" she cried out. "How can you protect me when you can't even walk?"
"Don't be ridiculous." He moved forward to prove her wrong.
Or at least he tried to.
But instead he found himself falling.
No.
No.
No.
"You can't save me like that."
He pushed himself up.
But instead of walking, all he could do was crawl.
"Don't."
He looked up, and his soul withered at the disgust in Sarica's gaze.
"If that's all you can do...you're better off dead."
Missed
YOU'VE BEEN MISSING for 342 days, my love.
All the books I read about grief say the same thing.
It should be easier for me now, but it's not.
And I'm glad it's not because that means what I'm feeling isn't grief.
We may have all stopped talking about it, but it's only because talking about what has yet to happen just hurts.
Even though we no longer say your name, I know we all feel the same.
We know you're still alive.
And we know you're coming back to us.
And you are, aren't you?
Please say you are.
Please.
I miss you so much, my love.
I know all I can do is wait and pray.
I know I'm not supposed to worry, but it's hard.
I'm scared to even imagine what's keeping someone like you from coming back.
I can't bear thinking of you hurting in any way.
I just can't.
I miss you, Giancarlo.
I miss you so, so bad.
And I know I'm not supposed to feel this, too, but there are so many days when all I can do is cry and hate myself.
Why didn't I answer your calls?
Why didn't I listen to your voicemail?
Why did my last words to you have to be something that's meant to hurt you?
I know you'll forgive me because that's just how you are, but I don't think I can forgive myself until you come back.
I love you, Giancarlo.
I love you.
I wish I had told you before.
I wish I had told you a thousand times.
I wish, wish, wish you're back.
Please come back.
Please.
I will wait for you forever.
So please...
Please come back, my love.
Her Brutal First Love
By Marian Tee
An Arranged Marriage for the Mafia Boss
Copyright 2025 by Marian Piñera
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Voice Mail
YOU KNOW HOW EVERYONE thinks the security cameras in our estate don't work?
It's a lie, dolcezza.
Everything works.
So go ask La Strega for the footage.
You know which one.
And then come back to me as soon as you can.
I miss you.
I love you.
Prologue
"I DO REGRET IT, NONNA. Because I have come to realize that when you start with the wrong thing, everything else that follows is wrong. I should've just told her outright that I knew she was the one for me. And when it became clear to me, I should have also told her that I was in love with her. Had been so for a long time. And that she was the one who kept me sane until we were both saved."