Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Like I said, lucky girl.” Peter leers at me.
I grab my whiskey glass and hurl it at his face. It hits his forehead with an audible thunk and Peter yelps in pain as blood pours from a wound on his eyebrow. Face cuts, they bleed a lot, and it drips from between his hands as I sit there, glaring at him.
The goons behind me leap to their feet. Guns cock and my life hangs in the balance, and some stupid part of me wants to turn around and go down shooting, at least die like a man with a gun in my hand, but Yiannis stands, glaring hate at me, and holds his hands up.
“Stop it,” he says, “stand the fuck down.”
“Kill him,” Peter snaps. “Kill the fucking Italian piece of shit.”
“Enough.” Yiannis stares around him, daring the goons to disobey. I remain motionless, hands on the table in front of me, smiling a bit. That was stupid and childish, but it felt good. “Peter, go take care of yourself in the back.”
“Father,” Peter roars. “This bastard attacked me—”
“You provoked him,” Yiannis says sharply. “Again and again, you provoked him. Are you shocked he finally snapped? Get the fuck out of here.”
Peter stands and stares rage at me. His face is covered in blood and it’s dripping onto the nice carpeted floor. “I won’t forget this.”
“I bet you won’t.”
“Stop it. You both have big dicks. Fuck off, Peter.”
Peter turns and leaves. The men behind me slowly sink back into their seats, but I doubt the guns are put away. Yianna rubs his face, downs his wine, and glares at me.
“Was that necessary? Really, Luca? I thought you were smarter than that childish shit. What is wrong with you?”
“Your son was being a prick.”
“And you know better than to let an idiot like that provoke you.” Yiannis sighs and rubs his face. “You’re a fucking mess. You really liked the girl, didn’t you?”
I look away toward the bar. “She was just another piece of Greek ass to me.”
“Lying moron. You want to get killed here, don’t you? Would that make the pain go away? I can ask my guys to put two in the back of your skull. I can make it quick. You won’t have to think about the girl ever again.”
“Fuck you, Yiannis.”
“No, Luca. Fuck you for breaking now when we’re so close. You’re curling up on yourself like a scared fucking rat.”
I look back at him, head tilted. “Kacia’s gone. You said yourself, our deal’s all but dead. You call me a rat again, and I’ll break your nose next.”
“Get her back, you thick-headed piece of shit.”
“I told you—”
Yiannis leans forward. “Since when were you afraid of the Russians?”
I let that sink in. I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. I know what he’s doing and I should be better than to fall for it, but I can’t help myself. “I’m not afraid. My Don forbade me from following the girl.” Which is true. I nearly killed my old man over it, but in the end, I’m too much of a fucking mafia-loyalist to ever go against the Don’s orders. I’m stuck here while Kacia is out in LA doing god knows what, maybe she’s dead, maybe she’s hurt, but there’s nothing I can do.
I’m stuck here hating myself instead.
“That’s the beauty and the curse about our line of work, isn’t it? Loyalty to the family is the most important thing in the world. You’d die for your Famiglia, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes,” I say and I mean it.
“Then do something harder. Go against your Don. Get the girl back. We’re so close to making this deal happen and ending our feud. I want it and I know you want it, so go make it happen. Bring the girl back.”
I look down at my empty glass. “She doesn’t want to come back.”
“Figure it out. Since when did you give a fuck what some Greek bitch wants?”
“Don’t talk about Kacia that way.” I push back and stand. “I’ll be in touch, but don’t wait up.”
“Get your shit together, Luca! I know you cared about her. That’s all the more reason to get her again!”
I walk past the Greek soldiers and nod to them. They stare death at me and don’t nod back. Fucking sore losers. I head to the door and leave the high-end steakhouse for the uncomfortable glare of mid-afternoon. I’m too tired and angry to think straight, and the alcohol’s trying to drag me down deeper into a muddy haze.
My whole world right now is a muddy haze.
My car’s parked a few blocks away. As I walk, I make a call. “Yo, Luca, I’ve been waiting to hear from you.”
“Denny,” I say softly. “What’s the news?”
“Well, I did what you asked. The girl landed and we tailed her.”