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)
“You’re going to have to explain this to me then, because I don’t understand what you’re saying.” I crossed my arms.
“Can you. . .” He looked toward Scarab. “Do you want to come inside?”
I looked at him for a long moment as I thought about it. Even in his state of disarray, he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. My ideal man. The one I’d loved for as long as I could remember. The one I finally had and lost, and if I was reading this correctly, could have again. I wanted him. I wanted him to pull me into his arms and kiss me, to tell me that he was sorry and he loved me, and to say all the things I’d pictured him telling me every night before I went to bed. I wasn’t going to make that move, though. Not this time. I reached into my bag and pulled out a card and a pen. My mom had cards made for me with the coffee shop’s information. I’d laughed and told her to keep up with the times. We didn’t hand out business cards anymore; we added each other on Snap. She was unamused, and right now I was grateful for this. I wrote down my phone number and address and clicked the pen as I put it away.
“I’m having a housewarming party tonight, in case you want to come.” I handed him the card. He took it, looked at it, and glanced up at me again. “The party starts at eight. You can come at seven.”
His mouth twitched. A simple gesture that warmed me inside. “Will you be there at seven?”
“I will.” I smiled at him, turned around, and walked away.
44
ROCCO
I’d replayed my interaction with Lenora a million times when she left, a million more at the barbershop, and a million more as I showered and got dressed. I’d be lying if I said I’d been completely in the dark. I knew she’d been to Italy and Connecticut. I knew she’d been here for a couple of weeks, but I wasn’t expecting that to last very long. It was one of the many reasons I’d stayed away. At first, I stayed away because of what I’d done to her dad, which both Dominic and Gabriel told me was a shit reason to not go after her. Then, because she finally got her freedom. For the first time in her life, she could do whatever she wanted to do, and I didn’t want to hinder her options. She could go to India, California, or Japan.
She could finally visit all of the places on her bucket list. She could date whomever she chose. That possibility pained me to think about. After seeing her in my bed, I could only lie in it with the image of her lying there. She’d looked so perfect. Every day when I walked into Scarab and looked at the bar, I imagined her laughing and mixing drinks. I knew time wouldn’t help me. I’d never move on from her, and if I was being completely honest, as shitty as it was, I hoped she could never move on from me. I hadn’t expected her to come to me. I definitely hadn’t expected her to hand me a business card with the name of the coffee shop I’d walked by a few times.
I was switching off the bathroom lights when my phone started buzzing with a call from my brother. I pushed the green button and set it on speaker.
“What’s up?”
“Does Lenora like wine? Red or white?”
I frowned. “What the fuck? Why are you asking me that?”
“I’m going to her house tonight, and I want to take something besides flowers.”
I shook my head and bit back a smile. He was such an asshole. He didn’t know that I knew about the housewarming or that I was about to head to her house.
“You’re too old for her, Mikey. Give it up.”
“I don’t know. I have a feeling she likes older men,” he said. “We’ll find out tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you will.” I grabbed the phone, turned off the rest of the lights, and walked downstairs.
“She invited me to her house.”
“How romantic.” I grabbed my keys. “I’ll talk to you later. I have a date in twenty minutes and I don’t know what kind of wine Lenora likes, so try calling Dom.”
“A date with whom?” he demanded.
“A woman.”
“You know what, Rocco, you’re a fucking idiot.” He hung up on me.
I laughed as I slid my phone into my pocket. I had no argument for that anyway. Maybe I had been a fucking idiot for not going to her before. I looked at the address again. Her place was only four blocks down, so I didn’t even bother with a car. I didn’t know what the parking situation was over there anyway. Again, I laughed. My Principessa had her own business and her own place. Dom hadn’t said a word about either of those. Maybe it was payback for being with her behind his back. Knowing I hadn’t helped her with either pushed the knife into my chest a little deeper, but I was too proud of her to let it bother me too much. I stopped in front of her building for a moment, before pushing through the revolving door. It was fancy as fuck. I walked up to the desk and gave the woman my name. After a few clicks, she smiled up at me and told me to go ahead. The elevator smelled like that damn spa they’d gone to the day before the wedding. The Red Wedding, the newspapers were calling it. So original. Between Mikey’s guys, ours, and O’Conner’s, we’d managed to twist the story into a Romeo and Juliet scenario, where a mean mob boss and a duke were at odds. We’d also managed to keep everyone’s names out of the papers.