RISE: THE PREQUEL NOVELLA TO THE SIN AND SECRETS COLLECTION

by Shanna Swenson

  “Well, we may be caged birds, Eady, but dang it, these birds can still fly,” Everleigh smirks. “Come here. Give your sister a hug. Bring it in ladies. We’re all stuck in this hell hole together. We might as well stick by each other. That’s what sisters do.”

  “Core four,” Lia whispers, coming in for a hug with Everleigh and I.

  Addy glances at us, our arms open and she finally relents, coming in to our group hug.

  “We can get through anything as long as we have each other,” Everleigh says with conviction.

  “Did you think I was stupid? That I wouldn’t figure it out?”

  “Figure what out?”

  “Oh, Eden, my sweet little garden. Have I not housed you, fed you, kept you safe… and this is the thanks I get?” His fist slams down on the desk so hard that I flinch. “Bring him in, Rocco.”

  I frown as I turn and see my love, face beaten, suit torn, hauled in by two men who aren’t even close to being as big as he is. “Marco!” I cry and stand from the chair adjacent to the desk to move toward him. His swollen eyes warn me away and I look back to my uncle. “What did you do to him?”

  “Punished him.” Vince shrugs, nonplussed by the lacerations and bruises to his most trusted subject. His suit is impeccable as always and I want to soil it with my rage as I pound his ugly face into mush.

  I can’t fight the tears that come to my eyes. “Why?”

  “Because I know your little secret, my love.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I try to hold onto every ounce of sanity I have left. He can’t take this from me. He’s taken everything else.

  Vince’s hand goes up and he shakes his head. “There’s no sense in denying it, Eden. I have proof.” He throws a video tape onto the desktop, and I simply look back at him. “The way you two are kissing on this tape, there’s no denying that he’s been sampling what’s mine.” The way he says mine frightens me. What is he planning to do to Marco? And how can I get us out of this?

  “It was me, not him. I—I was weak. I—”

  “You're so passionate, sweetling. I know. Your hunger for sex is insatiable.” God, he’s so fucking delusional. Jesus Christ! Nothing could be further from the truth. Vince had almost destroyed my desire for human touch...until Marco. “Even still, Marco knew the consequences of his actions. Therefore, he must pay.”

  My heart plummets as Vince pulls a revolver from his desk drawer and begins to rise. Panic leaps into my throat and I shoot forward, my hands going to his chest. I’m desperate now. I’ll do anything to keep him from killing the man I’m in love with. Anything! “Please, Vince?” I beg. I haven’t called him Uncle Vince in a year; he demanded I stop.“Don’t kill him. It’s not his fault. Please?” Tears stream my face now as I beg with my entire soul for my deranged uncle to spare the life of the one man I can’t live without.

  “I know, sweetling. I know it’s not. My little Eden would never betray me. But he’s been by my side for so long. He’s supported me. He’s been so loyal.” Vince growls the word, “loyal”. I can’t stop him as he moves forward, drawing ever closer to my beautiful Marco and I see blue eyes bounce up to mine, pleading that I tell the truth...but I can’t. I can’t condemn my knight to any more darkness.

  “I’ll do anything, Vince. Anything!” This is what he wants, my pleading...as if it will make any difference.

  “Anything, huh?” The sparkle in his black eyes makes my panic intensify and the hair on my bare neck rises. He grins, it’s sinister and I’m scared to hear what he has to say next. “Then get on your knees, Eden.” He wants me to grovel? I will, I’ll grovel. Whatever it takes to keep the man I love alive and in my life.

  I drop to my knees, directly in front of my lover, and look back up to my uncle. He takes my hair in his hand, gripping it hard and my scalp protests, even though it’s far too familiar with the position. I don’t blink though as I hold his stare. Just when I think he’s going to drop his pants and demand I suck him off right in front of the other three men—he’s done it before—I’m shocked when he plants the gun to my temple. Surprise and terror fill me and, if I’m being honest, relief for a moment as the cold metal settles against my warm skin. Yes, take me instead, I want to say. For the relief of death would be Heaven here in The Devil’s Playground. I can see my parents again and not be tortured by this psychopath any longer. But I hear Marco pleading behind the black tape across his mouth and I realize I would leave him behind to endure it without me. I can’t do that!

