I regain consciousness and find myself lying on the floor in a bedroom.
I can still hear the music from the party. It’s a relief to know I’m at the Parisis’ mansion and haven’t been taken away while I was out cold.
Pushing myself up, the left side of my face aches and feels swollen. I lift my hand, but the moment my fingers brush over my bottom lip, I flinch from the pain.
With a groan, I stand up and glance around me.
I’m in one of the guestrooms. There’s a bed and a dressing table, and everything is decorated in the lace and frills Mrs. Parisi always loved so much.
Then I remember what happened. My stomach sinks from the weight of the fear pouring back into me.
The Cosa Nostra is going to force me to marry Mr. Greco. The man is so much older than me.
It’s insane!
My breaths start to come faster, and I wrap my arms around myself.
How did you let this happen, Rosalie? You’re so stupid!
Who gets kidnapped twice in a lifetime?
Panic drives me to the window. I open it wide and glance down at the ground beneath.
Suddenly the memory of when Viktor kidnapped me pops into my head. I remember how he apologized for hurting me when he yanked me back into the house to stop me from falling.
Not once after that night was there a bruise on my body.
Unlike now. I have a busted lip, and my face probably looks like I ran into a wall.
I’ll be forced into a marriage, and it doesn’t take much imagination to know what will happen. Mr. Greco will rape me. He’ll force me to have his children. He’ll beat me.
Viktor did none of those things.
God.
Rosalie, you made a big mistake, and now you’ll pay for it in the worst way possible.
I crouch by the window as the realization shudders through my body.
I’d give anything to be back with Viktor and Luna. He made me feel safe and treated me with respect. Even when I fought him, he never raised a hand against me. Those last two days, he made me feel so loved and cherished.
I’m so glad he was my first because if I don’t manage to escape, the memory of Viktor will have to carry me through the dark days ahead.
God, I had a chance at a love of a lifetime, but I let it go because of my family, who turned out to be bigger monsters than the Priesthood.
The disappointment and heartache create a storm in my chest.
Enough! Find a way out.
I stand up and glance down at the ground again. “God, this was so much easier when I was a kid,” I mutter as I throw my leg over the windowsill.
I hold on tight as I swing my other leg out, then find my footing between the holes in the trellis. Slowly, I start to move down, searching for spaces to hold onto.
Suddenly, I hear the wood snap. I suck in a breath, then the trellis pulls away from the house, making me shriek.
No!
I climb down further, but the wood must be worn with age, and it gives way. Another shriek escapes me as I fall. I hit the ground so hard my teeth clatter, and a sharp pain flares through my right hand and wrist.
Knowing someone must’ve heard me, I try to ignore the pain and dart to my feet. Holding my right hand to my chest, I run across the lawn toward the boundary wall, but I have no idea how I’m going to climb it.
Suddenly something plows into my back, and I slam into the perfect green lawn. An excruciating sharp pain shoots through my arm. It’s so intense that my vision blurs, and a wave of nausea hits, making my body feel feverishly hot all over.
The weight gets off me, then I’m grabbed by my wounded arm and yanked up. An agonizing cry rips from me.
I’m dragged back to the house by a guard, where the heads of the Cosa Nostra are gathering, all looking at me with anger.
Mr. Greco stalks toward us, and when he raises his arm to hit me, I instinctively duck away. The guard yanks me back, causing more pain to engulf my arm.
Before I can let out a cry, a fist connects with my face. I sway on my feet. The only thing keeping me standing is the guard.
“What’s going on?” I hear Alissa’s worried voice, then she shrieks, “What are you doing to Rosalie? Let go of her!”
“Go back to your party,” Mr. Perisi snaps at his daughter.
“No,” she argues. “What the hell is going on here?”
My vision comes back, and I turn a pleading gaze to Alissa. “H-help me.”
Her face is torn with shock, but when she tries to take a step in my direction, her father grabs hold of her and shoves her back inside the house. “Don’t test my patience, Alissa. This is business. Go back to your friends.”
“Daddy,” she gasps. “Rosalie is my friend.”
“Go, Alissa,” Mr. Parisi shouts at her.
“No!” she screams back, and it’s so convincing, I’m starting to think Alissa is just as shocked as I am, and she never had anything to do with this.
Maybe she’s just as in the dark about her family’s business as I was about mine.
