Page 9 of Vow of Hate

“Why are you doing this to me?” I whisper. My voice is still weak. Will it ever sound strong?

He lowers his head until it almost presses to mine. Being this close to him is uncanny. Frightening. “Because I hate you. I hate that Gabriel was going to make me marry you just for fucking peace. I hate what you stand for. A good little mafia girl who was raised to expect marriage. Am I right about that?”

“I haven’t done anything to you. I never asked Gabriel to marry me to you.”

“Oh, I’m sure you didn’t. But that doesn’t matter. I refuse to be leashed. To be caged. I was supposed to do the right thing by you. Marry you. But this…” His eyes rake over my naked body. “Is much more fun.”

“You’re a monster.”

“And you’re sexy. A sexy, little body I can’t wait to dip my fingers into one day.”

I gasp. “Please.”

Darkness fills his eyes and I can’t make sense of it. “Are you asking me to touch you, Sienna?”

“No. I’m begging you to let me go. My arms are asleep. That’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Mmm. You’re right. That is bad. I don’t want you dying on me just yet.” He unties my arms and they flop to my sides but he doesn’t untie my legs, still keeping me bound to the cross. I can’t even feel my arms to untie my legs but even if I could, I doubt Dante would let me.

“Here,” he says, grabbing my right arm and rubbing life back into it. I’m not going to fight him on this. He’s trying to help in his strange, twisted sort of way.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why help me get feeling back into my arms?” I can feel the blood flowing through my right arm again and wiggle my fingers. He switches to my other arm.

“Because I don’t need you losing your extremities. That would defeat the point, wouldn’t it? If you’re dead, then I can’t have my fun with you.”

“What sort of fun?” I whisper. Dread fills my stomach and yet, I feel the tiniest bit of tingle there as Dante continues to touch my arm.

“The sort of fun that’s probably only going to be fun for me and not for you.”

“Is my mother alive?” I blurt out. “Have you heard anything?”

“I shot her in the stomach. I doubt she’s alive.” His cold bluntness makes me flinch.

Tears somehow manage to well up in my eyes again. “But she could survive that.”

The raise of his eyebrow makes him more handsome. Why does someone as handsome as him have to be so monstrous? “Do you really want me to go check? I doubt you want me seeing if your mom is alive.” The threat in his voice is clear: he’ll finish the job if she is alive.

“Kill me. Please. I don’t want to be tortured. I don’t want to be alive if my mom is dead.”

“You love her that much?”

“She’s my mom,” I say it like it’s obvious. “She’s been my rock since I was a child.”

“Mmm. That’s interesting.” He lets my arm go. The feeling has returned to both of them and yet, I can’t raise them to attack Dante. I know how that would end anyway. Not good.

“Why is it interesting?”

He cups my face and presses his head to mine. I can smell his breath: a mix of mint and alcohol like he had a drink right before this, though I’m not sure which one. I’ve never had any sort of alcohol in my entire life. “Because I hate my mother. Hated. The bitch is dead now.”

I gasp. “How can you hate your own mother?”

“Because she was horrible. Liked to hit me a lot as a kid.” He lets me go with a laugh. It’s so sudden it makes me flinch. “Maybe that’s why I like to hit people now. Huh. Who knew?”

“And your dad?”