LOGINAdriano 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
The whole city of Chicago was spread out below, but I didn't care about the view. All I saw was the long black table in the middle of the room. And Raphael. He sat at the head of the table, a laptop was open in front of him, casting a faint glow over the sharp angles of his face. His suit was perf
"Girls, please," Mom groaned, but she was smiling. "She started it!" we both said at the same time, pointing fingers at each other. I swung the pillow across Mom’s lap. The pillow caught Jules right in the face with a soft whump. She gasped like I had just committed a terrible crime against humani
The bed was huge, but we all huddled together in the very center, making ourselves a small island of safety. My mother wrapped her arms around us, pulling us in tight. She held us like we were still toddlers, like we weren't twenty-one and ten years old. One of her hands stroked my hair, her fingers
"I'm sorry about breakfast," she said, and I realized she was talking about something totally different, "I know this is a huge change, Gianna. It’s just been us for so long. And the Capones... they’re a lot. But we have to follow the rules of this house now. It’s just basic decency. We need them, h






