Condemned To You – Marianna Buffolino (1)

I may not be in immediate danger but I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” I forgot I go by Freya now. Something I still needed to get used to. “I was just lost in thought. Thank you.” Taking a sip, the perfectly temperate coffee coated my mouth filling it with flavors of berries which only got better as it went down my throat. Looking at my watch, I knew I had some time to spare.

Emilio said he would be gone for about an hour. My fingers absentmindedly tracing the rim of the coffee cup and watching the steam rise as my mind drifted to my family back home. As much as I was enjoying this bit of freedom, I missed everyone terribly – even Luca. My mind began to wonder if I missed my brother because Emilio was still alive. Did my relationship with Luca really depend on Emilio’s life?

Would anything have changed between us if I knew Emilio was still alive? The sound of the door chiming caught my attention causing me to look up and watch a woman walk in, cheeks flushed from the cold outside. We make eye contact and she nodded her head to me. Did I know her or was I just being paranoid? Everyone here was so nice it made me feel out of touch with reality. Out of politeness, I nodded in return.

Unable to take my eyes off of her, she looked like a Viking goddess. Her long hair braided and left over her shoulder to cascade down to her hip. Wearing a brown leather trench coat with sheep fur lining and boots, she was clearly a local. After placing an order at the counter, she made her way toward me. “Mind if I sit?” She asked me.

Without giving an answer, the woman plopped herself onto the chair. She didn’t even bother removing her jacket. “Do I know you?” I asked. “No,” she smiled. “I’ve noticed you frequent this bakery. Are you on holiday?” “Just moved here,” I smiled.

Bethany snapped out of shock and sprang onto her knees, bowing in forgiveness as she pled, “Luca, please. Have mercy.” Getting to my feet, I watch Luca sneer at his sister then look to me. The look of betrayal in his eyes lasted a mere few seconds before it turned into pure rage. Lunging toward me, instant regret of my choice to continue seeing Bethany clawed within me. Although I was certain Luca would kill me right then and there, fighting for my life at the moment didn’t seem worth it.

I did this to myself and if death was the punishment, then so be it. Luca’s fist hit me straight in the jaw causing me to hit the ground. My face hit the wooden floor and the sound of a gun click sent a shiver down my spine. “Luca! No!” Bethany screeched. Luca ignored her. “Look at me!” He demanded from me. Turning onto my back, I look up to meet my fate. Out of all the crazy shit I’ve done, never did I think I’d go out like this in a cowardly manner.

I’ve made too good of a name for myself to have my life end like this. The torment in Luca’s eyes made me ashamed. I was the one person he could trust wholeheartedly, the one person he never had to question. Bethany was sobbing. “Please. Luca don’t do it.” Rushing in were their mother and sisters who were shocked, speechless, and mortified at what they were looking at.

Bethany naked sobbing on the sofa, while I lay naked on the floor with Luca pointing his gun at me. They didn’t need to be told what had happened. Rita quickly threw a blanket over Bethany. “Luca,” their mother voiced, unsure whether she could tame the situation. “Not here.” Alfie enters the room, “How did Emilio get here so fast?”

When he realized what was going on he stopped in his tracks. “Alfie,” Luca stated as he lowered the gun, “Take him to the box.” There was a sigh in the room from all the women except Bethany who threw herself onto me. “NO!,” She cried. “You can’t!” Yanking her by the arm, Luca pulled her off of me. “I should make you watch.” Pulling her arm out of his grip, she shouts, “I hate you Luca!

Kill him and I’ll kill myself!” “I have a spare in the car,” Luca replies holding his gun up. “Luca!” The women shouted in unison. The look of emotional damage in Bethany’s eyes killed me. She stood there in shock. Her relationship with her brother had become quite strong the last few years, and Luca has lightened the reigns. Once she was married to Pio, Luca felt that the obligation of taking care of her fell onto her husband.

This moment had forever destroyed their sibling bond.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: a745c24f88b7e6ae
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 3,415,329 bytes (3.257 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 170
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 263.75 minutes
• Total Words: 52,749
• Total Characters: 280,522
• Average Words per Page: 310.29
• Average Characters per Page: 1650.13

Most Frequent Words

bethany (232), one (199), back (189), luca (177), know (139), eyes (138), like (131), get (130), face (129), alfie (125), around (125), didn’t (121), time (116), head (113), emilio (111), made (109), i’m (106), want (97), don’t (95), going (93), make (93), wasn’t (91), said (89), hand (86), body (86), got (84), knew (83), look (81), against (80), man (80), let (78), now (77), take (77), i’d (76), way (76), felt (74), need (73), right (71), even (71), voice (70), myself (70), chapter (69), never (69), you’re (69), it’s (68), think (67), mouth (67), replied (65), family (63), took (63), life (61), looked (61), see (61), air (61), onto (60), looking (60), mind (60), good (56), pulled (56), inside (56), moment (55), hands (55), something (55), room (54), door (54), away (54), toward (53), gun (53), last (53), tell (53), sure (52), still (52), someone (51), couldn’t (50), always (49), father (49), getting (47), heart (47), thought (46), hamilton (46), began (45), wanted (45), long (44), behind (44), ghost (44), kitap (43), com (43), i’ll (43), making (43), everything (43), night (43), placed (43), asked (43), breath (43), between (42), hair (42), sound (41), walked (41), though (41), came (41).

PDF Download