Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I have to stop this.
“Let me think about this, Natalie. You can reach me on this burner phone when you need to. I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises.”
“Please, Mr. Gallo. If you care anything at all about this little girl…”
“I don’t even know this little girl, Natalie. But I won’t sit around while any child is harmed. I just have to figure out the best way to go about this.”
“Please don’t tell Mr. McAllister that I reached out to you. I don’t regret it. I would do anything for Belinda.” She sucks in a breath. “But if he finds out…”
“I know. Trust me, this will stay between the two of us.”
I’m tempted to tell her everything. That Belinda and I will never be married, and that the Bianchis and the McAllisters will be out of business as soon as I can make it happen.
But I can’t.
I can’t tell anyone that.
Not until it’s over.
“All right. Thank you, Mr. Gallo. I need to get back to the house. And I still have to stop at the store so I have some groceries to show for my trip.”
“I understand. Reach out on the burner whenever you need to. And I’ll be in touch.” I shove the burner back in my pocket and pull out my regular smartphone.
I have a missed call. From a number I don’t recognize.
Dare I call it back on this phone?
I pull out my burner again and tap in the number.
“Hello?”
God, that sweet voice. It’s Raven. Raven tried to call me. I already had two missed calls from her regular number.
“Hi, Raven,” I say.
“Oh my God, Vinnie.” She lowers her voice. “How are you? Are you okay?”
So very Raven. The first thing she thinks of is me. How I’m doing. When I’m the one who left her alone in her bed in the middle of the night and then proceeded to screen her calls all day.
I don’t deserve this woman. No one does.
“I’m fine. More importantly, how are you?”
“So much is going on, Vinnie. I mean, physically I’m fine, but…”
“But what?” I ask.
“That lawyer. The one who asked me out.”
“Right. What about him?”
She pauses. “You really don’t know?”
My heart begins to accelerate, and I’m not sure why. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Raven.”
“You mean it’s not all over the news?”
“What the hell are you talking about? What happened?”
“He must not have gotten my text in time. You know, my text breaking the date. So he showed up at our house. But my parents were out for the evening and…”
Her voice is sad, fearful.
“Baby, what happened?” I say, my voice lowering an octave.
“Someone…killed him, Vinnie.”
My stomach drops out from under me. This couldn’t possibly be the work of my—
“Someone killed him, and then got into our house, and…” She starts crying.
“For the love of God, Raven. What the hell happened?”
“My mother found him in my bed. In my bed in her house. His throat was slit, Vinnie. There was a note attached to the body.”
This can’t mean anything good. “What did the note say, Raven?”
“It didn’t make any sense.”
I have a horrible feeling it’ll make sense to me, but I don’t say that.
“What did it say?” I grit out.
“It’s said, ‘your move, Cobra.’”
My blood runs cold.
My fucking grandfather. But why would he leave such a note when he’s the cobra?
Except he’s the king cobra.
“Vinnie?”
I can’t respond to her yet. I’m too damned angry.
“Vinnie, are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“Do you know what the note means?”
Do I tell her I do? She’ll only worry about me. It’s enough that I’m worried about her.
“No. I’m sorry. I don’t.”
“You think it has something to do with…”
“Don’t say anything else, Raven. Please.”
She lets out another sob. “He was helping me. The attorney. He was helping me set up my nonprofit. It’s because of me that—”
“Don’t you dare go there,” I tell her. “Don’t you dare take the blame for any of this.”
“Vinnie… Why did you…”
I swallow. I try to find the right words. The last thing I want to do is hurt this woman. This beautiful, wonderful woman who I love more than my life.
“It’s better this way,” I say. “I love you, Raven. But trust me. It’s better this way.”
“No. I don’t accept that. If you love me—”
“I do. Don’t ever question that. It’s because I love you that I’ve chosen to stay away from you. I should’ve never let it go as far as it did.”
“So you regret it then?”
Oh, she’s jabbed a stake into my heart. “Regret it? Being with you? Of course not. I regret everything else. Regret having to leave you. Because if I don’t, you’ll only be in more danger.”
“Falcon and Leif found surveillance equipment in my home.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Why do you think I insisted that we go outside to talk on Friday?”