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
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a clean white cloth, wiping a spot of red off my watch face. It was an expensive watch. It told me exactly how much time I was wasting out here. "Raphael!" Julian shouted from the trees, his face lit up with a sick, bright joy. "Did you get him? Was it good?
I would have been perfect until my Mom tried to tell me that there was nothing wrong with me, that I was "normal" and "perfect just the way I am..." "You could be so much more," I murmured to myself, smoothing the wet strands of hair away from my forehead. I could almost feel his heavy hand on my s
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ I turned and slammed the metal bolt of the door into place. Now, it was just me and the water. And I deserved every bit of what was coming next. I needed to drown out the noise. The sound of Morgan’s sobbing, the memory of Cole’s smile, and the strange feelings I felt for my step
"Don't you touch her!" I stepped in front of him, "Name your price, Cole. A real price." Cole turned his eyes on me. They were dark, greedy, and full of a sick kind of power. He looked at me, then at Brianna, Emma, and Jasmine. "You want her back? Fine," he said, his voice turning cold. "But Denis







