Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 62569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
"Six.” I leaned in.
She didn’t flinch.
“Fine.” I grabbed her body and pulled her to her feet and tossed her over my shoulder. She hit me in the back with her fists.
I barely felt it.
I barely knew what physical pain was anymore anyway.
I walked her backwards into the shower and turned on the cold water then stood under it with her.
“STOP!” She shrieked.
I held her firm despite her squirming and screaming, and I counted. “Five. Four. Three.”
“ACE, STOP!” She kicked, narrowly missing my dick then tugged at my hair, her nails scratched up and down my back. “I hate you! I hate you!”
Teeth chattering, she kept yelling until her voice was hoarse.
Our countdown was over.
Slowly, I slid her down my wet body and gripped her by the chin. “Get your ass dressed, put a hat on your wet hair, and eat a sandwich, if you make me tell you one more time I’m bringing you back to the cold shower. Don’t for one second think anyone’s going to save you. Only you can save yourself and you do that by eating a fucking sandwich, do you understand?”
Her chest heaved. She shoved against me and stomped off, grabbing a towel. I followed after her and wiped down my face with one of the other dry towels and watched while she stripped out of her wet clothes, showing me nothing but naked glistening skin.
She looked over her shoulder. “Stare much?”
“Slow much?” I sighed.
She jerked on a pair of black sweats and a matching sweatshirt and shoved an LA hat on her head and walked out the door.
I followed close by.
Ivan and Bella were waiting on the outside.
Bella smiled up at me. “I thought you were water boarding her with all the screaming. Dante asked us to check up on you.”
"I would never hurt her.”
“Oh…” Ivan grinned. “He was more concerned for your safety.”
I snorted. “I can handle her.”
Bella made a face. “Most kids ask for a car for their sixteenth birthday. She asked for a machete.”
I almost cracked a smile. Good girl. “So?”
Ivan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I thought dealing with my family would be hard, you’ve got your work cut out for you. The Alfero’s are actual nightmares.”
Bella nodded in agreement. “At least the Abandonatos are sane.”
We both gave her a look.
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. So we wiped out like your entire bloodline at one point, water under the bridge.”
I shook my head and walked away. “I’m going to go make sure she eats.”
"Eats!” Ivan called. “Not chokes!”
"No promises!” I yelled back.
5
RAVEN
The one where passports are handed out before entering into the premises.
Itook a deep breath and walked over the threshold or as I liked to call it the war zone of doom also known as the kitchen and was welcomed with loud screaming, cursing, questionable looking food in strange places and what looked like gum in someone’s hair.
I normally loved the chaos, but lately it only reminded me of my own loneliness. My dad and the rest of the bosses, cousins, aunts, uncles—they all had their own lives and apparently it was some sort of race to see who could procreate faster. I think Nixon, my uncle, is still pissed that his daughter Serena made him a grandpa in his early fifties, the guy wasn’t even a silver fox yet. Every friend in high school had a crush on him—every teacher asked me about him.
And then they met my dad and it was all over.
Gross.
An ear-splitting screech bounced off the walls of the kitchen, not the kind that immediately made you think of bloodshed—though one could never be totally sure in this sort of environment—but the sort of sugar infused scream that warned you a crash was coming soon but you’d deal with the wrath of hell for at least thirty minutes beforehand.
"GRANDPA!” little Beatrice yelled.
Junior looked at Serena, Serena looked at Junior, they played paper rock scissors. Phoenix, once the scariest mafia bosses of all from the bloodline of the De Langes and the man who took over the Nicolasis glared between them. “You’re supposed to announce the game before you draw your weapon.”
“Forgot.” Serena smiled sweetly.
Junior nodded. "You were too slow old man.”
Phoenix quickly pulled a knife from thin air—or it seemed like he did—and flipped it between his fingers. “I changed the last diaper while you two snuck off and, wipe that look of your face, Junior, before I tell Nixon.”
His smile faded.
It didn’t matter if he was married to Nixon’s daughter and had been for years—what mattered was that she was still Nixon’s princess and Junior would always be the villain masquerading as a prince who stole her away.
It almost made me crack a smile.
I loved everything about my family so why did it always feel like I was on the outside looking in?
Another little one with his pull up over his head and oven mitts covering his hands chucked a ball toward Phoenix. Junior caught it just in time while Serena snuck away from them and eyed me up and down. “It’s war but when we look back we’ll say it was a lovely playtime where we served tea and had biscuits.”