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)
She looked between us. “You guys are idiots! If your own men don’t kill you, then my dad will! This is the worst plan you could possibly think of.”
“Or the best.” I snapped. “They have a joint enemy that needs to be eliminated, it again buys us time. Junior’s going to join forces with Ash, King, and Maksim, while Santino puts men around the building. It’s not foolproof,” I explained. “But there’s a vendetta here, trust me when I say whoever this person is, they want Abandonato blood, and they want it yesterday.”
Bella sat back against the leather seat and put her hand over mine, pressing it against her wound. “Who would hate my Family that much?”
Junior whistled. “Any of the De Langes who got eliminated, I mean it could be anyone, even the Russians. Who knows? The point is, this was the one thing this person wanted more than anything. The Abandonato heads on shiny platters. Part of me even thinks they want it more than control of the De Lange line.”
“The question is,” I asked, “who would be that psychotic and stupid?”
I would find out the answer soon.
We pulled up to Chase’s old house.
He’d moved out of it with Luc, it was kept on Abandonato property as an Airbnb, though right now it was empty.
“I used to love this place.” Bella stared out the window. “But why here of all places?”
Junior looked down. “When I was pretending to be dead, I did recon. It was one of the only places the men with the DL tattoos would randomly rent. They always came in with multiple cars and always had one person with them—guarded. Granted, it’s a great location, incredible property, it could just be a coincidence. Either way, they’ll feel like they’re in their own native territory, not realizing we know all the secrets the property has to offer.”
I knew the secrets.
I knew the horror.
I looked down at my hands. “We should have burned it to the ground.”
“Chase wouldn’t let us.” Junior sighed.
“Why?”
“He said even ghosts need homes.” Junior confessed, as a chill ran down my spine.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“To die, is to finally live.” —King Campisi
Bella
I followed Ivan out of the car, Junior stayed behind like promised.
I wasn’t afraid of getting hurt, I was afraid of Ivan doing something stupid. “Don’t you dare try to stand in front of me if someone shoots at me,” I snapped.
He barked out a laugh. “Same goes for you.”
“And don’t fall on your own sword then give me this pathetic ‘I should have had more time’ sort of look, I want you to like, flip me off or something, go out angry if you go out.”
He laughed harder. “Wow, so bossy today.”
“Well, she just got shot, so excuse me for having no patience.”
“She’s strong.”
“She’s angry at you.”
“For good reason. You’re beautiful, by the way, just in case I never said it and acted like a jackass most the time, I always thought you were pretty, I was just afraid to show you a chink in my armor. Once an enemy, always an enemy.”
I huffed. “You’re okay to look at, I guess.”
“I’m gorgeous and I know it. But thank you for attempting to humble me.”
“This is what’s wrong with you.”
“Sweetheart, there is so much wrong with me, but can you be the one right thing? Aww see, that was nice of me. I’m getting good at this husband stuff.”
A sharp pain hit me in the chest. He wasn’t leaving, right? He wouldn’t do anything stupid?
It was Ivan, though.
I took a soothing breath. “How far are we walking?”
“Just to the back, by the pool. I’m assuming they have people surrounding the place. I told your dad to meet us near the pool house, and oh shit—”
It wasn’t just my dad. It was Phoenix, Tex, Andrei, Sergio, Dante, and Chase, along with what looked like about forty Abandonato men from my dad’s side, and forty from my uncle’s. All of them casually standing there like they were about to start a war.
“Hand her over.” Dad pointed his gun at Ivan.
He cursed. “I said Abandonato, not the other Families, this has nothing to do with them.” He cursed again. “Bella, you should have told me your dad was going to lose his mind and not listen.”
“I didn’t protect her from you once, I won’t make that same mistake again.” Nixon held up his hand, keeping his army at bay. His men had all of their guns trained on me, so many wonderful red little dots. “Bella, walk over to me, slowly.”
“The deal,” Ivan spoke in a calm, even tone, “was for you to bring all the Abandonatos, it’s like you’re just begging to cleanse all of the Families, is one daughter that important to you? One small person?”
“Yes,” he and Chase said at the same time.
I didn’t see the first shot; it was near Dad’s head but took out one of his men.. The second and third hit Chase’s security.