Page 76 of The Devil's Pawn

“Raquel! Are you there?”

I pick the phone back up, wiping away under my eyes with the other hand. I try to steady my tremulous breaths and tearful gasps, but it’s no use. I’m too far gone.

“Are you crying?” Mom asks. “What happened? Is he there?”

“N-no. I…oh, God, Mom. I married him.” I cry quietly, so Janet doesn’t hear.

“What?!” she bellows.

I pull the phone away from my ear, not wanting to hear her screaming.

“Raquel, what did you say?”

“I said I married him. It was part of our deal, okay? Three months of…of marriage for money and a passport.”

“That son of a bitch. When your father and uncles find out…” Her voice hits an all-time high. “I didn’t want to tell you this over the phone, but your uncle Faro was killed. Rumor is Dominic, one of the Cavaleris, took Chiara, and she…she did it. She killed Faro. Can you believe that? I just…I never saw that coming out of her. She was always such a sweet girl. I don’t understand how she could murder her own father in cold blood.”

“What? Wait. I’m sorry. I don’t understand any of this.” My fingers bite into the center of my chest, the heavy thud of my heart rattling with a deafening beat.

“I know. She’s crazy like her mother.”

Dante’s brother took Chiara? When?

This can’t be real. Dante can’t be who she says he is. Chiara wasn’t kidnapped. I just spoke to her. She would’ve told me.

Why didn’t she tell me?

I can’t breathe, though I desperately try. The room is spinning; my left arm is prickling from too much anxiety.

“Raquel, let me help you.” There’s sincerity in her tone I haven’t ever heard from her. “I swear, no more Carlito. I just want you back. You tell me where they live, and I’ll get you. I would’ve gotten you as soon as possible, but we couldn’t find their addresses.”

I don’t know if I trust my mother, but right now, I trust Dante a lot less. Or more like not at all. I have to leave, and once I’m out of here, I’ll figure out what to do. If that means moving away from my family, then I’ll find a way. I have no choice.

The man I thought would be the answer to all of my prayers turned out to be nothing but a monster in disguise.

“He has guards everywhere,” I explain. “You can’t come alone. Maybe I can find a way to leave the house and meet you somewhere.”

I massage my temple as the pounding inside it radiates down the back of my neck.

“Don’t worry about any of them,” she continues. “I’ll get your father’s men on it. I’ll arrange everything. There’ll be a van by the house in exactly one hour. All you have to do is come out the front, pretend you have a good reason, and then we’ll get you.”

I shake my head with disbelief.

He betrayed me. He lied to me. He never cared about me.

He was just another Carlito. Using me. Hurting me with his deception.

No more. I’m done allowing people to treat me like garbage. I deserve more than that. I owe that to myself. Letting my eyes slam to a close, I know I have no other choice but to leave.

“No guns, okay? And don’t come with too many people, or they’ll get suspicious. I don’t want a fight. Promise me.”

My mom might as well be a mobster herself. She’s scarier than my father on most days. I guess that’s because she’s the daughter of a don. My grandfather died before I was born, but from everything she’s told me about him, he was powerful and ran his family with an iron fist.

“I promise. No guns. Can I call you on this line?”

“No. It’s not mine. I’ll be out in exactly an hour. I’ll text you the address now. Hurry.”

“Okay. Everything will be okay. You’ll see.”

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