Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
The room falls into a heavy silence as I stare at the place where my cousin once stood. “Does anybody else dare question my marriage or disrespect my wife?” I ask, my ferocious stare slowly swiveling to meet Sergiu’s. After all, he’s disrespected Chiara on more than one occasion.
“No, Killian. You are right. We have not been welcoming enough to your new bride,” Sergiu says, kissing my ass. “We will do better.”
“See to it that you do,” I tell him before addressing the remaining senior members of my family. “I will be speaking to your wives, so I suggest you each ensure that they are readily available when I come looking, and if even one of them suddenly goes missing, I will automatically assume their guilt and they’ll be buried in a shallow grave beside Phillip. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Killian,” Cristian and Adrian say in unison before getting to their feet. And with that, I walk out of the formal dining room, more determined than ever to find out which of my cousins’ wives will be next to go.
19
CHIARA
“You wanna get out of here, Lara?” my boss asks with a ridiculous smirk across his face, one that I’ve become all too accustomed to over the past few years working in his run-down bar.
He’s called me Lara since the day I started, and after telling him a billion times that my name is Chiara, it eventually became a running joke. Since then, the name has stuck.
“I thought you needed me to close,” I ask, positive I was on the late shift tonight.
“Nah, it’s all good. Give yourself an early night,” he says. “It’s quiet. I’m gonna close up early.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. Finish up what you’re doing and get out of here,” he says, reaching for a discarded glass on the bar. “Hell, maybe even enjoy your weekend for a change. Fuck knows you need it.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t help feeling grateful. I’m behind on three assessments, and while an extra few hours isn’t going to help that much, it means I can get to bed earlier, have a decent night’s sleep, and spend all weekend trying to smash them out.
I’m so close. Only one more year of college and I’ll be free. I can get a proper job with decent pay and maybe even save some cash for a better life, but I can’t slip yet. Twelve more months until everything changes. I can practically feel the optimism burning inside of me.
After closing out my register and grabbing my bag from under the bar, I take off. It’s a little after ten, and I can’t help but smile to myself as I make my way down the street. I never get to leave this early. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and the tips it brings in, and not having the extra tips from a busy night tonight is going to suck, but getting to leave early for a change is too good of an opportunity to skip out on. I’m usually the first to raise my hand for a close shift. The other girls prefer getting out early so they can have a life, but unfortunately, I don’t have one of those, so I don’t mind the late shift. I usually get off work at one in the morning, but most of the customers are gone by eleven, so I spend two hours with my face shoved in textbooks while filling the occasional beer. It’s perfect for me.
It’s a short walk, and on a good night, I’m usually home in eight minutes. When the bar has been crazy busy, and I’ve been run off my feet, crawling home can then take up to thirteen minutes, but tonight, I’m flying.
My attention is locked on my phone, scrolling through anything I’ve missed on social media over the past few hours, and surprise, surprise, there’s not a lot to hold my focus.
My gaze shifts to the busy road, and I take in one of the bars that’s a little closer to the college campus. This bar is always packed, and while I feel for the girls working the bar, I can’t help but feel a little jealous. Their tips must be insane.
A scowl stretches across my face, and as I turn the corner, I do what I can to put it out of my mind. I’m lucky to have my job. While the tips aren’t incredible, they’re still considered good, and that’s more than I could ask for.
As I get closer to my shitty little apartment, I dig through my bag for my keys, passing under the one streetlight that’s been out since before I even moved here. Everything darkens as shadows stretch out across the road, and I can’t help but notice the random guy leaning up against the neighboring apartment complex.