Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“The shop. Obviously, you aren’t going back there. At least not for a while. He had his brother open the place this morning,” Vega said with a wicked little grin. “You should have seen the look of disgust on his face when Cesare told him that. It was priceless.”
“But… but he doesn’t know anything about flowers.”
“Neither did Dennis,” Vega said, and there was a moment of pregnant silence, all the things we weren’t saying filling the room.
About Dennis screwing over Cesare.
About him being a part of kidnapping me, trying to assault me.
About me slicing his throat.
About Cesare putting a bullet in his head.
It all felt so surreal in the morning light. Like something that had happened in a movie, not in real life. Not in my life.
But the aches in my body—my sore hand, now wrapped in gauze after Cesare treated it, my split lip, the bruise on my face, the bruises on my thighs from where Jameson had pinned me down—told me it had all been very real.
“That’s true,” I agreed. “But… but he doesn’t even know how to run the store.”
“Babe, let’s not overcomplicate flowers,” Vega said, shrugging. “People pick what they like, he wraps them in the plastic shit, then rings up what he sold. I’m not playing down your role as a florist because you are magic with the flowers. But he can keep the shop running for the day.”
“Is that where Cesare is now?” I asked, feeling a surge of longing for him so strong that my chest hurt. My good hand rose, rubbing there like I might ease the ache.
“Yeah. He was going through the applications.”
“He’s firing me?” I asked, voice choked.
“No one is firing you. If you want to keep working there, I’m sure you can. But Rayna is in the hospital, and you need a little break after this whole ordeal. And he’s also decided he doesn’t like the idea of ever just having one person working in the shop at any given time now, so no matter what, there needs to be new hires.”
I would object, but I had to agree. I really never considered how terrifying it was to work alone. And even if it weren’t for the guys in the back and the danger they brought with them, even a rogue customer, or a random predator who knew you were alone posted a big threat.
“That makes sense,” I agreed, surprised with how much I wasn’t freaking out about my routine being messed with.
“Anyway, back to my original comment. You’re going.”
“Going where? To the shop?” I asked.
“To the city,” she clarified as my feet hit the ground.
“The city?”
“Yeah. He’s going. So you’re going.”
“He’s leaving?” I asked, hearing the mix of hurt and shock in my voice.
“He said he needs to have a meeting with his cousin. Who is, you know, the capo dei capi.”
“The what?”
“It means the ‘boss of all bosses,’” Vega explained. “See, with the mob, you have several Families. And in each Family, you have bosses, capos, and so on and so forth. But there always has to be one big boss. Cesare’s cousin is that boss. And he, for obvious reasons, needs to have a little sit down with him.”
“How do you know all of this?” I asked, slow blinking at her.
“Well, while you two were making sweet, sweet love in the bath last night, I was doing some research.”
I could feel my cheeks heating at the mention of that, at the memory of it.
I didn’t expect to feel anything like desire after I’d heard Dennis’s evil words, after I’d felt Jameson’s hands pulling up my shirt and yanking at my bra.
But after Cesare spent so much time cleaning up and wrapping my hand, then drawing my bath, and climbing in with me just to hold me and reassure me that nothing was ever going to happen to me again, I’d felt the stirrings.
And it wasn’t long before things progressed.
Vega was right, too.
It wasn’t sex.
It was something a little deeper, more meaningful.
“He didn’t mention going to the city to me,” I said, climbing up out of bed, wanting to grab a cup of coffee to get my brain to start working right.
“It all came up this morning while he was making coffee,” she told me. “He wanted you to sleep in. Said you were restless last night.”
I had tossed and turned for hours before I was finally exhausted enough that sleep claimed me.
“I was,” I said, going into the kitchen.
“Do you want to talk about it, or are you still processing?” Vega asked, and I’d never been so grateful to have someone in my life who knew me so well.
“Processing,” I told her.
“Alright. I’m here if or when you need to talk, though. But anyway, yes, Cesare is going to the city for a meeting. And you are going to go with him.”