Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I hear no sirens as the guard shoves me roughly into the back of a different SUV. I’m not surprised the police haven’t been alerted. I have no doubt they are on the cartel’s payroll. With the meeting tonight, that indirectly puts them on the Severino payroll now that the connection has been made. There will be no official investigation, but Marcello was right. The Severinos will burn the world down seeking justice. It’s only a matter of time before some of the blame lands on me. Any other day I’m called weak and worthless, but tonight, somehow, it would be expected of me to stop an armed man before Marcello was shot, even if it meant diving across the vehicle and putting myself in harm’s way. I don’t matter to the family in the long run, but Marcello did. Alessio will hate me more now than he did before, and that’s saying something. The man despises me.
It seems like both seconds and years before the SUV stops. I have to consider that I’m in shock with the loss of time, but it doesn’t make sense. Marcello’s death isn’t the first I’ve seen, and I’m certain it won’t be the last, unless Alessio loses his temper more than usual tonight.
“Madelene?”
I turn my face, looking into the familiar eyes of Julio Scovi. He has worked for the Severino family for as long as I can remember. He’s older, past his years of having to prove himself to anyone who might be watching, like Marcello and Alessio, but he’s no less dangerous, no less brutal when he has to be. He’s as bad as the rest of them. He’s never mistreated me, but he’s never gone out of his way to stop anyone else’s mistreatment either.
I frown up at the man. “What?”
He sweeps his hand to the side, and only now do I realize that we’re at the hotel and he’s standing on the curb in the open passenger side door.
“Sorry,” I mutter as I climb out. “The service entrance?”
I nearly gag when he points to the glass door, my reflection making me look like an extra in a horror film. I swallow against the threat of vomit at the sight of Marcello’s blood coating my body.
“You’ll need a shower. This may be Mexico, but we can’t just walk you through the lobby looking like that.”
I nod my understanding, following behind him. His strides have always been long, but for some reason tonight, I feel as if I need to practically jog to keep up with him.
I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know how Lucian will react to the news of his son’s death. I’ve been instructed on a lot of things. I’ve been told of my expectations and how I’m supposed to act, but this was never on the list of possibilities. The family has always seen themselves as indestructible. This was never something they had to plan for.
“Shower,” Julio grunts the second he opens the door to the suite.
It’s been possibly the longest day of my life. Between the travel, it being so late, and Marcello’s death, I can’t help but look longingly at the sofa as I pass by it toward the room designated for me. The guards take turns being on duty, but their room is next door. This three-bedroom suite is for Marcello, Alessio, and me. The privacy provided isn’t for my comfort but because the guys get tired of looking at me, or that’s the reason they give anytime we travel. I’m just grateful to have a little space.
My throat seizes as I reach in to turn the water on for my shower. It’s been a long time since I thought about Maya. The callous way Marcello taunted that man with her memory tonight doesn’t surprise me. The younger Severino would never consider that he was in real danger, that maybe he should beg for mercy rather than provoke a man with his finger on the trigger of a gun. His family has always protected him, made sure he was as safe as they could make him. They’ve covered up and cleaned up behind him so many times that he had to have expected to be saved.
This has to be a dream. There’s no way the monster is dead. My luck just doesn’t work out that way. Maybe I’m not looking at this from the angle I should be. It’s not very lucky of me if Alessio comes back and takes his loss and grief out on me. I still have to consider that this was a setup, that Alessio got wind of Marcello’s hatred, and somehow my lies have botched the older Severino’s plans.
My entire body feels like it’s in spasm as I step into the shower. I want to be brave. I want to face whatever Alessio may have planned for me with my chin held high, but I’ve seen what the man can do. I know he takes as much pleasure in the screams as he does in the finale.