“They’re going to make me marry, Mr. Greco,” I tell her, my voice hoarse and pleading. “I didn’t know what my family did.”
“Enough,” Mr. Parisi roars. He points at me. “Alessandro, get the girl back to the room and make sure one of the guards seals all the windows so she can’t try to escape again.”
“Yes, boss,” the guard answers, then he grabs hold of my shoulders and forces me to walk past everyone.
Alissa tries to reach for me, but her father holds her back, which has her crying, “This isn’t right, Daddy.”
Out of desperation, I shout, “Alissa, call Viktor. Tell him what’s happening.”
“Shut up,” Mr. Greco snaps before slapping me against the back of my head.
A dizzy wave hits me before I’m overwhelmed by a wave of nausea again. This time I gag, but nothing comes out.
Shit, I think I have a concussion.
I’m dragged up the stairs and shoved back into the bedroom.
Mr. Greco follows us inside, then orders, “I’ll stay with the woman while you get something to seal the window.”
The door shuts behind the guard, and as another wave of dizziness hits, Mr. Greco yanks me to his body.
He locks eyes with me, then grins cruelly. “I don’t think anyone will mind if I sample my bride-to-be.”
“D-do–” I don’t manage to finish the word as everything goes black.
The morning light is bright when I come to, and it takes a moment for my sight to adjust.
My head is pounding so badly, my eyes start to water. When I try to move, my right arm comes alive with searing pain.
“Morning,” I hear Alissa whisper, then a cool cloth is brushed over my forehead. I turn my gaze to her and watch as her chin quivers, and a tear spirals down her cheek. “I’m so sorry. I threatened Daddy that I’d disown him as my father if he didn’t let me take care of you.”
I struggle to sit up, but with Alissa’s help, I manage.
Then the last memory of Mr. Greco shudders through me. Panic flares hot in my chest, and I scramble off the bed. Running to the bathroom, I slam the door shut.
It doesn’t feel like anyone was inside me.
God.
“He didn’t… rape you,” Alissa says on the other side of the door. “I ran after you, which means my dad came after me. We found you unconscious, and Daddy told Mr. Greco to leave… and wait until after the wedding.”
I lean my forehead against the door and let out a breath of relief.
Thank God. I still have time to find a way out of this nightmare before Mr. Greco can force himself on me.
“Please come out,” she pleads.
Alissa’s been on my side since she found out what’s happening. I really need an ally right now.
I open the door and lock eyes with the girl who used to be like a sister to me.
Her face crumbles as she throws her arms around me. “I wish I could help you, but I don’t know how.”
Sobs start to shudder through me, and I grip her with my left arm. “Please. Just call Viktor Vetrov. He’ll come to get me.”
“I don’t know his number.” Alissa pulls back to look at me.
I don’t know it either, so I can’t give it to her.
The little bit of hope I had vanishes, leaving a hollow sensation in the pit of my stomach.
Desperate to escape, I ask, “Do you know a way to get me out of the house?”
Alissa shakes her head.
“You can try to smuggle me out. I can hide in the trunk of your car.”
Alissa’s chin starts to quiver again. “Alessandro is guarding this bedroom. We won’t make it past him.”
Shit.
“I can’t marry Mr. Greco,” I whisper, distraught by everything that’s happened and not being able to find a way out of this nightmare.
After everything I learned about my family, it now seems so stupid that I left Viktor. He might be a villain, but that’s what I need right now.
Because only a villain will do what’s necessary to save you. He’ll burn down the world if he has to.
With every fiber of my being, I know Viktor would do that for me. If only I could let him know what’s happening.
He never lied to me. He kept every promise he made.
Oh, God.
I wrap my left arm around my waist as sobs burst from me.
I walked away from the one person I could trust all because I was loyal to a family who made a living from sex trafficking.
Alissa pulls me back into a hug and holds me as I cry.
With everything I know about my grandfather and uncle, I realize there’s no more guilt for falling in love with Viktor but only heartache and regret because I left him.
If he comes to save me, he’ll kill people. He might even kill Mr. Parisi, and I wouldn’t hold that against him because it would mean I don’t have to marry an old man and spend the rest of my life being raped and abused.
Sometimes people deserve to die – just like my grandfather and uncle. They had to pay for their sins.
It doesn’t mean I don’t love them anymore, it just means I understand why things had to happen the way they did.
And now I have to pay for the sins of my family too.
