Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I was convinced it was because he was the sort of good looking that made you want to be a victim, and since he was my uncle, I was allowed to say that.
All my life, I’d seen the bosses get open-eyed stares.
Even in their late thirties and early forties, they were like little mafia Jared Leto’s running around with too much testosterone and enough weapons to form their own militia.
God help us all.
Once the front door closed, he leaned in and whispered. “Is it truly over?”
I jerked back. “You mean, is she really dead? Yeah, I think—”
“Not that.” His nostrils flared as his eyes searched mine. “I mean you and Junior.”
I couldn’t help the little gasp that escaped my parted lips. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You need to learn how to lie better.” He cursed and looked away. “Serena, I need the truth, right now. Are you—” He grabbed me by the shoulder and jerked me closer. “—together.”
“No,” I said honestly. “I think I hate him more than I hate myself right now.”
He let out a rough exhale like he’d been holding his breath. “I don’t need to remind you what would happen if it was discovered that the daughter of an Abandonato was screwing a son of a De Lange—” It was my turn to gasp. “—and Nicolasi boss.”
“That’s not fair, Aunt Luciana is half De Lange,” I pointed out.
“You hate him,” he murmured. “And yet you’re so defensive of a family that nearly destroyed your own father. I wonder why…”
“I like to play fair,” I said through clenched teeth.
He smirked. “That lie was a lot better, favorite niece.”
I scowled. “Say that to Bella’s face.”
“Hey, a little competition’s good for you, right?”
I let myself relax a bit. “Yeah, yeah.”
He wrapped an arm around me. “You took a blood oath when you were sixteen, Serena, all of the kids did. The last thing we need is a group of hormonal rage-fueled college students deciding it would be a good idea to sow their oats under the roof of mob bosses who’ve been known to chop off body parts of men who look at their wives sideways.”
I had nothing to say to that, except, “You’re joking, right?”
“Why the hell else would we have a machete?” He deadpanned like I was the crazy one.
This guy.
I shook my head. “So, what’s my punishment going to be?”
He opened the front door.
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
I suddenly wanted my mom, but then I didn’t want to see the sadness in her eyes for the innocence that I allowed to be taken from me tonight.
Over a guy I supposedly hated.
I risked everything for the hate I had.
If that wasn’t a sick and twisted sort of love—what was?
Chase didn’t answer me; he just led me around the corner to the stairway that led to the dark basement.
Not a good sign.
My room was upstairs.
I slowly took the stairs in my heels, the same ones that held small little needles in the toes that could kill someone—had killed someone—in an instant.
I called them my killer heels for a reason.
A doctor would assume her heart was weak—that it just stopped.
But we knew the truth.
I knew the truth.
I had done that.
I would do it again.
To potentially save the man I hated? I would kill everyone. And I would smile while doing it.
Maybe he wasn’t the one with the sickness in his blood.
Maybe, just maybe, it was me.
The lights overhead flickered on as Chase took me to the end of the hall and finally into the sparring room.
We had a nice boxing ring in the middle and enough gear to make you sweat for days.
Junior and Ash were already standing in the middle of the ring.
My dad and Phoenix were standing outside the ropes.
At least the machete wasn’t in Phoenix’s hands anymore. No, that honor went to Junior.
And when he looked at me, his eyes were empty, like his soul had momentarily taken a vacation from his body—not out of exhaustion but out of necessity for what he had to do.
“Serena.” My dad held out his hand. I took it. “When blood is wasted, you need to be punished. It kills me that you were made before your time, before you really had time to experience life, but that’s what this is, and as the heir to the Abandonato Family, it’s your birthright. As a woman, you’re equal to the men standing before you, which means the punishment has to be the same.”
I whispered, “I understand, sir.”
His blue eyes flickered with emotion before he looked down and ran his hands through his jet-black hair. “Two minutes in the ring with each of them. They won’t go easy on you—”
“They’ve never gone easy on me,” I snapped, earning a proud smirk from my dad.
“What happens down here stays down here, when you walk out of this basement, you’ll be made just like Ash and Junior. Do you understand what that means?”