AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I have been a good daughter to you, Mother. I’ve done my best to be obedient, but enough is enough. How could you give me over to The Blood Syndicate? The cartel, Mother! I want to believe you didn’t have a say in this, but I don’t.”
For a moment, I think she’s going to slap me, but she just tightens and loosens a fist at her side, her eyes flashing to mine, anger brimming in her stare.
“Your father and I didn’t have a choice, Giana. The cartel takes. Your father owed them, and the price was you. It was marrying you off or death. Which would you rather?”
“Death!” I scream, unable to keep the tears from flowing. “Get out. I want a few moments alone before I walk down that aisle.”
She scurries out of the room, her heels clacking against the wooden floorboards, and I sink to the floor. My makeup is done for, but I don’t care. Nothing matters anymore, not at this point.
I meant it. I’d rather die than be married to Santiago.
I frantically search the room for anything I could use to end this pathetic, sheltered excuse for a life. Nothing but dark thoughts cloud my mind as I think about each everyday thing that could become a weapon. The glass mirror, the shower curtain. Anything could do if I tried hard enough.
Hope bloomed in my chest when Niccolò told me Dante was coming for me. But then…he never came. I don’t want to believe Dante only said that to get Niccolò off his back, but the more time goes by…the more that hope disintegrates.
I never even got to tell Remi about any of this. Not about the wedding, not about the cartel, not that my father is a goddamn mafia boss. He’s had me so under wraps since the night at the club that there hasn’t even been a chance. And I know she’s probably worried sick right now.
Just as I go to peel myself away from the floor, I hear it.
The faintest of noises. One I’d miss had I not stopped my sobs.
The en suite bathroom.
It sounds as if someone is in there.
Suddenly, my fight-or-flight instincts kick in, and although just moments ago I was thinking some of the darkest thoughts I’ve ever thought, now all I can think of is if this is a threat, then I need to eliminate it.
I carefully walk to the en suite and gently peek inside using the small crack in the door. It’s open only a bit, so it’s hard to see, but a flash of a man in a black suit entering through the window catches me off guard. I shriek.
In one fluid motion, the man is yanking open the door and grabbing me, and the scent that envelops me is nothing but comfort. Whiskey and aftershave, liquor and pine.
Dante.
“Dante?” I pull back to look him in the eye, unable to believe he’s here.
He’s standing in my bridal suite.
He cups my face in his hands and shakes his head. “I couldn’t get to you. I fucking tried.”
I do nothing but nod.
The past few days have been hell on earth between Father’s beatings and the isolation in our cellar.
“Fuck, angel.” The crease above his brows deepens as he stares into my eyes, his own amber eyes boring into mine.
I have so much I want to say, but nothing comes out.
“I’m sorry. I am so fucking sorry.”
I don’t even know what he’s apologizing for, but somehow, I forgive him.
I don’t want to forgive him so easily, but just knowing he kept the promise Niccolò told me about—that he’d come for me—it’s somehow enough to erase the rest of the shit. At least for this moment.
This is the first I’ve felt at ease since I was ripped away from him that night, a feeling I’ve been holding on to—craving—in hopes I’d feel it again.
“I never thought I’d see you again.” I yank him closer to me, closing the distance by pulling on his dress shirt.
I cry into his shirt as he soothes me, running his hands up and down my arms and telling me everything is going to be okay.
