XXI

DELILAH

"M-Marry you?" I whisper, looking at him with my widened eyes, while pushing myself back so that I can avoid our proximity. He is too close to me and we are practically sharing the air to breathe.

"Yes, Del, marry me and I'll let your father live," he says, his deep voice as if vibrating my whole entity. He stays like that, close to me and I look at him with anticipation.

This is not what I want though. I do not think we are good enough for each other. Besides, he is not a simple citizen. He is not normal like us. He is a Mafia prince.

I swallow hard, impatience touching its elevation inside me. I begin twitching due to uncertainty, and nervousness crawling up above me like wicked bugs.

"Speak, Del." I did not even realize until now that I was frozen in my position. So much panic was rippling inside me, and he made sure of it. I knew he knew about that, too. He wanted to impose fear inside me from the advent.

"Nathaniel," the sense of his name on my tongue, perceives so u