Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Like we are free.
But the moment passes far too quickly for my liking. She steps back again.
“We can do this,” I tell her, hoping she doesn’t walk away from me. I feel more fragile than she looks right now.
“But what if my family find out, and they hurt you?” The fear in her eyes is palpable, and the anguish in her words twists at my gut.
“Then I’ll die holding your heart in my hands.”
It’s a promise. One I will keep.
“I have to get back,” she tells me. “They’ll be wondering where I am.”
“I know.”
As she leaves, I keep hold of her hand, not wanting to let go just yet. And as our fingers graze each other’s for the final moments I have her with me, I feel it. My heart aching. I watch her walk away. Every step she takes is like a punch to the gut.
And I don’t stop her because I know she’s not leaving me, but instead, she has to get back to the prison she grew up in.
I will see her again.
I’ll make sure of it.
I’m not prepared to lose something that is so precious to me.
Chapter 5
Domenico
Life begins and ends one way, with nothing you thought you owned.
I’ve always pictured my life differently. Even though I have been born into one of the most powerful families in the world, I still don’t find satisfaction in being alive.
As a second-in-command to a mafia clan, you’re nothing more than an errand boy until your father, or the Boss, deems you worthy. And my father, he doesn’t think I’m even close to ready for that throne.
No matter what I do. He doesn’t believe I’m the king, merely a pauper, begging at his heels for a place in the sun. But one day, I’ll show him just how well I’ve learned from him. The ruthless, soulless man who’s trained me, made me the person I am today, will realize I have been watching all along.
Twenty-six years is a long time to want your father’s approval. It’s also a lifetime when you never get it.
“We should go out tonight,” one of my best friends, Romano, tells me. He’s focused on my sour face. I should smile more, but that would mean I’m happy, and I’m not. “You’ll see Gisela or whatever the fuck her name is.”
It’s tempting.
A woman I’ve crushed on since my senior year in high school will be there. Even though we’ve been fucking around, enjoying our trysts, there’s nothing more to hold onto. She’s focused on her career. Even though I could give her all that and more.
Independence.
It’s a sickness that should be eradicated.
Actually, I don’t believe that.
I quite enjoy her confidence and self-assurance. I’m only jealous because she hasn’t yet submitted to me as a partner. I’m nothing more than a plaything to the woman.
She’s only a couple of years older than me, and yet she acts as if we’re on two vastly different levels. I know her hate for the mafia and the clans. But she’s a part of us no matter how much she tries to ignore that fact.
“It’s pointless,” I tell Gian, who’s also one of my best friends, and Romano. They both glare at me as if I’m speaking another fucking language. “She’s not going to—”
“Oh please,” Gian retorts hotly. “You’re both in each other’s pants more than I change mine.”
“That’s because you’re a dirty bastard,” I throw back, chuckling when he pins me with a heated glare. “I’m serious, though. She’s hot, but I’m exhausted. I need to focus on the clan, taking over from my father.” Both of their dads work as Capos under mine. They’re not strangers to this life. None of us are.
“A party will take your mind off it for a little while,” Gian suggests. “You don’t have to see anyone you don’t want to.”
“Where’s this party?”
“The Vitale mansion,” Romano informs me and I snap my gaze to his. “I know, I know.” He holds his hands up before I can say a word. He knows they’re my family’s mortal enemies. Those filthy bastards have no right to be in this city. If I could kill them all, I would.
I shake my head. “I’m not walking into their fucking home.” The hatred in my tone is enough to have both my friends staring at me.
In the mafia, family feuds are normal. They’re expected. But with our families, there’s something different. Our domain is being threatened by theirs. It may not have started out that way, but it’s turned into a turf war.
“Come on, if we crash the party, nobody will know,” he says, then a smile brightens his face. He’s always been the troublemaker. At least that’s what my father calls him. Growing up, they were the only two friends I trusted with my life. In our line of work, loyalty comes at a price.