Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Longest three minutes of my damn life.
I rubbed my palms together over and over, tried to breathe when I could literally feel my heart beating against my chest, tried not to pass out or throw up. I thought women had morning sickness when they were pregnant, and I hadn’t felt any of that . . . so maybe I wasn’t pregnant.
Finally, the alarm went off.
I picked up the cup so fast, I spilled it, urine going all over the floor.
I didn’t give a damn, and my eyes went straight to the screen on the stick.
Pregnant.
Chapter 5
Constantine
After I finished my workout and showered, I took a day trip to Palermo. Aurelia was at work at Rosticceria Da Cristina, and Medusa was with the dog nanny I’d hired. It took me two hours to get there, and when I arrived outside Villa de la Sirenuse, the guards let me inside without an interrogation.
I greeted the guys outside, caught up with a few others, and then ran into Alfonso.
“What brings you here?” he asked, wearing a pin-striped suit with a cigar in his mouth. He greeted me in the entryway, Tommaso’s representative. He was the person who spoke on Tommaso’s behalf for diplomatic matters . . . and sometimes threats. Tommaso couldn’t be everywhere at once, so he sent Alfonso in his stead. They’d had a great partnership long before I’d joined Cosa Nostra.
“I texted Tommaso. He’s expecting me.”
He nodded before he breathed a cloud of smoke in my face. “There’s been a lot of talk on the street about what went down in Rome.”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
That seemed to be the confirmation he wanted. “I’ll let him know you’re here.” He walked off and turned into a hallway. The rest of the room was filled with armed guards. Their guns were hidden in their jackets or in the backs of their jeans, but that was their entire purpose. A militia to protect Tommaso, even though he was pretty much untouchable in Sicily. The police were dwarfed by the size of Cosa Nostra, so they didn’t interfere with their affairs, and Cosa Nostra mostly did their business in the shadows so no one even knew they were there.
I stood and waited, looking at the guys who all looked at me.
I could feel the change in the room.
The loss of respect.
Alfonso returned moments later. “He’s ready for you, Con.” He nodded to the double doors that remained open so I could pass through.
I headed down the hallway and heard the double doors shut behind me. I walked past the bulletproof windows that let in the summer sunshine. The rest of his family lived in the villa, but they stayed on the upper floors of the house, where no one was allowed to go except for him.
I entered another set of guarded doors before I stepped into Tommaso’s study, an enormous room with several large couches on a rug in front of a hearth. He had a large desk on the other side of the room, like he was a lawyer or a judge instead of a crime kingpin.
He was already on the couch when I walked inside, two drinks on coasters. “Constantine.” He rose to his feet to greet me and extended his hand.
I took it, and we made a mutual grip before we both let go. “Tommaso.”
He took a seat.
I sat across from him.
We sat together for a while. He gave a long stare, one packed with sympathy but mostly pity.
I sat back against the couch and felt like a lesser man. I’d let my empire fall. Let an inside invader take it from me. Fell for a plan so simple because I solely focused on the complex. “It’s been rough.”
“I can imagine.”
“But I’m a man who can admit my faults. He outsmarted me—and I let him.”
Tommaso didn’t nod in agreement. Didn’t judge me for what I’d lost. He felt more like a friend than a former boss. “Perhaps this is just a battle and not the war.”
“No, it’s done,” I said with finality. “It’s the price I paid to save my woman.”
“And was that price worth it?” He sat back too, crossing one ankle on the opposite knee.
I felt no doubt in my heart. Felt no resentment toward her. Only love. “Absolutely.”
We sat in silence for a while as he processed what I said. He held my gaze as his elbow rested on the armrest, his closed knuckles planted against his cheek. “You know terrible things are about to happen to a lot of people. Not just the Romans, but the president and the Senate and the government as a whole. With everyone at his mercy, who knows what he’ll do. He has no love for his country, so he’ll make deals with our enemies just to line his pockets. He’s reckless and lawless . . . and not stupid.”