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But as I inch closer to her on the bed, I just can’t bring myself to follow through with any of my threats. I know it would be different if she was a man. I didn’t think twice about putting a bullet in that guard’s head. I won’t fucking lose sleep over it either.
Hurting her seems counterproductive to everything I’ve done, and I have to wonder if that would even change if I had proof that she helped the Severinos hurt others. Normally the complacency would be enough to move me into action, but there’s just something about this bitch that’s keeping me from crossing that line.
It makes her fucking dangerous, possibly more dangerous than Alessio Severino himself.
That should be reason enough to kill her.
Chapter 12
Madelene
He doesn’t seem impressed as he stares down at me.
I’ve felt helpless many times in my life. It’s literally a daily occurrence living with the Severinos.
Somehow, with him looking down at me, that feeling is tenfold.
I’m vulnerable, incapable of defending myself with my hands tied behind my back. My chin trembles as I lock eyes with him, refusing to let any more tears fall.
I don’t want to appear weak, although I’m not fooling anyone here, but I also don’t want to appear overly confident.
His eyes narrow as I manage to tilt my chin up just a little higher. His eyes trace the movement of my throat as I swallow, the corner of his mouth twitching.
He knows I’m terrified. He’s reading me like an open book, the same way Marcello and Alessio have always had the ability to do. I’m not brave. The trepidation running through my body doesn’t even allow me to fake it very well.
I know I’m dead. I know how this ends. If I’m set free, the Severinos will kill me, but I think that was always their plan, eventually. This guy doesn’t seem much better, but there is a fraction of hope that he won’t linger over my ending. Where Alessio will prolong my suffering, this guy seems like the get-it-done-and-over-with type.
Although he wanted information from Marcello before pulling the trigger, he didn’t hesitate with Julio. The man protecting me wasn’t his concern. He was there for me, and he made that happen as quickly as possible.
I do my best not to think of Julio as I wait to see what this guy has planned for me. Julio was the only guard who didn’t get in on the taunting and threats. He frowned at the other guards when they started to feed off what the Severinos were so quick to do. I’m not exactly sad. The man has done horrible things. I just wasn’t someone he felt the need to belittle or hurt.
The man standing at the end of the bed seems a lot like Julio. Someone who has hurt and killed but didn’t take pleasure in it. As far as choosing how to leave this world, he seems like the best bet.
“Are you her brother?” I ask.
He straightens, his upper lip curling in disgust.
“Were you her boyfriend?” He doesn’t seem much older than me, but maybe the lines present around Alessio’s eyes are more about how he’s lived his life rather than his age.
“Who the fuck are you talking about?”
I didn’t take him for the type to play stupid.
“Ellie.”
His jaw flexes, his irritation more than a little evident in the darkness in his eyes and the twitch in his fingers, making me think he’d shoot me now if he were holding his gun.
“I was eight when Ellie was murdered,” he explains, surprising me that he’d give me any details, seeing as he’s the one demanding information. “What do you know about her murder?”
I confessed I was only a child when this happened, that I’d only heard about it from Alessio, but maybe he was too high on adrenaline to hear me the night he killed Marcello
“I was only a kid.”
“You said that piece of shit told you about it. Tell me what he told you and maybe explain why he feels so comfortable sharing shit with you that could land him on death row.”
“Illinois doesn’t have the death penalty,” I remind him, making me think we are in Texas like I wondered earlier. Texas is one of the states that seems to have an express process for the punishment.
He leans in closer, his hand reaching out and gripping my jaw faster than I can pull my head back.
“Answer the fucking questions.”
I open my mouth to speak but his hold on my face makes it too painful to do so.
He releases me, taking a step back when I whimper. I know better than to think he’s no less capable of hurting me than Alessio would be just because of the reprieve.
“Speak,” he growls.
In my mind, I tell him to fuck off, to not speak to me like I’m a fucking dog, but I’d never say those words out loud. I’ve always been braver in my head than I’ve ever managed to be in real life.
