Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“I am not emotional,” I growl at him.
“Case in point,” he says and groans. “Seriously, how did this happen?”
“Bad luck,” I admit but inwardly think maybe it was good luck instead.
“You have to cut it off. Give the girl some money, put her on a plane, and fly her out to fucking Barbados. Wash your hands of all this.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Evander, you cannot keep Chris Conti’s ex-fucking-wife. Do you have any idea how the family’s going to react?”
I lean back and grin at him. “If I recall, you’re the one that encouraged me to get involved with her earlier today.”
He glares and points a finger at me. “Don’t you dare do that. That was before I knew who she was.”
“I’m only saying, I need a wife to make the family happy. You keep telling me that, over and over.”
“Not her,” he says, groaning. “God damn it, Evander. You’re like a brother to me, but this is a terrible idea.”
“Any wife, you said, even an Italian girl so long as she’s going to pump out a bunch of babies. That’s what you said, isn’t it?”
He sinks down into the chair in front of my desk and shakes his head. “You are out of your mind. You can’t be serious right now.”
“If I send her away, Conti’s going to track her down and either take her back or kill her. Doesn’t matter how far she runs, and we both know it. I can’t let that happen.”
“You have so much more to think about than the safety of one random girl.” He holds his hands up when I glare at him. “I’m sure she’s nice, and yeah, she’s very pretty, but come on, Evander. You’re the boss of the Kazan family. You can’t possibly think marrying an Italian mobster’s ex is a smart idea.”
I glance to the side and let silence take over. Lycus is right, of course—when word leaks about Camille, the family is going to explode. Anissa and Sophia are going to use this against me as aggressively as they can, and the few captains that agree with their thinking will fall in line and try to oust me. There will be infighting, and bickering, and backstabbing—
“I made a promise,” I say firmly. “I told her I could keep her safe. I told her I could fix her problem. Instead, I made it worse. What kind of man would I be if I sent her away?”
“A responsible one,” Lycus says miserably. “But you’re not going to do the right thing here.”
“I’m already doing it,” I say and meet his gaze. “Call up Gareth. Get him on the next flight out here.”
“What do you need him for?”
“He has to do all the lawyer bullshit to make my union with Camille legal. And yes, it has to be real.”
He stares up at the ceiling. “We’re going to get killed. Both of us, dead, all because you just had to stir up shit with this Italian girl.”
“This could be good in the long run. The family wants me to settle down and provide an heir and some stability, and perhaps marrying an Italian girl will help calm the war between us and the Pavone Famiglia.”
“You can’t really think that, can you?”
“No,” I say and shrug. “But we’ll sell it to the captains like that.”
“Meaning I’ll sell it.” Lycus stands up. “Bro, sometimes I think you take pleasure in making my life hard. You are a miserable bastard on the best of days, but today you have sunk to a new low.”
“You should not talk to your lord that way,” I say, using the old-school title for my position, and narrow my eyes. “I let you get away with a lot because you’re my friend and I appreciate your honesty, but you need to be careful.”
“Or what, you’ll kill me? Like I’m not already fucked.” He shakes his head and walks to the door. “Intimidate the captains. I’m not buying your shit.”
“Lycus—”
“Relax, I’ll follow orders. I always do. But I’m going to grumble about it first.” He gives me an annoyed look and shakes his head before leaving my office.
I watch him go. Lycus is the most loyal friend I have, and I shouldn’t push my weight around with him like that, but I also have to be careful. If there are cracks forming between me and him over Camille then things with the rest of the family will be worse.
I’m thinking about how I’ll break the news when someone knocks at my door. Before I have a chance to call out, the door slams open, and my sister storms in.
“Tell me it’s true,” she says, eyes shining with excitement.
I grimace, look at my empty glass, and sigh. So much for breaking the news myself. “Tell you what’s true? Also, wait until I let you enter before storming in here, please.”