Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“I’m always calm.” That’s a non motherfucking answer. He’s going to pretend what happened at the apartment had to do with just Coleman and June, but I’m not buying it. His attack on the landlord was personal and vicious.
“Okay. I saw your calm the other night.”
“That was different. June is safe in your home.” He has a point there because no one is out to get her; well, not anymore.
“We’re here,” Milo says, pulling into the restaurant parking lot. We are greeted by our hostess, who smiles brightly at Dario and gives him a look of hunger.
She’s barking up the wrong tree on that one. “We’re here to see Alderman Sanchez only,” he snarls, letting her know the flirting is unwelcome.
Nodding with fear in her eyes, she stammers, “He hasn’t arrived yet.” The meeting’s at a high-end spot that offers private rooms, so we hold our session in a closed room with white- and gold-trimmed seating in a nearly white room. It’s a bit much for the meeting, but we do what we always do and check for devices. After the all-clear, I take a seat next to the boss while Enrico steps outside.
“Where the fuck is Sanchez?” I bite out, popping out of my seat and pacing.
“We’re ten minutes early,” Dario reminds me. “Sit.” I fidget like crazy, wanting to get the fuck out of here already. Dario presses his hand on my bicep. “Don’t look so damn antsy.”
“Sorry.”
The door opens, and in walks Sanchez with one man. “Sorry, gentleman, a traffic delay.”
“Understandable,” Dario says, standing and shaking his hand. I follow and do the same, even though I have no interest in the niceties.
“So, have you fellas eaten? Because I’m starving.”
“I’m good,” I answer, just wanting to get out of here.
“We were waiting for you,” Dario says, cutting me off and then giving me a cold glare. Damn bastard. I take a calming breath and remember that I have work to do and eventually I’ll get back to my woman.
“So let’s get some food and drinks so we can talk about the investment.” We call it an investment opportunity, but in reality, it’s a monetary exchange for territory and access to a warehouse out of the watchful eyes of the CPD, just like we prefer.
The arrangement takes all morning and partially into the start of the afternoon. When we finally get out of the restaurant, I check my phone and see I missed several texts from my woman. “Fuck,” I grunt.
I finished. What else is next? Shit, that was a long time ago.
Alessio?
Then half an hour later:
I don’t know what you want me to clean next.
She’s good enough to wait an hour, but she’s getting impatient, which I can’t blame her for, so the last one follows another five minutes later.
Okay. I’ll just keep working on anything that needs dusting.
Chapter Twelve
June
He’s been gone all day and hasn’t answered a single text message. It’s driving me insane because I miss him. What if something terrible happened to him when he left? What if he got hurt or arrested?
I clean the living area, but the house is pretty neat. Other than the kitchen, the house is nearly spotless except for dust, which is fairly normal given that most men don’t dust, especially men who dress like Alessio.
I enter the room right off the entry way—his office. It has intrigued me since I arrived, but I’ve had no reason to go in there. Technically I still don’t, but I can say I’m just cleaning. Since there’s only an area rug, I bring in the vacuum and handle it really fast, setting it aside. Now that I’m done with it, I probably shouldn’t be in here. Still, I can see if he is coming back from this area, so I get a little nosy and start snooping.
A part of me isn’t looking to learn about his life as a mob guy because I don’t want to know what he’s out doing. No, I want to know if there’s a woman in his life. Hell, there could be women, lots of them, since he’s always out of the house and away from me. Not to mention he’s handsome, domineering, wealthy, and super sexy, so he can have any woman he wants. Plus, who doesn’t love a bad boy?
Alessio’s desk doesn’t have any photos of family or friends. In fact, there are no photos in the room at all. A bookcase covers an entire wall on one end with a sideboard full of alcohol and glasses. The other has a large leather sofa. The massive desk in the middle has two chairs in front of it, just like I imagine a nice office would.
I see his leather chair, and a devilish idea comes to me. Needing to be close to him, I decided to sit in it. Sliding into the massive seat that nearly swallows me up, a sigh escapes me. The warmth of the sun peeks through the window and heats the seat, adding to the relaxation and comfort I feel being here.