  “You fucking fools!” Vince cries and his hand shakes on the gun, I can’t help but gulp. “You thought you could betray me and get away with it? Marco, you backstabbing son of a bitch.” Vince aims the gun at Marco’s forehead and I whimper even as I move my hand up to his forearm. “After all I did for you, you ungrateful motherfucker. I would love nothing more than to watch your brains splatter across my niece's beautiful face.” Vince yells so loud that one could hear it across the entire club...good thing the club is closed, it’s daytime. “But goddammit, you’re far more valuable to me alive than dead. However, I will not tolerate this insolence from either of you any longer. You will know your place after today.”

  My brain literally bounces in my skull as the butt of the revolver hits my temple and my world goes black.

  “Get in, Cordelia,” I hear a deep voice beckon to me as I walk from one college class to another. I look up to see the man I love cloaked in a hood as he pulls up to the curb in a black Lincoln.

  I don’t question him as I run to hop into the passenger side, disregarding the possibility that my uncle is having us watched.

  “Oh, Marco. You’re alive! Thank God!”

  The steel coils that are his arms wrap around me and I could literally die with happiness in that moment. I cried myself to sleep last night, praying, hating and pleading as my groin burned from the flame marking it. After violently raping me over and over again then branding me—yes, with an actual fucking branding iron—Vince had Marco hauled out while I screamed bloody murder, thinking I’d never see him again. My uncle beat my body so badly that I could barely walk today. He spared most of my face, he only occasionally hits me there, when I don’t have to be at school the next day.

  “God, my sweet, sweet little dove, I’m so sorry. I—”

  “Shh, it’s ok. I’d take a thousand beatings in order to see your handsome face again.”

  “Oh, Eden, I love you so much,” he says before pulling my face to his for a searing kiss. I absorb his plump lips and kiss them with my own, so thankful I still have him.

  “I love you too. God, I love you.” Our kiss goes from happiness to desire in a matter of seconds and I plant my hands into his thick, dark hair and pull my body closer to his, loving the feel of his strength against me. I’m safe. I’m home, in my sweet Marco’s arms once more. He kisses me back with such fervor that I could beg him to take me right here on this seat. Love my broken, battered body as only he can, but too soon he’s pulling back.

  “Eden.” His blue eyes turn serious, and I gulp as I register that this may be the last time we can ever be this way. “There’s so many things I want to tell you, my beautiful angel.” His eyes lower for a second before returning to mine. “My past. My crimes. My secrets. But...I have to do something now. I have to get you to safety and there’s only one way to do that.”

  “Marco, what are you gonna do?” The look on his face says it, but I need to hear it out loud.

  “What I should have done a very long time ago. From the moment he took you in front of me. I wanted to kill him that night, you have to understand that.”

  I remember the embarrassment and shame of the awful incident, like it was yesterday... I remember Marco’s face even then, the murderous glare behind his eyes as he watched my uncle raping me with a force that still haunts me to this day. All because a man touched me while on stage and I didn’t move away from him quickly enough to suit Vince.

  “I’ve watched him destroy my precious little d
ove for far too long…while I stood by and did nothing. Maybe one day you can forgive me for not stepping in before now, Eden. Just know that it wasn’t because I didn’t want to. It’s because I couldn’t. There—there are so many things you don’t know, my love. There are more men like him out there. Here. In Atlanta. And I couldn’t stop him without causing more pain for you. That’s why there’s only one way out of this mess.”

  “I don’t understand, Marco. What do you mean?” I plead, taking his hands.

  “You have to die, Cordelia Perelli. You have to die.”

  I gulp. What the hell does he mean? Is Marco gonna kill...me?

  “My darling little dove, you must fall so that you can rise from the ashes.” He kisses my lips again with such tenderness that it stills my heart. “You, you, Eden Riser, are a phoenix. And a phoenix you must now become.”

