Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Damn right I fucking mean that,” he said. “Do I ever say anything I don’t mean?”
“He’s…he’s my father.”
“And if I tell him how I feel about you and how serious this relationship is, and all he can think about is himself instead of your well-being and happiness, then I don’t give a damn. If it comes down to me or him, you bet your ass it’s going to be him.”
“Wolfe—”
“But like I said, it won’t come to that because he knows this. He’s worked with me long enough to know what will happen if he marks me as an enemy. I don’t know exactly what will happen, but I don’t think it’ll come to that.”
I looked away, my heart still racing.
“We should have told him sooner,” he said quietly.
“Is that your way of saying I told you so?”
“No,” he said. “My way of saying anything is just saying it.”
I inhaled a slow breath and let it release like volcanic ash. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“I really don’t know which one of us is the better messenger,” I said. “Maybe you could tell him you’d like to ask me out and see what he says…and then go from there.”
“I already said I’m not going to do that.”
“I know, but that might be the right move, considering what just happened with my father.”
“Lying is never, ever the right move.” He gave me that hard stare, leaving no middle ground on the table. “In any situation or with any person. He may hate me and wish I were dead, but at the end of the day, he’ll always respect me.”
I still disagreed, but I respected Wolfe’s principles. “I wonder what he would say if you did ask him.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But his opinion of me is none of my business.”
“He wouldn’t initiate you into the family if he didn’t like you.”
“In this line of business, there’s no such thing as liking someone. You either trust someone to have your back or you don’t. That’s all it means. Because in most families, people can’t stand each other. They’re together because they have to be. The same idea applies here. Your father may trust me to die for him, but that doesn’t mean he enjoys my company. It doesn’t mean he agrees with the way I handle things. Maybe he thinks I’m a great addition to the crew but I’m not right for you.”
“Well, he’s wrong.”
He stared at me for a hard second before a hint of a smile entered his gaze.
“I’m scared how this is going to play out.”
“Regardless of how it unfolds, it’s still going to be you and me in the end.”
Leo banged on the front door. “Hurry the fuck up, Frankie!”
“I’m coming!” I yelled across the room as I reached for my purse on the table.
“You know Dad doesn’t like to be late,” he said through the closed door.
“Shut up, I’m coming!” I made it to the door and tugged it open. “Cristo, calm down.”
“You’re always late—”
“I’m never late.”
Dad had his arm hanging out of the passenger window. “Both of you, shut up and get in the car.”
I walked around to the other side of the Range Rover and got in behind the driver’s seat. When I glanced in the rearview mirror, I saw Wolfe’s eyes in the reflection—and they smiled. Leo got into the seat beside me and buckled his safety belt.
Wolfe drove us down the dirt road until we reached one of the main roads, and then he took off and headed toward Taormina, where the wedding was being held. The ceremony would be in the church, and then the reception was on the bluff of one of the hotels.
I wore a sage green dress with little straps over the shoulders and nude heels. A gold necklace hung around my throat, and I carried a nude clutch that held my phone and other essentials. I looked out the window and admired the rolling hills of Sicily, but then I would feel the white-hot stare I could recognize anywhere.
I glanced at the side-view mirror and saw Wolfe staring at me—and then that smirk moved over his lips.
I smirked back before I averted my eyes. I played with fire when I did this dance with him, right under my father’s nose in the passenger seat. If I weren’t terrified of the fallout of this affair, it might actually be fun to sneak around.
Behind us was another SUV full of my father’s men following us. It probably contained Andre and Elio and Salvatore. My father never went out unaccompanied by his entourage, even if it was a wedding or a funeral. If anyone knew where he was going to be, it would be the perfect opportunity to take him out.
“I hope the ceremony is short,” Leo said. “I’m starving.”