Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
I have a feeling I'm going to live long enough to find out.
I flick my gaze to the window again, drumming my fingers against the leather seat as I try to decide what to do about the woman inside the apartment. Using her doesn't appeal to me on any level. Sooner or later, Diego will reappear. Rats always do. But I don't have time to wait for this one to crawl out of the gutter. If Tommaso Genovese gets his hands on Diego before I do, war may come whether I like it or not. Diego knows far too much about my family. I can't risk him striking a deal with Genovese.
But I've kept women out of it for twenty years, made them untouchable. Under my rule, our women are off-limits. If I change that rule now, I'm no better than my father.
And if you don't, you're worse, a little voice whispers. It's not wrong. My responsibility is to my brothers and my men, not to this woman. If dragging her into Diego's problems halts a war…there is no choice, is there?
Pesante è la testa che indossa la corona. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
Fuck, I hate this job and all the bullshit that comes with it.
Raised voices capture my attention before I can hammer the final nail in my coffin. I scan the front of the building, but don't see anything out of the ordinary. They're coming from inside. Judging from the sounds of it, the men I sent in to scout out the place found Diego's woman and she's less than thrilled about it. The argument rises in volume, punctuated by the crash of furniture and the shattering of glass.
A woman's voice cries out.
"What the fuck?" I growl, already reaching for the door handle as cold anger seizes me.
"Mattia," Luca says, his voice soft.
Next to my brothers, Mattia Agostino, my consigliere and closest friend, is the person I trust most in this world. Diego's girl could shiv Mattia between the ribs and he wouldn't lift a finger to stop her. I'm not the only one who knows what it's like to watch this way of life claim the life of a woman who didn't have a choice. Mattia’s mother and father were murdered when we were seven.
I realize halfway out of the SUV that Luca isn't trying to warn me that Mattia is hurting the woman. He's telling me that Mattia is on the way out. My oldest friend ducks out of the apartment building behind a raven-haired Latina beauty. She's average height, her dark hair falling in waves midway down her back. It shines like silk in the afternoon sunlight. Even from a distance, the sway of her wide hips in her long skirt and the fire in her mocha eyes harden my cock.
A fist clenches around my heart, another around my balls. Both squeeze tight. And then tighter. What the fuck? I straighten to my full height, my gaze prowling across her. Whoever she is, Diego is a fucking idiot for hiding her here. She doesn't belong in this shithole. Cosa Nostra may have rules about women now, but the gangs of Chicago don't. They're honorless. This queen should be tucked up in a castle, surrounded by guards.
Christ, she's beautiful.
Her olive skin and luscious curves send beads of sweat trickling down my back.
"You," she growls, stomping toward me.
Mattia meets my gaze over her head, arching one brow as if to say good luck with this one.
I shift positions, restless in a way I've never been before. I plant my feet, forcing myself to stay still and let her come to me when my body actually vibrates with the desire to go to her. I shove my hands into my pockets, shaken for the first time in my life. I've done things that would horrify this girl, but she's what rattles me, what throws me off balance.
"Get your men out of my apartment," she says, her eyes flashing deadly fire when she draws to a stop in front of me. She barely comes up to my shoulder, allowing me to see right down her modest little blouse. She seems to know who I am, but she doesn't flinch or show fear. She tips her chin back, meeting my gaze boldly. "Diego isn't hiding in my underwear drawer."
I glance from her to Mattia in silent question.
"She threw a lamp at Vito's head when he got close to the dresser," he says, shrugging one meaty shoulder. "I told him to check it out."
"I should have thrown a second lamp," she says, a certain savage satisfaction in her tone. Her fearlessness does a number on my cock. She can't be older than twenty-one or twenty-two, but she doesn't waver. Men three times her age quiver in fear when they face me. Not this woman. Who is she?