Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
“Lying low.” Achilles adjusted the shoulder holster under his suit. Asshole arrived with enough weapons to start a full-fledged war. “They’ve been beefing with the Bratva, so you’re not their first priority.”
“Maybe Tyrone talked some sense into his cuntbag of a son,” I hedged.
“Oh, my sweet summer child.” Luca chuckled, tossing his arms on the back of the leather sofa. “Tiernan answers to no one. I’ve seen him burn down entire neighborhoods for much less.”
“He sounds like a liability.”
“Not necessarily.” Achilles cocked his head. “Crazy is unpredictable. No one wants to fuck with crazy. I’ll take a smart, pragmatic enemy over a deranged one any day of the week.”
I put a hand to my chest. “I’m touched but also taken.”
“Not for long, according to Dylan.” Rhyland reached for his pint of Guinness, draining half of it.
“Releasing Gia from the contract when her mother dies? What is this, amateur hour? You’re usually a much better negotiator.”
“My head wasn’t doing the negotiations,” I drawled into the rim of my whiskey tumbler. “My dick was in charge.”
Row snorted. “How’s her mother doing anyway?”
“Still alive,” I said. “Tomorrow it’ll be two full weeks since they took her off the feeding tube.”
“Shit,” Achilles muttered.
“Yeah.” I tsked. “Gia’s in shambles. I’m half tempted to finish her off myself. It’s probably what she’d want too.”
Row raised his hands. “Hey, if I’m brain-dead with no hope for recovery, do me a favor, and shoot me between the eyes.”
“Gladly.” Rhyland bowed his head.
“Thanks, bro.” Row and Rhyland fist-bumped.
“Shut up and show some respect, or I’ll voluntarily relieve both of you of your miserable lives,” I warned.
“Her mother’s Cuban, right?” Luca turned to me.
I nodded.
“Catholic?”
“Yeah.” I ran my knuckles over my stubble.
“You should hire a Santeria priest,” Luca suggested. “You know, they’re kind of like psychics. Or mediums. Someone to connect with her spirit. Ask her what’s the holdup.”
I stared at him like he just suggested I fuck my own ass. He didn’t strike me as the spiritual type. People who slaughtered others for a living rarely were. “You gonna sit here with a straight face and tell me you believe in spirits?”
“I’m telling you that your wife might.” Luca’s eyes were hard on mine.
A half waitress, half escort plopped her ass on Luca’s thigh, grinning at him. She had deep cleavage and wore a black-and-white French maid mini dress.
“You know, I think I might be able to help.” Row rubbed the back of his neck. “One of my sous-chefs comes from a semi-celebrity family. His mom is a medium. A very popular one. She’s on TV and shit. Lives in Miami.”
“I want her number,” I said.
Row picked up his phone. “Texting him right now.”
“So, Tate.” Achilles drew my attention, signaling for service without even looking in their direction. Two waitresses bolted toward him like bullets, each taking a seat in his lap. “I have bad news.”
I cocked an eyebrow.
“We’re transferring Enzo to another job.”
Fuck.
“How come?” I asked.
“He’s needed in Crimson Key.” Achilles ignored the two women, each kissing a side of his neck, until their mouths met one another for a passionate play of tongues.
Crimson Key was a private island, a stone’s throw away from southeast Florida. The Ferrantes had purchased it decades ago and turned it into a billionaires’ playground. A place to fulfil their shadiest and most debauched fantasies, a dark net of cities, a poisoned paradise for playboys.
“Give me a month,” I drawled. “By then, I’ll have brought Callaghan to his knees.”
“No can do.” Achilles shook his head. “There’s a mole on the island. Someone’s working with the feds. He needs to dig around and find them before shit hits the fan.”
“The rest of your men are too dumb.” I motioned to a waitress to bring another round of drinks. The women entertaining Luca and Achilles were well into oral sex territory, all three of them slowly sliding down the table to pleasure their bosses. I was far from a prude, but I also wasn’t a fan of making eye contact with a man who was getting his balls vacuumed while we spoke. “I’ll hire through a security company.”
Achilles shrugged. “He’s flying out on Friday.”
“That’s less than a week from now,” I seethed.
Achilles threw me a laconic once-over. “So the rumors are true. You are good at math.”
“Don’t worry.” Luca spoke with a cigarette dangling from the side of his mouth. “I’ll tell Filippo to pay extra attention in the meantime.”
The Ferrante brothers eventually retired to fuck their escorts in the champagne parlor, and Rhyland and Row took the opportunity to remind me I needed to let Gia go.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Rhyland, whose saintly conscience was nowhere to be seen when he fucked older women for a living before he got together with Dylan, preached to me.
Tiernan had been too quiet for too long, and I was growing edgier. We were both sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see who would be the first to blink.