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 stared at him.
He stared at me.
There was a tense pause so violent it felt nuclear, but no one around us suspected a thing. The standoff continued for what felt like a minute, like Leo was afraid to come any closer because I might bash his head open on Dad’s tombstone.
But then Leo stepped forward and dropped the flower on our father’s grave. He made the sign of the cross across his chest, placed a kiss on his fingers, pressed it to the tombstone, and then walked off.
My eyes drilled bullets into his back as he walked away. “He doesn’t deserve to be here.”
Wolfe moved his hand to the center of my back, and he gently rubbed me. “Now isn’t the time.”
“You think I care if it’s the right time?” I turned my wrath on him instead.
He stared at me as people continued to walk up and drop a flower on his grave. “Want me to go after him and kill him? Because you know I will. Just say the word, boss.”
“Don’t call me that.”
A smile moved over his lips. “That’s what you are.”
I looked back at the people who continued to walk up.
“You want me to do it or not?”
I sighed loudly.
“Don’t worry about him. Just worry about yourself.”
The funeral was more like a wedding, due to the guest list. The kitchen staff prepared a feast and had a selection of desserts and coffee afterward. There were pictures of my father at every table.
I got to hear stories about him from people I hardly knew. He had cousins and uncles come for the funeral, and I learned all about his life. His brother told me how he’d struggled to be a single father when we were little, but my father had insisted it was the greatest struggle of his life.
As evening descended, people started to clear out, stopping by to pay their final respects to me. Once the crowd had thinned out and it was mostly empty tables and chairs with dirty plates left behind, Leo appeared.
His hands were in the pockets of his slacks, and he stared at me from a distance, his face still fucked up from the way I’d hit him with the shotgun. His nose was bent too. Would probably stay that way for the rest of his life unless he had a surgeon operate on it.
I stared him down, seeing red in the corners of my vision just the way Wolfe described about himself. The flood of hatred was so distinct if filled my mouth with bile. If I’d had a pistol strapped to my leg, I might have finished the job.
My stare was undeniably hostile, but the asshole walked over anyway. He stopped a couple feet away, meeting my rage with quiet misery. His eyes flicked away for a while before they found mine again.
Wolfe was across the terrace speaking to someone, and he moved his gaze to watch us together. He finished up his conversation and started to head over, but instead of interceding, he pulled out a nearby chair and took a seat. Just the way my father’s bodyguards had protected him when he was out and about, Wolfe hung nearby in case I needed him but didn’t directly interfere out of respect.
Then I noticed Elio, Andre, and Salvatore do the same, treating me like I really was the boss.
It wasn’t clear if Leo knew they were all behind him, sitting in chairs and armed underneath their blazers, staring him down like an enemy that was about to fuck around and find out.
Leo took a heavy breath, and his eyes immediately started to water. “I’m going to live with this regret for the rest of my life. And trust me, that’s punishment enough. I don’t care if you kill me. I don’t care if Wolfe shoots me in the back. I—I have nothing to live for anymore.” He held my gaze as the tears swelled to the size of marbles and then streaked down his cheeks. “I love you, Frankie. You’re my sister, the only family I have left. And if you let me come back, I swear to you that I—” His voice caught in his throat as he started to cry. “I will bleed for you. I will protect you. I will serve you. I’ll be whatever your generosity allows me to be. When Warren hit your house…you don’t know how my heart dropped into my stomach. I know we don’t talk a lot and we aren’t particularly close, but you’re my sister. I fucking love you.” He sniffed. “And Dad was right when he chose you. He was so fucking right, and I wish I had put aside my fucking ego and just listened.” He gave a slight shake of his head. “If I’d known it was going to turn out this way, I wouldn’t have done it. I hope you believe me.”