Page 139 of His Cursed Heart

They want the Luciano blood to continue the reign.

My skin is immediately on fire. Hanibal would've let his mafia to only one person. One that captured my heart a second time.

"Vincent is not even five years old. What the fuck do they want from him? He's a damn child!" I snap and I feel my body tremble.

It took to Althea a month to finally make Vincent feel like a child. Since birth, he was pressured about his future role as a Capo, and I'll die before I let him be next ruler of Famiglia.

"They didn't consider him either." Allan says and his eyes give me the answer.

"It's not a matter of what Hanibal wanted. It's who they want." I hear my Dad say, but my mind is blocked.

"They want the power, the anger. They want tradition, equality. The unpredictable." Allan says the words with a heavy breath.

"They want to have the first Donna. They want the girl who survived Hanibal." I hear my father say and Allan nods.

With a weigh in my chest, I say through my teeth, "They want Althea."

I feel my lungs burning, begging for air. My eyes are closed, letting my body limp, but in the same time I force myself to stay in the same position.

Just a little bit more.

I need to feel this peace a bit more. The sound of nothing calms my demons and the pressure on my body reminds me that I'm still alive.

For how long?

I don't know, but I need to stay underwater for just a bit.

The last couple of days have been silent. Since Everette came back from his old house, he's been silent. He acknowledges me, forcing himself to kiss my cheek every time he sees me, but I know it better. He has all the rights to behave like this.

Everette thinks he needs time to adjust, that we'll go back to our lives when everything will make sense. But I know from experience that he'll never look at me the same. He will see that his life is much better without getting involved with me.

Everette will move on eventually while I will be stuck in a bubble that has his name.

The alert heartbeat feels like my heart falls in my stomach, and my lungs are screaming. I cough once and bubbles of water tickle my face. I cough twice and my body moves without me controlling it.

When I make contact with air, I take big, irregular breathes, just to calm my inside. I wipe the water from my eyes, looking at the roof that shows the dark sky with thousands of stars.

The last day of August was a warm one. Vincent was all day with Emmeline, riding her horses like a little cowboy while I visited Mamma.

Having this distance from Everette brings me only one advantage. I don't have to sneak out anymore. Maybe from the bodyguards, but sometimes with just one plead it works.

I haven't visit Mamma since the mess with Ivan started. It's not like she will answer me when I tell her all the things that are messing my life.

Sometimes I wish she would answer me. Maybe hearing her voice will make me feel more at peace, or her hugs will bring the little girl in me. The one who left me at nine years old and forced me to become an adult.

I let out a deep sigh, letting my head fall on the pool edge.

I'm tired living my life in wishes when clearly, they won't ever happen to me.

I close my eyes knowing that I will not see darkness, but Everette. His dark, messy hair that always makes him look a god, his green eyes that put me in a spell all the time, his muscular body with my claim on him.

Everette doesn't just consume me, but he makes me consume myself with him.

My body lowers again in the water that seems hot. The white shadows on the bottom of the pool are the

only source of light that surrounds me. I feel the water swallow my neck, welcoming my whole body.

Because of the numbness of my muscles, I don't sense the person that emerges from the dark corner of the room. I feel my hair wrapped around a tight fist, yanking my head out of the water. My scalp hurts, making my head tingle in pain.

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