Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
It's obvious that most of the guys were given instructions for what to buy, but Rafe is always the oddball of the group. His gifts are usually gags of some sort, and this year is no exception. When I open the bag, I find a plushy…of him. He had his actual face printed onto it.
“To keep the monsters away.” He tosses me a wink.
“With a mug like that, how could it not?” Michele chuckles.
Angelo and Abella exchange a glance as Romeo strolls over and plops down on the lounge beside me, man-spreading as he casually leans back and examines the plushy.
“Let me see it.”
There seems to be a weird shift in the room as all the brothers pause to watch. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I hand it over to Romeo.
He pulls a Sharpie out of his pocket, yanks off the cap, and starts drawing.
A minute later, he hands the plushy back to me, and somehow, in that time, he’s turned Rafe’s face into a caricature of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons.
“Fixed it.” Romeo leans back with a smirk as Rafe flips him off.
“Don’t be jealous because my face is prettier than yours,” Rafe says.
Romeo lets that remark bounce right off him, as he should. There’s no denying the Vitale men are all gods in their own right, each of them unfairly gifted in the looks department. But for me, Romeo has always been the standout.
“Alright, field trip’s over,” Angelo tells his brothers. “We have business to handle.”
Rafe and Michele groan, and Angelo sighs. “You can thank Romeo for this.”
I don’t know what they’re talking about, but none of them look very enthused about whatever it is.
Angelo checks on his sleeping daughter in her portable bassinet, then gives Abella a lingering kiss.
On his way out, Cristian does a walk-by, swiping the drink from Chantel’s hand and pouring it down his throat in one go.
“Rude,” she huffs.
He gives her a look and strolls to the door without a word. Rafe and Michele join him, and Romeo waits until the last minute to get up from the lounge. Before he does, his thigh bumps against mine, and I glance over at him.
“Have fun at your party, Gabriela. Don’t miss me too much.”
“Have fun at your secret boys-only club meeting. Don’t get too murder-y.”
He cracks a smile as he rises, and my heart does another weird little flip. Despite my resolve not to, I watch him walk away—at least until Abella appears beside me.
“Where are they going?” I ask once the door’s closed behind them.
She chews on her lip, like she’s not sure she should tell me, which only makes me more curious. Typically, the men in our lives don’t keep us apprised of their business activities. But I think Angelo tells her more than most men in the Cosa Nostra, as long as it’s nothing that would endanger her.
“Did you hear about all those missing men on the news?” She lowers her voice, taking a seat beside me.
“No.” I frown. “Should I have?”
I’ve been so busy between school and Eros, I’ve hardly had time to look at the headlines.
“There were some pretty notable names. Local businessmen, Society members. Some of them were on the island last year for that dinner. Do you remember?”
“You mean the one where we caught you giving Angelo a blowie in the garden?”
“Not the point.” Abella rolls her eyes. “But yes, it was that one.”
“I vaguely remember them being there, but I wasn’t paying close attention.”
“Well, they had some kind of dealings with the Vitales. But apparently their yacht sank somewhere, and they’ve been searching for them. Anyway, Angelo has been annoyed about the whole ordeal because it’s thrown a wrench into everything.”
“That makes sense, I guess. But why were you hesitant to tell me?”
“I didn’t want to upset you,” she says. “Because some of them are connected to Imperium.”
That information makes me feel slightly nauseous. “Do you think they were intentionally disappeared?”
“I’m not sure,” Abella admits, but I can tell the thought has crossed her mind.
“Did Romeo ever get back to you about what he might have found?”
“He and Angelo said they were handling it.” She offers me an apologetic shrug. “I know you wanted to use Aegis to deal with it if we could, but honestly, I think this might be for the best. The guys will figure out how to take care of the situation since there are so many people involved.”
I nod, but I’m wondering if they already have. It could be a coincidence that those men went missing, but in our world, things are rarely coincidental. In any case, I don’t want to think about it or feel guilty for what happened. If they were involved in some way, that’s on them.
“We’re going to eat in a few minutes,” Abella says. “But there’s one more thing I want to show you first.”