Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
I inch to the side, getting a better look at the Cartel boss.
Fiddling with his gold chain, his eyes become wide as he stares at Damien. It’s like he can’t believe what Damien just said.
“A war over her?” he snaps. “Why? She’s not Russian, last time I checked. I didn’t even know you knew her.”
He doesn’t.
I glance up at Damien. His gaze is fixed forward, his expression as taut as his body, like he’s ready to snap.
“She doesn’t deserve to be tortured or killed for what she said. And that’s what you’re going to do, all because you get a sick fucking thrill out of it. You can call it business or pride or whatever you want. But we both know the truth. You want to hurt her.”
Something in Damien’s tone makes Gabriel falter. It’s like he expects Damien to launch at him, all wild fists and fury. It radiates from Damien; this feeling and a silly flutter touches me deep within.
It’s like he’s the person I’ve been waiting for, the one who’s going to make this all better. He’s going to protect me like even Uncle Nick never could.
“It’s not about what I want,” Gabriel snaps a moment later. “It’s about what she said.”
Gabriel finally turns his gaze to me. My skin pricks with a sickening sensation. I remember the way he stared during the tattooing, his eyes fixed on me.
Damien’s right. He gets a sick thrill from it.
Now, the tattoo aches on my wrist. It burns the longer he stares at me.
“Take it back then, girl,” Gabriel says. “Show us you didn’t mean it. Your traitor daddy didn’t do the right thing. He betrayed us, betrayed the Cartel, the only thing which ever showed him love. We helped that man more than anybody can ever know.”
I want to leap at him, slap him, and scream.
It’s not fair for him to describe my dad like that. He was a decent man who always did his best. And yes, he had his problems with booze and drugs, but he always loved me and tried to protect me.
Damien turns, his expression even tenser than before.
It’s clear he’s silently asking me to go along with this, to say what I need to.
It could start a war.
If I don’t say what Gabriel needs me to, will Damien still defend me? Why is he bothering to defend me at all?
My inner core sings from deep within, telling me it’s because he wants me. He’s aching for me the same way I am for him. He can’t stand to let anything happen to me because he needs me.
I force myself to stop it.
Damien doesn’t want or need me. He probably just hates Gabriel as much as everybody else and wants to win this argument.
They’re both staring at me, waiting for me to speak.
“I didn’t mean it.” The words hurt as they come out. “I shouldn’t have said it.”
Damien nods, turning back to Gabriel.
“There you go. No harm done. Let’s get a drink, catch up a little.”
“Wait a second.”
Gabriel raises his hand. Behind him, I can see Cartel men lingering on the other side of the door. Their heads pass back and forth in front of the small glass viewing window.
If they come in here, the game’s over. Gabriel will be forced to act in front of his men.
“That’s not enough,” Gabriel goes on, flashing his gold teeth. “She has to tell me what her father was.”
Damien sighs. “She just did.”
“No, she didn’t. She has to say it. He was a traitor, wasn’t he, girl? He was a traitor, anyway.”
He laughs, looking around as though expecting people to join in. But then he remembers we’re alone. Turning back, he grins at me, rubbing his hands together. Sickness churns in my belly. He looks ready to feast on my words.
Beyond us, the sound of the party rises, the music getting louder. Or maybe it’s all in my head, the pounding, and the drumming.
Damien stares at me, his expression softer now. It’s like he’s saying, I’m sorry you have to do this, but it’s better than the alternative.
Or maybe that’s projection again.
I nod, staring at Gabriel. “My father, he was…”
“Yes,” Gabriel says, waving his hand.
A traitor, I try to say. I scream at myself to say it, to just spit the words out, but then I think of the last time I saw him, kneeling at my bedside, my hands clasped in his, smiling down at me with a real glint of hope in his eyes.
“Not much longer, then this will all be behind us, petal. Then we can start fresh.”
After that, he vanished, because the Cartel didn’t want to leave a body. Instead, the Cartel appeared at our door, Uncle Nick standing there with glassy eyes, looking lost.
“Hurry up,” Gabriel snaps.
“He was a good man.”
Shut up, shut up, shut up.