Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Dad and Marlena even went to Italy to escape him, but they returned after Andretti ran away. He’s been in hiding all this time, but apparently, he’s kept track of us. How did he learn that Marlena is pregnant? Does he have any other spies working for him? Are we safe? Is he close? All these questions crowd in on me, making me appreciate my father’s fury.
After a moment, I stand up. I grab the card and go over to the sink. Reaching for a lighter that sits in a drawer, I light the card on fire. I hold it as it burns, the flames licking upward toward the hateful script. After a moment, the fire gets too close, so I release the letter into the sink. My father and I stand there, watching it burn together.
“This doesn’t mean anything,” I tell my dad. “He’s just making noise.”
“I’m gonna find him,” my father swears.
“I know,” I assure him. My father is incredibly dangerous, and even more so when he’s angry. I feel like Marlena and I are in the kitchen with an armed bomb.
Dad leaves the kitchen and marches down the hall toward his office. That’s a bad sign, so I follow him. I don’t know what I think I’ll be able to do to stop him from destroying the house, but I have to do something.
My father barges into his office and rips through his desk until he finds a gun. I stand back, not wanting him to shoot me. I know that objectively I don’t have a lot to worry about. My father may be angry at Andretti, but there’s no way he’s going to mistake me for his enemy.
He brushes past me on his way to the door. My heart sinks, suspecting that he’s about to go on a rampage. I also trust him not to shoot innocent people. He may be a mafia don, but he’s not stupid. He knows the difference between random strangers and the man who made his life a living hell. But I still don’t want him running around out there with a loaded gun. The police could find him, and it would create a whole world of trouble.
I’ve been up to my neck in illegal activities all day. The last thing I want is to have to bail my father out of jail. I’m not a lawyer yet, so that means I can’t represent him in court. It would be best to talk him out of whatever he has planned, at least until cooler heads can prevail.
“Wait, Dad,” I call out, hurrying after him. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m gonna make that sorry son of a bitch pay,” Dad growls.
“How are you even going to find him?” I wonder, tagging along like a toddler in his footsteps.
My father storms through the hallway, passing right by the kitchen where his pregnant wife is crying. He doesn’t pause, continuing out the door and into the driveway. I half expect him to jump into a car and peel out of the compound, but he doesn’t. I’m pleased to see him turn left, toward the shed, instead of right, toward the garage.
Dante looks up from where he’s enjoying a cigarette break by the side of the house. There are two other soldiers with him, and they are all startled by my father’s sudden appearance. Dante looks at me for an explanation, but all I can do is shrug. I have no idea what my father plans to do with the gun, although I can guess it won’t be good.
As I watch, Dad stops in the middle of the driveway. He points the revolver at a tree that stands between the shed and the house and fires twice. The gun barks, making everyone jump. We’re all nervous, but there’s nothing we can do to stop him.
Dad snarls and fires four more shots, emptying the chamber. I hear a few empty clicks before he finally lowers the weapon. Cursing loudly, my father turns and walks back inside. Crisis resolved, I hurry to follow him.
Dante meets my eyes, wanting to know more, but smart enough not to ask. I shake my head, letting him know I can’t explain. Inside, Dad goes straight for the kitchen. He sets the gun down on the counter and hugs Marlena.
Without being asked, I sneak around the two of them and pick up the gun. I take it back to my father’s office and return it to the drawer. Marlena doesn’t like to see firearms in the house, especially not ones that have been recently fired. I’ll let my father deal with cleaning it and reloading it when he’s ready. The most important thing is that only the tree was hurt. We have time to sort things out before the situation gets any more serious.