Taken by Kristen Luciani

Author:Kristen Luciani [Luciani, Kristen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

I lose track of time as the sedan speeds around Palermo and then into the outskirts. I stare out the darkened window. This is bad. Really bad. I recognize this neighborhood. It’s called Brancacchio, one of the worst areas in the city.

Tiny hairs on the back of my neck prickle as we fly past dilapidated buildings and groups of seedy, menacing-looking men dressed in black leather. And while I can’t see underneath their clothes, I’m sure they’re packing.

Unlike me because I didn’t remember to bring my damn gun with me to school today.

Of all the fucking days to forget it.

We finally pull into a dark underground parking deck, and everyone piles out of the two cars, one of Mustache’s thugs dragging me out behind him.

This time, I behave myself since I have no weapon and pretty much no chance of survival if I fuck around again.

My one saving grace is the fact that they obviously need me for something.

The ‘what’ remains to be seen, but it must be important to them. If they wanted me dead, I’d already have a blade sticking out of my chest, sprawled on my back in that parking lot.

Two guys grab each one of my arms and pull me through a heavy metal door. Jesus, what the hell is waiting for me in there? I wrack my brain, trying to figure out if this has to do with my dumbass brother or my father and the laundry list of enemies he left in his wake. I’m sure there are plenty of people who want to torch what remains of legacy, but they’re in for surprise.

There’s no legacy left to speak of.

And there sure as hell isn’t any money.

My teeth chatter as I’m dragged down the hallway of this musty-smelling concrete hellhole, my mind working overtime thinking of the vile ways these assholes can violate me in retaliation for whatever my father or Gio did to them. My gut clenches and I gag once more.

Suddenly, my body is shoved around a corner and into a darkened room. I blink quickly to clear my vision and adjust to the lack of light.

I almost wish I hadn’t because the sight in front of me shreds what remains of my sanity.

And heart.

My brother Gio is bare-chested and handcuffed against a blood-stained metal wall. I swallow a cry as my eyes travel over the angry-looking lashings on his skin. His face is a horror show — dark blue and purple bruises covering every inch of his once-chiseled and now very much broken jaw. His eyes are puffy and swollen, barely open a slit. Shallow breaths make his shoulders quake, and I shrug out of my assailants’ grips and run toward my brother, wrapping my arms around him.

Tears stream down my face as I weep into his ear after not having seen him in so long. I didn’t even know he’d gotten out of prison since he was trying to keep us safe by eliminating contact. We barely spoke when he was in jail, and that was his choice.

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