Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
I never even understood why they tied us up at all. They just aimed, shot, and left. Whenever I thought about the unfairness of it all, a hole opened up in the pit of my stomach. When I was having a particularly shitty day, I thought about who I would have become if my mother hadn’t been murdered. It was a stupid mental exercise, but I couldn’t keep myself from doing it. At least I was still dancing. She’d be proud of that. Everything else, not so much. I looked at Dominic, who was still pissed off. Who would he have become if his father hadn’t sunk his claws into him?
“I’m sorry,” I said after a moment. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t apologize back. Dom always meant what he said, and that bothered me even more. He turned into an alley and pushed a button on his car that opened a garage. He pushed it again as soon as we were inside, looking around as if to make sure no one had snuck inside.I followed him out, taking in the bare walls except for one that had tools. He opened the door that led inside the house and took his shoes off. I did the same. It smelled like he’d just cleaned. I’d never really imagined what his house would look like, but even if I’d tried, this wasn’t what I would have come up with. It was modern, everything very sleek, including stairs that had clear sides and pieces of wood that looked like they were floating. The kitchen was immaculate as if he never really used it.
“I’m not gonna lie, I pictured you in a high rise,” I said, looking around. The art that hung on the walls looked expensive.
He turned to me with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “I’m surprised you thought about me at all.”
“I thought about everyone,” I said quickly.
“Sure you did.”
I’d stopped getting taller when I was sixteen, so the last time we saw each other I was already five foot five. Dom must have been double that. The only way I could describe him was imposing. The kind of guy you wouldn’t want to fight in a bar, or anywhere, ever. His brother was just a couple of inches shorter and was much leaner and definitely not covered in tattoos — not that I’d seen him naked, despite what Dominic believed, but I would never correct him. If he wanted to rub in the fact that I’d slept with Anthony – out of sheer terror of what would happen if I didn’t – I wouldn’t correct that either. In recent years, I’d stopped caring what people thought about me. You can show people exactly who you are, and they’re still going to put you in whatever category they deemed right for you.
He led me upstairs where he said there were three rooms and a loft that he’d set up as a game room with a pool table, a foosball table, and a huge television that looked like it belonged at a bar. It felt cozy, the opposite of the man it belonged to. He walked me to the second to last bedroom and set my bag down by the door. The room had a queen size bed, a matching dresser, and a Jack-and-Jill bathroom that it shared with the other guest room, which he’d turned into a gym.
“My room is there.” He pointed to the bedroom at the end of the hall, right next to this one. “I’ve had a long day, so I’m going to bed. You’re welcome to anything. I don’t cook, so I just have a lot of frozen shit and fruit. And beer. And whiskey.”
“Thanks.” I felt myself smile a little. “Really, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” He turned around and walked into his room, shutting the door with such force, it made me flinch.
I walked back into the guest room and closed the door softly. I took out my phone and texted my brother to make sure he was okay and to tell him not to talk to strangers, like he was five and not twenty-one.
Santi: lol what strangers? did you forget I’m leaving for Mexico with Victoria?
Santi: Snowbirds and all that
Me: for two weeks, right?
Santi: YEP. I’m sad you’ll be alone for thanksgiving tho
Me: don’t be. Have fun and be careful
Me: and don’t drink too much
Santi: yes master
Me: lol love you
I set my phone on the nightstand with a sigh and tried to find sleep.
I hear the screams first. My parents rarely argued, and when they did, Mom never screamed the way she was screaming now. It was what made me throw my covers off and run out of my bedroom door. Before I reached the stairs, I heard a gunshot, followed by Dad yelling. He sounded like he had something in his mouth. I stood frozen for a long time before rushing down the stairs. There were a lot of things I should have done before I rushed down there, but I couldn’t seem to make one smart decision after hearing the sound of the gun. By the time I reached the first floor, I saw two men wearing black things on their faces, the holes poked out where their eyes were. The one guy I saw had brown eyes. They weren’t dressed all in black like I thought they’d be. It wasn’t until they shut the door behind them that I sprang into action and ran into the kitchen. That was where I found Mom lying on the floor and Dad all beat up with his hands and ankles tied to one of the dining chairs. Then it repeated: the scream, the gunshot.