SWNOVELS The Devil’s Fire by Mariam El-Hafi Chapter 16
Althaia
“You promised me, Althaia!” Cara scowled at me
“I did no such thing!” I mirrored her expression. I was in Cara’s room helping her pack her bags as she was going to stay with the Bellavia’s to plan the wedding. Well, she was packing, and I was on the bed, lying on my stomach, flipping through a magazine. Since we lived a few hours away from them, it was easier for her to stay there instead of constantly going back and forth. And now she was trying to make me come with her.
“Yes, you did! Remember when we went out for brunch, and told you I needed help to plan the wedding? You told me you would be happy to help since you’re staying here for a while and had nothing to do anyway.” She quickly said. I stopped flipping through the magazine as I tried to remember when I had said that.
That was when I realized it!
“Are you actually trying to force a fake memory in my mind?” I said to her accusingly.
“No.” Cara avoided looking at me.
“Yes, you are you sneaky bitch!” threw a pillow at her face, and she huffed at me with a frown.
“Well, what are you going to do here alone, anyway?” She put her hands on her hips.
“I don’t know, eat and chill with Michael?” I shrugged. She
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actually had a point… I didn’t have anything to do whe….e had to leave. I had been staying in the mansion for a couple of weeks now and it was not like there was much to do here unless I wanted to become best friends with Morella.
Yeah, I did not like that, and I would probably go deaf if I had to listen to her speak one more time. I felt my skin crawling every time she called me darling.
“You can eat over there, and besides, Michael isn’t going to be free all the time to hang out with you.” She continued to argue. It was another good point made. Michael had been incredibly busy these days, and I had barely seen him around.
“I hate it when you’re right.” I moped.
“But why are you even planning the wedding, and not just getting someone else to do it for you?”
“I am being handed over like I am a freaking object! The least they can do is for me to have a say in this wedding. And you have good taste, so you’re helping me. I’m older than you, you have to listen to me.”
“How lame of you to pull the ‘I’m older than you’ card. Which doesn’t even work. But fine, I will come with you.” I rolled my eyes at her when she squealed in excitement. I resumed reading my magazine, trying to get some inspiration. I have been kind of working from her whenever my mother needed my help, we would talk, and I would send her my sketch ideas. She had been surprisingly okay with me being here. Not like she could do anything to prevent me from staying with my father.
I was actually enjoying it here.
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“Well, I’m going back to my room, I’m tired. And we have to wake up early for the Service tomorrow.” A yawn escaped my lips as I rolled out of bed.
“Thanks for the help.” Cara said sarcastically.
“You are so much welcome.” I snickered and closed the door behind me. I lazily dragged my feet down the hallway when I noticed Carlos coming out of his bedroom.
“Hi, Carlos.” I gave a small smile. This was only the second time trying to talk to him. I didn’t know what his problem was, but I always found him glaring at me from afar.
“Bitch.” He muttered under his breath as he walked past me. I stopped in my tracks. Furious, I took a hold of his arm.
“What the fuck is your problem!?” Carlos ripped his arm out of my grasp and pushed me roughly against the door. Right into the doorknob. I cried out in pain, but he covered my mouth with his hand, preventing me from making a sound.
“You’re my fucking problem!” He hissed at me. I wasted no time and raised my leg and kneed him where I knew would hurt him the most. He groaned out in pain and cupped his precious balls.
“You bitch!” Before I could even move, he slapped me with the back of his hand. I fell to the ground and my head collided with the floor. A ringing sound appeared, and my eyesight got blurry. Luckily, I could faintly see Carlos walking away.
I slowly stood up, groaning a little at the back pain and holding my cheek in my hand as a stinging sensation appeared on my right side. I glared towards the stairs and hoped that wherever he was going, he would get shot.
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“What the hell happened to your face!” Cara looked shocked when she got a closer look at me. We were sitting in the car, being escorted to the church where we would meet up with
the rest.
“I had a little encounter with the cocksucker for ice cream.” I
said angrily and she looked at me confused.
