Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
“They are?”
“Absolutely, and do you want Dom to find out through his men that you couldn’t answer a simple question?”
“You’re not playing fair, Mom.”
“I’ve asked if you’re in love with the man you have married, that is all. A perfectly innocent question.”
Emily sat back, and she didn’t like the way this conversation was going.
Nora reached out and placed a hand on top of hers. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
She didn’t know if she should talk or not. His men were watching and listening to their every word, which didn’t exactly thrill her.
“I don’t know. It’s nothing, I guess.” She released a sigh and then picked her fork up again, and began to fiddle with her food.
“Talk to me,” Nora said.
“Is this what it was like with Dad?” Emily asked.
“No,” Nora said.
Emily frowned. “It wasn’t?”
“Absolutely not. Your father was not a kind man, nor a good man. I mean, sure, he had rare moments, where I was disillusioned into thinking he was a good man. It was why I stayed with him as long as possible, but it was never like this. There were men, but they were ordered to remove anyone who talked to me.” Nora smiled at her, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “They were ordered to beat me into submission if I refused to comply. Your father would have women dragged before me, and he’d make me watch as he hurt them. They worked for him, belonged to him, were his property, and he could do whatever the hell he wanted with them.”
Nora stopped and reached for her glass of water, taking a long sip.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“Don’t be. I found a way out, and since then, I’ve been able to stay safe. He’s not going to ruin your life, and hopefully, if Dom finally finishes this, he’ll be out of our lives for good.”
“You want Dom to kill him?”
“Yes, that piece of shit nearly sold you, baby, and that I can’t stand. Trust me, I have tried to think of a million different ways to end that son of a bitch, and I haven’t been able to. He has too many men around him. Too much is at stake, and I’m not willing to lose everything to kill him.” Nora offered her a smile.
She looked at her mother, and Emily realized in that moment that she never quite really thought about all her mother had gone through. The pain, the humiliation, to keep her safe. For the longest time, she figured her parents had merely had a disagreement that lasted a long time. She never once figured it was … like this.
“I love you, Mom,” Emily said.
“I know, honey, and I love you too.” Her mother reached out and gave her a hug.
“I do.” There was no point in holding back the truth. Not from her mother. “I do love him, and that scares me.”
Nora pulled away and frowned. “Why?”
“Because, what if he … leaves me? What if he finds someone else?”
“There is always that risk, no matter who you love, sweetheart. You can’t live your life thinking that way. Trust me, otherwise it is going to be a very miserable existence, and I don’t want that for you.”
“What do I do?” Emily asked.
“Tell him, and I have a sneaking suspicion you’re going to be shocked.”
****
Nigel was playing dirty, but that was more than fine with Dom. For some sneaking reason, the cops had decided to show up at several of his nightclubs. Dom had long gotten out of the drug trade—at least five years ago, since a nasty batch of product had taken the lives of many people.
Dom was quite happy to kill people who deserved it, but when it came to people who were customers, that didn’t mesh well with him. The product, cocaine, had been messed with by Nigel and his team, which had resulted in multiple deaths. Rather than continue to run the risk of Nigel’s interference, he stopped delving into something he no longer agreed with. It was an easy decision to make.
He’d never been one who liked drugs, and making and distributing them came with a lot of heat, so stepping away was easy. The cops had been sent an anonymous tip about a supply chain starting in one of his nightclubs. Dom had been sent the alert by one of the men working on his payroll, but it hadn’t mattered. He was out of that business and had been for at least five years. However, he knew what a sneak and a cheat Nigel was, so he went to said nightclub, and sure enough, there were several bags of cocaine hidden around the club.
After finding every last bag, he made his men round up every employee within the last twenty-four hours. Once the search was over, the cops looked mighty disappointed. What was more, Dom had been there, watching them go to the places they had clearly been told to look. That pissed him off, but not as much as knowing one of his employees had been bought off.