All Chapters of They Tricked Me into a Death Mission: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I didn't even look back. The question didn't mean anything anymore.His face stiffened."Linda, don't sulk."Once you've gone to the South District and had a taste of how hard it is, you'll understand us."And I'll stay with you until you leave. It's not like I'm treating you badly."I'd liked Michael since we were kids. It was no secret to anyone in the family."When you come back, maybe I'll think about giving us a chance."He said it so condescendingly, as if he were doing me some enormous favor.Angie chimed in softly, trying to talk me around."Linda, Michael really does care about you."When you cried yourself to sleep at your father's funeral, he was the one who covered you with a blanket."So they really believed my father's years of raising them and all my devotion to Michael were worth exactly this.One blanket at a funeral.My heart sank. A cold ache spread through me.Angie went on. "No one's ever treated me like that. On the farm..."I gave her a cold smile. "Then you'd be

I wanted to tell him I'd already asked the family to take back the villa, and that he needed to return the spare key.He cut me off by sending Angie a string of voice messages.Only then did he look up. "You signing it over to Angie really helps us out."She promised she'd get the underboss to see us at the banquet."With that, he pushed his drink over to me without thinking.Then he looked down and went back to answering Angie."Don't look so gloomy."When you get back from the South District, we'll do this properly."I stared at him. "You seem awfully sure I'll come back."He just smiled without even looking up."You've only done a few small jobs for the family."A place like that, where you have to fight to stay alive? Without us there, you won't last a week before you come crying back."Now I understood their real plan.They didn't want me to stay in the South District forever.They were waiting for me to break under the brutal conditions there and back out of the deal myself.That

I hadn't seen that cross since I threw it to Angie at the bar.But it didn't matter anymore.I gave her a cold, mocking look."So you've already decided it's yours?"Angie faltered for a second, and the four of them immediately stepped in front of her to shield her."You gave it to Angie, so of course it's hers.""Linda, apologize to Angie."Angie's gaze slid past me and swept over every corner of the villa.I'd decorated every room here myself.The living room especially was filled with photos from more than 20 years of our life together.Every birthday, we'd taken a family picture with my father, and each one had been carefully framed and set front and center.Her eyes lit up, and she pulled down a frame at random."So this is what home feels like?"My heart clenched. "Put that down!"Angie turned around. All her usual timidity was gone.Her smile was sweet and spiteful. "At home, my older brother and sister always freeze me out."She placed the cross in my palm."I can forgive you f

Michael opened the package.He froze, and the others crowded around.Rocco saw the gold coin in the box and went pale."What does she mean by this?"Vincent stared at his books and remembered the day I'd come to find him.For a long time, he couldn't say a word.Michael took the others to find Evan.Dom didn't care that the man was surrounded by his enforcers. He started demanding answers right away."Isn't everyone going to the South District supposed to leave next month?"Where did you send Linda?"Evan had his feet up on the table. He looked them up and down and answered lazily, "She's gone."Rocco lost his temper at once.He grabbed the man by the collar and demanded an explanation.But the man knocked him to the floor with one punch.Michael took a deep breath.He tucked all the cash he had on him under the man's glass."I'm Linda's boyfriend. I just want to know where she is."The man looked as if he'd heard a joke.He shot back, "If you're really her boyfriend, how come you don'

The South District really was as dangerous as Michael had said.There were none of the comforts of the family's core territory.Here, there was no guarantee you'd even stay alive.I witnessed horrors my father had always shielded me from.Every night, the windows had to be sealed with sheet metal.Once the police left, gunfights could break out on the streets at any moment.On my first night, the gunfire outside kept me up until dawn.When I met our instructor, Carver, he looked at everyone who'd come for training and said coldly, "Once you're in the South District, you're all weapons."Either you die, or you survive, finish the mission, and walk away with money and glory."It was hell on earth. A voice inside begged me to run.But I kept seeing the four of them forcing me to put my fingerprint on that paper.My hands shook with fear when I thought about what lay ahead.But I was even more afraid of going back to that weak version of myself.I worked harder than anyone.In the first mo