Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
The closer her nineteenth birthday gets, the increasingly anxious Sabella grows. On the dreaded day, she locks herself in her secure villa, only to discover Angelo in her bedroom. When she confronts him, he confesses that he not only pays for her rent but also for her studies and living expenses. He puts a ring on her finger and gives her a day to come to terms with their pending marriage and her move to Corsica.
Devastated, Sabella drives to Great Brak River to confront her family. Ryan admits the truth, for the first time coming clean about the marriage contract their father made with the Russo family but refused to honor. Sabella finally understands why Angelo stole incriminating evidence to blackmail her father to sign over his business. Angelo’s end-goal was forcing her father to honor the marriage contract.
In a desperate attempt to escape, Sabella plots to marry her best friend, Colin. Angelo is furious when the security company staff he hired to follow Sabella and her family inform him that the Edwards family disappeared without a trace. With the help of street surveillance cameras, Angelo locates them at a church.
Just as Sabella and Colin are about to get married, Angelo and an army of men burst through the doors. After marrying Sabella at gunpoint, Angelo whisks her off to France in a private plane.
The start of their marriage is turbulent. Angelo punishes her for her betrayal. In the confrontation that follows, Sabella points a gun at him, earning yet another punishment when they board Angelo’s yacht in France.
Before Angelo can depart for Corsica, Lieutenant Lavigne from the French gendarmerie boards the yacht under the pretense of investigating a domestic disturbance complaint. Instead, he plants drugs on Sabella and arrests her. Angelo watches helplessly as the armed men who outnumber him drive his wife to the police station.
A furious Angelo calls his lawyer to arrange for bail. In the meantime, Lieutenant Lavigne submits Sabella to a humiliating full-body search and uncomfortable conditions to try and break her before offering her a deal. He promises her freedom in exchange for information and evidence that will enable him to put Angelo behind bars.
After the lieutenant drops the charges against Sabella, Angelo takes her to a hotel for the night. At first light, they leave for Corsica. He contacts his informant in the bureau to get a copy of the video recording of Sabella’s interrogation. To his dismay, he learns that the tape has been wiped clean. It can only mean one thing. Lavigne offered Sabella a deal. Angelo knows that he can’t trust his new wife.
Things only get more complicated when the newlyweds are met by Angelo’s uncles and cousins in Corsica. Uncle Nico and Enzo urge Angelo to kill Sabella, not only because she’s a threat to their family, most likely working with the police, but also to honor his father’s dying wish.
When the housekeeper, Heidi, shows Sabella the wedding dress Angelo’s mother had made for her, Angelo walks in on the scene. The dress triggers his grief and vengeance. Even though he doesn’t hold Sabella accountable for her father’s sins, he blames her for everything that happened. Everything that transpired was because of her. For her. His grief compels him to punish Sabella, who stubbornly refuses to beg for the very air she breathes.
Unable to sleep, Sabella sneaks to the kitchen and makes a cup of tea. On her way back to her room, a strange pull draws her to Angelo’s late family’s quarters. Angelo discovers her in his sister’s room. In her fright, Sabella accidentally knocks down his sister’s jewelry box and breaks both the box and a Venetian glass bead necklace.
Believing that she was looking for evidence to use against him, Angelo is consumed with rage. Making good on his promise to whip her, he drags her to the cellar, but finds himself unable to go through with it. Instead, he banishes Sabella from his house, driving her in the middle of the night to an unknown destination.
Tears Like Acid
Chapter
One
Sabella
* * *
Newlyweds.
We tied the knot not a day ago.
And my husband already banished me.
He hates me so much that he dragged me into the cellar and took a whip from the wall after he found me trespassing in his late sister’s room.
I suppose it’s something that he didn’t bring that whip down on my back. My feet are cut, my knees are bleeding, and in the late hour of the winter night, wearing nothing but his shirt, I’m freezing. Yet it could’ve been worse. As well as I came to know him, it could’ve been a lot worse.
We’re speeding in his car over a gravel road in the middle of nowhere. After his violent explosion of anger, we’re quiet, each of us digesting our thoughts. I’m huddled in my corner, trying to get my fear under control.