Deadly Temptations (Bring Me Pain Book 1) by Aurora Black

Author:Aurora Black [Black, Aurora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Arianna

Numb. That was the only word to describe how I felt. I never thought I would live to see my father shot in the back of the head by a monster, but I could no longer deny that I had. Tears raced down my face as I held the icy hand of the man who raised me, who had loved me completely.

Three days he had been gone. And for three days I had completely lost myself to devastation. This was the first time I’d allowed myself to be alone with his corpse, afraid I would’ve broken down into nothing but pieces when the door was shut, locking me inside the room. But I had to be strong. It’s what he would have wanted. Not this pile of shattered emotions in place of the courageous woman I was supposed to be.

I had to stop myself from imagining shame racing across his face at how lost I was, but I knew it was just my mind trying to make everything worse. My father had never been ashamed of me at any point in my life, and he wouldn’t be now. He would have brought me in, embraced me tightly, telling me how proud of me he was. That he knew I could do this. That I could be the Godmother and lead our people without him there to guide me.

I tried to believe in myself, but it was hard. An impossible feat I wasn’t sure I could overcome, no matter how many times Dante told me I had to. I couldn’t let our enemies see me weak. Because if I was weak, our family was weak, and that couldn’t happen.

The door behind me creaked open, and Mia popped her head in. There were streaks down her cheeks where her tears had stained them. “It’s time to go,” she said.

I nodded, asking her to give me just one more minute alone with my father. She smiled weakly before leaving the room. I tried to squeeze his fingers, a reassuring gesture for myself alone. I didn’t want to let go, but I had to.

“I promise I will take care of them, Papa,” I said, praying his spirit was somewhere in the room, listening. “I will lead our people to victory and never let them fall. You raised me to be strong, so that’s what I’m going to be. Even if it tears me apart. I’m going to do this because I love our family, the same as I’ll always love you.”

Standing there for just a moment longer, I tried to memorize each line on his face, each defining feature. But I couldn’t deny that the shell of my father had somehow stopped looking like him. Whatever made him who he was, was gone. I tried to take comfort in the thought of his soul soaring in eternal bliss. I walked away, leaving him alone in the room, promising I would be back the next day to lay him to rest in the family’s cemetery.

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