Page 101 of Sinister Vows

“Is she the queen of England?” the middle one joked. “You’d think so by the way the staff has acted leading up to her visit.”

“Maybe she’s the court jester.” The youngest one mocked me. “She looks funny.”

But the oldest one is the one I kept my eyes on as he stood at my feet with his arms crossed over his chest. He was older than Carmine, if I had to guess, I’d say eighteen. Maybe older.

The other two were somewhere between sixteen and fourteen.

All three were older and way bigger than I was. And I didn’t know what to do.

I should have kept my stupid mouth shut or run back to the estate to get help.

Hissing from next to me reminded me that the cat was still trapped though, and they would have stomped it to death with their boots if I had stayed quiet.

I had been left with no choice.

“My name is Arianna.” I tilted my chin up like I wasn’t afraid for my life in the very second. “My father is-.”

“We know who your father is,” The oldest one snapped, cutting me off. “Do you know who ours is?”

He knelt into a crouch in front of me and I slid back an inch to get away from the crazy I saw in his eyes. “Dominic Capasso?”

To be honest, I had no idea who the boys were. But if I had to guess considering we were at the Don’s house, they belonged to him.

“Bingo.” The oldest one said with a snarl. “And you’re the one that they brought in, to ruin everything.”

“What are you talking about?” I whispered, understanding his open disdain for me a little better now, though I didn’t know what I’d done to cause it.

“Little Rosetti, darling, here to marry the big bad wolf and ensure none of us ever see the throne,” He heckled, and then spit at my feet. I recoiled from the offensive move and scurried further back from him.

“I don’t know what any of that means.” I tried to keep my voice calm and serene like I did when my father was in an uproar. Sometimes it helped keep his fists to himself. Most times it didn’t though, but it did usually delay the inevitable.

The oldest one sucked his teeth and stood back up, looking down at me menacingly before gazing over at his brothers who flanked me. “What do you think the wolf would do if we stomped his pretty little fiancé’s face in like the cats? Do you think Dad would have to start the whole process of finding his beloved son a wife all over again?”

My mouth fell open in absolute shock seconds before my brain started working.

And I used my brain power to push out the loudest scream of my life from my lungs. The noise ripped from my lips like a violent volcano erupting but the impressive act only lasted seconds before the oldest one lunged at me, covering my mouth with his hand and pinning my head to the ground.

“Shut up,” He hissed, pushing my face into the dirt and stone, cutting my cheek up, “Shut the fuck up or I’ll slit your throat.”

I fought against the weight of him as he climbed onto my back, pushing his knees against my spine. Agony bloomed through my lungs as his weight made it impossible to take a breath in. I couldn’t scream again, even if his threat hadn’t scared me silent. I couldn’t even catch my breath to stay alive.

He was going to kill me by suffocation.

The threats of knives and boots were irrelevant.

“Dude, get off her,” The youngest one said after a beat of time. “You’re not actually serious, are you?”

“Yeah, man,” the middle one, shoved the eldest’s shoulder, but it didn’t dislodge him. “Dad will fucking kill you for interfering with his plans.”

“Don’t you two get it?” the boy on my back snapped as my vision darkened. “If he marries someone, he’ll have kids and then they’ll take everything next in line. We’ll be so fucking far off the throne we won’t even see it anymore.”

“We’ll never get it anyway, Diego.” One of them yelled, shoving the one on my back again, but I was so close to unconsciousness I couldn’t decipher the difference in their voices anymore. My nails dug into the dirt, bending backward as I fought to get away from the pressure on my lungs. “Dad will never acknowledge us the way we want him to, he’s too old-fashioned. Just get off her.”

“No,” Diego, the eldest replied, pushing harder against the back of my neck and head until I could feel the warmth of blood mixing with the cold dirt under my face. “I think I want to upgrade from killing off strays and see what it feels like to kill a human.”

“Diego!” One of the other brothers yelled again before suddenly the weight on my back intensified a millisecond before it let up completely.

I gasped for breath, sucking in dirt and debris as I tried to sit up off of the ground, but my body protested like my limbs were still pinned.

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