Page 49 of Forgotten Sacrifice

I’m on my way.

Chapter

Twenty

Luna

I settle under the covers, but a woman’s voice in the hallway has me jackknifing upright.

Sliding out of bed, I creep to my door and quietly crack it open. Sticking my head out in the hall, I watch Vince lead a woman to his room, their backs to me.

That weird clawing feeling in my chest is back. Not to mention this is totally going to fuck up my plan! I had no idea Vince has a girlfriend, orwhoevershe is.

I wait a few minutes before tiptoeing to his door and leaning my head against it; I can faintly make out a rhythmic squeaking of the bed, and that weird clawing feeling is now spreading throughout my body.

“Vince,” a woman moans.

“Oh, fuck, Luna!” Vince thunders.

Everything goes eerily quiet for a split second, and then, “Who the fuck is Luna?” A female voice shouts.

I tiptoe run to my room and pull the door closed. Smiling, I climb back into bed and dream of checkmate.

The next morning, I make sure to get to the kitchen early, pouring myself a bowl of cereal. Taking a seat, I ready myself for the drama that’s about to unfold.

I expect Vince to greet me first, but instead, his mystery woman sneers at me from the doorway. “You must beLuna.”

“The one and only.” I smile brightly. “Who are you?”

She crosses her arms. “Sophie. Vincenzo’sgirlfriend.”

“Congratulations,” I say, taking a bite while ignoring that strange feeling in my chest. Maybe Nicky needs to check me out to see if I’ve developed acid reflux or something.

She strolls over and takes a seat across from me. “You mean nothing to him.”

“Okay.” I focus my attention on the bowl of cereal in front of me, scooping up another bite. “Although he did scream my name last night instead of yours; wonder what that means?” I smile before bringing the spoon to my mouth and slurping the milk.

“It means, you silly little girl, that men always want what they can’t have,” she says in a patronizing tone. “If you’re dumb enough to spread your legs for him, he’ll take your innocence and toss you out the next morning like a carton of soured milk.”

I snort a laugh. “Who peed in your cereal?”

“Because after he fucks you, the appeal’s gone,” she proceeds with her lecture. “You’re no longer the shiny new toy. And trust me, with men like Vincenzo, there’s always a shiny new toy,” she stage-whispers the last part.

“Thanks for the lecture. Now I’m going to give you one:you might want to take notes. You’ve hitched your wagon to a man who will never love you, and you’re bitter as hell about it, but you’re too scared to cut him loose completely. So you act out in passive aggressive ways, afraid to push Vince too hard because deep down you know he really doesn’t give a shit about you. Then you see me, theshiny new toy,and you’re afraid I’m going to steal him from you, forgetting that he doesn’t belong to you in the first place.”

Her palm connects with my cheek, causing the spoon I was holding to fly across the kitchen.

Vince appears, jerking his “girlfriend” out of the chair as he presses a gun to her temple. “Leave, and don’t ever come back. Keep your fucking mouth shut, or you know what’ll happen.”

I watch in morbid fascination as she whimpers, bobbing her head.

He lowers the gun, and she sprints for the door.

“Thank you, Daddy,” I goad him when we’re alone.

Vince strolls around to where I’m sitting, jerking me up by the neck. My eyes are wide as I claw at his hand wrapped tightly around my windpipe; that only makes him squeeze tighter. “You’rethe one who should be afraid to push me too hard, Luna.” He tosses me in the chair and storms out.

My hands find my throat as I catch my breath, a smile spreading across my lips. I’ve just checked my opponent’s king.