Page 5 of SINS & Lies

Pain slices through every step, my bare feet pounding against sharp pebbles and twigs.

I need to hide. Now. Ignoring that unsettled feeling of running in circles and getting nowhere, my feet don’t stop.

Then the earth slides out from under me as my body crashes down a hill, slipping against wet moss and twigs. I plunge into the darkness until I plow, full force, into a log.

“Argh!” I smother my mouth, my breaths coming out in loud, ragged gasps.

A sharp crack hits the air—a gunshot. And in that moment, reality crashes down on me like a ton of bricks. If I make the wrong move, if I make even the slightest sound, I’m dead.

“Don’t make me chase you!” Rocco’s shouts. His voice is close. Too close. Footsteps crunch as if they’re all around, and I stay painfully still as something slithers against my leg.

“You’re only making it worse on yourself,” he growls.

He’s practically on top of me now. I clamp down on my whimpers, sinking my teeth into my cheek until I taste blood. Any movement, any sound, and I’m dead. Or worse.

And if I don’t?

The footsteps move on, then circle back. Once. Twice. Numb with adrenaline before, I didn’t feel the pain, but now it crashes over me like a tidal wave. Cold seeps into my bones, making my teeth chatter and my strength worthless.

A cold trail of sweat breaks out along my nape as the footsteps make another pass.

’m terrified. I just escaped the nightmare of those two bastards, and getting caught again isn’t an option. Even if they let me live, the things they’ll do to me...

They’ll make me wish I was dead. I know they will.

The chances of getting out of this and seeing Riley, my only sister, or Truffles, my newfound dog, are slim to none.

And then there’s Enzo, and whatever the hell he is to me. He’s the most hopeless of hopeless causes. So why is my stupid mind clinging to the hard features of his face?

Somehow, it gives me the strength to force my body to kneel, then crawl, making my way painfully slow up the hill.

A branch snaps under my weight, and a rush of footsteps zeroes in on my position. Tears prick the back of my eyes.

The thought that Riley will lose her father and sister and be all alone eats me alive. It’s unbearable.

“Keep your word, Enzo,” I murmur softly. “Take care of Riley.”

CHAPTER 3

Enzo

Fuck, this hill is steep.

It takes us a good half-hour to traverse the ravine. Thirty minutes of navigating through cold, damp, slippery terrain that has me stumbling like a newborn giraffe.

It makes me wish I’d taken the car and left Dante to trek through the woods like a Boy Scout with a compass. But as soon as the brake lights flashed a second time in the distance, it was too late.

Because Dante’s right. I am led by my dick.

“Need a hand, sir?” Striker asks, his Neanderthal frame seeming strangely at ease in this rugged environment.

He’s managed to find the shallowest passage across. I knew it was here. I just couldn’t see it in the velvet pitch-black of a moonless night. Navigating blindfolded would’ve been easier.

As a child, these woods were a second home. But now, as an adult, my stature and thousand-dollar Italian shoes were about as useful as a wooden condom.

I refuse to grant Uncle Andre or his land an ounce of satisfaction. Or to cling to Striker’s hand like a toddler.

“No,” I say firmly.

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