AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ocean: So I think maybe you should talk to that brother of yours.
I let out a long sigh, but I know she’s right. I can’t run away. My brother would send out a search team or kill off a few families thinking they’d kidnapped me if I did. I have to do this the rational way. Boo.
Me: Is there anything else happening today beyond my meltdown?
I’d blown up their phones this morning saying I wanted out of the country. That I wanted a new identity, a passport and so on. I googled a bunch of places that I could possibly move to that would get me as far away from Gilly as possible.
I still can’t believe what he did last night. At that moment, with his hands on me, I'd been so lost in him. He’d given me a taste of something I had no idea I wanted. Then in true Gilly form, he did what he always does to me. He turned his back on me and walked out, leaving me there aching. Only this time it was in more places than one.
Magic: I’m still running the guy's face you shot.
Me: The other two?
I expect her to tell me they’re in some hospital in the burn unit or something but nope.
Magic: Dead.
I stare at the one word. I don’t care that they’re dead. They are lower than scum as far as I’m concerned. Not only do they prey on women, they make sure they drug them so that they have no chance to fight back when they do it. The only thing that surprised me was how easily Magic gave the information.
Me: You okay?
Magic: No, the coroner just put in the report. Cause of death for both was a bullet to the head. Also, not one hospital in a hundred miles of that location treated anyone for two gunshot wounds last night.
Ocean: Mystery man is in the wind.
Me: Find him.
That is not good. He saw my face, and I saw his. There was something familiar about him that still pulls at the back of my mind, but I can’t place it.
Magic:I’m trying.
A knock sounds at my door. I message the girls that I’ll check back in later.
“Come in,” I shout, knowing it could only be a handful of people that would knock on my door. Angelica pokes her head in.
“You ever coming out of your bedroom?” I see her sister Bianca behind her. Bianca is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life.
Is that what I’m lacking? Angelica has an inner sweetness too. Is that why I’m not so appealing? Gilly’s words from last night run through my mind. Am I just a brat who's gotten everything she wanted handed to her in life? Well, everything besides Gilly, that is.
“Yeah.” I slip my phone under my pillow, getting up from my bed. I can only hide out for so long. It’s already afternoon, and I’m starving. “I need to talk to my brother.”
“He’s in his office with the boys.” Angelica steps back, opening my door more.
“Boys.” Bianca giggles.
Yeah, thinking of Antonio or the Butcher as boys is laughable. As for Gilly, I don’t know what I think he is anymore. I swear for a moment I saw need in his eyes for me, but I’m sure it was just a normal male reaction. Probably went out and had someone else handle it for him while I had to lay in bed and ache alone.
I can’t stay here. Those are the kinds of thoughts that will start to eat me alive. I’ll become bitter. Watching Angelica and Bianca be so madly in love only makes that bitterness grow, and I refuse to let them know that because they’d have guilt, and it’s not a guilt they need to carry. They’ve been through enough in their lives. They don’t need me to add to it.
It’s strange how I was protected more from things while they had to often stare evil in the eyes, but they turned out one way and I another. Why am I harder? My brother would tell me it’s the Palermo blood in my veins. But that can’t be true. He crumpled like a cheap chair when it came to Angelica. So I think we can throw that theory out the window.
“Something is off with you,” Angelica says as we make our way down the hallway toward the stairs.
“You missed breakfast,” Bianca points out. As though that alone was the giveaway that something was up with me.
“It’s more than that.” Angelica grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. We grew close when she first married my brother. I was a tad jealous when Bianca showed up, but she too treated me as if I was her sister. I adore and love them both, but I think change is needed. A new chapter has to start for me.
We descend the stairs together. I go straight for my brother's door that is cracked open, which means it’s all clear to enter. I still give a double knock before I push it open. My brother sits at his desk while Butcher stands with his arms folded over his chest. Gilly has his hands placed on Antonio’s desk, leaning down. The two of them look to be in a serious conversation.
