Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
As soon as the police arrived, they’d asked me questions, but I said nothing about where my father had gone or what he was doing. All they know is that he’s away on business. My mother hasn’t been answering her phone, and I’m stuck here with my brother, who I hate.
Secrets and lies are something that run rampant in my family. With my father gone, my mother off the grid, and only me and Andrea here, I have to help him run the club.
My father didn’t want me in this life, but since I turned eighteen, Daddy allowed me to work at Gin Bar. It was a gift to my brother from our father. With each hour that passes today, I have a strange feeling that I’ll soon be under the care of Andrea, and that fills me with dread.
If something really has happened to Dad, I know what his Will and Testament would read, and that makes me want to cry. I thought I’d be able to escape this life. To run away from my brother with him. But I don’t see how that can happen. Lucio and my father’s disappearance have involuntarily dragged me into it.
Lucio’s phone has been off since yesterday. After he left, he sent me one last text message and when I tried calling back, the phone rang directly to his voice mail. I’ve read it a few hundred times, trying to make sense of it, and as much as I’ve tried to decode it, I can’t.
Life has a funny way of fucking with you when you least expect it. I wanted a different life, but with Andrea controlling everything, I’ll merely be a prisoner. I thought my dark prince would take me away with him. He promised.
I pull my hair from the elastic band and breathe a long sigh of relief. My body aches from the treadmill, but my heart pains for another reason. For the one thing I’ll never have—my freedom.
My best friend flops onto the chair in my new bedroom and regards me. I met Adria at school. We were in our first year of high school when we found kinship with each other. She was fiery, more so than I ever could be. Even though she pushes me to speak up, to speak out, I am not like her. She’s been my only salvation while living under the constant surveillance of Dad and the men I know he has following me around.
She watches me for a long while, and I know she wants to talk about what happened. About the new home I have. Andrea put down a deposit on a furnished apartment close to town and told me to stay put. Unless I’m at work or the gym, I’m not to go anywhere.
The man my brother decided to be my shadow has been glued to my ass for the past eight hours and it’s frustrating. I’ve never had to deal with this side of the life, but now that it’s been thrust onto me, I decide I don’t like it one bit.
“I can’t believe the entire house is gone.” Adria’s words make me sad. They remind me of all the memories I’ve lost. Except one thing. The only thing I have are the photos of Lucio. Those I stole from Daddy’s office when I was rummaging around in his paperwork.
“I guess my father must have royally pissed someone off,” I tell her.
Adria doesn’t know everything about our lineage. She knows we’re Italian, but our connection to the mafia has never come up and if she doesn’t ask, I don’t offer. We’ve only known each other for a couple of years, but I’ve always kept secrets. Like I said, the Lombardi name is well known for its hidden truths and wicked sins.
She bought the story that my father’s clients are politicians, well-known people with connections. I told a lie. A little one, but it was something I had to come up with, so she wouldn’t suspect me of being part of a crime family. Also, she’s never met my boyfriend. At least, that’s what I think of him as. I don’t know what he is to me officially, but I could never tell her I’m with Lucio Russo.
When I turn to face her, my best friend stares at me in disbelief, but I shrug, attempting to calm the agony that’s gripped my heart since the flames stole everything.
“I’m so sorry, Rai.” She pouts. Adria is incredibly beautiful. Her long dark hair is shiny and sleek, her eyes are almost feline, the color of honey, and her lips—full and always bright red.
She never talks about her family, but I know she hides secrets just like me. Like everyone in my life does, including Lucio. Her father is notorious in Los Angeles for violence and I’ve heard about the people he’s hurt who double-crossed him. Something tells me he’ll not think twice about killing a man.