Mag-log inAdriano slowly lifted his boot, letting the blood drip off the leather onto the concrete as his stare swept across the rest. "Now," he whispered, a terrifying smile finally touching the corners of his lips, "Who else feels like telling me a story?" Morgan started sobbing violently. I shook my h
No, no! "I wasn't even there when they hurt the girl!" Cole yelled, "They brought her to me already bleeding! Brianna was the one who hit her in the head! She used a heavy wooden club from the garage! They carried her in here like a sack of rocks, and I was the one who washed the blood off her fac
Cole’s chest heaved, his eyes turned frantic, like a rat looking for a hole in the wall. "I know how Chicago works. You don't survive in this city by picking a fight with the Capones," he slowly shook his head, "I'm not suicidal." My stomach twisted. No. He was lying. I made a desperate sound
"Move!" Capone guards surged forward with frightening speed. Cole's men reached for their weapons but they never got the chance. One guard twisted a man's arm behind his back before he had even cleared his waistband. Another kicked a pistol across the concrete floor. Boots thundered in every dire
I looked at Cole again. He wasn't even watching us. He was checking his phone. Rage exploded inside me, "MMPH!" I lunged forward as far as the ropes allowed. "If she keeps doing that," he said calmly, "she'll reopen the wound." I wanted to claw his face apart. I wanted to scream. Instead, anoth
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ Pain. That was the first thing I felt. It was a deep, heavy ache that pulsed through the back of my head. It throbbed with every heartbeat, every breath, every tiny movement. A quiet whimper escaped me before I even opened my eyes. The world slowly came into focus. The ceiling a
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ The meeting was in forty minutes. Forty. My stomach twisted. I glanced at the printed notes beside the laptop. Three pages of bullet points that I had rewritten five times already. Some sentences had arrows. Some had entire words scratched out. A few had phonetic notes scribbl
Sister. The word felt wrong in my mouth. I didn't see a sister when I looked at her. I saw a puzzle. I saw a wall that refused to fall. For years, my life had been a straight line of easy wins. Every woman I wanted eventually fell into place. Every man I dealt with eventually folded. The world was
A small, uneasy breath left Hazel’s chest, but she still looked uncomfortable, “She didn’t mean any disrespect,” she said quickly. “She just… she’s always been like this.” Dad’s thumb rubbed slowly across the back of her shaking hand. Hazel looked down at their hands for a moment before continuing
“I’m not running,” she shot back. “I’m going for a walk. Please move, or are you about to give another speech about how you own the sidewalk too?” A slow smirk dragged across my mouth, “Vincenzo told me to remember the rules,” I said, “He reminded me that you’re a sister now. He was very clear abou






