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)
I could visualize all of this without being troubled because violence was a part of my daily life, but seeing it from her perspective made it far more emotional. I wished she hadn’t been there to see it. She was tough, but that was just traumatizing. I wouldn’t wish that kind of suffering on anyone, especially the woman I loved.
“Then Warren said he would make me his plaything, and Leo said they’d agreed to let me go.”
I knew Leo wasn’t the brightest, but Cristo, he was naïve as hell.
“Leo followed me to the car and said he was sorry a bunch of times, and I spat on his face. He kinda tripped and fell into me, and that was when I felt the knife he slipped into my hands.”
If he hadn’t done that, it wouldn’t have mattered—because I would have taken them out on the road and gotten her out of there. But I supposed it was better than being a coward and doing nothing.
“I can’t believe I just said all that.” She dropped her voice to a sort of whisper. “I keep waiting to wake up from this horrible dream.” Her eyes welled up with tears. “But it’s not a dream. My dad is dead and my brother is a traitor and I have nothing.” She sucked in a deep breath and then started to cry in earnest, her bottom lip quivering as she came undone.
I watched her cry, watched this strong woman shatter into too many pieces for me to glue back together. “You don’t have nothing, baby. You have me.”
There was a pause in her tears as her eyes moved back to mine.
“And I’ll make them all pay for what they’ve done to you. I can’t bring your father back, but I can make them all regret the day they crossed you.” I would torture them all to the brink of insanity, and even when they begged for death, I wouldn’t give it to them. Make it slow and painful, give them plenty of time to think about their actions. “And I’ll get your vineyard back.”
She brought herself to calm, like my words made her feel somewhat better. “But how? It’s just you and me now.”
I didn’t want a partnership, but there was nothing I was unwilling to do to make this right. “Cosa Nostra.”
2
WOLFE
Francesca was a living corpse for days.
She didn’t sleep well, up in the middle of the night often, and spent most of her time on the couch with the TV off. She didn’t go out to the market or leave the house at all. I knew she wasn’t intentionally being distant toward me, but sometimes I felt as if I wasn’t there at all. I’d expected her to crawl into my lap and cling to me like a life vest, but she chose to sit and lie in the same spot for hours, staring at a wall.
She didn’t have much of an appetite, so most of the dinners the maid prepared went to waste. Whenever she showered, she stood under the water for nearly an hour. One time, I walked in there to check on her, and she was seated on the floor of the shower, her arms around her knees, the warm water just pouring down on her.
I let her be.
I knew how to be a provider and a protector, but I didn’t know how to fix this for her. That week together in Palermo seemed like a distant memory now. We were the happiest we’d ever been, and now Francesca seemed more dead than alive. The relationship with her father had been strained and complicated toward the end, and I knew that made all this worse.
I sat on the couch with Francesca’s head in my lap. She was tucked under a blanket with her eyes half open. I ran my fingers through her soft hair and gently played with the strands. My phone vibrated with a text in my pocket, and I fished it out while trying not to disturb her.
It was a message from Don Russo. Warren’s men are looking for you.
I wasn’t surprised he’d traced me back here.
Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us.
I didn’t type a response. I wasn’t sure exactly what to say. I hated the fact that I actually felt grateful—and I also hated the fact that I was too stubborn to say it.
Don’t leave your residence. We’ll let you know when they’re gone.
I still couldn’t bring myself to say anything, even though I should. I never wanted to need anyone, but right now, I was unaffiliated, unemployed. Everyone loyal to Don Mancini was being put to work and would be shot in the head if they resisted. Leo had helped Francesca, so he wasn’t loyal to Warren, but I would never trust that son of a bitch ever again. So I forced myself to reply. Thank you.