AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nods. “They had their terms, in the end it was worth it.”
I’m confused.
“Their condition to give up our sex trafficking and work that made us so much of our money—my father was not happy. It took some talking to get him to agree.”
The recoil at his words isn’t something I can hide. He sees it and steps toward me. I take two steps back. “Trafficking is disgusting. Drugs, liquor, and gambling are taking advantage of a weakness already there. Stealing women and forcing them to fuck or die is horrific. You used them until there was nothing left, then threw them away like trash. Did you even throw them away, or did you kill them?”
His eyes go wide. Whatever he was going to say is lost when Belinda reenters the room.
“Okay, clean health report for this one.” Belinda smiles as she offers the kitten to me.
I shake my head. “I need to go home and get ready for work. Can you watch her for me until I get back?”
“Sure.”
Leaving the room, I ignore Milos. As far as I’m concerned, he no longer exists. Walking into the front reception area, I tell Darla I’ll be back. I open the door to the clinic and bypass the SUV still in front.
Shit, after the time in the warm building, it feels even colder. It was twenty-four degrees when I left my house this morning, I can’t help wondering if it’s dropped a few degrees.
“Stop. I will see you home. Get in.” His hand is around my arm.
I try to tear away but it’s like fighting with steel. “Fuck you, go away.”
Goddamnit, he lifts me up and tosses me into the back of the SUV. He slams the door closed behind me. I try to open the door to find it already locked. “Let me out, you fucker.”
“You are a mouthy little brat. I thought all mafia raised their daughters to be meek, mild, and sweet.” He’s annoyed.
Fuck him, he would prefer someone who didn’t talk back. Thank god that isn’t me. “I was raised by my grandmother whose husband treated her so badly for so long, she celebrated his death. She didn’t want me to just lay there and take it the way she had to. Nonna raised me the same way she raised her son—not to take shit from anyone.”
“Your nonna exceeded herself. Behave. I’m taking you home, then you need not worry I will ever see you again. You can flee into your little fortress of naivete where everyone who doesn’t do what you want is the bad guy. I am the villain in every story; why should yours be any different?” His voice is colder than the wind outside. “Put your seat belt on.”
It’s a slap in the face—naïveis another word for young and stupid. That’s why he doesn’t want anything to do with me. It doesn’t matter my father’s underboss of the Outfit. I’m a bastard, painfully poor, and fat—the man is so far out of my league it’s laughable for him to care what I thought of him. Why would he want to see me again?
I sit up and put my seat belt on. Keeping my face out the window.
“Your address,malyshka.”
I give it to him.
We’re almost home when I give in to what I’ve wanted to know since he first said it. “What doesmalyshkamean?”
“Little one, basically baby.” He’s bored.
“Like I thought, a generic name for women who come and go to men like you.” The SUV stops outside my house. I get out, and I can’t hold back from slamming the door. Walking inside, I’m proud of myself for not looking back, especially when I felt his eyes on me the whole way. I really wish it was one of the Sabatinis I’d run into instead.
Chapter3
Present Day
Celia
I’m nottwo feet into the house before Carina is on me. “What happened?”
I hate the fear on her heart-shaped face. Everyone says we look so alike we could be twins. All I can see are our differences, Carina is beautiful and I’m maybe cute on a good hair day. While there is the same heart-shaped as me her nose is longer and elegant—mine is small with a slight tip up at the end. Her mouth is wide and mine is a cupids bow with a thicker, fuller bottom lip and smaller upper lip. Carina takes after our mother with her skin only slightly olive. I take after Carlo with a darker olive tone that easily tanned and always had enough color most people assumed I was Mexican or something—until they saw my gray eyes. She’s also five foot three to my five foot six.
Normally her green eyes are soft moss, but now they’re a clear, hard emerald. Forcing a smile, I hug her tight. “The best news, Milos asked me to marry him.”
“Oh god, I’m sorry.” She begins crying. We both were afraid this was why Carlo wanted to see me.
