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Chapter One
ROSE
This is the end of the road for me.
Of all the many painless ways to die, the universe decides mine is by the hands of Benedetto Corte.
Poetic Justice.
I sniff, grinding my teeth from the pain of aching bones, shaking rabidly from fear.
I guess I underestimated the fallout of humiliating a family like his. Even I know that when you poke the beast, you get added to its menu.
“Where are you taking me?” I try in a futile effort to shrug out of his strong brooding hand that is wrapped tightly around my upper arm.
“To safety,” he replies, with his deep silky voice, and keeps dragging me along.
Reassuring indeed. Except this is Benedetto for crying out loud, the cousin of Romano, who I was engaged to and cheated on. Publicly. The media made my infidelity the headline news for days, as if rubbing salt to injury.
I made out with Tiziano in public. I don't know what I was thinking, and now that I think about it, I wasn't thinking. Because I, of all people, should know that you don't mess with a family like the Montis and expect not to get stung. You can't humiliate them and have them take you to safety.
“Benedetto, I don't want…”
“You don't have to want it, you need it,” he keeps his eyes on the dark road ahead of us.
I'm dying. I know he is going to kill me. He will do it for Romano. The scary thing about Benedetto is that it’s impossible to see him coming. I didn't see him coming. I didn't think he would be the one coming. I was so into my head I didn't think anything or anyone would be coming.
“I don't need your safety” I scoff, trying to sound as brave as I can, but I'm one squirm away from peeing on myself, “How about you let me go and I find my way to safety?” I wriggle, trying to get free with my knees constantly knocking against each other.
“How aboutyousay thank you?” He stops, his hold lessening around my upper arm.
“You have some nerves to think I'll believe your safety theory,” I tug my arm away from his grip, and it swings, hitting something in front of me which is now registering as a black matte car, which explains why it blended into the darkness easily.
“You don't have to believe it, just get in the car” He opens the door of the car and the warm car light comes on.
His hand captures mine before I can think of escaping, and swings me in front of him, tacking me in place with hooded eyes, and dark hair ruffled on his head. I clutch the purse that's in my other hand, that he is not making numb from holding it too tight, to my trembling stomach.
Is this what death looks like?
Because I feel like I'm staring at death right in the face. A deadly handsome one. I gulp dry air into my drought lungs.
Whoever used the word drop-dead gorgeous, probably meant Benedetto. And it's funny that I never actually spared him more than a glance in all the years that I have known him. But it's not funny that I am seeing this dicey side of him. It's spine spiking.
“In the car,” he points to the open door that I am standing in front of with his head, gives a dry chin lift smile, and frowns immediately.
“Kill me here,”no please don't.
If I step into this car, everything changes. There's no undoing that, there's no escaping him.
“Ben…”
“Do me a favor Rosaline, for the rest of this trip, keep your pretty mouth shut,” that chin lift smile again that has mobster scribbled all over it.
“I will open my mouth as much as I want to.” I swallow more dry air, maybe talking will make him let me go.
My father once said that if I'm ever kidnapped, I can make the kidnappers want to kill themselves from the pain of having to listen to me ramble.
“You will open your mouth?” he scoffs dryly.
