Sold: Dark Mafia Romance

“Why?” I ask, grasping his coat to make him stay.

“Some questions aren’t meant to be answered.”

He throws me another look and jerks himself free of my grip. Then he walks out the door, leaving me standing here with a tiny packet of information that’s not nearly close enough to what I expected for what I paid him.

Still, it’s at least one sliver closer to getting much-needed closure.

It’s dangerous, but I don’t care. I can’t…I won’t stop. My parents died a horrible death in a house fire they didn’t cause. Someone tried to kill them, and I need to know who it was and why.

And I need to know why I’m the only one who survived.

All I remember is my childhood home burning to the ground, the fire licking my skin. One of two reminders I have of that dreadful night.

The other being a man, dragging me out of the house… and the angel wrestling with a demon tattooed onto his bare back as he stood there watching the flames.

Harper

Years ago

In the middle of the night, my house is on fire. Everything happened so quickly that I don’t even know how it all happened. The scent of burning wood and plastic forces me to stay awake.

Adrenaline immediately pushes me to search for my parents, who must still be somewhere in the house.

But do they know the place is going up in flames? “Mom! Dad! The house! It’s on fire!”

No one responds, and I know deep down I have to go search even though it’s dangerous. I grab a bottle of water standing on the counter and open it. The fire is merciless, and no amount of water I throw at it makes a difference. Its flames are licking the walls and drapes around our windows and the staircase. Soon, there won’t be a way out.

My eyes widen. No!

“Mom! Dad! Get out of the house!” I scream, trying to get close, but every step hurts. The fire is so intense that I can barely walk as the floor is heating up. I don’t know where this fire came from or how it started, but it doesn’t look like there’s any stopping it.

My only way out is the front door, but I can’t see a thing in this smoke and fire. Still, I’m determined to make it. Careful not to let the flames touch my skin. I’m sweating like crazy with this heat, and I can’t see a thing. Smoke is all around, filling the house quickly.

Where do I go if I can’t see anything?

I feel my way around the house in a desperate attempt to find the exit. But my heart aches as my parents are still up there somewhere, and I’m leaving them by themselves. But what else can I do? There’s no way I can get close, and I don’t have anything I can try to douse the fire with.

So I try to find a phone instead, hoping to call for help. I touch and feel my way around every table, every desk, and through every drawer but to no avail.

I can’t simply run out the door, even if I do manage to find it. I can’t leave my parents here to die.

Tears fill my eyes as smoke fills my lungs, causing me to cough violently.

Nothing in this world will make me give up on their safety. They mean everything to me because I have nobody else.

But my lungs are failing me, and I can’t breathe much longer.

“Help!” I yell as a last attempt.

The whole place is turning as dark as a pitch-black night, smoke and soot everywhere as I struggle to stay awake. My body collapses onto the ground, and my eyes close.

I can’t give up. I can’t give up …

That’s when two hands grab me by the shoulder and lift me, dragging me away. Out into the dark of night, where my lungs suck in the clean oxygen, and my eyes burst open with life.

In front of me is a man with a two-part tattoo of an angel and a demon on his muscular back as he stands facing the fire.

But I’m too weak to get up, too weak to even say a word to my savior, too weak to ask him to save my parents instead of me.

And it will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Present

After I’ve showered and taken the time to blow off some steam, I go home to read through the documents in peace. I throw my bag onto my table, make a cup of coffee, and sit down on the couch with the folder in my hand. My hand shakes as I open it, so I put the coffee down for a moment.

Every step closer to the truth makes my heart race.

I swallow and read every word carefully. Three men detected at an address. They’re all connected. Several pictures are included. That’s it.