Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“She told me she loved me before she went off and got with your father.” His eyes are watching me for emotion, but I can’t give him any. He doesn’t deserve them.
“So you took her daughter?” I scoff. “You do realize how fucked that sounds, right?”
How did I not know any of this before?
Why was this a secret?
It just proves how fucked-up he really is. And that’s saying a lot considering who I am.
“No, I didn’t take you for that reason. I stayed away, even when she ran off, and your father married someone else. I knew your father despised you because of your mother. You see, the truth is, she broke his heart, and Abigail’s mother hated you because you were the product of what she hated the most… your mother.”
"How do you even know all of this?” I ask, finally climbing to my feet.
“I’ve always known and was pleasantly surprised when you killed your father.”
“Did I make you proud?” I ask sarcastically.
“You did. I went looking for you. What I didn’t expect was for you to run to another country, hiding right under the Rossis’ noses.”
“Better sometimes to be in plain view.”
“Yeah, how did that work out for you?” He walks back to me and crouches down to get in my face. “They killed all my men. It’s just you and me now.”
“What?”
“I got you out just in time, and my men paid the price.”
“Joey,” I whisper, realization dawning on me. He came for me.
Scott slaps me across the face.
“Yes, that low life.”
“They didn’t pay the price because of him. That was because of you,” I point out. He pushes me back into the dirt, my hands scraping against the gravel as I catch myself.
“Your mother at least knew when to keep her mouth shut.” He bends down close. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone before.”
“You shouldn’t,” I reply. “I want to know nothing else that leaves those lips except where Jerome is. Now… where is my son?”
“I left him.”
“You what?” I scream, scrambling upright and standing.
“Do you think that man of yours will help him? Or is he a monster too? From what I have heard, all the Rossis are. They’re even worse than me.”
“They may be to others, but to me, you are the devil,” I point out.
“I’m half of something you love with all your heart, Adora. Remember that.”
“I can never forget.”
His phone starts ringing, and he glances at the screen before he slides it back into his pocket. I scan the area to see where I can run, but I know he will catch me, so I give up. I feel weak, and I need to find a way to get out of here.
“I killed her.” His words bring my eyes back to him. “She didn’t listen, so I killed her.”
“Okay,” I say, shaking my head, not knowing who he’s talking about. “Glad you got that off your chest?”
“She never ran away. She’s buried in those gardens you like to play in with Jerome in my yard.”
That’s when it hits.
“And boy, did she love you.”
What?
What?
The shock on my face registers, and Scott smiles.
“It wasn’t my plan to have you as well, but you are turning out to be like her.”
“You killed her?”
“Yep. Told your father I saw her run off one night. I left traces for him to find. Then, when you were old enough, and he despised you enough, I made a deal with him that I could have you.”
“I’m not my mother.”
"But you are so much alike, it’s scary.” He reaches into the waistband of his jeans and pulls out a gun. “The last words she said to me were along the lines of…” He licks his lips before he speaks again. “‘She will never be yours.’” He raises the gun. “She was partly right. You won’t be mine now, but you were once. Would you like me to bury you next to her?”
“I hate you!” I yell.
“I know, but I love you.”
“No, you love the idea of me.”
“No. You and her. Imagine loving the daughter of the woman you killed, whom you also loved.”
“I can’t because that is sick.”
“Your mother was alive when she signed you off to be with Joey. Did you know that? Do you think she is sick? It was your father who pulled you from that and gave you to me.”
“I would have been better off with him all along,” I snarl.
The words only make him mad. So he pulls the trigger, and the bullet just misses my head, but it nicks my ear, making it bleed.
I clutch it and look at him. “You’ll die for that.”
“Oh, but as long as you come down with me, I’m fine with it.” He smiles before he aims again.
TWENTY-EIGHT
JOEY
Scott was gone by the time we arrived. We killed his men. We didn’t expect to find a woman asleep at the table, and Jerome tucked safely in his bed, asleep as well.