Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Am I happy with him?
My Italian husband?
My killer and my captor. The man that tore me from my life and gave me a new purpose, a new world.
The man that showed me I can be more.
“Yes, I’m happy with this.”
Luca smiles slightly and sits up straighter like I made him proud.
“Good,” Galatas says, nodding to himself. “Very good. We want alliance with Valverde. We want you to stay married to Luca.” Galatas gestures around him. “We are in agreement. No more Russians.”
“No more Russians,” Luca says and his voice grows hard. “They killed Kacia’s father and brothers. They destroyed your association and tried to kill me. They will not let this alliance stand. There will be blood.”
“Let there be blood,” Filo says sharply, grinning like a wolf.
“Let’s drink to our new friends,” Yiannis suggests, winking at Luca. “To the husband and bride. To their many children.”
We touch glasses and the men start talking about details, and I slowly tune them out. I’m on the peripheral here, but I’m okay with that, it’s how these Greek assholes do business. Luca puts his hand on my thigh and I sit there sipping my wine and enjoying the soft sea breeze and watching the people around me, wondering if I’ll ever be like them again, if I’ll ever feel so free and easy and light.
I don’t think I will, and that’s all right.
I have a new purpose now.
When we’re finished, the crime lords depart and scatter. Yiannis promises to check in again soon, and leaves me alone with Luca.
I lean against his shoulder and for a second, we’re just a pair of regular people out on a date on a beautiful evening in Crete.
“What are you thinking?” he asks.
“I’m thinking I didn’t get anything out of that deal.”
He laughs like he really means it and kisses me softly. “What do you want, little flower? You need to get a taste, I understand how these things go.”
“I want to act as the liaison between the Greek crime lords and your family.”
His eyebrows go up. “That’s supposed to be Yiannis.”
“Then I’ll deal with Yiannis. I want to be a part of your Famiglia, Luca, but not like some passive Greek wife that does nothing but raise kids and hang around the house all day.”
“What, you don’t want to have an easy and comfortable life?”
“I’ve had that already. I want a challenge.”
He studies me for a moment and kisses me again. “All right, Kacia. You can have whatever you want. Right now, I’m only happy you’re here.”
“Yeah, well, I’m happy too.”
He hugs me tight against him and we watch the ocean lap against the sand for a nice, quiet minute, before he breaks the silence. “Now all we need to do is get my father on board.”
Chapter 30
Luca
New York City.
The greatest city on the face of the earth.
It feels like I’ve been gone forever, like the city forgot about me, but now I ride back in like a conquering hero with my wife by my side and my brothers behind us. We rode out to battle, we bled and we killed, and we came back triumphant. Vinny Dragonetti meets us at the airport and shakes my hand as he gestures at a black car my father sent.
“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, kid,” he says with a gleam in his eye. The fucking rat probably things he’s about to get a major promotion. “Let’s head right to see your father, shall we?”
I don’t argue. We pile into two SUVs and head back through town. I stare out the window watching the buildings flash by, the movement, the life. New York is heaven and it’s hell, and that’s what makes it perfect. There’s nothing fake, nothing fluorescent, nothing false about the gritty streets and the broken windows and the graffiti. This is my world, my life. This is all I need.
With Kacia by my side, I’m going to own this city and so much more.
My father’s waiting in his study when we arrive. Tony and Niccolo stay outside as I’m ushered in with Kacia. The old man looks angry, on the verge of true rage, and I can guess why. He stands as we approach his desk and he doesn’t take his eyes off me for a second.
“Vinny, out.”
Dragonetti grunts and closes the door behind him.
“I know what you’re thinking,” I say but my old man speaks over me.
“You have no clue what I’m thinking. You have no clue what I’ve had to do to make sure you didn’t get a bullet in the back of the head the second you stepped off that plane. What the fuck were you thinking, Luca? You went out to LA and killed a bunch of Russians and started a goddamn war, and for what? For this Greek girl?”
I step forward, staring at my father. There’s anger rolling in the background of my mind, the old rage desperate to break free and spill out in a maddening crescendo of screaming and aching, but I keep it shoved back. I control myself. I face my father.