  I watch in awe as the fire consumes everything. The Devil’s Playground has been swallowed up by the flames it invoked upon itself. And with it, my Uncle Vince and my beloved Marco. I don’t shed a tear; Marco told this little phoenix to be strong and she is...stronger than she ever knew.

  “It’s a shame,” I hear one fireman say to another as they attempt to put out the raging inferno I set. “This club was one of the finest in Atlanta. I heard they had exotic little birds here that men paid lots of money to see...and play with.”

  The other man smirks, “Sin City is what I heard it was. Good fucking riddance.”

  Amen to that, I want to say, but these little birds are no longer caged. We are now birds of prey and we will take what’s ours from now on and fight like hell for it if we must.

  “Crazy guy lit the club up and took himself with it, huh?” he asks as he moves away, back to the firetruck.

  That “crazy guy” was my sweet Marco and he died for me, but not before destroying my enemy so that I could be free, once and for all.

  “Eady.” Everleigh comes and places her arm around my neck. “Are you gonna be ok?” she asks, my fellow ice queen’s eyes full of concern.

  I nod and pull her waist in for a side hug. “I will,” I confirm even if my heart breaks at the loss of my lover.

  “What are we gonna do now?” Addy asks, looking lost. I give her a big smile.

  “There’s lots of money, so much,” I say, knowing Uncle Vince left me a fortune in his will. Eden Riser, his next of kin, will be a multi-millionaire tonight.

  “And what are you gonna do with all of it?” Lia asks, putting her hand in mine.

  “Oh girls, my sweet sisters, I have a great idea!” I laugh, my cackle reverberating in the echo of the roaring fire. I have such a great idea! My little doves are gonna fly. My strong phoenixes are gonna rise.

  * * *

  THE END

  * * *

  Book One in the Sin and Secrets Collection: Delivered in Sin by Nicole Rodrigues, premieres next month—

  Stay tuned for a sneak peek…

  Sneak Peek—Delivered in Sin by Nicole Rodrigues

  Prologue

  Magnolia

  "I want that one! Look at that thing! That's a big bitch. Hand me the saw," Eden instructs, pointing to a huge Frasier Fir, probably about eight feet tall.

  Addison walks over, handing her the saw and then steps back next to me and Everleigh, watching Eden struggle to cut down the tree.

  "Y'all just gonna watch me? Come on!"

  Everleigh laughs, walking over to hold the tree as Eden goes back to cutting it, the sound of the saw against the wood echoing off the quiet atmosphere of the Christmas tree farm.

  Everleigh and Addison both have their tree already cut, laying on the ground behind us and I glance around, knowing I'm next.

  It's been exactly seven years since I left everything I've ever known behind. My family, my brother, my ex-husband. Seven years since I've celebrated a Christmas because the memories from the last one just destroy me.

  "Timber!" Eden yells.

  The tree falls to the ground as Eden lifts the stem and Everleigh holds onto the middle of the tree. They walk it over and drop it next to the other two.

  "Alright girl, your turn. Has to be a good one," Addison says, handing me the saw.

  I nod, taking it as we walk down the row of trees and I zero in on a White Pine tree around five feet tall. I don't have any lights or ornaments, so the smaller the better.

  "This is a good one," I say, pointing to it with the saw.

  "This is way too tiny!" Eden says.

  "That's what she said," Everleigh laughs.

  "I like it. Baby steps, okay?" I bend down on my knees, taking the saw to the bottom of the tree and start to move it back and forth, the movement freeing and soothing.

  I never got to pick out the tree when I was younger and I never got to pick it out married to Giacomo either. Come to think of it, I didn't get to do anything. The tree was already up and decorated by our housekeeper; we never did it together.

  Before I know what's happening, the tree is falling to the ground and I feel a weight lift off my shoulder, but the pit in my stomach still sits there. Maybe after I decorate it, it'll feel different.

  We summon over a few of the guys working the farm to carry our trees over, shaking them out and wrap them to put in the bed of Eden's pickup truck.

