Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Excitement filled me. At last, we were going to do something.
We wouldn’t just talk. Maybe it was the time spent in the hospital, but I was tired of sitting on my ass. Of resting and recuperating. I wasn’t made for that kind of thing, and neither were my buddies.
We needed to get out there and see for ourselves just how we were going to hit that damn truck. I did agree with Matteo. Shooting at a tall, moving vehicle from the ground level would not be easy. We were all good marksmen, but there would be a lot of obstacles along the way. Still, I wouldn’t lose hope. Not after Cesare’s suggestion to scout out the area in the dead of night. There would be fewer people to see us, and it would more closely recreate the conditions we’d be under when we eventually took those bastards out.
12
PIPER
Work kept me busy the next few nights, which was good. It gave me less time to dwell on Cesare. He’d texted a few times, but he’d seemed preoccupied and busy, too. Probably it would be best to just let things fade away.
Yeah, it was for the best, but it was also disappointing. But it was clear that Cesare was not boyfriend material. He wasn’t the type of guy a woman could rely on. His lifestyle seemed a little too dangerous. There was a pretty good chance of him getting killed out on the street. Yes, he’d treated me well the two times I’d seen him outside of work. Apart from the fact that he was a control freak and carried a gun, he was actually a pretty good date. Charming. Well-spoken. Polite as long as it was clear that he was the one in charge.
So yeah, it was a pity. I had met a fine-looking man, great at flirting, knowing how to treat a woman, but the life he had chosen for himself just didn’t agree with me.
Nevertheless, part of my mind couldn’t get over how good it had felt to be in his arms. To feel safe and cherished. And then there was the sex. I’d never had sex that good. Or orgasms that powerful. Hell, I’d never seen a man who looked as good as Cesare did naked. It made me wish that he were in a different line of work, but that was kind of like wishing that he was a different person, which made no sense. He was who he was.
I kept thinking about him, though, as my mind went around in circles. In the shower before work, I’d run my hands over my skin and remember how amazing it had felt when he touched me.
And my brain began to betray me. I began to wonder if giving up on the idea of Cesare as a suitable boyfriend truly meant giving up the sizzling-hot sex. After all, some men seemed perfectly fine with having sex without a relationship.
Maybe Cesare and I could be like that. We could enjoy each other’s bodies and make each other feel good without bothering with a relationship.
After all, one more time wouldn’t hurt anyone. It would just give me more memories with him. Amazing images I could go back to, every time I felt like it. Like after a long shift when I needed a little relief before bed. If I could make a few more memories with him, it would be worth it to me. It might even distract me from thinking about the gun he’d brought into my home.
Maybe.
13
MATTEO
A late-night field trip to a state forest?
I hadn’t seen that coming.
Truth be told, I expected that the truck’s new route would go through more populated areas. To use some more crowded roads, with enough traffic to deter any wannabe robbers.
But thanks to Leonardo’s research, I’d been dead wrong. At least if what he’d learned was legitimate. Truth was, the new route gave me the creeps. I’d never been a fan of darkness. Cesare’s dad—my uncle—had died when we were young, and his mom went through a series of boyfriends who made Cesare’s life miserable. One who was a particular bastard would lock us in a storm cellar when he didn’t want to deal with us anymore. It was dank and dark down there, even after we’d learned to hide flashlights, food, and water down there.
So yeah, I wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore, but I also wasn’t its biggest fan. Still, we learned something after making the trip. The first thing was about the people who put the truck’s new itinerary in place.
They had to have been feeling invincible. They had to believe that no one would dare pull their truck over to rob it. That vehicle would be well away from civilization. It would be miles away from any witnesses and law enforcement agents for at least thirty minutes. This was plenty of time for a skilled crew to do anything they had in mind. So, whoever had ordered the driver of that truck to take that route had to have been stupid or too confident. They had too much faith in DeLuca and his men, if they were part of the backup.