Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Is this about last night? Do you regret it?” I asked.
“What?” Her eyes flashed to mine. “Of course not. Last night was special for me. I would never regret it.”
“It was special for me too.” She bit her lip and tried to turn away. I cupped her face and held her chin so she’d look at me. “What is it?”
“You’ve had sex countless times. I’m sure a lot of them were special. That will be my only special time.”
“Lenora.” I closed my eyes briefly to take a breath.
I had done a lot of fucked up things in the past and accepted guilt for them all, including the ones I had tucked away and tried to forget. Breaking this girl's heart wasn't something I wanted to add to that list. She was too pure and deserved better. As I opened my eyes, I found her waiting for me to say something else. I knew she wanted some kind of declaration of love or some bullshit that I couldn’t give her, so I gave her the truth.
“None have been as special as last night. I mean that,” I said.
A quiet sob left her lips. Unable to see the pain any longer, I wrapped my arms around her and set my chin on her head.
“I can’t do this,” she whispered, and I knew she was talking about her wedding.
“You’re so strong, baby. You can do anything,” I whispered against her hair, inhaling her scent once more before I pulled away.
She reached up, grabbed my face, and kissed me. It was a soft yet demanding kiss that made my insides quake with something terrifying. It felt like a goodbye. I’d always hated goodbyes.
15
ROCCO
“What happened with my sister the other night?” That was Dom’s voice behind me, nearly giving me a heart attack with his question.
My hands stilled on the deck of cards I’d been shuffling. My stomach squeezed. What happened with his sister? Motherfucker. He was going to try to kill me, and even though I could have him on the ground in ten seconds, I would have to let him kill me because what I’d done was unforgivable. I hadn’t reached out to Lenora because I wanted to give her space. Quite frankly, I wanted to get away. I felt Dean's eyes on me, and I wanted to tell him to go to hell. However, I kept my head down and played cards as if I were unaware he was addressing me. For all I knew, he could have been speaking to Russo.
“Marchetti,” Dom snapped.
My stomach squeezed the way it did before the interrogations I’d done. And like I’d done before every single one of them, I emptied my thoughts and kept my cool. I turned around and looked at Dominic, my partner in crime, a man I’d known since the day I was born. Twenty-eight years of friendship, of sharing everything from test answers to women. Never in all of those years had I lied to him. I hated that I would have to start now, but I quickly slipped into mission mode.
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “What night?”
“Any night.” He ran a hand through his hair. “At the bar, at Rosie’s party. Any night. Yari said she saw her speaking to you. What did she say?”
Of course. Fucking Yari. I frowned. “Nothing of importance. She told me about school and bartending and clarified that she didn’t want to get married.”
“Fuck.” He kicked the chair next to me. I sat perfectly still as I assessed him. He looked at me again, a wild look in his eyes he only got when he was about to lose it. I set the cards down and stood up slowly.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked with a calmness that I did not feel.
“I. . .” He took a breath.
“Spit it out already, De Luca,” Dean said behind me.
“She’s gone.”
The entire world seemed to stop at that moment. I blinked. I assessed his posture, the situation, and the words he’d just spoken. I didn’t trust myself to speak yet. I needed one more second. Thankfully, Gio couldn’t keep his mouth shut and asked for me as he walked back into the room.
“Who’s gone?” He took a sip of the homemade lemonade Rosie had sent. Fucking homemade lemonade in a mob house.
“My sister,” Dom shouted. “She’s fucking gone.”
“What do you mean go—” I started, but Dom’s wild eyes cut off my question.
“She left. She grabbed a bag and left, and no one knows where the fuck she is, and my father is losing his everloving mind.”
“Fuck,” I breathed, sitting my ass back in the seat.
I thought about the kiss in the bathroom of that restaurant and how it felt like a goodbye. She meant it as such. She knew she’d be leaving and said goodbye without actually saying it. I figured it was because she was going to marry that asshole, not because she was going to. . .