Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“What?” she whispers, her nose creasing.
“I know you’re married to Edoardo Cordoza.” I wipe away the tear clinging to her cheek and breathe easier through the heaviness swamping us when she leans into my embrace.
I don’t know what she sees while peering up at me, but it must be something mammoth. I’ve never seen her soul so open and bared before. “I’m not married.” Her wet eyes dance between mine for several heart-thrashing seconds before she loosens some of the barbed wire curled around my heart. “I’ve never been married.”
I believe her, without fault, so that isn’t what my next question is about. “Edoardo—”
“Lies,” she interrupts. “That’s what he does. He lies, cheats, and steals until you’re so caught up in the twisted mess, you’ll never find a way out.”
I study every twitch and flare of emotion.
I don’t see a single lie.
“Then what is this about?” My stomach gurgles when all arrows point the same way. “You gave Valentina a note telling her to run before she has the baby. Only someone who has lived through that kind of trap would warn another woman about that.”
“Stop… please. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Her eyes stray across the groves, seeking the cameras she’ll never find.
“You can talk freely here, angelo. You can talk freely to me.”
Her chin quivers as she struggles to hold back her emotions. “Then how did he know you were giving up your place in the Cosa Nostra? How did he know you were giving it up for me?”
Shock rains down on me. How does she know that? Out of respect for my family, I wanted to tell them first before sharing it with anyone else.
Again, Lucia reads me like a book.
“You have a mole in the Caruso compound.”
When she attempts to walk away, I snatch up her wrist and yank her back until her back is heated by my front. “That’s there, angelo.” I point to my family home gleaming in the background. “We’re here. No one is here but you and me. You don’t need to be scared anymore.”
“I’m not scared.”
I love her stubbornness, but there’s no denying the truth. “You’ve been terrified since the day we met.” I pull her close so our raging hearts synchronize. “Terrified of telling the truth.” My last three words come directly from my heart. “Terrified of me.”
Strands of blonde locks get caught in my beard when she shakes her head, tears almost spilling again. “I’m not scared of you.”
“Then what is it?” I press, my voice soft but unyielding. “Who are you running from? Who are you protecting? What are you hiding?”
“Nothing. I’m not hiding anything.”
“Lucia—”
“You don’t understand!” she shouts, her tears falling freely now. “You don’t understand what will happen if I tell.”
“And I won’t be able to stop it either. Do you understand that? I can’t help you if you don’t let me in. I’ll have to keep sitting on my fucking hands, watching this sick fuck hurt you again and again.” There’s no way she can miss how fast my heart is racing, but I don’t care. I’m done pretending I am not wholly snowed under for this woman. “Tell me what’s happening. Please. Let me help you.” Her pulse flutters against my lips during my final two words. “Trust me.”
Trust is the only thing I need her to give me to throw everything else away, but it’s also the one thing she’s terrified to give.
“I trust you.”
My euphoria is short-lived.
“But I can’t tell you what’s happening.” All hope of getting through to her is lost until she murmurs, “He will kill him if I tell.”
“Who?”
Her teeth catch her bottom lip as she peers up at me to authenticate the silent pledges of protection rolling out of me.
I will protect her.
I will keep her safe.
I don’t care if I have to flatten the entire fucking world until every threat to her safety is neutralized.
I will do whatever it takes to stop her from living in fear.
And two seconds later, she proves she will do the same for me.
“My son. He will kill my son.”
Chapter 38
Dante
“Ineed ten million dollars.”
The lemon orchard looks different in the daylight. The sun beams on the fruit, turning the citrus clusters golden, and workers shift crates in the distance.
Here, in the grove’s heart, my brothers and I conduct a meeting we don’t want anyone to overhear. The tension is heavier than the unexpected heat of a peculiarly warm autumn day. You’d swear hell opened its gates early to welcome the man I’ll drive there myself the instant Lucia’s son is safe.
“And I need it within the next twelve hours.”
Four sets of eyes snap to me as Matteo straightens up. “Ten million? What the hell for?”
“I’ll explain later,” I say. “Right now, I just need the money and a plan to make sure she gets out of this in one piece.” I nudge my head to Lucia standing at the side of the packing shed. Her eyes are still wet, but my take-no-prisoners approach to her son’s well-being has hardened her spine.