Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“I need to get to my boys, but I want Gloria here until I come back with them,” Cormack says, staring at me with the warning that he’s trusting me with her safety. I nod, answering his unspoken request.
“All of you will stay here tonight. This isn’t random,” I answer.
“Do you know who it is?” Aria looks up at me with a fear that pisses me off.
Cupping her face, I stare into her gorgeous eyes. “No, but I will. Nothing and no one will stop our wedding,” I tell her, but it’s for everyone just in case they get any crazy ideas of canceling it.
My phone rings, and it’s Nero. “What do you have?”
“He’s gone. It’s definitely a guy with brass balls. We’re waiting for a medic and the fucking fire department out in the woods.” He’s breathing heavily as he spits it out for me.
“What the hell happened?”
“We gave chase, and the asshole had a trip wire set up with rigged explosives. We’ve lost two more guys.” I could put a bullet in this bastard’s head, but we need to make him earn his death.
“When we find this asshole, his death will be slow and painful. Do what you need to do. Are you good, though?”
“Yeah, I’m a little slower than these guys,” he huffs. That’s when I realize he’s still catching his breath.
He’s fast, but not sprinter fast. “That’s because you’re built like a tank. Stay safe.”
“I told you,” Aria huffs, slapping my chest as tears stream down her gorgeous face.
“You did. Did you know something, Aria?” It’s a stupid question, but maybe she heard something without understanding what it meant.
“Of course not. I don’t leave my ivory tower, but we’ve all gotten together and someone who hates us knew it. It doesn’t take much intelligence,” she sasses, rolling her eyes at me.
“Handful,” Gloria mutters.
“She’s still worth it.” I place a soft kiss on her lips. “Stay in the house. I have to get to the bottom of this.”
“Please don’t get yourself killed,” Aria pleads, filling me with unexplainable vigor and determination. Nothing’s going to stop me from getting back to her.
“Not gonna happen. I have a bride waiting for me.”
My phone rings and it’s Luigi, on top of being my personal guard and driver, he’s one of my security experts. “We’ve got a hit on the vehicle he fled in, but it’s been reported stolen this morning.”
That’s not what I like to hear, but given the situation, it’s to be expected. “Shit. Okay. Well, get any city cameras of this fucker. I want this bastard taken care of before the wedding.”
“Already on it. Our connection in the city is scanning all the systems for it.”
“Call me when he has something.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Hey—next time, don’t go running into danger like that, Dom,” Don Grasso says. “You could have been shot if he’d gotten over the walls.”
“The sensors would have gone off. Fuck. I hate that fucking front gate. It’s a hazard, leaving us at risk.” It’s for aesthetics, but it’s useless when it comes to protection. In all my years this house has never come under attack because the families would be too fucking stupid.
“We could have been shot at before we arrived. This was intentional.”
“All of the vehicles are bulletproof,” I explain to Aria, but does the shooter know that? Probably. It’s only wise for us to own several armor-plated rides.
I look over her head and to her father whose tension is visibly high. “We need to go back to your home. I wonder if someone has been lurking around your house at a distance and followed us here. We weren’t home for more than thirty minutes before all hell broke out.”
“Do you believe this has to do with us?” he questions, teeth clenching, knuckles whitening. The old man better chill out or he’s going to have a heart attack.
“It might have to do with Aria. Her guard was missing this morning. Have you located him? I haven’t been able to get a hold of him. That’s why I added one of my mother’s guards to guard Aria’s room.”
“I was made aware of that, but he hadn’t called in sick. I thought you pulled him for your own reasons.” He’s referring to my jealousy when it comes to his daughter—my bride.
“No. I trusted him to keep his eyes to himself.” He’s been protecting her for years and has never given me a reason to believe he wanted her. Still, if this is his handiwork, I’ll kill that fucker without a second thought.
“Maybe,” her father scoffs.
My phone goes off as we get into my SUV. It’s her room sensor. I see the little fuck in there and his face is familiar, but it’s not John or even Cormack, who should almost be at the house. I don’t share that with her father because then he’ll know I had cameras in her room and that I’ve seen much more of his daughter than I should have. Technically, the legal age in this state is seventeen. Still, I don’t think he’d appreciate it. I said my obsession with her is sick. I’m a fucking mobster; it’s not like I live on the right side of the law anyway.