Page 58 of The Diávolos: Part One
He leans into the door and crosses his legs. “Angie, I wasn’t expecting company today,” he purrs.
You’d think this guy is a cat in heat with the amount of purring he does. Is this what boys are like these days? I don’t remember them being so obnoxious when I was that age.
“You are insufferable, Dimo.” I push him out of the way. “Where’s your sister?”
He laughs. “I gotta shoot my shot when I can, babe,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. “She’s up in her room. Good luck getting her out.”
I don’t waste another second and run up the stairs, straight to Aria’s room. I carelessly swing the door open and startle her with my grand entrance. She jumps off her bed and clutches her chest.
“Jesus Christ, Angelica. You scared the shit out of me!” she cries out.
“Glad to see you’re alive,” I say dryly, crossing my arms.
Aria sits back down on her bed and covers herself with her blanket. “What are you doing here?” she asks.
“Saving you from yourself, apparently. What’s going on, Ari? You’ve been avoiding me.”
She sighs and throws herself back on the mattress, her gaze pointed at the ceiling. “I don’t know, Ang. I’m lost. My whole life is being taken away from me,” she says in a voice that’s barely audible.
I lie down next to her and grab her hand, intertwining our fingers.
“I can’t begin to imagine how you feel, but staying locked up in your room isn’t going to help,Arioula.” I exhale and turn to face her. “You know you don’t have to deal with this alone, right?”
She looks at me and I see tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want to get married to him, Ang. I don’t know him. He’s a stranger. And I’ll have to live with him, sleep in the same bed, havesexwith him.” She gags at that last part.
I want to go downstairs and yell at her parents for allowing their daughter to be used like this. I count myself lucky for managing to avoid an arranged marriage this long. I was able to escape and get away from all the expectations, but Aria didn’t stand a chance. I don’t know how to help her, but I won’t rest until we stop this.
“We have to find a way out of it,” I reply.
“How, Ang? My engagement party is next week.”
I push my head back, stunned. Next week? No wonder she’s cooped up in her room.
“How? Your engagement was just announced. What's the rush?” I ask.
“That’s what I said! But our parents want us married by the end of the year.”
“That’s six months from now, Aria!” I exclaim.
The tears that were threatening to fall out of her eyes finally make an appearance. I grab her little body and hug her tightly.
“We’ll find a way to stop this. We just have to,” I repeat.
We hold each other for several minutes, while Aria lets out all the tears she’s probably been holding in for weeks. I caress her hair, allowing her to empty her emotional tank. After a while, she breaks out of my hold, grabs a tissue to wipe her face, and cracks a tiny smile that I reciprocate.
“How do you feel?” I ask.
“Better,” she confirms and gets off the bed. “I can’t believe I cried for a whole seven minutes.”
I chuckle. “Bad bitches cry, too.”
Aria laughs, her voice slightly raspy. “Okay, enough about my depressive life. Tell me more about you. How was your date night with Niko at the charity ball?”
I fill her in on all the activities of the past three weeks and Aria eagerly listens to my every word, her eyes wide.
“Okay…my stalker showed up to the masquerade ball, but catch this. He came with a full mask on, so I had no idea who it was at first. He glared at me for over an hour without saying a word, and then followed me to the women’s bathroom, barged in, and ordered me to leave or else he’d kill Niko.” Aria gasps and I pause to catch the look on her face.
“Yes, you heard me correctly. I made up a lame excuse and left Niko all by himself. The stalker followed me out, wanting to take me home, but I refused. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I tried to run away, but he caught me and pinned me to the ground, almost suffocating me. I finally obeyed him and got in the car,” I blurt all in one breath. I purposely leave out that he forced me to climax on the grassy floor like an animal. “Then, he blindfolded me and tied me up in the car, drove me to his penthouse, where he finally revealed himself as…Evan.”
