Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70928 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70928 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, and before she can continue, I say, “We’re getting married in a month.”
Neither my parents nor Enzo show any signs of surprise.
Mom’s gaze moves from me to Sienna. “By choice or by force?”
When everyone’s attention settles on my woman, I squeeze her hand hard to ground her.
An anxious smile flits over Sienna’s face, and her eyes dart to mine.
“By force,” I answer honestly.
While Dad doesn’t comment, Mom places her hand on Sienna’s shoulder and asks, “You loved Christiano once before, do you think you can learn to love him again?”
Just like she did with her father, she puts on a believable mask and lies, “Christiano is just pulling your leg.” She slaps my arm playfully, giving me a loving smile. “I’d be honored to marry him, and I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for breaking things off with him. We were both so young back then.”
A smile splits over Mom’s face, and she reaches for Sienna’s hand, taking a look at the ring. “This makes me so happy. Congratulations.” Letting go of Sienna, Mom comes to hug me.
When she pulls away, Dad shakes my hand and quickly pats Sienna’s arm. I’ve only ever seen him hug Mom and my sisters. Oh, and Grandma, when she was still alive.
Enzo bypasses me and pulls Sienna into a bear hug, lifting her off her feet. “Congratulations.”
I shoot him a glare. “Put her down.”
Luckily for him, he does as he's told, then he comes to shake my hand. “I’m going to be honest, I never thought you’d convince Sienna.”
“Miracles happen,” I reply while wrapping my arm around Sienna’s shoulders and tucking her into my side.
“Have you told Franco?” Dad asks.
“We just came from my parents,” Sienna answers. “My mom says she’ll call you first thing tomorrow morning, Aunt Gabrielle.”
“We’ll have dinner at my place to celebrate next week,” I inform them.
Enzo picks up the darts and begins to throw again as he asks, “Not at one of the restaurants? You hate having people over at your penthouse.”
“I’m not taking that chance again,” I grumble. “The last time didn’t end well for me.”
I got shot and lost Sienna.
I feel a tremble move through her, and when I glance at her, she lowers her head so I can’t see her face.
“Right. I forgot.” Enzo buries all three darts in the middle of the board, then looks at me. “So what’s next on the agenda?”
“The Albanians, right?” Dad asks as he pours three tumblers of whiskey. “What would you like to drink, Sienna?”
“She’ll have a soda, Dad,” I answer on her behalf before pressing a kiss to her hair.
“We should have champagne,” Mom says, and as she walks to the bar to join Dad, she asks Sienna, “Are you okay with champagne?”
She hesitates for a moment, and I jump in again. “She doesn’t like the taste of alcohol, but you can have champagne.”
Still avoiding my eyes, she walks to the bar to take the glass of lemonade Dad poured for her. She only drinks a few sips, then heads to the board to pull out the darts.
“You should all take cover,” she jokes.
Mom and Enzo chuckle, and when Sienna attempts to throw the first dart, it slips out of her hand. I react instantly, and grabbing hold of her, I yank her body backward just as the dart hits the floor, missing her foot by a fucking inch.
I rip the other two darts from her hand and toss them on the table by Mom’s recliner while saying, “No playing with things that can hurt you.”
Her eyes are wide on me as she gasps, “That was close.”
I cup her cheek and press a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t worry, princess. I’ll never let you get hurt.”
“Aww…aren’t they just the cutest couple?” Mom coos.
Dad grumbles something I can’t make out, and Enzo starts to laugh while replying, “The word cute does not go hand in hand with Christiano.”
“Oh, hush.” Mom pins him with a playful glare. “You'd better be careful. Now that your brother is settling down, I can focus all my efforts on getting you married.”
He looks at his wristwatch. “Damn, would you look at the time. I should probably go home.”
“I just poured drinks,” Dad says. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Enzo walks to the bar and grabs two tumblers. He hands me one before taking a sip of his own. “So what’s next?” he reminds me of his question from earlier.
“Dad’s right. The Albanians, and you also need to clean ten million for Dragomir.”
Enzo’s been my underboss since I took over as the head of the Cosa Nostra. It took us a while to find a system that works for us. He takes care of all the money laundering and construction, while I handle the organization’s finances, bring in new business, and deal with threats like the Irish and Albanians.