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Drugs.
Torture.
Shady shit always going down simply because her family could get away with it.
Isolation and loneliness.
That was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to her family. She looked down the hall but couldn’t see past the living room. She saw a pair of dark boots peeking out from the corner of the door.
Her heart beat faster, and she moved toward the door. The light was on, and she pushed the door open as far as it would go, but Fury’s big body stopped her from opening it all the way.
He was on his back, his chest rising and falling, and the normally harsh lines of his face seemed relaxed. The scent of alcohol filled the small room, and she realized he was passed out cold. Walking further into the bathroom, she stared at his face for a moment, the weight of the chain tethering her to reality.
She bent down and searched his pockets. And there they were … the keys. She held them in her palm, staring at the glint of silver that caught the overhead light, her heart racing.
Angelina looked at Fury again, at the way his dark hair was a mess around his head, how the dark layer of scruff covered his jaw and cheeks, making him seem so damn masculine.
She stood and backed out of the bathroom. Once in the hallway again, she bent and undid the lock. The metal fell to the ground, and she started breathing harder, faster. Her knees were starting to buckle as she walked down the hallway, went into the kitchen, and finally stopped.
She looked around.
The place was rustic, barren. The front door was right there, just a few feet from her … unlocked. Her hands started shaking as adrenaline coursed through her system.
Without thinking, she went to the front door, opened it, and let the fresh air wash over her. Hair covered her face as the wind whipped the strands around.
Taking a step onto the porch, Angelina was greeted with worn wood on her bare feet. She looked down, the oversized sweats covering the tops of her feet, but the freedom having excitement rush through her.
But fear also filled her, had her frozen to the spot.
Here she was, no longer chained, yet not running. All she could think about was what waited for her on the outside. Her father would find her, if he hadn’t already known where she was this whole time.
What would he do once he had her? He’d be pissed, that was a given, but with Marco’s death would he want to keep her in lockdown even more than he already had in the past? Would he want to make an example of her because she’d run?
That would be seen as a betrayal, and blood or not, her father didn’t let that go, no matter what.
Without a doubt.
Angelina didn’t know how long she stood there, just staring at the trees surrounding her. It was like there wasn’t anything that could touch her, especially her father.
She’d lived in a box for so long, and even after she’d run and spent the last few months away from her family, she’d never fully experienced what like she was free. That worry that her father would find her was always in the back of her mind.
All she’d been able to sense was that tingling on the back of her neck, the sense that she was being watched.
Angelina didn’t feel like her family would be able to reach her.
Turning and looking at the front door, she envisioned Fury lying in the bathroom. She shouldn’t want anything to do with him, and she should have just run, but here she was, turning around and walking toward the door.
Once she was back inside, she made her way back to the bathroom and stared at the chain that was lying on the hallway floor. It symbolized something stronger than just escaping this prison.
It also meant she broke away from a life she’d always been tied down to. Maybe it was just her own thoughts and twisted notions that had her feeling like this, but it felt good, right even.
I’m crazy. I have to be to stay here.
But the truth was there was nothing for her out there, not really. What was available was a family thick with crime, murder, and one that had never paid much attention to her.
She’d been the daughter of Sal Cardona, and that’s all she had been. Marco had been the apple of her parents’ eyes, and with him gone, it was only a matter of time before her mother and father caved to their anger and sadness, if they hadn’t already.
No, she was alone out in the world, and if she truly wanted to be free, this was where she needed to be.
