Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 102335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
His fingers came to the edge of my sheet, pulling it down gently away from my face. “There’s my pretty girl.” My cheeks stung when my smile beamed. I always loved seeing Antonio. He made me feel safe. Like I mattered and wasn’t only important because of who my papa was.
His hand disappeared into his pocket before he laid it out in front of me, downside. His hair was slicked back, his eyes a light brown, kinda the same color as my teddy bear, and his skin was slightly paler. I think he met Papa through Mama because they were also friends.
He smiled, the dark hair around his face grazing his collar. “I got you something.”
I rested my little hand in his, picking up the piece of candy he held in his hand. My heart fluttered in my chest and my blood rushed through my ears so fast I could hear it. I took the small piece of candy, pinching it between my two fingers and rolling it between. It was a tiny hard-shell candy. They were small, but so tasty. It tasted of fresh raspberries just picked from the garden. My thumb nail glided over the tiny indentation on the outside. A tiny ballerina, just for me!
“Go on, my little princess. Taste it. It’s a new flavor.” A new flavor! He only gave me new flavors for my birthdays! This was exciting.
“But it’s not my birfday?” My eyes widened.
His smile deepened, as he leaned down closer until his lips were hovering over my forehead. “I know, but it will be soon.”
Placing the candy on the tip of my tongue, I fell back onto the bed and giggled as the sugar from blueberries and cotton candy slid down my throat. “This is so lovely.” I closed my eyes as his lips grazed my forehead.
“Isn’t it?” He trailed tiny kisses down from my forehead to my cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” My eyes opened onto him, this time he was so close I could feel his breath on my lips.
He moved, and his face looked funny, like he was moving slower than usual. It was the candy! That’s why it was my favorite. “Who’s my favorite little girl?”
I smiled, biting into my lip. “I am.”
My body jolts and I hit my head on the side of the door. Opening my eyes, I stare at the smooth leather of the upholstery. That’s right. I’m still here. Stuck in a realm of where I was tricked into thinking someone was good. Good enough to sleep with, anyway. Good enough to be the kind of big brother I thought every girl needed.
I was tricked.
“You awake?” His voice is drenched in sleep. I find myself aching from the familiarity of his tone. It was the same kind he used the morning we woke up together.
I roll to the front, pressing the button to raise my chair. It’s barely dark. Right between yesterday ending and a new day starting. Within ten minutes, a new sun would be peeking out behind the mountains and everything from yesterday would be in the past.
“Can I ask you something?” I turn my head to face him, and that’s when I feel the collar of his hoodie graze my cheek. I grab the end, looking between the hoodie and his face.
“You put it on yourself in your sleep.” Tilting his head to the side, I follow the sharp line of his jaw up to below his ear. I have so many questions I want to ask, but none of which I trust he will answer honestly. “Back to your question?” He doesn’t look directly at me.
“Why are you doing this to Papa and me? We helped you…”
He chuckles breathlessly, the kind that only comes from his chest. “You truly think your father did this to help me?”
When I don’t answer, and not at all because I can’t take my eyes off the framing of his face, he stares back at me and it’s like being gut punched.
“Fuck, of course.” He shakes his head, cursing beneath his breath as if he should have known all along.
The sun rises behind him and now all of his features are somehow accentuated. His soft dark hair that’s messy from lack of sleep, and his perfectly symmetrical face that again, somehow, even though is quite clearly perfect, still has a roughness around the edges. His beauty isn’t subtle, it’s a slap in the face to the human race. It’s a warning that some men were handcrafted by evil just to get your attention long enough to steal you.
“I don’t know!” My hands fly up and I’m annoyed at myself for showing interest. Interest in my impending death. “I know Papa! He is a hard man, and at times an evil man when needed but, Wicked, he’s also a family man. The Cosa Nostra, all though in everyday lives yes, they live above the law, deep down in their roots, they have good morals! They have commandments, rules!” I take a deep breath, looking outside my window. “The only one he always breaks is the one to keep his dick in his pants.”