Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“Neither can I.” Now that we were deep in conversation, Crow turned bitter and sour. The stress etched into his features as he thought of the situation in front of him, the problem looking him right in the face. None of this was his fault, especially since Conway was a grown man, but he loved his son too much not to be involved. He had to protect his family as the patriarch. “Fuck, I don’t know how to handle this.” He rubbed his hand along his jaw, his eyes dark with sorrow.
It was one of those moments that made me like Crow again, the way he sacrificed anything for his family. His worry came from love, the overwhelming devotion he had to his family. His love for Vanessa was the reason he got rid of me. He got his hands dirty when he didn’t want to because his family was more important than his discomfort. It reminded me of myself. I was determined to take down my mother’s killer at any cost—even though she was already dead and gone. That didn’t stop me—and it wouldn’t stop Crow.
“Do you think it’s possible for you to get a meeting with them?”
“I can ask. But I don’t know if I’ll be successful. As far as I know, they have no idea how we’re connected. I’m very private about my personal life, so they may not know I’m seeing Vanessa at all.”
“I hope they don’t.”
“If they ask, we should say we’ve done business together.”
“Agreed,” he said quickly. “Now comes my next question…are you willing to do that?”
The Skull Kings were known for being erratic. I had no idea how they would react once I broached the subject. I was getting tangled up in a potential mess, a mess that wasn’t my problem. But when I pictured Vanessa as my wife, wearing my ring on her hand every single day for the rest of her life, I knew her family would always be my problem. I would have to protect every member of her family for the rest of my life.
But it was a price I was willing to pay—for her.
“You know my answer, Crow.” I stared at him head on, my hand gripping my glass. “My love for your daughter has made me loyal to your family. I will spill my own blood for a Barsetti—every time.”
He tilted his head down, severing eye contact. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he drank from his glass. “I was so fucking wrong about you.” He lifted his gaze again to look at me. He rubbed his hand along the back of his head, his eyes hardening in frustration. “So damn wrong.”
Crow left without saying goodbye to Vanessa, and I walked into the house to smell burned dinner.
There was smoke in the kitchen, and she had the windows open to air it out.
I kicked off my shoes and pulled my shirt over my head. “Need help?”
“No.” She placed the pans in the sink then soaked them. There was no food inside, so I assumed she’d already dumped it into the garbage can. “Unless you want to pick the place we’re going to order from.”
I didn’t tease her for her inability to prepare a meal. It was the one thing she wasn’t good at. But if you put a gun in her hand, she could hit her target with perfect aim. I walked into the kitchen, came up behind her, and pressed a kiss to her neck. “How about I take you out?”
She turned off the water and looked at me over her shoulder. “As nice as that sounds, I prefer to stay in.”
“Why?”
“Because we can have sex on the dining table in the middle of dinner.”
I pressed another kiss to her ear. “Very true, baby. You’ve convinced me.”
She turned around and arched her back against the sink while the swell of her tits rubbed against my bare chest. Her wet fingers moved up my shoulders, and she tilted her chin up to look at me loom over her. “How’d it go?” Despite how much pain this situation caused her, she continued to seem indifferent about it, doing her best not to put any pressure on me. But the desperation was deep in her eyes, the undying hope.
“Fine.” My hands gripped her slender waistline, and my thumbs dug into her stomach. Whenever I looked at this beautiful woman, all I wanted was to make her happy. She was my woman, and that never felt more real than when she was in my arms, my hands right over her ribs.
“Just fine?” she whispered.
“I didn’t shoot him.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she gave me a playful slap on the arm. “Don’t say things like that.”
I rubbed my nose against hers, apologetic for the crass thing I’d just said. “We just talked. Even when we spend hours together, when I walk away, I feel like nothing was accomplished. The man and I are just too different.”