Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Are you really this nice, or is it all just a big act, and once I let down my guard it will bite me in the ass?”
The pretty smile returns to her face. “It’s real.” Her gaze searches mine. “But the fact that you actually want all of this to be real tells me you’ve had a bad life.”
“No one ever cared,” I sniffle while trying to compose myself.
Her expression fills with empathy, and she squeezes my arm again. “I know a little about that too. Life can be very lonely at times, but since I married my husband, I’ve only known love. I’m certain it will be the same for you with Adriano.”
It should scare me how quickly I feel comfortable with Tori, but it doesn’t. Instead, it gives me the guts to ask, “What about the mafia part and the killing?”
“We’ll talk about that in a second.” Tori sits back and nods, then Gia, whom I completely forgot about, appears with two glasses of lemonade.
“Afternoon, Laurie,” she says, a friendly expression on her face. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hi, Gia.” I smile at her. “Likewise.”
“I’ll see you on Friday, then we can talk about how you like things done in the main house.” With that, she hurries back into the house.
Tori takes a long sip of her lemonade, then says, “The killing.” She lets out a sigh. “The way I’ve learned to live with it is by accepting that the Cosa Nostra is constantly at war. Our men don’t go around murdering innocent people, and I soothe my conscience knowing they’re ridding the world of some really bad people.” Her gaze inspects mine to make sure I’m following, and when I nod, she continues, “The family doesn’t deal in human and organ trafficking, and they don’t distribute drugs. They actually keep all that nasty stuff out of New York as much as they possibly can.”
Oh. That sounds good.
Her smile returns again. “So, if anyone in the family kills someone, it’s to protect all of us or to exact revenge because something horrible was done to one of us.” She tilts her head. “Every Sunday I attend the service in the church you were married in. Antonio could’ve passed by when everyone was leaving and killed an innocent person. Or me.” Her eyebrows draw together. “He could’ve killed you today, but Adriano dealt with him to keep himself and everyone he loves safe.”
No one’s ever made me feel protected before, and maybe that’s why Tori’s explanation sounds reasonable to me.
If Adriano really only kills to protect the people he loves, if the family truly goes after monsters instead of innocent people, then maybe I can accept it the way she has.
“Does that help?” she asks.
“Yes.” I nod and let out a heavy breath. “Thank you.”
Suddenly, she lets out a chuckle. “Adriano keeps staring at you. Let’s go inside so you can meet the others.”
I glance over my shoulder but don’t see him by the back door.
“No, he’s over there.” Tori points to my left, where open sliding doors lead to a living room, and I see Adriano sitting on a couch with his eyes locked on me.
As we get up, taking our lemonades with us, she says, “I’m here whenever you need to talk about anything. Okay?”
“Thank you.” I smile at my brand new mother-in-law who seems to be a dream come true. “I really appreciate it, and talking with you does make me feel better.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
When we reach the sliding doors, and my eyes lock on three other men, Tori rubs my back and gestures at each of them. “That’s Adriano’s father, Angelo, and the other two are Tiny and Big Ricky.”
“Little Ricky’s father?” I ask.
“Yep,” Big Ricky answers with a heavy sigh, then he jabs his thumb at the mountain of a man beside him. “But this fucker taught my son how to eat for a baseball team.”
Tiny grins proudly while Angelo walks toward me.
Jesus, Adriano is the spitting image of his father, who is just as scary looking as his son.
When I almost take a step backward, Tori’s hand returns to rubbing my back. “It’s okay. They just look scary.” Then she levels her husband with a scowl. “Smile before you scare the daylights out of Laurie.”
Instantly, his mouth curves up while Tiny and Big Ricky chuckle.
“Hello, Laurie,” Angelo says while holding his hand out to me.
I hesitate for a couple of seconds before shaking his hand. “Hi, Mr. Rizzo.”
“Angelo,” he corrects me. “Welcome to the family.”
Adriano stands up, and not even thinking about what I’m doing, I move toward him. When he wraps his arm around me, I actually feel a sense of safety and I grab onto it with both hands.
“So, how was the shitty wedding this fucker gave you?” Big Ricky asks.