No!
…
I’m at my parents’ house.
I see myself sitting by an aquarium, a much bigger one. I know it’s mine. So that’s where my fascination with fish began. My eyes fix on a huge tank full of colorful bettas and shimmering veiltails.
Suddenly I hear pounding on the door, my father’s footsteps on the stairs, and his curse as he goes to answer it. More footsteps follow, voices tight and angry.
"This is Anzo Ferro. What the hell is this about?" he snarls.
The door slams, then the sounds of a struggle, heavy boots. Heart racing, I run to the top of the stairs and see a scene that fills me with dread.
Two men in suits are gripping my father by the arms. Across from him stand three others. One of them isn’t an alpha at all but a beta. Anzo Ferro. It’s the first time he shows up in my memory.
Beside him stands a man with an ugly scar on his cheek. Rocco. He looks up and spots me at the top of the stairs, and he sends me a dark, disgusting smile.
There’s one more, his brother, a purple alpha. Luca Ferro. His expression still.
Anzo levels an accusing stare at my father. "Where is Moon? Tell me! You’re hiding him—"
My father shouts back, "We don’t know what you’re talking about. We haven’t had contact with Moon in two months."
Anzo snarls, "If you don’t tell me right now what happened to him and where he is, every last one of you will lose your heads."
The intensity of the emotions in that memory fragments the scene.
It breaks apart, and the next image comes forward.
It's one where I'm already kidnapped.
…
I’m sitting in a car, Anzo Ferro on my left, Rocco and Luca, his two nephews, on my right. Rocco keeps looking at me withthat same disgusting smile, while Luca stares out the window, his face clouded and grim.
Anzo’s expression is different now, a mix of anger, frustration, and some kind of pain.
"Your brother Moon did you no favors by running. Until he comes back, you will take his place. If you resist, your parents and your brother Ragnar will pay the price."
…
Another wave of emotion rips the memory apart, cutting me off from whatever follows.
But that’s not the end.
Another glimpse arrives!
…
I’m sitting next to another aquarium, a large one even bigger than the one in my house. It’s the tank Anzo bought for me.
A voice comes from outside my room. I know who it is. He comes here often, taunting me, messing with my head, whispering disgusting things under my door. Rocco. His dark gaze follows me everywhere in the fortress.
At meals, breakfast, lunch, whatever we sit down for, it’s always me and the Ferro family: Anzo and his five nephews, Mauro, Eliano, Luca, Rocco, and Ennio. Everyone ignores me except Rocco. He’s the only one who constantly has his eye on me.
A few memories play on repeat: Rocco following me down corridors, always there, always watching.
It’s shocking that he does it almost under Anzo’s nose, his own uncle and capo. After all, I am supposed to be Anzo’s husband now, but that doesn’t seem to bother Rocco in the slightest.
