Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
I want him to know everything about me. I still feel that pull between us. He’ll hear about all the people I’ve killed, and he won’t judge. How can he? His body count is so much higher than mine.
For now.
“Tell me about Livia.”
I suck in a breath. “She found me in the diner. It was my first time there, and I was so excited. I’d heard so many things about it. A waitress with red hair told me there was someone to see me. Then Livia sat down. I asked her if I should know her, and she said no. Then she told me she was the wife of the man who killed my mother.”
“No one knows who was behind that hit.”
“She did. Alfredo bragged to her about it. He and his brothers would laugh about what they did to my mother while she begged them to stop.”
“So you helped her poison her husband.”
“She wanted a way out. I gave her one. I didn’t know they would kill her. I should’ve guessed, though. She was so sad.”
“She knew.”
My heart aches, remembering Livia’s face. I looked up a picture of her after; she looked so different. A poised, very pretty woman with perfect hair and designer clothes. When she came to the diner to meet me, she wore no makeup, no jewels. Her hair was down, half covering her face. Her true self, but she wore it like a disguise. “She probably did know they would find her out. I told her to do it slowly, but… she wanted to get it over with. It’s my fault. She died, and it’s my fault.” Will I ever be able to forgive myself for Livia’s death? For my mother’s?
“That’s why you killed the senator.”
“No. He was just a warning. First shot fired.”
“It worked. Spooked the Vesuvios. They refuse to deal now.”
“Good. I don’t want to deal with them. You know that after I spoke to Livia, I went to my father? I told him I found out who killed Mama. He said he knew. He’d known all along. And he didn’t do anything. For years.”
“He was being smart. Going to war with the Vesuvios was a suicide mission. He wanted to keep you safe.”
“Life isn’t safe. It doesn’t matter what you do. You can tiptoe around, or you can leave your mark. Either way you die.” I think of my mother and Livia. Then I think of my father and Kaiser. Who lives, who dies. I have never felt more like his enemy. It’s me against him.
“I’m not going out without a fight. Evil men walk around like they own the place. Like they own us. And we’re just supposed to take it? Well, I’m not going to take it anymore.”
* * *
Kaiser
I faced down men all the time in the ring. Bigger and badder men who wanted to stab me and rip out my entrails. I faced them and never felt afraid.
But I’m afraid of Belladonna Bosco. Her wicked mind, her deadly skills. The fear curls in my belly and at the base of my spine, like the respect you pay to a black adder. “What are you going to do?”
“What should’ve been done in the first place. I’m going to kill them. I’m going to kill them all.”
I don’t know what to say. Let me help, I want to help. Or let me do it for you. Let me fight for you. Let it be me.
I don’t have the right to say any of that to her. Because I am the man who would use my power over her. I am everything she hates. Everything she is right to rebel against.
The only way to fix it is to go back in time and destroy everything I am, everything I’ve fought for, and everyone I fought alongside. I can’t do that. I’m not strong enough.
But it turns out I don’t have to say anything because in the painful seconds that follow, the lights in the room go out, plunging us into darkness. I tap my phone to check the cameras on the perimeter, but they’re out. “Something’s wrong,” I say.
Bella starts laughing. A high-pitched, hyena-like sound. Chills race over my entire body.
Before I can ask why she’s laughing, a call comes through.
It’s Argos. “You okay?”
“We’re in a blackout.” I head to the lights and flip the switch. Nothing.
“I see that. Security system’s offline.”
“Sentries?” We posted guards around the perimeter. Not Fraternitas, but former Tier One operatives from a security firm we contract with. Sounds of gunfire crackle outside.
“Shots fired,” I shout. I race to Bella. I’ve got to get her somewhere safe. She’s wearing a ballgown, so I dip and toss her over my shoulder.
“Kaiser, wait—” She thumps on my back, but I ignore her and hustle out of the room and down the stairs.