A Deal with the mafia Devil

The Weigh

uld she? Her entire world had cracked open in one conversation. Her future, stolen. Her

k 2 a.m. A low chime echoed th

che throbbed behind her temples. Her room was filled with s

t the kind they fed he

ide enough to peek out. The hallway was empty, but faint voices mu

d her like a ho

the creaky step out of habit. The voices we

e wall, just clos

rrass you," her father said, voice low and oily. "You'll fi

th caught i

nse. "You make her soun

nageable with the right touch

d she's

ised her properly

mouth w

wants control, not a lia

her snapped. "She kn

pa

bet

's voice-calculated, cruel-was unfamiliar. Like he'

heel hitting the base

ices s

that?" the s

abruptly, the cha

ing like a drumbeat of betrayal. She reached her room j

wasn't

boards creaked. A knock

her fath

dn't a

r opene

s scanning the

, arms crossed, pr

you hear?" h

oug

hind him. "You should

t be selling

tened. "Watc

about me like I'm property. A transaction. A b

be dr

be disg

didn't flinch. "You have no

ebts? Threats? Or ma

? Do you think I enjoyed handing you ov

a choice," she

child,"

outed. "Or did you forget t

e hung in the

ke. "You want t

ndow, staring out

ld outplay the devil himself. And I lost. The Morettis-Dante's

dn't want his remorse. Sh

option. An offer I

she wh

nted a wife for Dante. Someone who could be shaped. Tr

even hesitat

off with them than dead in

dead than chain

r. He's a businessman. Cold, yes.

rkly. "You real

vive. And survival is

on't have a choice. But what if

w and dangerous. "If you run, they'll find y

stomach

They'll see it as betrayal. And

"You've dragged this whole family into you

n't de

she once called father. But he was gone-replaced by a

d coldly. "Before I say som

ked out, but not befor

omorrow. Try not

door

-

That

dark, eyes wide open, fingers digg

ons chased each o

? What kind of man needed a br

. If her life was going to be stolen, she a

-

a

it brought no war

house-sleek, silent, expensive. Th

knocked o

s he

ther waited at the bottom of the stairs,

od beside her

oor o

here

McDo

zen steel. He wore a suit, but it didn't

ed on Aria an

t didn't rea

o," he sa

is car and

blood r

was

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