Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I’ve never cared what anyone thinks about me. I threatened to kill Stefania when she first joined the family because I felt like it. I shot a high-powered rifle at Santoro soldiers when they threatened the oasis. I’ve lived in my own little world for a long time now, and I don’t remember what it’s like to give a damn what my brother thinks.
Only now, all of a sudden, it’s spilling out.
“I didn’t know who he was at first,” I say, meeting my brother’s gaze. The pain in his eyes feels like reaching into the fire to snatch out a burning book. “By the time I figured it out, it was too late.”
“You’re in love with him.” Disappointment laces every syllable.
“I don’t know.” Which means yes, yes, I think I am but I’m afraid. “But you shouldn’t have followed me.” There’s my only means of escape from this misery. I grab hold of it and let the anger come spooling out. Good: anger’s easy. I can handle anger. I can be pissed off at my brother for treating me like a child because that’s better than admitting that I fucked up and fell for the enemy and now that makes me the enemy too.
“And you shouldn’t have gotten involved with a man who wants to bring down your family. Your family, Laura, even though sometimes I think you forget you’re a part of it.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” I snarl at him, stepping forward and jabbing a finger at him. “You’re the one that forgot about me. Oh, Laura, she’s so weird, all she does is sculpt and hide in her house. You treat me like you’re ashamed of me. Only Angelo and Davide really show any interest. I’m a hobby to Elena, and Mom and Dad are too busy dealing with their own problems to care about me. For a while, it worked, but now things are changing. I’m changing.”
“I don’t even know what you’re changing into,” Simon says, pushing back from his desk. His face twitches with rage. I’ve never seen him so angry before, and my own anger rises to meet him. “Not my sister. Not a member of this family.”
“You mean Famiglia, because that’s all you give a shit about. You and your precious little organization.”
“Get over yourself, Laura. I’m sorry about what happened to you, but—”
“Oh, good, bring up my fucking rape. That’ll get what you want.” I’m about to jump across the desk to strangle him when he steps back, his eyes going wide as if I hit him, and I can tell he knows he stepped over the line.
But quickly, that anger is back. “I forbid you from seeing him,” he declares. “For the foreseeable future, you are not to leave the oasis.”
“Fuck you. I’ll do what I want.”
“Talk like that again, and you won’t be allowed to leave your own goddamn house. Go ahead, test me.”
I lean forward. “Fuck. You. Simon. Good luck keeping me in a cage. I’ll kill your fucking guards if I have to.”
His jaw flexes, and he knows that’s not an empty threat. “Go home. I don’t want to look at you anymore.”
I breathe through my nose. I’m so fucking mad I could scream. But there’s nothing I can do to fix this, not right now.
I turn away from his desk and leave his office. As I storm out of the house, I’m tempted to rip paintings off the walls and smash some precious, priceless statues and pottery. Instead, I leave it all alone.
Outside, I watch as one of Simon’s men drives my car off.
Which is when the reality of my situation hits.
I can start killing Bianco soldiers, but that’ll only end up with me locked up in one of the Famiglia’s basement prison cells. I can scream and rage, but that won’t change my brother’s mind.
Because to him, I’m a traitor. Which is the worst thing imaginable.
If I were anyone else, there wouldn’t have been a conversation, only a bullet to the back of the head and a burial deep in the darkest parts of the lake.
That would almost be preferable.
No more Marco. No more Jackal. No more life outside of this place—no more finding out who I am and what I want to be.
Back into my studio. Back into the hole I dug for myself. Back into the darkness, where I’ve always belonged, because there’s never been anything else for me, not really.
Chapter 32
Marco
Ican’t help myself. That night, after obsessing over what to do about Laura, I log into her system and find it completely open to me. The link is still there, and now all the cameras are working again. It’s like finding buried treasure. No, even better. It’s like finding out that the Garden of Eden is real and waiting.
The living room is empty. Her bedroom laptop shows only darkness. When I flip to her basement camera, I almost get up from my seat in surprise.