Page 93 of Devil’s Promise

“You have to.”

“I don’t think I can.” Even my voice is growing weaker.

“Promise,” she gasps, her hands coming down hard on my chest. “Wake. Up.”

My eyes pop open as I draw a gasping breath of air into my lungs.

Above me is a deep red ceiling and I can’t place it. Where am I?

“Finally decided to join us?” my father asks. I don’t need to see his face to know his voice. I turn my head, meeting his cold stare where he’s crouched above me.

I don’t answer, slow blinking my eyes. My head is pounding, my body hurts everywhere.

Slowly, memories filter back in. Angel being hit by masked men. One of them dragging me from the car.

And when I tried to fight…the sharp pain of being knocked out.

My shaking hand raises to my head where I find a giant lump behind my left ear. I wince as pain shoots through me.

“You know, your silence pisses me off. But in moments like this…” He gives me that evil smile that he reserves for his most unguarded moments. This is my real father. “I’m so glad I don’t need to listen to you bitch and moan.”

Part of me wants to ask the questions. Where am I? What are you planning? But he’s not likely to answer, only gloat that he finally got me to speak, so I won’t give him the satisfaction. Which maybe means there is a bit of fight left in me after all.

I lower my left hand onto my stomach where Angel’s ring sparkles on my finger. My father roughly grabs my hand. “That’s quite the fucking ring from a guy who agreed to murder you the moment it was convenient for me.”

My eyes go wide as my stomach drops out.

Everything in me revolts at the words.

It’s possible my father is lying. Just vitriol to seed ill will and turn plans to his favor.

But I’ve always wondered about the details of the bargain Angel and my father struck. I look away, needing a moment to push my worries aside, stay strong, and believe in what Angel and I have started.

Wherever this started, he chose me.

“Don’t believe me, Promise? I’ve got it in writing.” My father’s cackle fills the room. “Not only am I finally going to be rid of you. Your man is going to be the one to do it.”

I shake my head. It’s not true. My father and Angel never finalized their agreement and Angel, he promised…promised to keep me safe.

But my chest grows so tight, I can barely take in air. I close my eyes, feeling the weight of his words. Did Angel really agree to kill me?

The Devil of New York.

The soulless killing machine… That is who you marry your daughter to if you want her dead.

“Jesus Christ.” I hear an unfamiliar voice from across the room and then the flick of a lighter. It’s a sound I know well. “And I thought my family was fucked up.”

“Shut up, Vinnie,” an older male voice snarks.

Muddled as my thoughts are, it only takes me a moment to realize I’m with the Morellis. Did they knock Angel out? Is Gunner here?

I try to sit up, but my father pushes me back down. “I don’t know where you think you’re going, but this party is just about to get started.”

My place at this party is on the floor?

I look down and realize I’m covered in a blanket. I shift, the fibers of the blanket scratching my skin… I’m barely wearing anything underneath.

What the actual…