Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 102546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“You really think that will work?”
“Absolutely.” Her father won’t care how she ended up in my arms as long as she stays there.
I release her hair and pull my phone out once more to send a text. “Go to bed and get some rest. You’re going to have a busy day.”
“Why?” she asks, her dark brows pulling together.
“You have a girls’ day planned.”
Her face lights up, and her lips part. “What …?” But then it falls again. “I don’t have any money. My brothers took that cash you gave me.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
_______________
AN HOUR LATER, I’m exiting the private elevator on the thirteenth floor at Kingdom in tower one and walking into our conference room to see Nite already waiting on me. I had messaged him after my conversation with Mia and told him to meet me here ASAP. Nigel let him in.
Setting my cell on the table, I unbutton my shirt and toss it onto the black surface as well. He stares at me with an arch of his brow. I wonder if he’s thinking what I was thinking when Luca stormed into my office and started to undress. I undo my belt, then unzip my dress slacks and throw them over the back of a chair. Holding my arms out wide, I spin around in a circle, only dressed in my black boxer briefs. He’s been here enough to know that we’ve got jammers in place for electronic devices, but I need him to understand that it’s just us. And nothing is being recorded.
Dropping my arms to my side, I glare at him. “Why does Mia think that she’s responsible for your vow of silence?” I demand.
He runs a hand down his face, letting out a long breath. Then he, too, stands and starts to undress down to his boxers. He spins around, showing me he’s not wired, and falls back into his seat. I stay standing.
“It was all a lie,” he says hoarsely.
Nite hardly ever talks. Everyone thinks he’s a mute, but the Kings and I know the truth—he chooses to stay silent. “What exactly?”
“Rossi—John’s rival—wanted intel on the Bianchis. He kidnapped me; thought I would talk. And when I wouldn’t, they cut out my tongue.” My eyes widen. “At the time, we thought it was regarding Mia, but it was just a ploy. When they realized I was no use to them, they dropped me off on Luca’s doorstep. Along with my tongue. Thankfully, Luca rushed me to the hospital, and they were able to reattach it. But John saw an opportunity, and I decided to go along with pretending to be unable to talk.”
I run a hand through my hair, trying to process and make sense of all of what he just said. “I don’t understand. Why did you think it was about Mia? How did he know about her?” I thought she was some big secret. Granted, Rossi is dead now. The Kings helped Nite and Luca bury him in the desert.
“Rossi and John were friends way back in the day, before they were rivals. Back when Mia was born. We thought he was going to use her against the Bianchis. Since he knew John wanted to keep her a secret.”
“And?”
“We just recently found out that it had nothing to do with her and everything to do with Haven.”
“Luca’s wife. Why would they care about her? They weren’t married back then?” If this is true, then this happened back when we were in college. We were seniors when Nite went MIA for a few weeks. When he returned, he never spoke in public again.
“That’s not my story to tell,” he states, crossing his arms over his chest, and I know I’m not getting anything else out of him.
“You need to speak to Mia,” I tell him.
He shakes his head. “I’ve gone this long without speaking. I’m not going to start now.”
I fist my hands. “She deserves to know the truth.”
Leaning forward, he places his forearms on the table. “There are a lot of things in this world that Mia deserves, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to get them.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
MIA
AFTER DILLAN MADE his phone call to a reporter this morning, I got undressed and crawled into his bed, finally able to get some sleep. But it was just one big nightmare. The video played over and over in my head. It was me. Even though it never showed my face, I knew the moment they dragged me into the room.
I hate that I don’t remember it. I knew Matteo had drugged me at some point because time was missing. But I never imagined that was what had happened. I woke up trying to remember and hoping I could piece together other parts that were gone, but no such luck.
Matteo wanted to scare me, and it worked. After he hung up, he sent me a voice text—said that would be my life. That next time, he’d just give me away for free if I didn’t do what needed to be done. I’ve only been in Vegas for ten days, but I’m not moving fast enough for them.