Wrath (Malice Mafia, #2)

by Coralee June

Vicky was sitting on the ground again, shaking her head in annoyance. “What are you going to do, Nick? Shoot up the hospital?” she replied with a roll of her eyes.

vicky is kind of funny when she's not trying to kill everyone

“They wipe your ass here?” Anthony asked excitedly. “Do you have to make an appointment for that service, or should I get stabbed?” Nick’s lip twitched, as if he were trying to contain a smile. I wondered how many times over the course of their lives Anthony would lighten the situation with his humor. Was it genuine or a coping mechanism?

“If you leave here without any medical supervision, your stitches could bust. You could have internal bleeding, and by the time you realize that you’re dying, it’ll be too late. Now, my colleagues worked very hard to bring you back from the literal dead, and I’m not going to sit here and let you ruin all of our hard work because you are a stubborn little child.”

daaaaamn go off bestie!

“Whatever you want to do, I support you. I know what it’s like to try and go home after having your world completely ripped apart. If you don’t handle this now, you might never feel normal again.”

am i crying????

“I want all of us to work together to take him down. I want to move past this,” Nick replied before looking over at his sister. Vicky nodded before speaking. “Together.”

TOGETHER LIKE A FAMILY 🥹 i'm fine 😭

“He seems pretty obsessed with me,” Vicky said. “I’m just saying, if you need bait—” Nick interrupted her. “Absolutely not. You called us here to help, and we’re going to help. Putting you in danger is not an option.” Vicky’s eyes watered. I wondered if Nick realized how much she needed to hear that from him. I couldn’t help but once again see that sliver of hope festering between us. I was scared. But we were all together.

i. am. completely. fine.

I couldn’t help but wonder if Nick felt like a failure. His parents put so much pressure on him to run their empire, protect his siblings, and follow all these archaic rules in his grab for power. Nick was a man molded by his father’s teachings. He had to be hardened to handle the sort of life he lived, but it broke him.

“I’m gonna work hard to be worthy of you,” he then said. “That’s the thing, Nick, I never asked you to prove yourself. I just wanted you. I don’t need the walls you’re willing to build around me. I don’t need your financial security. I don’t need your protection or your gifts. I need your time and love and acceptance. I need room to breathe, and trust. More than anything, I need trust.”

“You could have all of it. All of me,” he replied reverently.

Forgiveness came in waves. It was this back-and-forth thing I struggled with.

“Did you ever care about me?” I asked her.

“I cared. I still care. I love you. But when we were talking about my brothers and how you were demanding that they treat you the way you deserve, it made me realize that I was just as bad as they are. I made you meet me on my terms. I saw how lonely you were and did what I was trained to do—I manipulated you. It was fucked up. But I was so addicted to the feeling of freedom that I didn’t care. I regret it, though. ” “Your brothers are learning. I think you could learn, too.”

“If you want to know about my past, I’ll tell you. If you want space from me, I’ll give it to you. If you want to forgive me, I would struggle with feeling worthy of your forgiveness, but I would graciously accept it. Watching you teach my brothers how to love you made me realize that I want to learn how to be your friend.”

this bitch gonna die right when i was starting to like her? why can't i have nice things??

“Nick is an asshole,” Vicky said with zero hesitation. “But I think I understand him better now. I used to think he was this invincible superhero. But now I think he’s just scared. Scared to disappoint the ghost of our father. Scared to mess up and get us hurt. Scared to lose you. Scared of being alone. Everything he does is motivated by fear.”

“The truth is, we’re all a product of this fucked up world, Juliet. Part of loving them means loving their evil, too. Anthony almost killed you. Nick controlled you. William broke your heart. You’ve decided that they’re forgivable. I just hope one day you can see that I’m worthy of it, too. It’s not about being good or bad. It’s about realizing that all we have is each other. We’re better together. It just took being away from them for me to realize that.”

Anthony looked at Nick. “Are you chasing flies, Nick?” he asked.

when will the flies leave me alone bro 😭😭😭

William was the only one to stop me from jumping into the flames. He wrapped his arms around me as I cried out. I hated him for saving me, for loving me. All of this started because I made a choice. Because I fell in love. Because I was a lonely girl clinging to dangerous men. She was dead because of them.

i. am. emotionally. damaged.

Acceptance is such a funny concept. How can you accept something inevitable? Acceptance only means something if you have a choice. If it happens to you, it’s just existence. Living. Breathing.

Would you mind holding this? It’s a box of grief. Hold it tight to your chest for me so I can do what needs to be done.

WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR THIS???? IM FUCKING FRAGILE YOU ASSHOLE AND YOU HAD TO PULL THIS? not him doing what he told juliet to do when they first met while he's getting revenge for his family 😭