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)
Francesca’s villa just felt like home to me.
“I’m upstairs.”
I headed up the stairs to the second floor and found her already in bed in just my t-shirt, her long, thick hair in a messy bun that looked so good on her. I loved the whole look, how she could be so fucking hot without even trying.
She was reading a book propped up in bed, and she put the book aside and pushed the covers back so she could get out and give me a warm greeting. The shirt was like a loose blanket on her, stopping just above her knees. Her eyes lit up at the sight of me, and she drew near and rose on her tiptoes to kiss me.
I immediately scooped my hands under her thighs and lifted her into me, this woman weighing nothing in my arms.
She gave a little chuckle as she hooked her arms around my neck. “Missed you.”
“Missed you.” I kissed her, turned my head, and kissed her again, kissed the corner of her mouth.
“How was your dinner?”
“Interesting.”
“Why was it interesting?”
“It was with my old friend Santino from Cosa Nostra.”
“Oh.”
“My former boss wants to talk to me. Says he has information for me.”
“Oh…” Now her playfulness faded away.
“It’s obvious they want me back. I preemptively said no.”
“Are you going to meet him?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I want to watch them grovel, because I’m a sick fuck like that.”
Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine as a seriousness settled over her face.
“And I want to hear what else he has to say.”
She didn’t move a muscle, but she somehow turned distant…and hesitant.
“Why does that bother you?”
“It doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does,” I said with force. “Tell me why.”
“Do—do you want to go back to Cosa Nostra?” Her eyes dropped as her chin moved down, breaking contact with me.
“I just said no.”
“Then why are you going to meet him?”
“Because of the reasons I already said. And look at me when I speak to you.”
Her eyes flicked up once more, and with a face free of makeup, she was stunning in the low light from the lamps on the nightstands.
“We parted on bad terms. Really fucking bad terms. And I want to see the regret in their eyes and then the rage when I refuse to give them what they want. They clearly need me for something, and I want to find out exactly what it is before I turn my back on them just the way they did to me. I’m petty, I hold grudges, and I’m spiteful, vindictive, and vengeful.”
“What if it’s a trap?”
I shrugged. “Could be.”
“And that doesn’t worry you? Because it worries me.”
“If they wanted me dead, they would have come for me a long time ago. They know what happened with the Lombardis, so perhaps they’ve been reminded of what they lost. Probably want my help with something—but I’m not going to do it.”
“Then why go?”
“Because I want to know what it is. Information is currency in this game.”
She continued to stare at me with the same distance in her sad eyes.
I cocked my head slightly. “I would never turn my back on you or your family, Francesca.”
She was quiet for a while. “You were with them your entire life. I know they mean a lot to you.”
“They meant a lot to me,” I said. “But I turned my back on them when they turned their back on me.”
“You can’t just turn it off like that—”
“Well, I can. I don’t dwell on the past. I live in the present and walk toward the future,” I said. “And you’re my present and my future and everything in between. There’s nothing they could say, nothing they could do, to make me ever even think about turning my back on your family. You’re my family now—so they’re my family too.”
3
WOLFE
It was a beautiful day in Palermo, the sunlight dancing on the surface of the turquoise water. Spring had now turned into the beginning of summer, and flowers bloomed in terra-cotta pots and up the side of white trellises. Tourism had ramped up, so there were lots of families and couples in the streets and on the beach.
When I arrived, I went by my place first just to check on things since I hadn’t been there in a while. Didn’t bother bringing a gun to meet with Don Russo, just brought my knife, which was tucked into the back pocket of my jeans.
I approached the gates to the large villa that was sealed off from the public by the enormous stone walls that wrapped completely around it. It was one of the few properties in the heart of Palermo with that feature, so it made it an impregnable fortress. The property belonged to the government because it was a historic building, but Don Russo had been able to broker a deal under the table.