Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry,” Casso says as he puts his gun away and comes to me. He grabs me and holds me tight against him, hugging me close. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I’m sorry you had to be a part of this. But it’s over now, it’s all over.”
“It’s over,” I whisper and sob into his chest as he hugs me close.
Manuel’s gone. Danil’s gone. So many people are dead and gone and won’t come back, but I’m here and I’m with Casso, and that’s all I care about.
Chapter 29
Casso
Clean-up is my least favorite part of any hit, but fortunately I get to delegate now that I’m the Don. Once Danil’s body is disposed of and his men are cut to pieces and buried in the desert, the terror that swept through the city lifts. I order my men back, and the relief on the streets is palpable. Everyone was terrified they were next.
Things quiet down over the next couple of days. The few guys left that were loyal to Danil Federov and his bratva escape Phoenix and disappear. I put out hits on them but I’m not too worried about whether they’ll succeed or not. The bulk of Danil’s bratva is dead, and without Federov himself, the remaining guys are worthless. Let them look over their shoulders for the rest of their miserable lives. If I catch them, I’ll gut them. But I’m not trying too hard.
We take turns sitting by Fynn’s bedside. Everyone puts in time, even Elise and Olivia. Even if all Elise does is read magazines and look at Instagram, it’s still good to have a warm body beside him.
At night, when the darkness comes down and I feel my own darkness begin to wrap around my heart, I reach for Olivia. She’s there in my bed inches away from my body and I hold her tight against me, breathing her smell, feeling her skin, using her as a bulwark against the misery that threatens to invade every waking moment I spent with my brother in a coma. It’s a nightmare, one I don’t think I can wake from, one I’m afraid Fynn will never wake from. In the mornings, I kiss her and go about my business, but always with her in my mind.
It takes me three days to come to a decision. After visiting with Fynn, I find Olivia down by the pool with Elise in the late hours of the day as the sun sinks and twilight falls. “May I borrow my wife?”
Elise shrugs. “Not up to me.”
“I suppose I have some free time.” Olivia gets up and stretches, grinning, wearing only a sheer coverup with a white bikini over her beautiful breasts and ass. I gaze at her legs, her lips, her neck, and I stifle the thrill the runs through me.
“I want to show you sometimes, but first you need some reasonable shoes.” I take her up to the patio where I have socks and hiking boots already out. She frowns at them then at me.
“I’m not sure I like where this is going.”
“I promise I’m not about to bury you out in the desert. It’s not a far walk.”
She frowns, but sits and puts the boots on. When she’s done, we head down the back path, wave to Elise, and head out onto the property. Armed guards lurk in the rocks nearby, watching warily. They don’t like their Don walking around in the open, but if my own land is too dangerous to walk through then I’m not worthy of the position.
Olivia leans on my arm as we go. “So why did you drag me from the comfort of the pool for? Are we just going for a scenic walk?” We climb up some loose, rocky ground, and up a steep rise toward a section of larger rocks.
“It’s not far,” I say as we go and I help her over a boulder. “Back when I was younger, my brothers and I would play out here all the time. Father and Mother would complain bitterly that we’d come home covered in red dust but we didn’t care. It was like our own playground.”
“Did Karah come along?”
“Constantly, and we’d bully her the whole time, but she was bigger than Fynn and Gavino for a while so it was pretty funny to watch her beat them up. Then at some point they hit puberty and sprang up, and there was a short period where Karah didn’t realize they were way stronger than her and she kept testing them.” I grin at the memory of my sister trying to wrestle her younger brothers into submission and failing miserably and hilariously.
“You guys were really close then.”
“We still are in some ways, but it’s hard.” She’s quiet so I wrap an arm around her as I steer her toward our destination. “In a family like ours, there are pressures. I know you’re aware of some of them, but it’s even harder in the Famiglia, when we have so much at stake and so many people depend on our leadership. Even though the others aren’t the Don, they’re still looked toward by the other Capos and lieutenants. It places all kinds of stress on our relationships.”