Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
If I kill the second man, I kill the only person Enzo can interrogate to find out who sent them.
Not wanting to waste time in case there are more men waiting, I tuck Matteo into my side and run. Before I can second guess myself, I take the gun out of the holster. I know nothing about guns, but how hard can shooting one be?
Nothing about this house feels safe right now. If any enemies of Enzo have infiltrated his security system, which they must have if they’ve gotten into the house, they can watch me. I need to leave, and get away from the cameras dotted all over the property. So I run the garage. Enzo had shown me some of the collection of off-reading vehicles they have. I can’t take the normal roads. If those men have back-up, that’s the first place they’ll be.
I strap a helmet onto me and Matteo and pull the four-wheeler out of the garage. The helmets are a little big on Matteo, but it’s better than nothing. I don’t have time to adjust it to fit his small head since I don’t when the unconscious man in the living room is going to stir.
I don’t see anyone while we’re out in the trees, and I can’t tell if that’s a good thing. Hopefully, that means those two men were working alone, and they didn’t have backup watching me. It also means I don’t see any of Enzo’s men so I can alert them to what happened.
Do I want to alert them?
I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m acutely aware that for the first time, I have a chance to get away. If I want to take Enzo and run, now is my chance. I might not get another one. Without a cell connection, I don’t have to decide yet. All I want to do is get as far away from the house and as far away from any other potential attackers as possible.
I won’t stop until we’ve crossed the property line. The Lombardi’s don’t have many neighbors, and the ones they do are as private as they are, but the difference is immediately noticeable. There are no longer cameras hiding in the trees, there aren’t places set up for guard posts. I slide a shaky hand into my pocket. Whatever had been blocking the signal from my phone has disappeared, and there are four bars in the upper corner.
I scroll through my contacts and hit call.
Chapter Thirty-Eight- Enzo
Oleg has a smarmy fucking grin on his face. It oozes a confidence he shouldn’t have come into this meeting with. This time, we’re meeting on our land. A small bunker far enough away from the main house that you can’t see the mansion, but surrounded by our men. Despite being on our territory, the entire set-up is making me uncomfortable. Originally, we were supposed to meet at a neutral location next week, but Oleg requested to discuss the updated parameters of our agreement before coming to a final decision next week. He agreed to meet here, putting him at a disadvantage.
I don’t like it. Everything looks like it’s in our favor on the surface, but the grin on his face is that of a man who has the upper hand.
He has his own men; he isn’t stupid enough to step onto our territory without them, but there’s no way he thinks he’s going to get out of this alive if he’s done something underhanded. His guards might be able to take out a handful of ours, but he’s outnumbered 10-to-1.
There’s no reason for the conceited look on his face, but it hasn’t wavered since he entered. He can hardly hold back his delight, and I’m surprised whatever plan he hasn’t blurted out whatever plan he has concocted like the supervillain on a child’s TV show. The simile is odd, maybe I’ve been watching too many cartoons with Matteo.
Andy is on edge as well. He’s glaring at Oleg with his hand resting on his gun. His disdain for the man has grown with each time we meet. I think he reminds him of Bianca’s uncle in some ways. Cutthroat. Underhanded. Willing to pimp out female family members to get what he wants. At this point, he might pay me to be the one to take him out.
My father has been exceedingly patient with the man in front of us. If he is on edge as well, he doesn’t show it. He’s always been better than me at hiding his emotions. It’s a skill he has honed his entire life. This meeting has been pointless overall, simply going over the original points that had been made during the negotiations before marriage had ever been introduced.
We’ve brought in a different lawyer to help us figure out the legal pieces. Businesses would need to be created to help launder the money and there’s potential property to be traded. We have to make everything look legitimate. Eric had always been good at that. It would be a while before my father would be willing to let him work again, if ever. If Oleg has noticed the change, he hasn’t mentioned it.