Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Cassio laughs beside me. “Oh?” It’s a test. He wants me to react. I’ve seen how my cousin works. I’ve watched him torture people, getting information out of them when they didn’t want to admit anything.
“Yes,” I say. “Didn’t you know I’m leaving tomorrow?”
“I overheard,” he answers. “I think it’s all a ruse,” he says. “The old bastard wants to fuck you mercilessly, and if your father were to see your little body broken, he would cancel the agreement.”
“He can’t cancel anything.”
“Your father has a clause in place,” Cassio informs me. “If you were hurt in any way, he would be able to nullify the contract. But what he can’t see, he can’t fight for.”
My mouth falls open. My father did that. But it doesn’t change the fact that he signed my life over to a monster. It means nothing to me. He means nothing to me. I have no loyalty left to the Vitale name.
“I’m nothing more than a puzzle piece for my father. He wants to fit me into the bigger picture, but I’m a person. Not a bargaining chip.” My voice is cold. The emotion I allowed myself to feel when I first found out about the wedding is now gone. I’m done. Anger takes a hold of me and I turn to Cassio. “I don’t want this.”
“There is nothing I can do, cugina,” he informs me. And for the first time in my life, I see guilt and regret on my cousin’s face. He has always been cold-hearted, filled with rage I’ve never seen in anyone else. He’s been good to me on occasion, but there are those glimpses of the rage-fueled beast underneath.
“You’re the Underboss,” I insist. Granted, my father is the man in charge, but Cassio does have some sway over Dad. There’s an understanding between them. Even though my cousin is younger than any other Capo in this familia, he has a head for business. Nothing stands in his way, and that’s how he stepped up the ranks as if it was the easiest thing he’d ever done.
“I don’t know,” he says. “This is between the bloodline, not me. I may be your cousin, but your father doesn’t listen to my advice when it comes to your future.”
I wish I could run away.
Right now, I would race out of the gates and never look back. Even if I had to beg, borrow, or steal, I’d do it to survive away from the rule of the Vitale patriarch.
When I was younger, I thought about running away. But I never had the courage to do it. And now, I wish I had.
“Let’s go,” Cassio says as he leads me back indoors.
With every hour that passes, I know my time is limited to here and now. When I look at my family—my mother and father, and the rest of the men who work for us, I can’t deny I’ll miss seeing them.
Even though I grew up around violence, it doesn’t mean I want to live a life filled with it. My father may not have sheltered me from all of it, but I had become accustomed to seeing enough to know it wasn’t a life for me.
I can’t escape, though. Not now.
I have to be strong.
At eighteen, I have to a woman, a strong warrior who will fight off the dragon herself. I don’t need a hero, and I certainly don’t need a white knight to ride in and save me. As the night wears on, I smile and talk to those who offer kind words. Even though every happy expression I offer is a lie. There’s nothing celebratory about this party.
“We’re leaving,” Ignacio tells me suddenly as he comes up behind me. He drags me through the party. The onlookers do nothing to help. He’s not exactly hurting me, but he is using force to make me walk out of the only home I’ve ever come to know.
“Where are we going?” I question as I stumble behind him. “Dad.”
“Please, Lelia,” my father says as he follows us, my mother hot on his heels as they watch. He doesn’t come to save me. Neither does Cassio. “You’ll be happy.” Dad’s words ring in my ears, the sound like scraping nails on a chalkboard as they disappear from sight and I’m shoved into the back of a blacked-out SUV.
The doors are shut, and I hear the ominous sound of a click. Looking out of the window, I see my parents at the door. My father does nothing to rescue me. He barely even waves. My mother is dabbing at her eyes, but she can only offer a quick flick of her hand before we’re pulling out of the gates.
“Fuck,” I bite out, my voice cracking under the strain of what is happening to me. My chest is tight, my heart clenching, and my lungs no longer work as a panic attack hits me full force and I have to drop my head back against the seat to focus on the darkness of the interior of the car.