Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Read Online Books/Novels: | Fractured Kingdom - Rapture & Ruin |
|---|---|
Author/Writer of Book/Novel: | Julia Sykes |
| Language: | English |
| Book Information: | |
"You're mine, Allie." I'm in love with my enemy's daughter. Allie has always been an impossibility, but I'm determined to keep her for myself. No one will take her from me. Not her father, not my Mafia family, and especially not that Russian monster, Nikolai Ivanov. Allie is mine, and I'll never let her go. Note: This book was previously titled Sins & Salvation. | |
| Books by Author: | Julia Sykes |
CHAPTER 1
Max
I rushed down the corridor to the dining room, only slowing my steps when I was a few feet away from the threshold. I didn’t want my father to see me sweat, not when I was about to attend the first family meeting since I’d been made yesterday. It’d been almost physically painful to leave Allie after spending all day in her bed, but I’d managed to tear myself away.
If I allowed her to become a distraction, my father might change his mind about permitting our relationship.
Despite my new, elevated role within our criminal family, fear fluttered in my chest before I ruthlessly forced it down. I didn’t have to be afraid anymore.
When I stepped into the dining room, my sister and cousins were only just taking their seats at the massive mahogany table. I was on time, but barely.
I straightened my shoulders and strode toward my usual chair beside Francesca, across from John and Paulie. I’d have to look them in the eye and somehow tamp down my murderous impulses. I hadn’t seen them since they’d attacked Allie, and I still wanted them dead.
They said they would break me. The memory of her harsh sobs as she confessed what they’d done to her slammed into my heart like a sucker punch.
If they dared to so much as speak her name ever again…
“Maximus.” My father’s cold voice sliced through my mounting rage like a blade of ice.
I met his night-black eyes, keeping my head held high and denying the impulse to swallow hard against the familiar dread that threatened to close my throat.
He lifted a hand and gestured to the chair at his right. “Sit.”
He bit out the order like yet another of his sharp commands, but my heart leapt. It took concerted effort to prevent my lips from curving with satisfaction. My sister’s intake of breath—like she’d been slapped in the face—stoked the warmth that filled my chest.
I strolled behind my cousins, noting the tension in their shoulders as I surpassed them. Pride and power straightened my spine.
I pulled out the chair and sat at my father’s right hand, a position of respect I’d been working toward for more than two years. I’d fought for my place here, done terrible, bloody things to reclaim my birthright. My scar no longer tingled with hot pinpricks of shame. The fire had tempered me, and I was stronger than ever.
The cut on my palm that Allie had so tenderly bandaged stung in a quick, sharp reminder of what I’d achieved.
How I’d betrayed her to earn my place here.
My triumph soured, and I barely managed to school my features to a blank mask to match my father’s. I carefully avoided looking at my grandfather—where he was seated at the opposite end of the table; I couldn’t bear it if the old man’s accusations about my betrayal rang through my mind right now. Not in this moment when I was finally achieving everything I’d dreamed of for years.
Father’s eyes pierced me, no pride or approval softening his craggy features. “Is it done?”
I barely resisted the urge to shift in my seat. Men broke beneath that pitiless, cold stare. My triumph wasn’t quite complete. I wouldn’t fully earn his respect until I’d finished my mission. Then, I might see a glimmer of pride in those merciless black eyes.
“Soon,” I promised. I hadn’t gotten to Ron Fitzgerald yet. I still needed to play the recording of Allie confessing his crimes in order to blackmail the mayor.
Once I did, my family would be safe, our position secure. We could reclaim our lost territory without fear of the mayor’s office cracking down on the resurgence of the mafia. He wouldn’t dare, not when I could leak his daughter’s confession about his Bratva ties to the press.
“You have the recording of Alexandra,” my father said, his voice dropping impossibly colder. “What’s the delay?”
I hesitated. I’d been so absorbed by Allie that I hadn’t thought ahead to how I would get to Fitzgerald. She was all I could think about: her silky copper hair around my fist, her soft cries of pleasure, her willowy body surrendering to my every savage demand.
“Maximus.” Father’s voice poisoned my thoughts of her, and I quickly shoved them away.
“I’m working on it,” I scrambled. “I have to get past Fitzgerald’s security undetected. If I kill anyone to get to him, there will be an investigation. I have to do this quietly, with no cops or press involved.” I tipped my chin back and met him squarely in the eye. “It’ll be done soon, I swear.”
“Whatever it is, we can do it,” Paulie chimed in, eager to steal my glory.
“Tell us what you need,” John added, the sadistic twins in perfect sync. “If you need us to get to Alexandra, we’ll take care of her.”
Rage burst across my mind, washing my thoughts with red. I barely suppressed the impulse to surge to my feet and attack them. “I told you what would happen if you ever go near her again,” I seethed, my muscles flexing with the need to unleash violence. “Keep her name out of your fucking mouth. Don’t even think about her. I will end you if you try to touch her.”