Prologue
Francesca
“Oh good you're awake!” Josephine said, sounding giddy. She walked into the room further. “I was told I could do whatever I wanted to you as long as I didn't kill you.” She said, aiming my gun at my right leg and firing. Biting my tongue so as to not let out a scream, I looked up at her. She started pacing back and forth on the stained concrete in front of me. Her expensive clothes were wrinkled, her hair wild, and her hand was waving around my own Sig P365 Macro like a toy.
“Why are you doing this? I thought you were my friend!” I yelled, my voice raw and cracking.
“Your friend! I was at one point, but I stopped being that a while ago.” She laughed, a shrill, unhinged sound that echoed hollowly off the high metal rafters. She stopped pacing and advanced on me, the weapon trembling in her grip. “I'm tired of living in your shadow! You always get all the attention from everyone! I love your brother, and he won't even pay any attention to me!”
“That’s not my f*****g fault!” I said, my teeth grinding as the puzzle pieces finally locked together in my mind. Her toxic envy hadn't just been a petty crush; it was a lethal obsession.
“That can’t be true! I’ve seen him with girls, only ones that your father approved of at first, so I had to get rid of him. Then I thought he would at least look at me, but he was more worried about you, so I thought I could just remove you from the picture, so I created a fake document, a really good one I might add, because it fooled everyone, even the Moretti’s. You should remember it after all, it promised you as a bride to Dominic. But, of course, you fuckers couldn't just do what you were supposed to. You found a damn loophole!” she cried, her sanity completely fracturing. She ran over to me, proceeding to bend over, and maliciously stuck her thumb straight into my bullet hole.
A guttural scream caught in my throat. I gritted my teeth so hard I thought they would shatter, black dots dancing wildly at the edge of my vision as the agonizing white-hot heat tore through my nervous system.
I swallowed down the bile, spitting onto the concrete before forcing a harsh laugh. “You really think that matters? He has only had one-night stands. I've never seen him with the same girl twice. You really think he’ll look your way? You killed our father! Look what you are doing to me, Josephine. I’m his sister. He gave me the empire, so I had a secure future. He’ll never forgive you.”
A sharp, crushing punch exploded against my jaw, throwing my head back and splitting my lip.
“Doesn’t matter now! I’ll get what I want, especially since when you're gone, there will be no one to get in my way!” she screamed, walking around behind the chair. She grabbed a fistful of my hair, violently pulling my head back until I was forced to stare up into her unhinged, bloodshot eyes. “The world doesn't revolve around you, Francesca!”
“I never said that it did," I snarled, blinking through the haze of pain. "You're the one acting like it revolves around you, throwing a tantrum because you aren’t getting your way!”
The words had barely left my lips when she stepped back and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A fresh wave of agony ripped through the room as a bullet tore straight into my other leg. I let out a choked grunt, my body violently jerking against the rusty chains. Josephine laughed, the sound twisted and distant as those damn black dots started dancing in my vision again, growing larger and taking over the light.
The blood was coming out too fast now. The warmth was soaking through my leggings, pooling rapidly around my boots on the concrete floor. The freezing cold of blood loss began to numb my fingers, and I knew I was slipping away.
But right as the darkness prepared to pull me under for the final time, a deafening crash shook the entire foundation of the foundry.
The heavy iron door was violently smashed off its hinges, flying into the room. Through the cloud of splinters and dust, I saw him. Lorenzo Diaz burst through the breach, his weapon already aimed directly at Josephine, with my brother Sal right behind him, his face completely pale with terror.
A profound, quiet relief washed over me. They had found me. Lorenzo was here.
And as the first shots of their rescue echoed through the cavernous space, my strength completely failed, and I finally lost consciousness.
