Page 105 of The Devil's Fire

“Is that a yes or a no?” She asked, eating another M&M.

“You can’t just say Damiano was going to shoot me that night, and then ask me a question like it’s nothing.” I exclaimed.

“I’m just joking! My brothers are not the type to hurt women.” Arianna laughed when I gave her a blank look, not finding her joke funny. “Do you want to learn how to use a gun or not?”

“Can you really teach me?” My brows raised in surprise.

“Sure, why not? You need to learn how to defend yourself, so you don’t end up with a face like that.” She grimaced and pointed directly at my face. This time, I threw a bag of chips at her, which she caught with a laugh before it could hit her face.

“When can we start?” I asked, feeling a small rush of excitement at the thought.

“Depends. Do we have to wait for Damiano’s approval, or do we just do it behind his back?” She raised a quizzical brow, and I could already imagine Damiano frowning with a stern no.

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” I grinned.

“Exactly. We can start tomorrow.” She winked.

“Okay, enough about that! Let’s go back to what you were doing while being away from the rest of us.” Cara wiggled her brows and Arianna groaned.

“Nothing, we just hung out.” I shrugged.

“What are you, teenagers?” She was not impressed at all. “Give me the juicy parts! Did you finally fuck?”

“Please, don’t -” Arianna started before I interrupted her.

“You really want to know? Fine. Yes, we fucked. We fucked so much I thought he was going to destroy me. I was so sore, but damn, that man can keep going like a fucking stallion. There was not a single place where he didn’t fuck me. Happy?” I huffed out.

“Hell yeah!” Cara cheered, while Arianna looked mortified.

“Oh, and we also just fucked right there before you guys came.” I pointed to where they were sitting. Arianna jumped off the bed, cursing us for being disgusting, which only made us laugh.

After some time, Arianna and Cara left the room when I struggled to keep my eyes open. Exhaustion finally hit me, and I fell asleep as soon as I heard the door close behind them.

Then suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.

I tried gasping for air, but nothing filled my lungs. I couldn’t even open my eyes, and my body felt heavier than before. So much I couldn’t move. I tried to scream, but no sound was escaping me.

I was panicking, and my lungs were burning from lack of air.

I thrashed violently in bed, but it felt as if an invisible weight was pressing down on my chest. Using my legs as a last resort, I sharply rolled over and ended up crashing onto the floor.

I gasped, air finally filling my lungs. I tried to sit up, only to see Sofia lunging at me.

Her hands closed around my neck so quickly that I had no time to react. I could feel the tears stinging my eyes as she mercilessly pressed down on my windpipe, using her weight to her advantage.

“I’m so fucking tired of you thinking you deserve him! You don’t!” She hissed at me. I tried to get her off me, but she refused to loosen her grip around my throat, even when I scratched her arms. I opened my mouth to speak, but all that came out were gagging sounds.

“I won’t let you be with him! What do you have that I don’t?!” Sofia yelled in my face. My sight went blurry, and I had to do something fast.

I pulled my arm back and punched her right in her nose. It was enough for her to loosen her grip as she cried out in pain.

I pushed her away, coughing as I struggled to breathe while stumbling to my feet to get away. But I didn’t get far as Sofia quickly recovered and slammed me against the wall.

“So–Sofia, stop.” My voice was hoarse and kept breaking when I tried to speak.

“What does he even see in you?” She looked at me with disgust as she kept me pinned against the wall. “You’re not worthy of standing by his side, but I am.” Her baby blue eyes blazed with anger as she yelled her true feelings, leaving me stunned.

“He’s mine!” Sofia sneered.