Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
I smile as I tell him to meet me in the study. I tuck the phone away and take in the grand white house as the chopper comes in to land. I climb out, keeping my head low as I make my way to the back entrance of the house.
It’s a little after midnight. My mother will be in bed. Francesca as well. Bastian meets me at the library door.
“Did he talk?” he asks.
“With some encouragement.”
He grins.
“He gave Sonny up. In exchange for a bullet between his eyes.”
Bastian nods. We knew Sonny was involved in Angelo’s murder. As sick as it is to imagine.
“There’s not a human bone in that man’s body,” Bastian says. “We should take him out. Now. The family will be on our side.”
“They may, but the authorities will not. They won’t protect him. Us killing Sonny would essentially take out two birds with one stone. We’d be behind bars before we could blink. But we will make him bend a knee.”
Bastian snorts. “He’s not going to do that. I can guarantee that, brother.”
“If he doesn’t, then we act. We have a dinner tomorrow night. With our uncle, in fact.”
“What dinner?”
“I’m guessing you’ve seen the headlines?”
“Bruno mentioned it. Who cares? They don’t know where she is. They didn’t see our faces.”
“We’re going to head it off before it goes any further. Go public.”
“You’re really going to do it? Tie yourself to a Russo.”
“One of us has to. If you’re up for the task, I’m happy to step aside.”
“You drew that straw, brother.” He pats my back.
“I’ll go get her.”
“Will you need me to give you two a minute?” He chuckles.
“Fuck you, asshole.”
I head up to Vittoria’s room and nod to the guard, who unlocks the door and opens it. I find Vittoria lying on the bed on her back staring up at the ceiling, her blue eyes bright in the dim room. The only light is from the bathroom and the moonlight coming in through the window. I had all the lamps removed. Basically, had it stripped bare in preparation of her arrival. If she’d been hideous, would I have kept her?
Vittoria sits up and presses her back to the headboard. She hugs her knees to herself and watches me. Even from the little bit of light, I can see she’s been crying. Good. She’s still in the same dress, but the clothes she’d packed for her trip should be at the Naples house by now.
I glance at the leather-bound book on the nightstand. “Learn anything new?”
“I’m not interested in your version of history.”
“But you’ve read it.”
She raises her head in arrogant defiance. “Because your brother made me.”
“Bastian can be convincing if he does lack decorum.”
“He’s an asshole.”
I shrug a shoulder and gesture to the door. “Come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so, and I’m guessing if Bastian was here, you’ve had a lesson in obedience. He has his tastes.”
Her eyes bore into mine, and I see a flush creep up her neck. I wonder how far Bastian went.
“You both know how to charm the ladies, don’t you?” she asks.
“Neither of us cares to charm you.”
“Well then you’re doing a stellar job.”
“Up. Let’s go.”
She gets up, slips her shoes on, and walks ahead of me into the hallway. I wrap my hand around the back of her neck. She tries to pull away, but I hold tight and guide her down the stairs and to the open library door where Bastian is waiting.
“Dandelion,” Bastian says, making a show of inviting her in. “So good to see you again.”
She stops short and looks from Bastian to me. I guide her past him, noticing how she tries to avoid touching him.
“Sit,” I tell her as Bastian tops up his glass and pours us each a healthy serving of whiskey. She sits in the middle of the leather chesterfield that faces the two matching chairs and takes in the space. I see it anew, remembering how I’d fallen in love with the two-story library with its huge arched window overlooking the vast sea. I know she doesn’t want to be impressed, but she is.
Bastian sets her glass on the coffee table, hands me mine, and takes his seat in the armchair beside the one I sit in.
“Is it poisoned?” she asks as she lifts the glass.
He grins. “If we wanted to kill you, you’d be dead.”
She drinks a big swallow, and I know the tough exterior is a façade. She’s scared.
I take her in properly. She’s pretty. Very pretty. Even in this state, with her hair a tangled mess over her shoulders. She must have washed it and didn’t have a comb. I’d only left the bare minimum. Long blond waves spill down her back. Her makeup is completely gone, and she looks younger, apart from the shadows under her eyes. Eyes that scan the room searching now. My guess is if she sees something she thinks she can use as a weapon, she’ll jump to it.