LARON"Do you have a hobby, buddy? football?" The only good thing about being here was the food; other than that, it was all a waste of time, Laron thought as he stuffed his mouth with steak, not to mention the high-placed man looking into his face and forcing conversations.Some distance away from Laron and Luigi, Kyra stood nearby, feeding and caressing a horse. Her excitement contrasting with the gentleness she used to brush its mane.She seemed so different from her usual self; the soft care she had used on him back at the art and craft studio was on full display, and for a moment, he was jealous of the horse and detested the man who owned it.As Kyra waved and Luigi waved back, the smile on his face disappeared. Why did this man always invade his space?Maybe if he ignored him, he would be left alone."I play golf sometimes." Luigi picked up his half-field glass of wine. "What do you play?" "Nothing." His answer was a snap; perhaps the wealthy boy would catch on quickly and ta
SALVATOREFor the first time in weeks, he was out of the manor and, as far as he could tell, unsupervised.The conclusion derived from watching his back constantly as he drove and he hadn't spotted a car following him. He sat opposite Father Armando now, a desk between them and the returned rosary lying pretty on it. God, how he yearned to get it clasped around his neck once again."It's been hard to reach you these days," Father Armando said, observing him. "I see you also lost weight." He wasn't sure he could take it any longer; he'd have to find a way out of Sicily, even if it meant shoving his pride down his throat and calling Adler. "It's been hard to reach you for weeks; I was worried," Father Armando said, observing him. "That's valid because here you are a shadow of yourself.""Not that bad,"' Salvatore answered, knowing he was lying to himself; he had stood before the mirror hours ago, staring at his hollow eyes and gaunt cheeks. "Why am I here?"Father Armando sighed, the
Lily"...I’ve always been his, and he’s always been mine."I shut the book I had been reading aloud to a couple of senior citizens, my relief and sadness of leaving another fictional world to face my harsh reality.Catching myself in time before I slipped into my daily dose of sadness, I looked at my listeners, all sitting on the same settee, attention still on me, and I knew they shared my sadness about it ending."Finn reminds me of my late husband," Clare, one of my patients under me, whispers as if she was telling me a dirty little secret.I chuckled, standing on my feet, knowing there was about to be trouble. Counting mentally, I was at three when another voice of a grey-haired woman grumbled, "Enough of your fictional husband." I saw Sarah rolling her eyes at Clare, her hand curling around her walking frame as she struggled to stand up.It didn't stop Clare from staring at her ring and smiling fondly at memories she had made up from my constant reading to them of my romance boo
"You have to get married to him, Lily.." I watched him raise his glass and sipped from his wine, looking unaffected by the death sentence he just spilled on me.My throat suddenly went dry as my fingers began to dig into my skin; I fidgeted and stared at the familiar face in the portrait, the angry dark eyes, the raised chin, and the hollowed cheekbone.Enzo Dimitri, best friends with Greg, wasn't the kind of guy I liked to be around, and you guessed it, he wasn't the type of guy that wanted ordinary people around him.He wasn't the kind of man with marriage in mind; what happened?Greg saw the question in my eyes and answered them, "Dimitri needs one of his sons to fill in his position back in Russia, and the only way Enzo is getting in is if he gets married."With a shaky breath, I demanded, "And you thought I was going to be perfect for a devil-like Enzo, Greg? You know who he is! You know what he can do!"He leaned in and grinned in my face, his fingers under my chin, "Did you th
I stepped out of the Taxi to find my landlord next to the blue building with peeling paint that was my abode which I shared with my mum and little sister.Seeing him, my first thought was to get back into the taxi and flee that Arena; maybe returning when it was almost morning or sleeping back at Lucia's place tugged at my mind.But then he immediately turned, spotting me on the sidewalk, and his face turned a shade of red, and it wasn't the cold.Squaring my shoulders, I scaled past running bicycles of rebellious teenagers before dodging balls of children trying to hit their goalpost made of piled stones; then finally, I stopped before Squalo, my landlord Squalo wasn't his real name, but few people knew what it was, and most of his Tenants weren't one of them, but I heard the reason he was called Squalo was because of his ability to instill fear in his debtors.And now I was one of them.Standing before him, I jumped into action, "Signor Squalor, things have really been tight lately
Hoodies had some way of making me feel safe. That it had been the clothing I had worn when Greg almost took advantage of me was the reason.It had taken him a lot of minutes trying to pull it off, giving me a chance to slam a kick into his groin—the best moment of my life.But now this gigantic hoodie was doing nothing to shield me from the coldness in Enzo's eyes, blonde hair slicked back just like Greg's, and his grey eyes held all the disgust he had for me.Surely Greg would have told him about me, and this had to be Greg's way of punishing me.Standing before them, hoodie cap over my head, eyes to the floor, but a few times raising my lash to stare at them, to see Greg's doting eyes on Enzo, whose heated gaze was on me.This was Greg's office, where his father's Art and photo frames were stuck to the wall. When I worked here with my mum, this was my favourite place to clean, intentionally spending hours in here but making sure not to touch any ammunition.The last time I had been
Losing the most important person in my life was my breaking point. Remembering back, it was at this time I lost the will to leave.Nothing held meaning anymore, not the urge to continue moving on when there was nothing to live for anymore.The beautiful house, bright lights, floral gowns, and made-up face.Speaking of a made-up face, there was a lot of mess streaking down my face, soiling the white gown I wore. My shoes had been kicked off my feet as I lay on the rug on the floor, sobbing with my hands wrapped around my knees.I couldn't fathom how many minutes or even hours I had been lying down here, blocking the outside world out. The girl who helped me dress looked helpless, trying to get me up and to the car.All she received was a teary stare before she scurried for.There was no use going to the church to continue this mess. The reason was dead; the cause could have been alive if two men who owned so much had just helped me out.𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒈! A burning sensation filled my chest at
'ADLER.Whatever that meant was lost to me, just that it was what was written on the piece of paper, mouthing it out to the stranger, feeling stupid and silly. How could I believe shit like that, by the way? How desperate had this made me?I felt Enzo's hand under my chin, pulling me to face him; I met his eyes, shivers running through my body like electric shocks, waves upon waves. Tears filled my eyes again."What the fuck are you looking at, Huhn" he leaned, pushing the ring into my hands. Put it on; let's get this over with," I nodded, whispering, "I'll do it, don't just hit me again.""You better," he snarled, "Else," he raised the gun's muzzle to my face.But then.But then, I could hear footsteps striding towards us, but too scared to find out what because Enzo's rage had me focusing my attention on him."With this ring, I pledged thee..."Opening my mouth to repeat the words, when I began to hear the congregations murmuring words I couldn't fathom, but still, I couldn't divert