Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Livy stills. Her face drops. Looking between us, she says, “I don’t understand.”
Flustered, I rush forward. “I didn’t have time to explain. It was—”
Saverio wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me possessively against him. “It was a meaningless fling.”
“It’s not yours?” Livy asks, looking at Saverio with a mix of consternation and confusion.
“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “I already love it like it’s my own.” Looking down at me with a devastating smile, he says, “Isn’t that so, my love?”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
Saverio
“You shouldn’t lie about things like love,” Anya says in the Corvette on the way back home.
There’s an edge to my girl’s voice. I don’t have to look at her to know she’s upset.
When I stop at a red light, I give her my full attention. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” Her beautiful amber eyes flare. “You told Livy you love my baby.”
“I took responsibility for you. Why wouldn’t I take responsibility for your child?”
She lifts a finger. “Now that’s a big statement and very much debatable, but that’s not the point. Responsibility isn’t the same as affection.” She crosses her arms. “Love is sacred. It’s not a word you throw around when you don’t mean it.”
I study her features in the kaleidoscope of yellow, white, and ruby lights that filter through the window. “It’s obviously a trigger word for you. Is that because your mother doesn’t love you?”
Her body goes rigid. “Just because you know a few facts about my family, don’t assume to know everything.”
Ah. I’m right. “Which word do you prefer I use? Care?”
“I prefer that you don’t lie at all.”
The light changes. I put the car in gear and face the road. “Given our circumstances, that’ll be complicated. Correction. That’ll be impossible.”
She makes a frustrated sound. “All I ask is that you don’t act as if you care with…with…”
I raise a brow. “With what?”
“With so much intensity,” she says with a puff of air.
“Why?”
She turns in her seat. “Are you going out of your way to make my life difficult?”
“On the contrary,” I drawl. “Why would a devoted boyfriend complicate your life?”
“It’ll be more difficult to explain our breakup when our agreement comes to an end.”
I tense at that.
The truth is so much more complicated than lies about love. There is no end to this agreement. In time, she’ll realize her life will never be safe if I let her go. And yes, when I decided not to kill her, I did take responsibility for the consequences that came with that decision. If I tell her that now, however, she’ll freak out, and that can’t be good for the baby.
Annoyance rides on her tone. “Did you hear what I said, Sav?”
Fuck. I like it when she says my name. It’s as if she’s reaching into my chest and poking my heart.
My phone rings. It’s Giorgio.
It’s not the time, but he doesn’t call unless it’s urgent.
I answer with the handsfree function. “I’m in the car with Anya.”
“You better come down to Obsidian. Two of our men are down.”
I grip the wheel hard. “I’ll be there in twenty.”
He hangs up with, “I’ll tell my father you’re on your way.”
Taking the first side road, I turn the car around.
“What’s going on?” Anya asks in a nervous tone.
Goddamn.
Obsidian is our second biggest club. If two of our men are down, it wasn’t an accident. The attack was targeted, and that means war.
“Sav?” Anya says again.
I call Kevin and instruct him to meet me there so he can take her home. A battlefield isn’t a safe place for her, but time is of the essence. It’ll take too long to drop her off first.
I’m a good driver. My father knew how to handle cars as well as he knew their insides. He taught me to drive as soon as I could see over the dashboard. With Anya in the car, I don’t push down on the accelerator though. I sharpen my focus and stick to the speed limit.
In just over twenty-five minutes, I stop in front of the club that’s tucked between two theaters in Broadway. As I told Kevin to go home when I met Anya at Livy’s, it’ll take him longer to get here.
I take my gun from the glove compartment and shove it in the waistband of my pants under my jacket, ignoring the nervous flare of Anya’s eyes.
A valet runs up when I get out. I hand him my key and get Anya’s door. I shouldn’t take her inside, but I can’t leave her alone in the car.
One of our men who stands at the entrance greets me with a nod.
“Secure?” I ask under my breath.
“You can go ahead. Luigi is waiting.”
“What’s going on?” Anya asks when I take her elbow and steer her inside the building.
Looking on from the outside, everything seems normal. The music is pumping, and the bar is crowded. At the absence of waitresses, the clientele have to get their own drinks. The décor is unsophisticated, and the liquor is cheap. Whereas After Dark caters for the rich and famous, a younger crowd with less money to spend on booze frequents Obsidian. It’s a popular hangout for new generation upcoming professionals. If After Dark is focused on quality, we make our money here on quantity.