Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Lion and the boy walked through the door and as Lion picked up another set of earmuffs and spoke to the man behind the counter about making an exception for the kid, the boy looked over at the girl he had been staring at earlier.
She’s even uglier up close, he thought to himself. But deep down, he knew he was lying to himself. She was really pretty. Her face was round and still baby-like. Her cheeks were rosy pink, as well as her lips.
Her hair was parted perfectly in the middle and her short legs dangled in front of the bench as she continued writing.
She turned her pencil over and started to erase something on her paper, but then her pencil accidentally slipped out of her hand. She gasped, but the boy came to the rescue, rushing forward to pick up the pencil and handing it to her with haste.
Her eyes shot up and she looked at the boy with a wide grin. “THANK YOU!” she said, way too loudly. She couldn’t hear herself. It was already too loud with the guns shooting bullets all over the place and with her headphones on, she couldn’t hear a thing.
The boy said nothing. He stared at her—watched how her bright green eyes sparkled and her long, full eyelashes fluttered. He was still perched on his knees in front of her.
Speechless.
Mesmerized.
In awe of her fresh, raw beauty.
She pressed her lips and started writing again as if he weren’t even there. When a hand dropped down on the boy’s shoulders, he looked back and watched as Lion folded his arms over his chest.
Standing up rapidly, the boy rushed over to Lion and blinked quickly. “Sorry,” he whisper-hissed.
“For what?”
“Staring at her.”
“My daughter?” Lion mused. He smirked and wrapped a hand around the boy’s shoulder, slugging him around and walking towards their station. “She’s beautiful, huh?”
“Yes sir.”
“She takes after her mother, Mrs. Nicotera. You still want to keep taking those violin lessons, right?”
“Yes, I do, sir. I like playing.”
“My wife says you’re good—that you’ve learned fast.” When they were inside their gun station, he gripped the boy’s shoulders and turned him around so he could get a good look at him. “My daughter is naïve to all of this. I don’t want her to know about anything that I do. She sees me as her Daddy right now and I don’t want that to change for a long time, you understand?”
“Yes sir,” the boy responded rapidly, swallowing hard.
“But you have to change. You are your father’s only son. He needs you to learn the way we do things, otherwise you’re useless. If you don’t learn, we’ll have to find someone to fill your place…and that means finding another person to end up marrying my daughter one day too.”
The boy’s eyebrows dipped, confused now. “I don’t get it. You want me to marry her?”
“Not right now,” Lion chuckled. “But yes. We all do. We have to form an alliance. I need you for this. In order to stay on top of our game and to keep things flowing like they’re supposed to, you must marry my only girl. If you do that, our names will be powerful. And we will be so damn proud of you. But you have to prove you’re ready for that when she’s the right age. I haven’t told her yet, but I will, and I have to make sure you’re a decent man. If I don’t think you can live up to the plate, I will be disappointed.”
“I won’t disappoint you sir, I swear,” the boy confirmed, and he meant it.
“I know you won’t. I trust you.” Lion pulled away and turned him towards the area where the girl was sitting. She was bobbing her head now, her pigtails flapping as she listened to her music.
“She’s young, but she’s smart. She’s strong. She’s talented. And she knows that she’ll have to do what’s right for our name to remain respected. Right now, I am promising my daughter to you. That means you have to protect her when you get her. You have to make sure that she’s tough and able to handle what we go through on a daily basis. Make sure she never goes against you. Make sure she respects you, even if that means having to put her in her place—as your partner, at your side, helping you when you need help. Make her fearless in all the right ways. I know how you all do things in Mexico, but make sure my daughter never suffers or comes to a point where she wants to give up. Her place is to be with you. Always. Do you understand, Draco?”
“Yes sir,” the boy murmured, staring at his future wife. “I understand. I will protect her. I will do whatever I need to do to make sure she never goes against me…even if it means she’ll end up hating me before she loves me.”