Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Arranged marriages were often fraught with fear and hatred. Not his parents. From the moment they met on their wedding day, it had been love. That love had bloomed into a very long marriage. They were the odd couple. They were strong. People hated them, yet wanted to be them at the same time. They had two children together, and Massimo believed his mother was pregnant with the third when she was taken during a gang war at a damn petrol station. She had stopped to go to the bathroom. On the way out, she had gotten shot.
It had killed his father, who had gone on a warpath, killing anyone associated with either gang, and none of them had anything to do with the Russo Mafia. It had been a dark day.
His father, broken, had succumbed to alcohol and women. Lots of women. One of those women had been the cause of his facial deformity. She had been the wife of some dodgy businessman.
Deep down, Massimo knew his father had been playing with fire, and it had cost him greatly. He could not allow that mark to besmirch the Salvatore name, so he had taken care of it.
“Do not ever say that shit about her again. Do you understand me?”
His father nodded, looking a little red in the face as he struggled to gain breath. It would be so easy to kill him. The reason he had to go to these damn functions in the first place was because of his father. This was where he first met Adelina. He couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her again, or worse, her ending up dead. She didn’t deserve that life.
Diego would kill her. There was no doubt about it. The man loved to hurt women.
He let go of his father’s neck. “I don’t give a fuck what you had planned. I told you, when the time was right, I would marry who I saw fit. That is the arrangement we made. Now, you make this work. Do you understand me?” he asked.
His father nodded. “Good.”
There was no way he was going to let Adelina suffer at the hands of that man. He would deal with Diego.
The Ferri family would jump for joy at the prospect of being connected to the Salvatores.
Chapter Two
Two Weeks Later
Massimo glanced down at his cell phone and saw that his sister was calling him. Now was not a good time, seeing as he had a rat hanging upside down. The guy had been trying to make a deal with the local Vigo Bratva who were intent on trying to gain ground from the Russo Mafia. He was not going to allow the Bratva any territory.
The man had already pissed himself, and he was pretty sure he might have even shit himself. Selling intel, attempting to hurt the Russo Mafia, was a fool’s game. One he intended to end.
Isabella was currently with Adelina, getting the dress fitting for the wedding, which was now two weeks away. It had been easy to steal Adelina from Diego. The other man had gone into hiding, although Massimo had sent him a small crate of fruit with a thank-you note attached. He was a gentleman after all.
Stepping away from the rat, he nodded toward one of his soldiers and clicked “accept” on the call. As he left the warehouse, he heard the grunt of the rat as his man hit him hard.
“What?” Massimo asked.
“Is that any way to speak to your sister?”
“I don’t have time for games. What do you want?”
He heard her sigh.
“You need to come down to the dress shop, and I mean pronto. I thought I knew cruelty but these people, I mean for real, this is just insane,” Isabella said.
“I’ve got business to attend to. Handle it.”
He was about to hang up.
“Fine.” Isabella did that, and as he was on his way back into the warehouse, his cell phone pinged.
He was going to ignore it. He knew he should ignore it. But his sister was a pain in the ass, who he loved. She was a little spoiled but not cruel. That was why he had introduced Isabella to Adelina. There was no one in his future wife’s corner. Her family was intent on making their name.
Clicking on the message, he saw there were multiple pictures. All of them were of Adelina in ugly-ass wedding dresses. Once again, they were determined to dress her in a tent, to hide her. His anger erupted. He hated her family. Once the wedding was complete, this was going to be over for Adelina. She would not have to hide anymore. Pocketing his cell phone, he stepped inside the warehouse and told the soldiers to keep the man alive until he returned.
Massimo stepped back out and made his way to his car. Climbing inside, he turned over the engine, not too patient in leaving the warehouse behind. He knew exactly where they were—a designer boutique in the center of the city. It was one all the brides of the Russo Mafia used.