Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Rocco nodded.
“What’s that got to do with me?”
“He knew your mother, Maggie. She was a housecleaner, right? He met her, they hooked up, and nine months later, you were born.”
“That’s impossible,” I breathed.
“It’s true,” Rocco said. “And I’m sorry to say that he left you two on his own. He was married, you see, and I guess he felt he had no choice.”
I inhaled sharply. My mom had slept with a married man? But that was assuming that this was true, which was impossible.
“It’s true,” Julian said, as if reading my mind. “But we don’t know the whole story, and neither of them are around to ask.” His words were painful even though I’d never met one of the two people he was referring to.
Suddenly, I laughed. This had to be a joke. These guys must’ve brought me out here for a weekend tryst, and the kidnapping was probably their idea of some kind of kinky foreplay. After all, I’d gotten very turned on when Slater spanked me.
“Maggie?” Julian asked with a worried look at my expression.
“You guys are joking,” I said, relief sweeping through me. “I have to admit, you had me going there for a while.”
In the light from the moon, I examined each of them in turn. Slater’s unruly hair was even wilder than usual because of the ski mask he’d worn. Rocco looked troubled, but maybe he just had a good poker face. And Julian was still watching me with concern.
I stared them down, waiting for one of them to give away something.
A twitch.
A tiny smile.
Either would have enabled me to realize that this was a classic case of a crappy joke.
Neither came.
Their expressions remained as serious as they had been throughout their narratives.
“This isn’t a joke, Maggie,” Rock said. But it had to be. It just couldn’t be real.
“I know it’s rough, hearing that the man you thought was your father isn’t,” Julian said, but I cut him off angrily.
“That jerk was nothing to me. He abandoned us.” When you thought about it, that should’ve made it easier to accept that he wasn’t my real dad, but according to these guys, my real father hadn’t ever even laid eyes on me. “Please, just take me back to New York. I don’t want to be here.”
“Which is why we had to nab you the way that we did,” Julian said gently.
“I won’t tell anyone,” I said, my eyes pleading. “Please let me go.”
“This isn’t a joke, Maggie,” Rock said. “You’re in danger.”
“Yes,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “From you guys.”
Slater leaned against the trunk, just a half foot from me. “No. From people worse than us.”
“But why?”
Julian explained. “You’re the daughter of Emilio Roselli. His son, Nick, inherited his millions when he died. And apparently, he doesn’t want to share.”
My breath hitched. “You’re saying I have a half-brother?”
“Yeah, but he’s a really bad man,” Rocco said, his voice gentle. “He put a hit on you because he doesn’t want you to get your hands on his money.”
“I don’t’ want his money,” I said bitterly. It was blood money.
“It doesn’t matter,” Julian said. “Apparently, Emilio left a will that names you as the main heir. That’s why Nick wants you dead.”
Shivers ran down my spine, but I did my best to think logically. I’d always dreamed of being a lawyer, and they needed to think on their feet.
“Why now?”
The men exchange glances. Finally, Slater spoke. “Since you didn’t know, you weren’t a real threat. But, uh, we did something to piss Roselli off, so he ordered us to kill you as punishment.”
That was all kinds of insane. “My death would somehow equal punishment for you three?”
The look on their faces confirmed that it would.
Julian took up the thread. “We also think that Roselli got word that we’d met you and were hanging out with you. I guess he got worried that we’d eventually figure it out.”
“Which you did,” I said softly. I turned my back to them, trying to think. The crisp night air that filled my lungs was steadying, somehow. I faced them again. “So what happens now?”
“We lay low for a bit,” Rocco said. “There’s a price on all our heads now.”
A new thought hit me. “Where’s Tommy?”
“He’s safe,” Rocco said gruffly, but what did that even mean?
Julian leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Drop it.”
My mouth opened, but one look at the pain on Rock’s face made me heed Julian’s advice.
Slater jumped in to cover the awkwardness. “One thing we can do is to make sure the story is true, about your father. If it’s not, then that changes things considerably.”
“How do we do that?”
“DNA test,” Julian said. “Where does your father live? The man you thought was your father?”
“I have no idea. He abandoned us. I haven’t heard from him since I was a kid.”