Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
And I wish I were in a position to do so.
4
Dominick
“Is Brielle coming?” I ask when I walk into the kitchen on Sunday afternoon, fresh out of the shower after my workout session in our private gym.
I’d rather spend my afternoon doing anything but hanging out with my father, but Sunday dinners make Mom happy—and she deserves whatever happiness she can find, being married to the Devil himself. And it also means seeing my sister, who rarely comes home from college unless she’s forced to do so.
Mom and Brielle always cook a delicious meal and dessert. We have drinks and talk over dinner, and even though I can’t stand being in the same room as my father, I get a bit of satisfaction from watching his health rapidly decline.
Only Brielle hasn’t shown up for the past three Sundays, and I’m starting to worry. After she missed the first dinner, feigning illness, I offered to visit her, but she insisted I stay away, claiming to be contagious.
The following Sunday, she used the excuse that she was behind on her studies due to being sick and couldn’t make the drive home.
Last Sunday, she didn’t even bother with a decent excuse. When she didn’t show up, I called, and she said she forgot but promised she would see me this Sunday. Something sounded off in her tone, but she hung up before I could question her. I know she’s having a hard time with the thought of having to marry Anthony, but she knows that Matteo and I are working on it.
“She’s not coming,” Mom chokes out.
When she turns around, I notice the tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, walking over to her to make sure she’s not hurt.
The only time I’ve seen her cry is when Dad’s hurt her, and it’s clear from her splotchy face and puffy eyes that she’s been crying for some time.
“Your sister and father had a falling-out. She turned off her phone, which led him to believe she was going to run away, so he had his men go to her apartment to bring her home.”
“Do they have her?” Matteo asks, walking in and joining the conversation.
As much as we’d prefer to have our own places, in order to keep Mom safe from our asshole father, we still live at home, knowing he won’t touch her while we’re here now that we’re capable of knocking him on his ass if he lays a finger on her.
“No,” she whispers. “I don’t know the details since your father doesn’t feel the need to keep me informed, but I heard him yelling about her not being at her apartment, and then he took off to go after her himself. I’m worried,” she says, her gaze flitting from Matteo to me. “I’ve never seen him this mad before. And he knows about her boyfriend.”
“What the hell do you mean, her boyfriend?” Matteo yells, then turns to me. “Did you know about this?” he accuses.
“I had my suspicions, but she never confirmed,” I say sharply. “And I didn’t think she’d be dumb enough to flaunt it in public, where our father could find out.”
“Can you locate her?” Mom asks Matteo, who’s already typing away on his phone.
“Fuck, her location is off.” He glances up at me. “We can’t let Dad get to her. You know he’ll stop at nothing to see his fucking plan through.”
“We’ll find her first,” I tell him. “Mom, let us know if you hear anything.”
“I will,” she says, wrapping her arms around me. “Please find her first,” she pleads, hugging Matteo next. “If your father does, I don’t know what the outcome will be. He was so mad. When Anthony told him that he saw her with another man, your dad lost it. His violent tendencies have been getting worse, and I’m scared he might hurt her.”
Fucking Anthony.
This is worse than I thought. Brielle being seen with another man is the equivalent of Dad going back on his word, which is viewed as the highest disrespect in our world.
If he finds her first, he’s not only going to drag her back here and lock her up until it’s time for her to marry Anthony, but he’ll also find a way to punish her. And with his health at an all-time low, who knows what state of mind he’ll be in or how badly he’ll hurt her?
“Don’t think the worst,” Matteo says, reading my thoughts. “We’ll find her. I’ve already spread the word on the streets that if anyone sees her, they’re to grab her quietly and bring her to us. And, Mom”—he looks at her, his features filled with remorse and anger—“once we get her back, we’re going to take care of Andrey once and for all. Enough with this bullshit.”
“Any news?” I ask Matteo when he walks into my office.