Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
"Gabriel?" I ask.
"On the way."
I jerk my head in a nod, already knowing it's going to be a long fucking day. "I'll be ready in five. Have the SUV waiting."
"You're the boss," Antonio says, his expression not changing. He's well aware of who is in my bedroom right now and what Rafe wants to discuss. Like Alessio, he's one of my men, but we all answer to Rafe at the end of the day. Gabriel and I may share a certain amount of power, but Rafe leads the family. His word is law…and as far as they know, I just violated one of his laws. I targeted a principessa. I'm holding her against her will. Antonio is worried.
I don't try to ease his mind. We've all got plenty to worry about right now. I'm juggling fire, and I know it. If I drop a torch, we may all go up in flames.
By the time we pull up by the dock at the harbor, Gabriel is already there. He leans against the side of his Harley, skipping pebbles across the water.
He doesn't even glance over his shoulder to see who pulled up. I don't think my youngest brother gives a fuck anymore. He tried for years to keep us together, but this way of life wears on you. By the time he had his accident a few years ago, he wasn't the same kid who spoke the vow.
He's harder. Darker. We rarely see him unless he has no choice. I think he'd walk away from all of it if he could. Hell, which of us wouldn't? None of us wanted this bullshit. We did what we had to do. Just like always.
"You're early," I observe, striding across the dock toward him.
"You're late." He lets another rock fly. It skips three times before sinking, dragged to the bottom to rest alongside decades worth of evidence of La Cosa Nostra crimes. Merda. Ours aren't the only secrets this harbor keeps. The waters of this city are tainted with the sins of its people.
Gabriel skips another rock and then dusts his hands before glancing over at me. "So you have the Genovese girl," he says.
"You heard."
He jerks his chin in a nod.
"Rafe?"
"Mattia."
"Dio. Is nothing secret?" I growl.
"When you have a principessa chained to your bed?" Gabe snorts. "Not fucking likely."
"She isn't chained to my bed. Where have you been anyway?"
"Minding the business that pays me." He shrugs. "Rafe told me to stay the fuck out of it and handle the company, so I stayed the fuck out of it and handled the company. Why?"
"You know Nico and Rafe are talking again?"
Gabe's hazel eyes widen. "Since when?"
"Since Nico's girl saw Rafe kill Carmine."
"You're shitting me." Gabe gapes at me. "You aren't shitting me. Cristo. And they didn't try to kill each other?"
"Apparently not," I mutter, leaning up against the railing of the dock. "They kissed and made up. Mattia didn't give me a whole lot of detail. All I know is that Rafe and Nico are talking again, and it's looking promising."
"Well, that took long enough," Gabe mutters.
"Nineteen years," I say quietly. They've barely spoken since Nico left home when they were eighteen. I blame our father for that. He wanted an heir, and he got one. He just destroyed his oldest sons to accomplish it. As if seeing our mother gunned down in the street wasn't traumatic enough for the two of them. Merda. Is it any wonder we're all fucked up?
Gabriel shakes his head. "What are you doing with the Genovese girl, Luca? I thought we were supposed to be dragging Rafe away from the edge, not pushing him closer toward it."
"That's what I'm trying to do," I mutter, my shoulders tensing.
"By holding her against her will?" Gabe shoots me a look that says he knows I'm full of shit. "We aren't our father, big brother. We aren't Tommaso Genovese. We don't do this shit."
"Cazzo," I growl. "Did Rafe call a sit-down, or is this a setup?"
"He called," Gabe says. "I'm just speaking the truth. You know I am."
"I intend to marry her," I mutter, turning to look out at the water. A ship loaded with crates slowly bobs along the water, headed toward Milwaukee. I'm not sure where the confession comes from, but it's true. I want my ring on her finger. Not because Emilio will demand it but because I want it there.
No, principessa. I'm not a monster. I'm just the man you obsessed.
"Cristo. Does Emilio know?"
"He will soon enough."
"Does she know?"
I shrug noncommittally.
Gabe is silent for a moment and then barks laughter. "Fucking hell. First, Rafe starts thinking with his dick, and now you are."
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"No? You think Emilio will just hand her over? Marcello?" Gabe laughs again, a hard, mocking edge to the sound. "You aren't that stupid, Luca. Emilio is a leech, but Marcello will try to rip your throat out if he gets a chance. He and Callandria are tight."