Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
I greeted my mom at the entrance to the emergency room. She held her keys out to me and kissed my cheek, telling me to be careful and to hurry the hell up to be with my wife. Some things never change. There were times in my childhood when she’d say the same to my father. It took little to no time getting to the restaurant. All the men were gathered around Petrov and the two men working with him, all three strung up on meat hooks. They had disdainful looks on their faces, acting like tough guys. They weren’t that way when we were done with them. Each man in the outfit took a shot with their weapon of choice, whether it was a gun, their fists, or a knife of their choice. It was me who took the meat cleaver to the fucker who put a dart in my wife’s neck. It was Petrov’s turn afterwards. True to my word, I cut off his tongue and watched the blood gush while he and his pissants screamed in pain, only feeling a tenth of what they should be feeling. My papà, though, known for taking things to the extreme, he used his gun to shoot each finger off Petrov. It still wasn’t enough. As soon as he’d pass out, we’d use smelling salts to bring him back to consciousness, only to repeat the process. Such a shame, too, because not only will his wife not know where her husband is, she won’t know where her son is buried either. Things could have gone differently, if only he’d have sat down like a real man to have a meeting or backed the fuck off like most would. Instead, he treaded on our territory, fucking up every step of the way.
“You sure you don’t want to take a shower and get to the hospital?” My father gave me the out. I shook my head. I was the boss now, and as much as I appreciated him stepping in to help, it was me who needed to see it through.
“No, I’ll be watching as he gets buried. I do need to make a call first, though,” I told him, grabbing my phone. My hands were a bloody mess, my suit ruined. That will have to be burned along with all the others. I fired off a quick text to Wylder and waited for him to respond. Once he did, well, it was time to take the men out to the desert.
That took us the longest, digging the holes, placing their unconscious bodies in the shallow graves, burying them until their heads were out of the ground the way I had been dreaming all along, bringing them back to life one last time to see what it means to fuck with the Donotellos. Only then did I go back to my house, making sure every trace of what happened today was wiped clean. My crew was two steps ahead. The cleaning company had come and gone. I took a shower and headed to the hospital, which is where I am now. Our family is surrounding Journey while she sleeps, not knowing when she’ll wake up next or if she’ll sleep all through the night.
“You may as well head home. I’ll call you when she wakes up or we’re discharged.” Hopefully, I can keep the cops at bay. They never showed up at the house. By the time the ambulance appeared, we’d had Petrov and his men loaded up and took care of things so minimal questions would be asked.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Journey’s dad states. He takes his wife’s hand. Wylder left when I got here. Work could only go so long without him there. Pierre was out of town this week, which meant he had to actually work.
“We’re leaving, too,” Mamma responds. I appreciate her more than she could ever know. As soon as they leave, I’ll be sliding into the bed next to my wife, keeping her warm, breathing her in, and holding her in my arms all night long.
TWENTY-NINE
Journey
“Nico, what were those words you whispered to me while I was in the hospital?” I ask him the next day. I’m out of the hospital and back home. The first order of business was a shower to get the stench of antiseptic off my body and hair. At first, Nico balked when I told him that’s where I was going after he carried me into the house, up the stairs, and was heading for our bedroom. That’s when I told him shower first, then I would nap. My head still feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. It would be awesome if it would finally stop aching.
“Which words? I said quite a few.” Nico refused to let me shower alone and is currently washing my hair as gently as possible. What he doesn’t know is that his fingers alone, plus feeling his cock bob and sway against my ass, aren’t making me want to do any sleeping once we’re out of here.