Cruel Promise: A Twisted Trilogy Prequel by SR Jones & Skye Jones

Author:SR Jones & Skye Jones [Jones, SR]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-13T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Giovanni

Three Years Ago

I stare at the door when she closes it after her, and I want to break something. Her? The furniture in this dark, depressing house? My own face.

Why did I kiss her? She isn't ready for someone like me. She isn't ready for anyone. Not yet. Amelia is a flower budding and opening to the sun, but she isn't in full bloom … yet. She’s a rarity because most women her age have had lovers, but her father has kept her here in this house. Hiding her away.

At first, I thought it was odd, but now I understand why. He has a rare beauty in his daughter. A truly unusual, stunning creature. Not only in how she looks physically, but in her manner, the way she holds herself.

Amelia could be a queen if she was given a kingdom.

I have a kingdom, but I’m no prince; despite what people might call me. If I give her a crown, it will be tarnished, the metal decayed with the secrets and lies my family have built up over the years.

Sitting on the distinctly uncomfortable bed, I shake my head. I don’t want or need a queen, so what the fuck am I thinking?

My fingers trail over the worn leather of the book’s binding. It’s a thing of beauty, whether it’s a first edition or not. Amelia and I share something. A love of books. I don’t only enjoy reading, but I enjoy them as physical objects too. I often find myself in bookstores when I travel, where I’ll pick out a book to take home and add to the library. It’s oddly prescient of Amelia that she gave me this gift.

Most people don’t know I enjoy reading. It’s a part of myself I keep hidden. Along with my ability to speak French, English, passable basic German, and some Russian. I hide these things, but others, such as my brief foray into boxing, I not only let show but build upon. It’s a way of creating a myth out of the flesh and blood in me.

I’m only human. As vulnerable to steel and gun powder as any other, but I’ve stacked the odds in my favor, and my family's, by building a veneer of invulnerability around us. We are dark superheroes. Robin Hoods. We loan to the rich and give money from the interest to the poor in the region. Unlike the Camorra clans, we don’t ask for anything in return. I have on occasion, however, stepped far outside the lines of legality when it comes to dealing with anyone threatening me or mine. You have to if you live where I do. The Camorra aren’t like some of the other mafia. They aren’t a family organized in strict hierarchy; they are warring clans. I don’t want to be in that war, so I have made sure that I’m untouchable. To do so demands building a fable out of our family history.

It sometimes demands killing. Something I have done. Something I won’t hesitate to do again if needed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.