Divided (Unguarded #2) - Ivy Stone Page 0,1
stare drills more panic into me.
Where is the kind man who homed me years ago, who’s read to me, fed me, clothed me?
The hardness of Giuseppe’s gun digs into my face. “You can’t dance can you, Alison? Pull yourself together, girl. I’m almost sorry to do this because you look so pathetic and weak already.”
He bends closer to me and I turn my head to the side.
“Lindsey made a grave mistake leaving me today. And now you’re going to pay the price.”
My bottom lip trembles. My legs threaten to give way. Oh God, I don’t want to die. Is he really doing this just because Lindsey and Oliver left the house, the family, the business? All because they don’t want to work for him anymore doing whatever the hell it is they do? I just want my sister. She’d know what to do. She’d save me from the monster in front of me. But she’s not here. My heart aches with regret. What have I done? I’d fought with her. Argued with her that here is where I belonged. The Marino house was my home. Adriana, Valentina, Lucio, and Giuseppe were as much my family as she and Oliver were. I wanted to stay after she tried everything she could to have me leave. But I still refused to leave the safety of the place I call home.
How in just hours, had life changed so drastically?
Voices shout at me, mocking me with every insult imaginable.
Giuseppe lowers his gun, pointing it at the dirty wooden floor. “Get on your knees.”
I fumble over my feet and fall anyway. I ignore the laughs that follow, but my heart doesn’t. It dies a little inside. I drop my head, refusing to look at any of them. Trying to hide, refusing to give them the satisfaction of showing them fear. The unmistakable sound of zippers undoing wracks another gut wrenching sob from my throat.
I lift my head, shaking it from side to side as the tears flow a waterfall down my face. Each man below me is reaching for their crotch.
“No. Please. Just let me go. Please.” I beg.
Giuseppe retakes his seat around the table in front of the stage. His white teeth gleam with delight and any hope left in me deflates with my shoulders as they curve over my chest. My eyes burn at the sight before me. Men’s features laced with pleasure as they stroke their lengths, without a care another man is beside them doing the same disgusting thing. But not Giuseppe, or Lucio. Giuseppe’s stare is slime on my skin. A gleam of satisfaction watching me squirm, hurt and self-destruct. I rub my arms, I scratch at my legs, but all I do is draw blood to the surface.
Giuseppe’s sharp voice cuts through the air and I lift my head.
“Don’t look away, boy. Or are you not man enough to handle this?”
Lucio slides down in his seat at the end of the table.
He shakes his head. “No, Papa. I’m fine.”
I plead with him to stand up for me, to pray for me. To do something, but he doesn’t give me his eyes. He can’t. Because deep down the boy who I’ve come to care for, the boy who’s now all grown up, does still exist. But his mind is clouded by his heart’s biggest desire—for his father to love him.
Another tear rolls down my cheek. But it isn’t out of fear, or the dreaded nightmare of what I’m about to endure. This tear, the only one I’ll shed for him, is full of regret and betrayal. Regret that I’d given Lucio my affection. My trust. And betrayal—he’d ruined every moment we’d ever shared. My heart’s being stomped on by the people I trust most, the ones I hold dearest, and with every second the cuts become deeper.
One of the men stands and walks over in front of me. His greasy black hair shining under the lights coming from the stage. With his hard length poking out of his slacks he pulls a small clear bag from his back pocket. I grimace, realizing what it is and a whimper escapes my lips. He empties the white powder carefully onto the top of his length, making sure the powder stops before reaching the tip. I lift my eyes, chancing a look at the offending man in front of me. The muscles in his middle-aged face tense and his nostrils flare. I recoil. How could he be turned on by a fifteen-year-old girl