Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
What might’ve been about ten minutes later, the SUV was pulling up in front of another set of gates. The drive had been quiet, more sports, I figured out was soccer, on the radio and no talking other than a “Woo” and a “Yes!” in unison from angry driver, err Dario, and burly guy number two (number one had opted out) on what must’ve been a goa. It’d all been white noise to me due to my state of mind.
“Wait here,” Dario told me after getting past the gate and then he walked into the house alone. Me and the muscle sat in awkward silence.
My purse started ringing my ringtone for Ruby.
“Hand it over,” Burly two ordered gruffly, and I knew he meant business.
I took my cell phone out and handed it to him.
Dare was inside my doorway, “I come bearing gifts. I deliver your bride.”
He gave a gallant bow and then snickered. I’d just gotten home and had known they’d be along soon.
I rolled my eyes. “Fucking Pop.”
He laughed, leaning against the wall. “She’s a looker, bro. He did good.”
“Don’t look at my bride.” I punched his shoulder playfully. “And just you wait. I’m sure he’s lining up someone for you to marry next.”
“Since you’ll be head of the family, I think that means you get to pick, doesn’t it?”
I threw my head back and let out an evil laugh. “Oh yeah. And just you wait!”
“I’ll go get her,” he told me, grinning. He knew I’d have his back. Truth be told, he couldn’t wait for Pop to head out to pasture. Dare and I had plans for taking the family business to the next level together. We were half-brothers and five years apart, but we’d grown up together and were alike in many ways. He was the only other person I’d 100% trust to have my back. I didn’t even trust my father 100%.
I didn’t think he’d set out to do harm to me intentionally, but I knew that we were all pawns, to a degree, and that his idea of having my back and Dare’s idea of the same would diverge.
“Put her in my bedroom and lock the door,” I said and wiggled my eyebrows. Then I walked into my office to tie up a few loose ends before the big reveal. I didn’t know much about her yet but, from what I did know so far, I guessed that she wouldn’t have taken the news of today lightly. I was anticipating, even hoping for some resistance and looking fucking forward to it.
The guy with my phone gave it to Dario when he came back to the SUV.
“Let’s go,” Dario said to me with a chin jerk.
I couldn’t run. The gate was shut. Would I run, though, if it wasn’t? Thomas Ferrano threatened me, pretty much saying Dad was a goner if I didn’t cooperate, and maybe me, too. But, what would happen to me here?
I followed Dario into a large house, feeling a little shaky and a lot queasy. I couldn’t help but notice the architectural details of the place. It looked like a pretty hacienda, had an orange terra cotta roof, white parging with archways. There were loads of flowers everywhere. Climbing vines, overflowing baskets.
Inside the front door was a foyer that opened to a staircase directly to my left and a long hallway under an arch to my right. This was the kind of house Mom and I used to talk about having, a hacienda and beautiful gardens. It was her dream to live in a house like this and it’d become my dream, too. I shivered at the thought of my mom, unable to fathom how she’d feel about all this.
“Follow me,” Dario led the way up the stairs, down a long hall with several closed doors to a set of double doors, and then opened them both and walked in. I followed inside.
“Bag?” he motioned.
I hesitated.
“I’ll give your bag and phone to Tommy. He’ll decide when you can have them back.”
I was trembling. I couldn’t help it. I was in a big master suite with a king-size bed, about to be left for someone who thought they had a claim on me. I was supposed to be at a party celebrating the end of my childhood and the beginning of life as an adult. An adult with choices, a future, independence.
This was not that. This was something else. This something else was bad. Possibly very bad. He nodded politely, reached over to the bedside table and picked up a cordless phone, and then he left with it. I let out a big breath, as if I’d been holding it in for hours. I had to keep my cool somehow. If I had a freak out, there was no telling what would happen to me. If I kept my cool I could suss everything out and then make a calculated decision about what to do.