Page 40 of Forced Mafia Bride
“Nothing I don’t already know.” He sucked on his teeth and looked around. “It’s funny that you think you’re in any position to demand anything. I mean, considering the dunghill you’re currently living in, it’s sad to see how far you’ve fallen from the top to the bottom, sister.”
I scoffed. I shouldn’t have been surprised to know he deluded himself. My teeth jammed so hard that my head throbbed.
“That’s where you get it wrong,brother. Living with you was the bottom. Thisdunghill,as you call it, is the top.”
I didn’t see it coming. In a lightning-fast move, his long legs eliminated the distance.
His hand closed around my hair like a noose, fingers twisting into a merciless grip. He yanked me down with savage force, slamming me onto my knees. My scalp screamed in protest as he ripped out strands of hair, the pain searing like a branding iron.
My vision blurred as my face smashed into the cold floor, the impact shuddering through every bone. I caught the daze of horror on Aiden’s face as he looked at me. He wanted to act—I saw it in the way his jaw clenched and fingers flexed—but if he moved from that spot to interfere, Ronan could snap his head off his neck in literal seconds.
A scream tore from my throat, but Ronan dropped to the floor with his hand clamped over my mouth, muffling the sound. His fingers dug into my jaw, threatening to shatter it, and his spittle splattered on my cheek when he hissed.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t fucking matter. You know why? It’s because I’m here to take you back to your fucking husband. Because of you, Tristan has refused to release payments. We are fucking sinking, and it’s all your fault. I don’t care if I have to fucking drag down that fucking aisle; I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
I whimpered, hanging my head up to reduce the striking pain on my forehead. I’d never felt so helpless. Unable to fight or scream and defend myself. In a swift motion, his eyes moved down my sweatshirt, stopping at the bump poking through the downy fabric.
His eyes grew large, and the hate in his eyes doubled, flaming like a stoked fire when he stared at my face.
“I am one hundred percent fucking sure that you haven’t fucked Tristan. So, it’s definitely the Russian’s.” He released a dry cackle and glanced over his shoulder to Aiden. “She really is a bitch, isn’t she? I mean, I’ve heard of how smooth he is with the ladies. I just can’t believe she spread her legs forNikolai Yezhov. One look at him, and it was just that easy, wasn’t it?”
Aiden’s jaw flexed, but his eyes didn’t meet mine. And at the corner, for the first time ever, I saw Hannah cry.
“Sorry not sorry, but you’re not keeping that thing, Rosalyn. It’s going to ruin my plans, and I can’t have that.”
Faster than I could react, he turned back to me, grabbed my jaw, and squeezed, his thumb and index finger digging into my cheeks with the intention of causing damage.
“You betrayed us, you backstabbing bitch. You betrayed your family and everything Sean worked hard to build. Youshould have just died that day. But no, Father decided to play the hero with the red fucking cape to save your life.”
Tears scalded my eyes, streaming down my face as I struggled to breathe.
What was he talking about?
Amusement twinkled in his eyes at my confusion. He brought his lips to my ear. “You didn’t figure it out? The accident…wasn’t an accident, dearsister.Apparently, Sean thought he had a better shot running things than our father. It should have been a two-in-one shot. You and Dad out of the picture.”
My lungs burned, compressed by the crushing weight of his confession. I looked into his eyes. There was no remorse. No regret.
For fourteen years, I’d blamed myself. I wanted to attend that stupid party so badly, and Father wasn’t eager to take me. He didn’t want to go. I’d spent those years wishing I’d listened to him and just agreed to stay home that night. If I didn’t insist, he wouldn’t have driven by to take me there.
And if he didn’t come, there would be no accident. I’d still have my father with me.
I’d bore that guilt, knowing that there was no redemption from it. And now, it was revealed that there was sabotage—a conspiracy and intention to end his life. Father was murdered by his own sons.
Ronan’s grip tightened, hair ripping from my scalp like roots torn from the earth. As pain ravaged my being, a dark reprieve swept in, sparing me further torment.
****
I jolted awake with a start, my vision slightly blurry and my head banging with a horrific headache.
“Water.”
Groaning, I lapped my tongue and swallowed, hoping to have a trickle of saliva wet my throat, which was as dry as the desert. “Ineed water.”
I blinked, confusion setting in at the sight of boring white walls and a sterile stench. Gradually, bits of my memory began to stitch themselves together, and I remembered everything from having Cheerios in the morning to the last thing I heard Ronan say before the world went black.
I had fallen so hard, everywhere ached: my face, my body, my….
My heart pounded, and my hands flew, reaching toward my stomach, but they didn’t get very far. My wrists jerked backward, undeniably restrained by ropes strong enough to snap a baby’s wrist with the force I’d used.