“Carlos.” I elaborated and her eyes widened.
“Carlos did this to you? Where the hell is that bitch, I’m going to cut off his dick!”
“By all means.” I couldn’t care less about that scumbag. The stinging sensation I felt resulted in a freaking cut and a bruise. He was apparently wearing a ring that cut into my cheekbone. I tried to cover it with makeup, but it was still a bit visible. It didn’t help that I was also a bit swollen. It still hurt. And my back hurt.
I hope he got fucking shot.
A crowd of people was already standing outside when we arrived at the church. I guess they were pretty serious about Sunday Services. I remember going to these Services when I was younger, but since my mother and I moved away, we stopped going. She wasn’t a big believer and went purely because of my father, who came from a Catholic family. I, on the other hand, had a bit of a complex view of it all.
I spotted my father standing in front of the entrance with Damiano, Lorenzo, and three other men I haven’t seen before. My father waved us over as soon as we got out of the car, and we made our way toward them. I greeted my father and he
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put his arm around my shoulder and introduced me.
“Meet my daughter, Althaia. And this is Dale, Fabian, and Roberto, great business partners and very good friends of mine” He gestured to the three middle-aged men.
“Hello, nice to meet you.” I smiled at them and offered a little wave, and they smiled back with a little nod.
“Gentlemen, shall we head inside? The Service is about to begin.” My father went ahead inside with his business partners. Just as I was making my way inside, I felt myself being pulled back. I turned around to see it was Damiano. He glanced at my face, and I felt my breath hitch. Tingles erupted in my stomach when he softly held my chin as he examined the cut on my face. He frowned the more he looked at it before his eyes met mine.
“Who did this to you?”
“Why?” I asked, curious as to why he cared.
“I don’t like asking twice.” He still showed no form of expression and it started to annoy me that I couldn’t just get a glimpse of what he was feeling.
“Althaia.” Damiano said in a warning tone, his patience wearing thin. I felt my heart skip a beat when he said my
name.
“… Carlos.” I breathed out. He nodded and let go of me. I quickly composed myself and hurried inside the church, finding my seat next to Cara. She gave me a teasing side look which I pretended not to notice and focused on the priest.
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The Service finished and I was engrossed the whole time. It was beautiful and I was touched by the way the priest talked about the Lord. I was not a religious person, but I liked the idea of a higher power, but the overall concept was still difficult for me to comprehend in a way. Though, sitting in there and listening to the priest still made my heart feel at
ease.
We were outside, waiting as mine and Cara’s things were being moved to a different car. We were going to be escorted by one of Damiano’s men since there was no reason for one of my father’s men to escort us all the way over to their place only to drive back again.
“Oh wait, I forgot my purse in the other car!” I said to Cara before we got inside and quickly made my way to the car we arrived in. I grabbed my purse and shut the door when a sudden screech of tires caught my attention. I looked to the main road and saw two black SUV cars driving fast.
“Get down!” Someone shouted, and multiple gunshots could be heard. I froze in place in fear, my legs refusing to move when I saw the gun pointing out of the window. I squeezed my eyes shut when I was suddenly thrown to the ground behind the car. I was prepared for a hard landing but instead, it was mild, and my head was protected.
I opened my eyes and looked up, only to see it was Damiano.
Protecting me with his body.
“Hold onto me.” He ordered and he didn’t have to tell me twice as I fisted my hands onto his shirt. He pulled me tightly into him, almost carrying me to move along with him and lean against the car in cover. Damiano pulled out his gun and fired
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at the SUV tires. One of them exploded, making them lose control as they swerved from side to side. No words came out of me as I watched it all unfold, seeing just in time for the SUV to flip.
Damiano was quick on his feet and pulled me up against him and rushed to the car where Cara was. He was still covering my body as I got inside the car.
“Keep your heads down.” He ordered and I wanted to ask what about him, but he slammed the door shut before I could.
“Go!” He yelled at the driver, and he wasted no time and sped away from the scene.
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