Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Before he hands me over to Viktor.
But I’m too dizzy and nauseated.
I think about the crystal ashtray sitting on the marble side table near the stairs.
It’s my only hope.
I decide to distract him.
“He’s going to kill you,” I say.
My words echo around the cavernous foyer and bring Luca to a standstill.
He swings around. “Who?”
“Viktor,” I say.
It’s not true.
I’m going to kill him.
With the ashtray.
In the foyer.
I just need to distract him long enough for me to reach it, so I can lift it up and smash it over his skull. Over and over, until his head cracks open like a watermelon.
“I thought your enforcer was going to do that?” he says, smugly. “Instead, he ran away with his tail between his legs like a little pussy.”
I’d like to see Luca say that to Lars’s face and see how much of a pussy he is when Lars removes his face with his bare hands.
“Viktor is already tired of your games. Once you hand me over to him, he will have everything he wanted. The transport routes down the east coast. A wife who knows more about the Moretti empire than you.” The table with the crystal ashtray is behind me. But it’s too far for me to reach. With Luca suitably distracted, I take a step back. “He’ll kill you and take over everything.”
Luca’s smug smile disappears.
Lost in his own narcissism, he didn’t consider this.
He was too busy amusing himself with his games to realize he was opening the door for Viktor to walk through and take over.
In his warped reality, he thought he was torturing me.
Getting his revenge on me.
And forcing Viktor to go along with it like some poor soul waiting for scraps at the dinner table.
But Viktor is a lot smarter than Luca.
He would’ve seen it as an opportunity to take over the largest organized crime syndicate in the country while Luca was distracted playing his silly games.
All he had to do was pretend like he was at the mercy of my brother. Play along with him until he was ready to strike.
And my brother was too stupid to see the opportunity he was handing him.
“You’re walking into a coup,” I say.
I don’t know if any of what I am saying is true.
But if Viktor Olicheckoff is any kind of pakhan, he will have seen this for what it is. An opportunity for a bigger slice of the pie.
I know I would.
And so would my father.
But Luca is too fucking stupid.
And no fucking leader.
“What are you talking about? The Moretti are far more powerful than the Olicheckoff.”
“They were more powerful. Until our father died and you took over.”
I take another step back.
“The Moretti are thriving under my control.”
“If you believe that, then heaven help all of us,” I say, taking another step back until my butt hits the table. I reach behind me. “But not you, Luca. You can go to hell.”
I grab the ashtray and slam it into his head. But at the last moment, he raises his arm and is able to shield his head from the blow.
It was a long shot.
But worth a try.
Because I’m not going down without a fight.
Snarling, Luca grabs my throat and forces me against the wall, and I drop the ashtray.
“You might think you’re smarter, but I’m physically far superior,” he seethes.
His fingers tighten around my throat, cutting off my air.
Our eyes fused, I can see the hatred in his. But I won’t look away.
Let him know I never looked away in fear.
But he lets me go, and I can suddenly breathe again.
“Killing you would be too easy for you. Let Viktor have his way—”
The doorbell cuts him off.
We both swing our heads in the direction of the door.
Usually, one of his guards would appear and open it, because heaven forbid Luca do something so menial as answering a door. But when no one comes, he impatiently stalks across the foyer to the front door and opens it.
There is no one on the other side.
Not even one of his men.
Which is odd, because I know there are many of them crawling around outside.
But there is a box sitting on the doorstep.
“Oh, a present,” he says, picking it up.
This is why Luca isn’t going to live long. I mean, I’m eventually going to kill him. But if I didn’t, this behavior right here is why he is not long for this Earth.
I hope it’s a bomb and it blows your face into a million pieces.
But he’s too ignorant and reckless to even consider anyone could get through his army of men who patrol the grounds. He’s so entitled, he can’t see past his own privileges and relies too much on others keeping him alive.
He lifts the box and rattles it about, and I can hear there is something heavy inside.
I take a cautionary step backward. If it is a bomb, it will probably take me out too.