  "Let me just go get a stand. I'll meet y'all at the car," I say, putting my gloved hands in my pockets.

  They nod, looking at the eye candy putting the trees up in the truck and I walk back towards the shop. Opening the door, the bell on the top of the door rings and the smell of pine trees and cinnamon assaults my senses.

  "Do y'all have Christmas tree stands?" I ask the woman behind the register.

  "Yes, ma'am. Head towards the back. We may have one or two left."

  "Thank you."

  I walk towards the back of the shop behind an aisle of lights and ornaments and I grab a few boxes of both. I see one Christmas tree stand against the wall in the back and a memory from my last Christmas with my family and Giacomo barrels into me.

  * * *

  "Magnolia, have a glass of wine."

  My mother's voice is soothing, as soothing as it can be and I want so badly to tell her everything that's happened. She wouldn't do anything about it, though, an Italian wife always stands behind her husband.

  "I don't want one, Mama."

  "Why, baby? Oh gosh, is it...are you…"

  She smiles, covering her mouth and I shake my head.

  "No, she's still not pregnant," Giacomo spits out from behind me. "God knows if she ever will be."

  He finishes his tumbler, knocking back the contents in one gulp and I try not to flinch.

  "It's in God's hands, G. If God wanted—“

  "Fuck God," he spurts, interrupting me. "'I'm tired of waiting for this. How long do I have to fucking wait, Magnolia!"

  He slaps his hand towards the tree and an ornament falls to the floor, shattering into a million pieces and I feel like it's my heart. I hate him. I hate him with every fiber of my being but I can’t say a damn thing back to him. My head is so messed up. I close my eyes, pressing my lips together and hold back the tears.

  "What happened in here?" my father asks, walking into the living room with my brother, Luca.

  "Magnolia is a little clumsy after a glass of wine," Giacomo says with a laugh.

  "But I didn’t—“

  My mother's hand on my knee shuts me up and I press my lips together again, nodding. I make eye contact with my brother and he looks down, knowing full well I haven't had one glass of wine and Giacomo's outburst isn't the first. The coward. Swearing to kill any boy that hurts me when we were younger sure cowers at the opportunity.

  "I'm sorry, I'll clean it up." I get to my feet, walking towards the hall closet as I fetch the broom and my brother puts a hand on my arm.

  "Nolie…"

  His voice is laced with uncertainty and hurt and I brush him off.

  "Don't, Luca. You've never had my back before, don't fake it now."

 
I pull my arm away from him and walk back towards the living room, cleaning up the mess. This can't be it. This can't be my life.

  * * *

  Something brushes against my arm, breaking me out of my memory and I shake my head, looking at the culprit. A man reaches for the tree stand and I jump forward, reaching for it too.

  "Wait, this was mine!"

  He turns, looking at me and I have to remember how to breathe. I'm frozen in place, unsure what to do or say. He’s sexy. So, so sexy and my sleeping body snaps awake after all these years.

  "Didn't see your name on it," he says with a smile.

  Oh God, his voice. His voice is deep and smooth, like a talk show radio host on a late night after hours 18 and over type show. He’s blonde and blue eyed, his face is covered with a short dirty blonde beard and my fingers itch to run through it.

  "I...it's not but I was gonna buy it, I just got distracted."

  His smile drops and he passes the stand to me.

  "Don't cry, I was just messing with you. You can take it."

  I didn't realize I was crying as I take my glove off and wipe my eyes underneath my glasses.

  "No, no, I was...just thinkin' about somethin' else. It's not because of the stand, it's fine, you can take it."

  I push it back towards him and he smiles again, shaking his head.

  "I insist, ma'am. Wouldn't be very gentleman-like if I stole the last tree stand from a lady."

  I hesitate for a minute and take the stand, giving him a small smile.

  "Well, thank you. I appreciate it. Merry Christmas."

  I turn and walk back towards the register, putting the lights, ornaments and tree stand on the counter. I pay, taking my things and walk out towards the parking lot, searching for Eden's car.

  "Hey! Tree stand girl!"