Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
His jaw works, trying to find words to reply, but I turn my back on him. It’s a risk, but I’m doing this on purpose. I can’t let Stephen and his little minions think I’m weak—letting them think I’m weak for a single second is like dropping a bunch of chum in shark-infested waters. They’ll swarm and things will get ugly. I want them to think twice before they try something stupid.
“The girl’s father owes us a lot of money,” Spiros calls as I start to lead Brice away, back toward where the limo’s parked a few cars down. She’s moving woodenly and her face is pale with terror. “He owes us ten fucking million.”
My hand grips her arm tighter. Ten fucking million? Brice goes stiff and I can tell she had no clue how bad this was.
And it’s very bad.
A couple hundred thousand I could make disappear. I don’t want to, and I’d make it as hard on Panagos as possible, but it’s a number I could potentially absorb. But ten million? That’s beyond even me to pay off outright. At least on short notice. I’d have to liquidate a lot of illiquid assets to gather that level of cash.
“You can run and threaten all you want, Scavo, but we’re gonna get paid,” Spiros calls out. “My boss isn’t afraid of the fucking Scavo Famiglia, you second-rate has-beens.”
I turn, my hand brushing aside my jacket and gripping the butt of my gun, but Brice is there in my face. “Stop it,” she hisses. “Don’t let him bait you.”
“I can kill him now and make sure he’s not a threat in the future,” I say staring at him over her shoulder. “I want to make that motherfucker bleed.”
“Carmine. Be better than this.” She turns and looks at Spiros. “Tell your boss that if my father and him have business, they can work it out themselves, but the Rowe family has nothing to do with any of that.”
“Cute, real cute, but it won’t work, the boss knows you fucking Rowe motherfuckers got a lot of money,” Spiros says, grinning. “He just wants you to make him whole, is all.”
Brice pushes at me. “Move,” she hisses. She’s pale and trembling, but she’s taking charge despite the terror. I’m actually kind of proud. “Get going. Right now.”
I have to admit I’m impressed by her balls and it’s the only thing keeping me from killing Spiros here and now. I let her guide me away and we get into the limo. The driver pulls out and says nothing as I roll up the privacy divider.
Brice is trembling as she sits back in her seat. She glares at me like she wants to pull my gun and shoot me in the throat. I smile back at her as my anger slowly fades away, replaced by a sudden calculating quiet. Panagos must be desperate if he’s ambushing me outside of an Arc establishment. He doesn’t want to get any of my friends involved in this little scuffle, not if he’s even halfway smart, but what Spiros said back there is bothering me.
Has-been. Does he really think the Scavo family is weak? It was probably bluster, but I’m keenly aware that some of my moves lately could be interpreted as weakness. I’ve been moving more toward the light side of things and putting to rest some of our more wicked activities, but that isn’t because blood and violence makes me squeamish, but more because it’s not good for business. I like money more than I like killing.
Only it’s bothering me that the Greeks were ballsy enough to approach me in the street like that, and a little unnerving that they were able to track me down so easily.
“Are you okay?” I ask, looking at Brice.
She sucks in a deep breath and nods once. “I’m fine. Shaken, is all.”
“I’ll have to bring in more security. We won’t be able to leave the house without backup nearby until this is settled.”
“Right. Of course.” She looks away, staring out the window.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re what’s wrong.” Her jaw works. “What am I supposed to do here, Carmine? I feel like the trap is tightening around me. I’m stuck in the house with you and I can’t even leave to go to dinner without some gangster accosting me in the street.”
“You blame me for that, too?” I ask her quietly. “I’m the reason that gangster was only talking.”
“You think I don’t know that?” She glares at me, all righteous fury. I move closer to her, heart racing. “Don’t. I don’t want you to touch me right now.”
I don’t put my hands on her. Instead, I lean in and rest my palms on either side of the seat, shifting my weight so I’m on my knees in front of her.
She’s stiff all over. Terrified of touching me. Maybe terrified of how badly she wants me to rip her knees open. But I obey her wishes and don’t touch her, only stare at the long strip of thigh visible through the slit and the hint of cleavage at her chest and the way her lips part slightly to show the tiny gap between her front teeth and her tongue pressing against it. Just a hint of pink between white. I want to bite those lips and chew them until they fucking bleed.