AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His soft voice broke up my thoughts. “Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
Keith groaned, shaking his head as he moved the only wrist that still functioned properly. He lifted his head, his eyes glassy as he stared at me. I closed the space between us as he opened his mouth and yelled.
“Help! Help me! Please, somebody fucking—”
Silvy slammed into the side of his head. Blood shot out, splattering my face and clothes. Keith looked dazed. Anger swelled in my chest as I raised the hammer and smashed it into his head again. This time he slumped, but there was silence. No breathing. I panted, rage still coursing through my veins as I stared at the ugly, dead motherfucker.
Why did he have to scream?
I realized the phone had been silent for way too long. Ash.
“Ash? You there?”
Silence.
I tapped out of the call and pulled up the camera. There he stood, stone still, his eyes straight ahead with the phone pressed to his ear. My heart flip-flopped as bile rose in the back of my throat. I quickly put the phone on speaker.
“Ash.”
He pulled the phone away and jammed his finger against the screen. The call dropped. I watched as he continued to stare straight ahead, shock on his face. My hand clenched the phone harder and harder.
“You goddamn cocksucker. Just couldn’t shut the hell up, could you!”
I struck Keith until his head no longer looked human. If he were ever found, he would be unrecognizable. Dropping Silvy, I flopped to the ground as sweat rolled down my back, and the smell of blood clung to my nostrils. I wiped a hand down my face, smearing more onto my face, but I didn’t care. The look that had passed Ash’s face made my stomach turn.
Horror. That was the only way I could describe his expression. I dragged my phone over to me and stared at the screen. There he was, pacing back and forth harder than I’d ever seen him pace before. He muttered under his breath. I turned on the sound, tuning the volume as high as it could go.
“What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?” he whispered the words like a mantra. “I need to get away from these people. Who was that? What was that?”
Ash had wrapped his arms around his torso as if he could protect himself from the world. One little scream and his views had been altered. I wanted to run home, grab him, and ask what the hell was going through his brain, but the other part of me said I shouldn’t. If he saw me and that same horrified expression was on his face, would I be able to handle that?
I shot up.No, I need a detour first.I knew exactly where I needed to go. Only one of us had a stable relationship right. Enzo.
My phone buzzed in my hand. Glancing down, I saw the text from Ash. My breathing caught in my chest as I stared at the few words he’d sent me.
Ash: Going to get breakfast. Be back later.
Me: I can pick it up.
Ash: No, I got it. Thanks anyway.
I blew out a heavy breath. If that wasn’t adon’t come fucking near metype of text, I didn’t know what was. Shit! I slammed my hand against a wall and immediately regretted it as pain followed. Cursing, I called my brother as I shook out my fist. No one did a good clean-up like him.
My head was a mess.I had no set destination in mind. All I knew was I needed air. The moment I stepped out of the house, I turned right and walked. I knew who Giancarlo was, or rather, I knew what kind of man he was. I’d seen it before, and yet I conveniently forgot every single time. It was there in black and white.He’s part of the mafia. What was I thinking?Giancarlo bought me, for fuck’s sake, and I kept ignoring the facts.
Giancarlo was insane, a busy body, raunchy, conceited, a jackass, kind, gentle in the most unexpected ways, protective, thoughtful, funny, and—a killer.
“Fuck.”
I could easily dress it up and make up a story about how Giancarlo was taking out the trash of the world. How he only killed those who deserved it. And there were plenty of people who deserved to die a gruesome death. Many men’s faces came to mind, along with my father’s. I shook my head, pushing all those thoughts out of my head.
“No.”
I didn’t like my father, but he did what he could with me. When mom left, he broke. If she’d stayed, I was certain things would have been different. He wouldn’t have done anything to me; he might have even loved me. I would have gone to school more, had friends and maybe even gone to college.
I hadn’t dreamt of a normal childhood in a while. Those endless days alone had been spent dreaming, my only escape from reality. Ever since Giancarlo had bought me, I hadn’t thought about it. I pulled at my lower lip as I circled the drain of my thoughts.
