Page 117 of Inside the Sun

He smiles, it’s disgusting. For one brief moment, Summer and I lock eyes.

What I manage to do is to put my lips into ‘I’m sorry’.

And then Matteo is hauling me away. I can’t help him. I can’t do anything.

But my soul, my body burns with pure hate. Those fucking bastards.

I stumble through the hallway, everything spinning, the walls the only thing keeping me upright. Matteo doesn’t really help, he’s just getting me out of the way.

When we reach my room, I collapse onto the bed, barely breathing. Exhausted. My mind is fried from the shocks. After some time, I can’t even feel anger anymore. All that’s left is static and… maybe, finally, some kind of surrender.

Perhaps that’s what Anzo wanted all along. What else can I do? I’m powerless. Under his control.

Except for one thing.

One thing that might cost me my life… and maybe the lives of people I love. Innocent people.

The only question is: will I be strong enough to resist the temptation?

RAGNAR

I spend the entire evening on the phone with my parents.

They are ecstatic about the news and keep pushing for more, urging me to find an occasion to talk to Summer and try to get information about Moon’s whereabouts. They seem to believe that after spending so many months here, Summer must know what happened, but I’m more skeptical.

One thing I do start doing is preparing them. They need to begin wrapping up their business, just in case. I might have to make a move and get Summer out of the fortress. Seeing what happened to Sun only adds to my concerns about how Summer is being treated.

After I hang up, I call Hunter.

He picks up on thetenthring.

At first, it feels like he doesn’t even recognize my voice. Then he barely speaks at all, just one-word answers, especially when I ask how he was doing.

Eventually, I tell him what I need. I know that before the military, he briefly worked with the witness protection program, so I ask what I can do to protect my parents if I take Summer from The Sun.

Hunter confirms it’s almost certain that Anzo will come after them for revenge. During his time working there, he sawhow the mafia operates. They hit family members in retaliation. The only option would be to flee the country and change their identities, or…

… take Anzo out.

I toy with that thought for a moment, and yeah, there’s a certain thrill in it.

But I know it’s not that simple. The mafia is never just one man. It’s a whole structure. Kill Anzo, and Rocco becomes capo. Kill Rocco, and it’s Ennio, or Vincenzo, or Luca. Can I really expect them to show mercy after I wipe out their relatives?

Someone kills a member of their family? The mafia sees this kind of shit as a matter of honor. They won’t stop until they kill yours. It’s all about image, power, or the pretense of it.

I share these thoughts with Hunter. He listens in silence. But when I stop talking, he surprises me by saying he’ll check in with some of his old contacts, see what it might take to get my parents into the program, even if technically there’s no criminal case involving Anzo.

So I need to be patient.

Since morning, me and a few other catering staff have been cleaning up the garden. I’m moving flower pots, watering the lawn, which is completely trampled. Some of the plants in the flowerbeds are damaged, broken, probably because drunk guests sat on them. They'll need to be replaced, but oh well. I'm just working here.

Around noon, the rest of the crew starts packing up. All the tables are gone, the sofas too. I'm the only one left in the garden.

At about 1 pm, I spot Sun’s slim silhouette stepping out of the house. I see him walking toward the gazebo. My jaw tightens.

After what I saw at the banquet, I’m even more sure I shouldn’t get involved in any way, not even for another quick fuck. Those human leeches, Anzo and Rocco are so brutal to Sun… If they get to know about us, he will be torn to pieces.

Bonzo had to step out of the guard booth for a bit yesterday because one of the guests got wasted, needed help getting packed into a car and sent home. That gave me a chance to watch the whole scene more closely, and catch the moment when Anzo pulled Sun aside and slapped him.

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