Page 73 of Forbidden Property
“No. Of course not. I…”
The priest loses his patience. I watch his demeanor shift in a terrifying instant. His voice hardens and he turns to Franco with rage. “Quiet the bitch.”
Franco nods at the two masked men and they both hit Angela with such force that she falls to the ground and blood spurts out of her face. My hands rush to my face to stifle a scream.WHAT THE FUCK?Franco wraps her hair around his fist while Angela screams and he drags her from her knees back up to her feet while she cries out in pain from the way he yanks on her hair.
She shudders, but she doesn’t sob and doesn’t scream once he loosens his grip enough for the priest to continue. Angela’s gaze flutters briefly towards mine… then it drops to the ground and once more, I’m alone and witnessing some of the worst cruelty I’ve ever seen in my life.
The priest makes them exchange vows. They have to torture Angela for her to say all the words, but after twenty minutes and a lot of blood, she eventually says the words. They exchange rings provided by Franco and his henchmen.
“Bless this marriage and the vow of racial purity it represents,” Father Vescovi closes off their exchange of rings. “You may now kiss the bride and fill her with your seed…”
Angela doesn’t think. She turns from the altar and tries to run. I watch everything play out in slow motion. Angela makes it almost halfway to the double doors of the church’s main entrance before the two masked men grab her and drag her back to the altar.
They bend her over. Right in front of me. Angela screams and fights like any animal would in her predicament. Oh God. They’re going to hurt her. They’re going to hurt her and rape her right in front of me…
“This would be a lot easier if you stop fighting,” the priest says, going over to Angela’s head and stroking her like an animal while Felice stands behind her. Franco and his two henchmen hold Angela down. I can feel the room spinning around me and I back up a couple feet to lean my back against the wall.
This can’t be happening right in front of me.
It’s not real.
It’s not right…
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Angela shrieks. “I SWEAR.”
The front of the priest’s robes rise as he continues to stroke Angela’s head. I can’t keep watching. I don’t want to watch… I don’t want to see what happens to her. My throat tightens as I try to force out the word, “STOP!”
All I do is scream as I watch Felice Gravina’s dick come out of his pants. He lines his body up behind Angela’s. I close my eyes as she screams. But I’ll never forget the sound. It’s too much. Too painful. I lean forward and retch, throwing up all over the floor.
Felice cries out. I hear more of Angela’s screaming. My head is so light that I can barely stand. I lean against the wall and slowly fade from consciousness.
“GET HER SIGNATURE,” I hear Franco snarl. “Then wake her UP!”
No.I don’t want to wake up.
I don’t want to witness this.
I just want to go home.
I witnessed three depraved weddings and copulations.Rapes.What I witnessed were three women getting raped right in front of me. I threw up twice before my stomach stopped having anything inside to release onto the church floor. Franco grabbed me by the neck as he led me to the car and snarled at me that I was lucky he didn’t make me lick it up.
And now, I’m outside again with just Nicki and her new husband. Franco. She hasn’t stopped crying since they got married, but she also struck a deal with him. He has major problems tonight since apparently Flora Corsini wasn’t where they thought. She might have escaped and they all want to get the fuck out of here and find her.
Nicki can’t openly celebrate, but I can tell she’s happy that someone got out of this screwed up situation.
“You didn’t have to do this.”
Franco is clearly impatient about us saying goodbye, but he can’t leave us alone so we don’t discuss anything off-limits. What the hell am I going to tell Renzo about what happened to his sister.
“I owed you this much,” Nicki says in a torn voice, broken by screaming and sobbing from earlier. She fought and bled the most. Franco tried to calm her down but… he’s just as much of a monster as the rest of them. Worse, even.
“Your brother won’t accept this.”
I glance at Franco, hoping he doesn’t interpret my comment as a threat. Nicki’s eyes meet mine. We’ve been best friends for long enough that she knows why I said that comment specifically. If this is a power play, Buffalo won’t take it lying down.
“My brother will have to accept this,” Nicki says, stiffening her back and looking at me with seriousness that blocks me from reading her emotions. “I mean it, Geralynn. I’m paying for your freedom by staying willingly. Marriage means peace, right? Not war?”
Franco puts his arm around her. She winces, but he doesn’t seem to care.
