Page 96 of The Diávolos: Part Two
Iris cuts him off. “You’re just what, Peter? Kidnapping children to groom them into man pleasers? Stealing them away from their families to give them topedophiles!” With each word, her voice strains with rage and pain. “This is horrid!”
“Please, Iris. You’ll stress the baby,” Peter responds, something akin to fear in his eyes.
She turns around, clutching her stomach. “How can I allow my daughter into a world where her father mistreats children?”
Peter stays silent.
“What will this mean for her?” Iris cries out, facing him again. “How could you do this as a father?”
“I never wanted this, Iris,” he replies, sounding sincere.
“Then why did you agree to take over?”
“I told you it was complicated.”
“Complicated enough to lose your humanity?”
Peter sighs again and walks over to her, putting his hands on Iris’s shoulders, fierce determination shining on his face. “I’ll get us out, I promise.”
27
ANGELICA
“Justice is for the victim.
Vengeance is for the survivor.”
—Rachel Vincent
My eyes blink rapidly as I try to process what I just heard.
My parents fell in love at the Sisterhood and got married after they found out my mother was pregnant with me. Mymamawas a sister—that much I knew—but I’d always wondered how she felt about it, and how she and my father met.
Anytime I asked my mother, she’d say it was a long story—a common response in the Kouvalakis household.
Now, it makes a lot more sense why she was so upset with my father all those years.
He never ended the Sisterhood despite his promise to her. This news makes me want to hurl. My hands start shaking.
Mymamawas taken from her family at such a young age, groomed to become a nun because she was deemed fit enough for the role.
Little did she know then that it would be a prison sentence for life.
She would have unknowingly played an abusive role in those little children’s lives, but she was led to believe that she was there tohelpthem. If it wasn’t for my father impregnating her when he did,mamawould’ve never had access to his business and would’ve never found out the truth.
“What happened after?”
A look of bitterness sweeps across Lydia’s face. “Your father did a number on your mother. A couple years after you were born, he forbade her from talking to me. I was her only support, Angelica. But one day, I just stopped hearing from her. She used to call me once a week on Saturdays when your father was out of town, but one of his men told him about our conversations and Peter decided it was best we not talk anymore. Turns out he was worried Iris would try to leave him.” Her mouth is pinched, her expression sour. “But he wasn’t really concerned about losing her. He was worried about what she would do with everything she knew. Peter was a selfish man.”
“He still is.” I seethe, getting angrier by the minute.
Evander cuts in. “So, he got rid of his problem. Why get rid of Angelica too?”
“Peter never wanted to send Angelica to the Sisterhood, even though her grandfather insisted on it. Peter’s father believed that the establishment was the perfect place for her to grow up since she didn’t have a mother anymore.”
“But the Sisterhood was meant to groom young girls for older men. Why would Angelica’s grandfather want her to be groomed?” Evander asks.
“He didn’t. He thought it would give Angelica some structure and allow her to be around a female presence. At first, Peter ignored his suggestion. Until he realized he would never be able to raise a child on his own.”
