Page 32 of Wicked Angel

“What the…” I murmured, looking back up.

My room shifted, the walls around me falling away and changing. I spun in a circle and stopped when a shadowy figure emerged from the darkness. Gaven.

He didn’t seem to notice me, though, and instead, strode forward, yelling at men that began to creep out of the shadows as well. My father’s men. Soldiers—their faces etched with impassivity even though blood stained their clothes.

How many of them were killers? I’d always wondered and always shoved down the question. I opened my mouth to say something. To call out to Gaven. To try and get a sense of where I was and what was going on, except no words escaped me. It was as if my voice was locked inside my head.

A void was left in the wake of my confusing emotions and I turned, stumbling again as the dirt beneath my feet grew darker—stained. Wet.

When I blinked, my surroundings transformed again. A bit of white caught my attention out of the corner of my eye and I looked up only to freeze where I stood. My mother’s body. This time, though, when she lay in the casket I remembered from seven years ago, the top remained open.

I’d never seen her corpse. Not when I was young, but I’d always hoped she would look peaceful. She didn’t. Not now. There was blood dried everywhere, with several bullet wounds in her chest. Her nails had been ripped free and red stained her fingertips. Gasping at the sudden tightness in my chest, I glanced around for someone—anyone—to help ground me.

Vomit threatened to spew out of my lips. I spun in a circle. Seeking. Searching. For someone. Anyone.

“Little sister.” Jackie’s voice taunted me and I whirled around as she appeared before me, her signature smirk and cruel gaze centering on me. She stood over our mother’s body but never once glanced at it. “Did you really think you would escape?”

My chest tightened, coiling until not an ounce of oxygen was left in my lungs. I wheezed out my response. “I-I tried,” I said. “I don’t want this.”

“You don’t want what you are?” she asked. “You’re a princess, Angel. A doll. A pawn to be used.”

A princess? No. A doll, though? A pawn? Yes. I could imagine that was exactly what I was. A Mafia Princess. Soon to be a Mafia boss’s wife. With no freedom of my own. Gaven Belmonte would own me the second I said ‘I do,’ and if I didn’t give him what he wanted…would I be any safer?

“Everything you thought you could have? College, a life away from crime … there’s no way you can have it. Any of it,Angel,” she whispered.

Gaven and my father appeared, right behind her. Their faces were masks of rage. My father’s mouth opened and he shouted though the words were lost on me. All the while, Gaven merely stood there and stared back at me. His cruel, dark blue gaze promised an untold number of punishments if I didn’t conform.

My insides softened. Against my will, I felt my body grow lax.Why did he do that to me?I wondered. He was a monster. I should’ve wanted to run as far and as fast as possible, but what if… what if, instead, I could make a deal with the devil?

What if I gave him what he wanted, and he gave me what I wanted? This didn’t have to be the end. Jackie didn’t have to be right.

Every breath I attempted to take was a struggle, my sister’s chuckles echoing around me. I tried to hold onto anything I could reach, to stay steady, but everything disappeared when I touched it. Swaying back and forth, I watched as the space around me constantly changed. Different places I’d been, people I knew, everything spinning around with a life of its own.

“You’ll never be free again,” Jackie cackled amongst the chaos.

No!I screamed in my head.

No matter how much I tried to stop it, to change what I was seeing, to have control, none of it worked. All I was left with was the empty void and panicked breathing…

Gasping,I shot up in bed. Sweat coated my body and my heart thudded so loudly in my ears I couldn’t hear anything else. Panic and fear iced my veins as I sat there, still stunned from my nightmare. But the longer I sucked in air, the less the emotions affected me until my heart rate had calmed and my chest wasn’t tight. I tossed the blanket off of me and slipped from between the sheets, my focus falling immediately onto my laptop that sat closed on my desk. Sinking into the chair, I took a breath, reached for the computer, and opened the top. I needed some semblance of control, even if it was only an illusion.

I’d been allowed to keep the laptop, but not before it’d been thoroughly gone through by my father’s men and Gaven’s too. Intelligent men, for sure, but also underestimating. None of them had ever considered that I knew the back route into the darkest of internet places.

The dark web. Where identities could be traded, bought, and stolen as easily as walking into a store and picking up a pack of gum. Before I’d been captured, I’d been working on this. A new person—a new me. Freedom.

And I probably wasn’t the only person who wanted freedom from this life. I bet hundreds of people were out there, just like me, trapped in the cruel underground criminal world. The government couldn’t help them, just like it couldn’t help me. Even knowing what I did was a crime, I’d—in essence—become an accomplice. I’d known that from the moment my father confirmed all of Jackie’s claims.

The dark web had been my way of fighting back. My knowledge of technology and what it could accomplish was a skill they couldn’t take away from me. Maybe someday it would be my salvation.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, I leaned back in my chair, slumping against the worn cushions. I couldn’t risk it. Not now. Not so quickly after I’d been caught, but at least I knew I had a chance. Maybe. It wasn’t much, but knowing the option was still there finally calmed the remaining worry.

Still, I might not even need it. The dream—for all the hellish emotions and worries that had tried to plague me from it—had also given me an idea. A deal with the devil. Gaven Belmonte wanted a child, and I wanted freedom of choice. Getting up from my chair, I shut my computer and headed into the bathroom. I bent over the sink and splashed a handful of cold water on my face, relishing in the refreshing sensation on my sweat-coated forehead and flushed cheeks. When I stood back up, I found my own tired, haunted eyes staring back. Dark circles were forming, and my skin was a sickly pallor. Grinding my teeth, I straightened my spine and strode from the bathroom.

All Gaven wants is an heir,I reminded myself, and he’ll do anything to get what he wants.

I could give him that. It would be easier, no doubt, if I were willing. I could be convinced to be willing too. All I needed in return was a promise. College. Normalcy. It wasn’t everything I wanted, but it was something. To elicit such a promise, though, I would have to face him again. After everything Gaven had done to me, after all that he’d made me feel … I would have to stand before him and offer myself and sign the paperwork that would officially make him my husband.

The alarm on my bedside buzzed, announcing that it was time for me to get ready. Wanting to get ahead of the game, I rushed through my routine. Today was the day I’d be looking for my wedding dress—a dress I was shocked they were letting me select myself—but it was also a day I’d be forced to be near Gaven. It was perfect for what I had planned.

---