Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 110824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Maybe if I didn’t have the gag in my mouth, I would become even more pathetic and beg for my life. I can’t do that, however. I can do nothing but wait. If there is a second man, he doesn’t respond. Hell, maybe it is just one person and he’s talking to himself. That’s possible. It’s clear he’s insane.
I hear chairs shuffling around. Again, it could be either one or two people. The sad truth of it is that the room could have a hundred people in it, and I wouldn’t even know. Some part of me tells me that I should listen. Yet, another—larger—part says it doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing does. I think I hear talking again. It’s out in the hall. I give up trying to figure out what they’re saying. It’s too exhausting. Besides, I realize that I’ve already given up. I let go of everything. It’s not like there’s much to live for anyway. For the first time since I woke up in hell, I am at peace.
It's almost over.
I hear the back door open and close, and then there is silence.
Did they leave? Relief floods through me for a second and then I hear the sound of shoes against my tiled floor.
“It’s been great, bitch,” the dark voice says. “But before I kill you, I’m going to have my fun. I have a message to send.”
His words make no sense, but I give up thinking about them when his knife slides down my back, the tip grazing my skin as he cuts my clothes from my body. I try to fight him, but it just makes his cuts go deeper. I literally can’t move. I can’t do anything. There’s no way I can stop this.
I’m helpless.
As I feel his cruel hands move over my ass, I cry harder. I may have thought I was in hell before, but clearly, I was just fooling myself.
My hell has just begun.
angelina
. . .
“That’s it for today, Angelina, and I need you to keep practicing those positive mantras. You need to truly believe them.”
I smile up at Deanna. She’s been a lifesaver. I didn’t want to go to therapy. It made me feel even weaker than I already felt. I did it anyway, and it turned out to be one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. Okay, it is the smartest thing I’ve ever done. I doubt I’d still be here if I hadn’t found her.
“I’ll try,” I promise, knowing that I will. Still, no matter how much I tell myself that I am worthy and that I’m more than just a reflection in the mirror, I can’t seem to make myself believe it. It doesn’t matter how often Victor tries to convince me that it is the truth, I know I’ll never truly believe it. The thought of him, however, makes me smile—it always does.
Victor has stood by me since the night I discovered just how truly depraved my mother and Dante truly were. From the moment I moved out of my mom’s house, he’s been a constant in my life. We go places together. We have dinner together almost every night and he usually sleeps at my house. It has become comfortable and—at least for me—life altering. Despite being scared to death to trust anyone, Victor has slipped through my defenses—so much so that I have secretly fallen in love with him. That’s something I will never tell him because of two reasons. First, he hasn’t really shown interest in something romantic with me. I mean, we hold hands. He kisses my forehead and my cheeks, but that’s it. He does hold me in bed at night. Yes, we sleep in the same bed, but both of us are fully clothed. Sometimes I wonder about what he would do if I came to bed naked, but I never will and that’s because of my second reason. The day I was attacked and raped left scars that changed who I am as a person. The attack itself leaves me terrified of any physical contact with a man. I’m not sure I can ever allow myself to be vulnerable again. Still, despite everything, Victor and I are extremely close, and our lives have become intertwined.
Victorio Davide Conroy has been my savior. He’s the bodyguard to my cousin Emmie and somehow, he’s taken to looking after me since I moved to Miami. I’m pretty sure Emmie is paying him to look after me. I don’t ask, because I guess if I knew for sure, then I’d put an end to it. I can’t imagine facing a day without him in it. I just can’t.
He wasn’t the reason I moved to Miami—not at all. I just needed far away from my mother and the entire state of Arizona. Not to mention, I wanted a new life after my ex-fiancé turned out to be a murdering liar.