AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My face pales.
Big Jim “Hunter” Drucci was a name I could live without ever hearing again.
A ruthless and violent mob boss twenty years older than me, my father arranged for me to be married off to him in exchange for Drucci’s protection.
My father has a lot of enemies, after all, and almost no one had the power to mess with the Hunter.
If they do, he hunts them down and murders them in ways people tremble to describe.
As his wife, the protection would be extended to my family, the Battaglias.
The soon-to-be Don of the Drucci family is known for his cruelty and savagery - from his four ex-wives, one had been found dead, one is still missing, and two have taken secret identities and are apparently now settled
abroad.
I had heard so many stories about him that I knew I had to escape when he said he wanted me in exchange for offering my father protection.
There was no way I would ever choose him.
But on the other hand, I couldn’t return to my father.
The shame of me leaving him in the lurch had put him in an embarrassing situation with the Drucci’s.
I had left him no avenue to save face, and due to the disloyalty I showed and the dishonor I brought to my family, he put a bounty on my head.
I am disowned, and as we speak, people are looking to shoot me dead, per his command.
“I don’t want either,” I answer, trying to stay calm.
Redneck’s laugh is hollow and cruel as he clenches his fist around my shirt, bringing it close to him once more.
“Well, too bad, princess,” he says. “You’re mine now, and I need a leg up in this world.”
“Please, Redneck,” I say, “there has to be another way.”
“Family loyalty is everything,” Redneck continues, his lips forming a firm line. “You break it, and you die. You stay, and you live. Word is that Drucci has men looking for you. Not to kill you ...no ...” he whispered in a drawl, “but to
marry you. He likes what he’s owed and believes you’re his property now. If you marry him, he’ll protect you from your father’s bullet with your name on it.”
I take a deep breath, understanding completely what Redneck is getting at. A sense of dread fills me - this was something that no matter what happened, someone was going to pay in blood.
With Drucci, I’d bleed to a slow death, with Drucci etching violence on my body and soul each night for reasons ranging from saying the smallest wrong thing to him just having a bad day.
With my father, death would be a quick, painless one.
“I can’t go to Drucci,” I say at last.
“Sorry to hear that, kid,” says Redneck, pulling out his gun. “He could’ve saved your life.”
“I’d rather be dead than be married to him,” I spit.
“Be careful what you wish for,” rumbles Redneck as he draws out the gun and points it at my head.
I try to buy more time. I look around myself to see if there’s any way I can get in clear sight of the path.
It’s late, and chances of people walking or driving home at this hour are low, but if I don’t try anything right now, I’m a dead woman walking.
“You don’t have to say this,” I say, carefully inching away from him.
