Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Why do you assume I would return to Cosa Nostra?”
He gave a shrug. “What else are you going to do? Go back to making those little fucking rice balls?”
“My great-great-grandparents used to make those little fucking rice balls and feed the homeless soldiers after the war—so fuck off.”
He tensed before he raised his hands in the form of surrender. “Con—”
“Insult me for abandoning Rome, but don’t insult my family or the way we’ve supported ourselves for generations. Don’t for one second think you’re better than us because you’re the one sitting at the table while we’re cooking in the back.”
“Con, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Yes, you fucking did. Come for me all you want, but come for my family and see what happens.” I had a lot of love for the man across from me, but that love could disappear within the snap of a finger when it came to my family. “You think you’re better than us since people are afraid of you? Because my mom hosts a big dinner every Sunday night and brings everyone together. Not just family, but friends and neighbors, anyone who needs a place to go, and that’s a hell of a lot better of a legacy than threatening and bullying people to get what you want.”
“Look, I apologize, all right? I’m sorry for what I said.”
I still fumed in my seat, but I had nothing more to say.
“I just meant, What are you going to do now?”
“I have more money than you’ll ever see in your fucking life, Tommaso.” Darius had taken my home, but he didn’t take my billions. Stashed in investment accounts and bonds and in cash at different banks, my money was hidden in all kinds of places.
“I didn’t mean for money, but for purpose,” he said calmly. “You don’t strike me as the kind of man that retires.”
I didn’t like to sit still for too long. It would drive me mad after a while. Whenever Aurelia went to work, it gave me time to think about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I could return to Cosa Nostra . . . or pursue something else.
“You know you always have a place with Cosa Nostra, whether you marry my daughter or not.”
I was sick of him acting like there was an actual chance of that happening. “I appreciate that, Tommaso.”
He studied me for a while, and when he sensed I’d cooled off from my previous outburst, he changed the subject. “Since you’re in town, how about I arrange a lunch meeting for the two of you?”
“Right now?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
Fuck that. “Today isn’t great, Tommaso.”
“Then when?” he pressed.
“I don’t know.” I had to get him off my back. Maybe if enough time passed, he would drop this and I’d be off the hook. Maybe his daughter would start seeing someone he liked, and he wouldn’t need me anymore. I just had to dance around it long enough until that happened. “But I’m still pissed off about the bullshit you said, so I’m not exactly pleasant company right now.” It was the only viable excuse I could think of on the spot.
He nodded in understanding, so it seemed to do the trick. “All right, then. Next time.”
Over my dead fucking body. “We’ll see.”
Chapter 6
Constantine
It was almost dark by the time I got home from Palermo.
I didn’t tell Aurelia where I was headed that day, and when she didn’t text me, I assumed she looked up my location and figured it out. I wouldn’t have cared if she’d texted me—she could blow up my phone all she wanted—but I liked the fact that she could just see where I was whenever she wanted.
It was the kind of intimacy I’d never had with anyone before. I shared my entire life with her, where I was every moment of the day, and I could see where she was, like if she went to Bam Bar on her lunch break to eat a granita by herself. I gave her debit and credit cards for my bank accounts and added her to all my other accounts, so she could theoretically walk into the bank and cash out all my holdings if she wanted to.
I shared all of myself with her.
Well, except one thing.
This massive, painful depression that cracked my soul in half. It was on my mind every single day, the loss of purpose, the loss of my identity. Rocco hadn’t looked at me the same . . . when I loved him like a brother. I’d never had a high opinion of myself, my entire identity embedded in my service, but now, I hated who I was. Not because I saved Aurelia—but because I needed to save her.
I let everyone down.
I let myself down.
When I came home, I heard the TV in the other room. I walked into the entryway and through the massive arch that led to the main room with the enormous glass windows that showed the sea view outside.