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)
My answer is curt. “No.”
“I’m family,” she exclaims. “You can’t turn me away.”
“Fucking watch me.”
“Are you going to kick me out on the street?”
I’m pretty sure Anya would’ve offered her mother a fair deal. It’s only right I do the same.
“I’m going to be honest with you, Mary. I don’t like you, and people I don’t like don’t do too well around me. They don’t end up in a good place, so here’s what I suggest. Leave the name and number of your employer, and I’ll look in on him. If you have a job as you say, I want to see your rental contract and where you’re living. If you stay sober and clean, I’ll upgrade you to a nicer apartment. I’ll pay a portion of your bills only if you prove you can hang on to that typing job. We’ll see about visiting with Anya. I’ll let her decide.”
“What’s with the checking up as if I’m a kid and not a fucking grown ass woman?”
“Let’s face it. You haven’t acted like an adult for most of your life.”
“Fucking cruel,” she whines. “You think you’re better than me?” She stabs a finger on her chest. “You’re standing there with your minced meat face and tellin’ me that I’m not good enough for your fancy house and my Goodie Two Shoes daughter?”
“I’m telling you to take the chance I’m giving you, a chance you don’t deserve, and to get the hell out of my sight before I do something I definitely won’t regret. Killing you will bring me much joy, so don’t give me a reason.”
A car pulls through the gates. Dante.
Mary waves a finger at me. “You’re going to regret this. Mark my words, mister.” Spinning on her heel, she shoots over her shoulder, “Go to fucking hell.” She marches past Dante who’s gotten out of his car and is climbing the porch steps. “You don’t know who you’re dealin’ with. You’ll crawl in front of me, beggin’ me when I’m through with you.”
“Who’s that?” Dante asks, staring after Mary.
“Anya’s mother,” I say through gritted teeth.
He looks at me. “What?”
“Yeah. They’re nothing alike.”
“Anya is worried about her. She’ll be relieved to know she’s not dead.”
“Believe me, it would’ve been better for everyone if she were.”
Scratching his head, he follows me inside. “We need to talk. But if you first want to call Anya with the news about her mother—”
I stop at his tone. “It can wait. What’s going on?”
“You better take another look at that plan I suggested and soon.” He pauses, holding my gaze with a seriousness I don’t often see on his face. “I have the inventory and the video.”
I go still. “Elena said she came to us willingly?” I have to admit, I never believed Elena would agree to something like that.
“She did more.” He looks me straight in the eye. “She confessed that Raphael launched the attack. That’s why he didn’t take her to the wedding. She didn’t know what he was planning until it was too late.”
Fuck.
I take a moment to digest that. If this is true, Dante is right. We have a chance at doing it his way and actually winning.
“Elena will be gone by next week,” he says. “We need to strike straight after.”
Still shocked that he managed to get that video, I ask, “How did you do it?”
He simply stands there without answering.
“Dante?” I say, tilting my head, getting a feeling he’s about to tell me something I’m not going to like.
“I didn’t get the video,” he says.
We face each other, the air between us thick with dark foreboding.
And then he drops the bomb. “Anya did.”
I blink as if it will magically clear the confusion in my head. Turning my good ear toward him, I ask in a measured tone, “What did you say?”
“Look, you guys need to talk. All I know is that Anya gave me Raphael’s inventory as well as the video. We don’t have to go into a fight blindly. May as well use the confusion when he discovers Elena is gone to our advantage. But our window of opportunity is small. That means we’ve got to focus.” His gaze pierces mine. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The logical side of my brain still functions. He’s saying I have to put my emotions aside and focus on being a soldier. For now. That the war takes priority. That my anger with my treasure for doing something ridiculously dangerous behind my back will have to wait. That Anya can’t be the center of my attention in the present moment if we’re to use this limited scope of time to slay the enemy who nearly destroyed me and just as nearly killed my wife.
I latch on to that, on to the knowledge that Anya and Claire will only ever be safe if Raphael Morelli is out of the picture. And this may be our only chance of cutting his whole organization to the ground and walking away with our lives.