Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“And what do you do?”
His voice broke when he spoke. “Whatever he says. He took my home and gave it to one of his lieutenants. I sleep in the car or on the couch. He keeps tabs on me at all times. Said he’ll kill me if I try to run.”
I didn’t feel bad for him whatsoever. “His endgame?”
“Watch everyone get rocked by the Skull King, while he runs the arms business. He wants to expand it.”
So Leo had walked right into his trap. Delivered him the perfect opportunity to take the most thriving business on the island. It was so stupid I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t watched it happen.
“I’ll help you even if it gets me killed.”
“Good, because you’re dead either way.”
His eyes dropped again. “I’m glad Frankie got away. She killed so many of Warren’s men. I thought she was going to take them all down by herself.”
A visceral sense of pride rushed through me at the image of her holding her own against a whole crew, blowing off their heads and limbs. “Which is why your father chose her instead of you. And now I have to kill Warren and get that vineyard back because I’m not going to let some asshole take that away from her.”
His eyes found mine again.
“And I’m going to let you rot just like your father when I’m finished.”
5
FRANCESCA
I held my breath until I got that text from Wolfe.
On my way home, baby.
My body relaxed into the chair, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. It was the first time I’d felt something else besides grief. It was the first time I’d felt gratitude in a long time.
About an hour later, he came up the stairs. His clothes weren’t covered in blood, so I assumed everything went well.
I got off the couch and went to him. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
A smirk widened across his face as I came into his chest and hugged him. He scooped his arm around my back, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead. He left his lips there as he held me in the living room.
I was the one to move away first. I stood back and looked into his espresso-colored eyes. “How’d it go?”
“According to plan.”
“Yeah?”
“I was able to get Leo alone in a seamstress shop. Had a nice little chat.”
My brother used to mean the world to me, but now I couldn’t hear his name or picture his face without wanting to split his skull open with an axe.
“Gave him a phone. Told him I want to know Warren’s whereabouts beforehand. The only way I’m going to ambush him is when he doesn’t know it’s coming.”
“Did he say anything else?”
He moved around me and stepped into the kitchen. He opened a couple cabinets and made himself a stiff drink. “You really want to know?” he asked with his back turned to me.
“Yes.”
He turned around and leaned against the counter, taking a sip before he set it on the counter beside him. “Said he was sorry and didn’t mean for any of it to happen. Cried in front of me. By no means do I feel bad for him, but he seemed pretty damn genuine.”
I felt some pity for him…but not a lot.
“The deal was Warren would help him take the vineyard, and then he would take a portion of the profits. But instead, Warren took everything and made Leo a prisoner. If Leo doesn’t comply, he’ll be killed. Now he’s a low-level lackey who does whatever he’s told.”
“What about everyone else?”
“They’re working for Warren. If they refuse, Warren will kill their families.”
“My father would hate that more than being shot.”
He grabbed the glass and took another drink. “Don’t worry about them. We’ll get everything back soon enough.” He stared at me for a while. “I insulted him for a bit, kicked the horse while it was down because it deserved a beating. And then I told him, when this is all done, I’m going to kill him.”
“What did he say to that?”
“Nothing, really. He knows he’s dead, no matter how this plays out. If you and I don’t kill him, Warren will. That asshole is living on borrowed time.”
“Did—did he say where they buried my father?”
He crossed his arms over his chest while he stared me down. “That didn’t come up.”
I gave a nod, knowing Leo would still see to his arrangements despite being the reason he was dead in the first place.
“Once he feeds me the right information, I’ll move in on them with Cosa Nostra, and it’ll be done.”
I tightened my arms across my chest.
“When they’re all dead and we have the vineyard back, you’ll start to feel better.”
“You think?” I whispered.
“I do.”
“I’m not sure anything will ever make me feel better.” I could stand on a pile of dead bodies and wear a crown made of their bones, and I’d still sob from the pain of my loss. I didn’t have a mother…and now I didn’t have a father.