Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Tiny Tank.” I laughed.
“I think they prefer ham for Christmas now though, right?” Tank ignored me, as if perplexed over what the main course should be.
I frowned. “Weird. I would say turkey. The Brits like duck, no?”
“Good to know you still have your sense of humor. Try to get some sleep I have the trusted captains on the outside, tomorrow’s going to be hell. I already marked a few of the guys that are taking orders, some of the supplies are missing, it checks out with what happened before.”
I sighed. “And is it true? Is he the main target?”
“Them.” Tank corrected. “Both of them, from what I’ve heard whispered.”
“Why not take out the Capo?” I asked. “It would cause more damage?”
“Because.” Tank sighed. “It’s personal.”
“How many more will be targeted?”
He was quiet. “All of them.”
“All of…” I didn’t want to assume. But I knew. It was a repeat, only this time they’d cleanse every single family line, leaving only a few behind to tell the story. It was why Junior was so spooked, why he’d had no time left before the treaty, it forced them to regroup but time still wasn’t on my side.
“All.” Tank repeated my worst fear. “It’s the last thing I could give you before—”
Before it happened. Before Junior died.
“We need to talk to King.”
“He’s a good actor, but Ash has a temper.”
I smiled to myself. “That might play in our favor, especially if Maksim turns it on for us. Yes, let’s… start the game and make the first move and see what happens. Oh, and do me a favor and buy a house, a yacht, and a new car.”
“Huh?” He glanced over his shoulder, green eyes squinting in confusion. Yeah, I’d be confused too. I didn’t need nor want any of those things.
“Make it look like I want the money and power and am going to be drunk off my ass twenty-four seven, easy pickings, in fact, leak some heart condition, that sounds nice. A weak heart brought on by a poor lifestyle…”
“I see why he trained you.”
“Because I’m insane?”
“No. Because you’re smart and embrace the insanity like a Christmas Goose.”
“GOOSE!” I yelled. “Not duck, thank you.”
“Any time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“It’s always the wolf, never the sheep.” —King Campisi
Bella
I hated the kind of sleep where you know you slept but you had scenarios in your head, like a billion of them with different endings so you tossed and turned until you could find comfort only to have voices in your head, more scenarios, more stressors, until you just wanted to drug yourself to sleep.
I thought of Junior.
The wedding, things I should have said.
The funeral, more things I should have said.
And the bedroom, things I should have taken, things I should have done, and finally, things I should have asked him.
Ivan.
In all of this he’d asked me for trust and as many hours as I lay awake and tossed and turned last night, I still couldn’t figure out what the endgame was.
I was also a bit stressed once Tank left.
Did he leave Ivan’s body?
Why did I care?
Tank was in there for a while, killing was fast, right?
Finally, unable to do anything but stress out, I jumped out of bed, grabbed the fluffy white hotel bathrobe, and made my way over to Ivan’s room.
I knocked twice. “Ivan?”
No answer.
Maybe he was sleeping?
Maybe it was a permanent sleep?
And why was I so stressed out about it?
“Ivan?” I called one more time and nothing. I gripped the door handle and slowly clicked open the door. It was completely dark. If I stepped in blood or saw a body part, I was murdering him all over again.
What was I even thinking?
That would be horrible. Truly horrible. I was losing it, maybe going as crazy as Ivan under all the pressure and I’d been married to him less than twenty-four hours.
I shuffled over to the massive bed and slowly peered over, I should have brought my cell so I could see better, but I managed to lean down.
His head was still attached, so that was a good sign, I didn’t smell blood, and nothing looked out of place that I could actually make out.
His face was calm, almost like he had a more peaceful sleep than me the bastard, his eyes were closed, full lips were pressed together in an almost smirk.
Quiet, I could handle him.
I licked my lips and stared at his neck.
I shouldn’t have.
Who had veins in their neck anyway? And why was it more noticeable in the dark?
I scowled when he suddenly snatched my wrist and pulled me against the bed until our faces were inches apart. “Disappointed?”
I didn’t even try to shake free from his grasp; he was the sort of guy who liked it more when you fought back, and I was the sort of girl to do exactly that every single time no matter what.