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)
He holds my gaze, not flinching. "Because she is."
"Jesus Christ," I whisper, stunned. The scars on my abdomen burn. I place my hand over them on instinct, drawing Diego's attention. I quickly drop my hand back to my side, curling it into a fist. She's… Jesus Christ.
Her father murdered my mother in cold blood. He nearly killed me. My father went on the warpath in retaliation. He systematically wiped out her entire family one by one. He saved her parents for last. It took him seven years to get to them. Their baby daughter is the only one who survived the fire that consumed their home.
Once he found out she survived, he was furious. I think he would have hunted her down and finished the job had I let him. The one and only time I defied my father was the day he found out she survived. I refused to go after her. He raged for a while and then stormed out. When he returned a few hours later, we never spoke of her again. I always assumed, he'd finally cooled down and saw reason. She was a baby, a two-year-old child. It wasn't her war.
"Does she know?" I ask Diego.
"Does it matter?" he challenges.
Does it? Does knowing who she is change a goddamn thing?
It changes everything. She's a principessa, the only remaining member of the Cerrito family in Chicago. Even with no territory, no home, and no family, she's worth millions. The other families will tear the city apart to get their hands on her, her name, and her fortune. That's why Genovese wanted her so badly, and why he was so fucking worried about her being in my care.
But does any of this change the way I feel about her? That's not even a question. My heart beats for her and always will. Do I like the thought of her keeping this from me? Fuck no. But I can't judge her for it when I've done the same thing for twenty years. I kept the truth from Nico, trying to shield him from it. She did what she thought she had to do to protect herself. And, just maybe, to protect me too.
"No," I say softly, holding his gaze. "It doesn't matter."
Our lives are intwined in ways that defy description. They cross and intersect at so many different points, all leading to this same place, to this same inevitable conclusion. If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is. We were always supposed to end up here. We were always meant for one another. Maybe it ends happy for us. Maybe it ends in bloodshed. I don't know. But I do know this…however it ends for us, it ends together.
I'm getting my girl back. And I'm killing Tommaso Genovese. Right now.
Diego, Mattia, and I find Genovese hiding in the last place anyone would expect to find him: The deli halfway between my territory and his. It's the perfect hiding place, the one place in this city no one would expect him to go. It's smart, I'll give him that. But I didn't make it to the top by being easily outwitted. The deli is one of the first places I decide to check.
I'm coming, amore mio. I'm coming.
The one problem is the ten men guarding the block. And those are the ones we know about. Who knows how many others Genovese has tucked into hiding places we haven't yet found? Battista is guarding the front door…the last line of defense. Genovese isn't taking any chances.
"Find every single one of his men and kill them," I tell Mattia, my voice ice cold. I'm not taking prisoners tonight. I'm not showing mercy. This will be the first and last time anyone comes for Amalia. Anyone else who thinks to try me will think again after tonight. "Load every single one of them up and leave them on his son's doorstep."
Mattia grins, a vicious, savage grin. "I'll call Coda and rally the troops." His gaze flicks to Diego in the rearview mirror. "What about him?"
"He's coming with me," I mutter.
Diego grunts.
"You sure about that?" Mattia asks. "I can leave his body behind too."
"He's coming with me," I repeat.
Mattia shrugs and slips out of the SUV.
"You're in love with her," Diego says a moment later.
"You're just figuring that out?" I glance at Diego through the mirror to find him watching me.
"I don't approve."
"I don't remember asking for your approval."
His jaw clenches, groaning under the strain.
"I killed your father," I say quietly, not lying to him. "He broke the rules and paid the price I set. I won't pretend it was right or just or fair. I did what I did because it was my call to make. I won't try to justify or rationalize it to you. You can hate me for it, that's your right. I won't take that from you. But I love your sister. I believe she feels the same about me." Please, don't let me be wrong, I pray. I don't think I am though. I listened to the voicemail she left Diego. She told him she was calling it off, that she destroyed the evidence. She chose me. "I'll protect her above all things, love her above all things. Don't make her choose between us."