Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 126682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“We’re dead anyway. You said yourself it’s only a matter of time. So what can it hurt to try?”
He stomps to the window, staring out for a second before turning back to me. “You won’t be dead if…”
“If you and Saverio sacrifice yourselves?”
“You’re a mother. You have a child to think about.”
“I am thinking about my child. That’s exactly why I’m doing this. If I don’t, Claire will never be safe. There will always be another Raphael who’s too greedy for money and power. I’m not an expert in your business, but I’ve been here long enough to know one thing. The only way of surviving this kind of life is to be stronger and cleverer than everyone else.” He opens his mouth, but I don’t give him a chance to speak. “But I’m also thinking about you, the men and their families, and Saverio.” I add in a softer tone, “Maybe I’m also thinking about myself for once, and I don’t want to live the rest of my life as a widow.”
“Anya,” he says with frustration.
“It’s a good plan, Dante. It can work.” I advance on him. “Admit it.”
Dragging a hand over his head, he blows out a long breath. “Say you manage to pull off all that shit, why would Elena agree to do something like that? Why would she make a video to humiliate her husband in front of the whole world?”
“Because I have something she wants.” I add quietly, “Desperately.”
“Fuck, Anya. I don’t know.”
“I’ll get the inventory and the video. That’s a good starting point, right? Once that’s done, we can take it from there.”
“No.” He studies me with a solemn expression. “When Elena disappears, it’ll be too late already. Raphael will hit back. By then, our strategy has to be in place. Even better if we can strike in the midst of the chaos when he finds out Elena is gone, long before he’s had time to digest his wife’s betrayal.”
“Then you and Saverio have your work cut out for you. I’ll handle the inventory and Elena.”
He doesn’t sound convinced. “How?”
“Don’t worry about the how. I’ll manage. Just do the rest.”
“Okay, so say I buy into this plan of yours, there’s still one snag.”
I raise a brow.
“Convincing Sav isn’t going to be easy,” Dante says. “He’ll never let you put yourself at risk.”
“Then don’t tell him where the list and the video will come from.”
“Sav is more than my boss. He’s my friend. I’m not going to deceive him.”
“Listen to me, Dante. We don’t have a choice. If he knows what I’m planning, he’ll try to stop me. You can say you’re getting the list and the video. Saverio doesn’t have to know I’m involved. We’ll tell him the truth when it’s all over.”
“Why don’t I just get the woman and the list? Why not let me in on your plan? Better yet, why not let Sav carry it out?”
“Because Elena won’t trust you or Saverio. She knows Saverio is going to avenge himself on her husband, and she believes she’s a target too. Raphael didn’t care that his attack would take me out. I was collateral damage. Elena thinks Saverio will make her pay to get back at Raphael. An eye for an eye. As Saverio made a point of not denying it when Rachele brought up the subject, Elena must be convinced her death is imminent. She won’t come anywhere near Saverio or any man who works for him.”
“Fuck.” He drops his head between his shoulders. “I don’t like this.”
“But you know it can work. It’s a much better plan than letting my husband commit suicide.”
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
A smile plucks at my lips, because I know I’ve won.
“But,” he says, holding up a finger, “if anything goes wrong, I want you and Claire out of the country. I’m going to put a backup plan into place, and you’re going to promise me you won’t give me any problems when I have to put your ass on a plane.”
“Promise,” I say, crossing my fingers over my heart.
“Fuck, Anya,” he says again, looking frightened.
And that’s saying something, because in all the time I’ve known Dante, even when that grenade rolled down the aisle and bullets rained on us, I’ve never seen him scared.
Chapter
Nineteen
Saverio
* * *
“You’re making progress, Mr. De Luca,” my physiotherapist says with an encouraging smile while stripping the protective cover from the massage table after our four o’clock session. “In a few weeks, we can exchange the crutches for a cane.”
I wipe the sweat from my brow with an exercise towel. “By the eighteenth of April?”
“That’s rather specific.” His eyebrows pinch together even as his lips quirk. “What happens on the eighteenth of April?”
“My wife’s birthday,” I say in a gruff voice.
“Ah.” He continues to pack away his equipment. “It depends on how quickly you recover your mobility and muscle strength, but you shouldn’t overdo it by pushing yourself too hard. That may result in new injuries. The right balance is important.” He straightens from zipping up his bag. “That’s what I’m here for.”