Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 27737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Please, please, please.
But I'm all alone.
There's no one who can hear me.
No one to protect me from the malice in their voices, and just remembering the sound of it—-
I don't want to hear this!
My hands involuntarily move up to cover my ears, but it's no use. Their voices are like flesh-eating ants crawling into my ears to devour me from within.
Ever had a man before, signorina?
Ever been kissed?
We're just curious.
Someone grabs my hand just as my mind's about to break, and I gasp for air as the unexpected contact severs the nightmarish memories that tethered me to the past.
My eyes fly open as my soul crashes back into the present.
I know I'm safe now.
But the pain and the terror are still there, and the words simply fly out of my mouth.
"Those f-fucking bastards wanted to rape me!"
I can't believe how much I want to cry right now.
But I can't seem to for some reason.
"Breathe, Sarica."
The Angel of Death doesn't sound gentle at all this time.
"Breathe."
But the firmness of her voice is also exactly what I need to hear.
"The Martinos have been dealt with."
My abductors finally have a name.
And it's a famiglia that's supposed to be our fucking allies.
"You don't have to see them again if you don't want to."
"Of course, I don't fucking want to—-"
"Then you must make your choice."
My chest feels like it's about to explode. All I can do is stare at her. Choice? What fucking choice is she talking about? Does she want to know whether I want them castrated or beheaded? Can I fucking choose both?
"The Martinos have convinced your father that you misunderstood their son's intention. They have offered marriage between you and their firstborn as proof—-and your father wants you to seriously consider it."
I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I realize she isn't joking.
Our world has always been this sick and evil.
So why am I still surprised that my own father would betray me like this?
"They wanted to rape me!"
"I believe you."
But your own father doesn't.
The unspoken words hang between us, and I can literally feel my mind starting to slip.
"You can't misunderstand something like that."
"I know."
But your father doesn't.
"And...it's not possible anyway, right?" The way my voice trembles is sickening to hear, but I find myself powerless to change it. "My father can't force me...right? I'm only fifteen—-"
My voice falters at the look she gives me.
"I'm sorry, Sarica."
But you're wrong.
Because our world has always played by its own rules.
"So what choice are we even talking about?" I ask hollowly. "What flowers I fucking want for the wedding? Or if I want a—-"
"The groom, actually.."
"Live band or—-"
Did she just say 'groom'?
"Because Giancarlo Marchetti has countered their offer—-"
What the fuck?
"The Marchettis have been our enemies for decades," I choke out.
"Maybe that's why he's offering to marry you as well. To end the rivalry, once and for all."
"B-But why—-"
"—-is not something you can afford to care about."
The Angel of Death stares at me with blue eyes that seem to have seen everything...and lost her soul because of it.
"The only reason you haven't been forced to make a choice hours ago is because of Giancarlo. He brought you here, knowing that even your father would not dare wage war against me in my own territory."
I know there's only one choice for me to make if I want to save myself, but what kind of choice would that be, if my freedom would come at the cost of someone else losing theirs?
The Marchettis could've ended the rivalry between our famiglie a long time ago if they had wanted to. All they had to do was annihilate us, and they would've been able to do so easily.
If they wanted to.
But they never had.
And so Giancarlo Marchetti wanting me as a bride to end the feud?
Bullshit.
"I know what you're thinking—-"
It's more the sharpness of her tone than her actual words that make me look at the Angel of Death.
"But you're only fooling yourself. Turning yourself into a martyr by marrying the Martino heir won't achieve anything. He'd have broken you in weeks, and your father won't give a shit."
"That's still not reason enough—-"
"Saying no to Giancarlo is just taking the self-righteous coward's way out," the other girl snaps. "You're fifteen, not five. So start acting like it. We don't always get to choose how we live, but we can choose how we die. The Marchettis want to help you. Let them. And if you still want to die, then make your death count and die for them instead."
Blood
MEDICAL PERSONNEL OF La Torre march inside my room as soon as I've made my choice. All the wires and tubes are disconnected, and my protests are ignored as they lower me to a wheelchair. It's only when they've rolled me straight into a private lift that I realize that was my last glimpse of the Angel of Death.