Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
It caught some of her hair when she pulled it off, then her firm tits were exposed with the hard nipples pointed like diamonds. There was nothing but a thong underneath, along with her socks.
Cristo.
She grabbed me by the front of the shirt and tugged me into her, catching my lips with hers. “Fuck me, please,” she said through her breathy kiss. “God, you’re so hot I can’t stand it.”
6
FRANCESCA
“Leo, I need you to find more guys,” my father ordered. “At least thirty. And I want men who know what the fuck they’re doing.” My father sat at the head of the table on the terrace, a burning cigar sitting between his fingertips.
Elio sat on his right. He tapped his cigar against the ashtray, and some of the ash sprinkled to the bottom.
“Thirty?” Leo asked incredulously. “Where the fuck am I going to find thirty guys?”
“We could move over the men from the factory,” Elio said. “Just restructure staff.”
“But you want good guys,” Leo said. “And we can never trust that those guys won’t stab us in the back the second they get the chance. They liked Luigi as their boss. They’re only cooperative because they know we’ll cut off their legs.” Leo sat with his arms propped on the armrests of the metal chair, wearing sunglasses even though we were seated in the shade. “I know we lost some good guys, but we don’t need to rush off and replace them with whoever the fuck we can find.”
“No,” my father said. “We do need to rush.”
“Why?” Leo asked. “Something you know that we don’t?”
Elio looked at my brother and then my father.
I sat there in silence at the far side of the table, always an observer but never a participant. Wolfe wasn’t there because he was handling a dispute at the customs office. And by handling, that probably meant smashing in some skulls.
My father released a quiet breath before he stabbed his cigar into the ashtray.
Oh no.
“Wolfe just gave me some imperative information,” my father said.
I remained still and quiet, but I felt unease in my stomach because I didn’t have a clue what he referred to…and I probably should know.
“The Skull King is advancing into Sicily. Anyone moving powder without his authorization is meeting an early grave,” my father said. “He’s got this lieutenant with a reputation that precedes him. His name is Icarus.”
Leo shifted his gaze to Elio and then Andre. He even looked at me, as if I’d have a clue who that was.
“Wolfe anticipates that all the gangs are going to change their businesses to be in accordance with this regime—by trying to take ours. If we want to maintain our authority, we’re going to have to stay one step ahead. And we need to terminate the newly acquired powder business from Lombardi.”
There was silence across the table, like no one could believe what my father had just said.
I couldn’t believe it either, because Wolfe hadn’t told me this himself.
“How does Wolfe know this?” Leo asked.
“Cosa Nostra,” my father answered.
“And why is he speaking with his previous employer?” Elio asked, a coldness in his tone because he’d always been the most suspicious of Wolfe.
“They asked him to rejoin in light of what I just shared,” my father said as he drummed his fingers on the table.
“And what did he say?” Leo demanded.
“What do you mean, what did he say?” my father barked. “He’s at the customs office right now.”
“What if he’s playing us?” Elio asked. “They’re worried about Icarus, so they asked Wolfe to rejoin them so they can take our arms business. Now he’s a double agent, and this is a coup.”
Wolfe would never do that, but I couldn’t say a damn word in his defense.
“I don’t think that’s his angle,” my father said. “From what I’ve observed of Wolfe, he comes at you straight on. He doesn’t lurk in the shadows like a coward and bide his time until you drop your guard. He’s the reason Luigi didn’t kill us all, and he’s the reason Francesca is still alive and Umberto and his cronies are dead. He’s earned our trust.”
“So, he just told you he spoke with Cosa Nostra?” Leo asked.
“No, Richard told me he saw him,” my father said.
“And that’s not suspicious to you?” Elio asked. “He didn’t tell you on his own. He only shared it because you ambushed him.”
“I don’t think so.” My father’s eyes hardened as he stared at a man he’d trusted for a decade. “If Wolfe wanted us dead, all he had to do was roll in with Cosa Nostra in the beginning and kill us all. They’re a much bigger operation than us. Unless there’s some personal vendetta I don’t know about, it doesn’t make sense to invest this much time in such a complicated plot. It doesn’t make sense for him to share this information about Icarus and encourage us to ramp up our manpower if he wants to take us down.” His eyes shifted from Leo to Elio and then to Andre. “Wolfe is one of us. I thought you shared that same attitude.”