Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83776 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83776 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
I bite my lip hard and shake my head. “I don’t know if I want to hear that.”
“Too bad, baby.” Then his mouth finds mine and I’m lost to the world for a few seconds as a blinding excitement slams through my body. God, this man can kiss. It’s even better than the first time. There’s so much promise in the way his tongue slides against mine and his hands hold onto my hips like this is only the first of many more to come. It’s like he’s tracing a list of all the filthy things he wants to do to me in my own mouth, and I’m sitting here taking it and only wanting more.
But the kiss can’t last and neither can that feeling. We break apart and his hands fall away as he moves over to the door.
“Now I think we’re ready to go,” he says.
And reality comes crashing down as we head out to the airport and fly out to Chicago. My new home.
Chapter 9
Davide
My family’s private plane lands at O’Hare and Emilio brings the car around. Bruno sits up front and I’m in the back with Stefania, and nobody’s talking, even though I can tell my men are both happy to be home.
My new wife hasn’t said much since I kissed her. There were a few seconds where my mouth was on hers, my tongue was against her tongue, and her lips tasted like absolute fucking heaven, and I didn’t want that kiss to end. But it had to, and the moment the spell was broken, it was like reality reasserted itself and she remembered that she hates me.
Emilio guides the BMW through crowded streets and into one of the nicest sections of the city. I’m tempted to play tour guide, but I decide now isn’t the time; Stefania will have a lot of shit to deal with very shortly and she doesn’t need me piling more worthless information on top of it.
“Hold on, what’s he doing?” she asks as Emilio turns very slowly the wrong way down a narrow, tree-lined one-way street. At the far end, the street is blocked off by enormous county road-work signs, the pavement torn up and a huge hole dug down toward the sewer system as if a pipe needs to be replaced.
“This is where we live,” I tell her, and I glance up at the houses. Cameras picked us up and are busy letting my father know that we’re here; more cameras tagged the car, the license plate, and took images of all our faces. Anyone that passes within ten feet of this block is photographed and taped for security reasons.
“Yeah, okay, but this is supposed to be a one-way street.” She gawks around her, at the line of expensive vehicles parked against the curb, and the gorgeous old houses in immaculate condition. They look like Philly row homes except they aren’t attached, and each has a little yard along with flowers in their window boxes, all thanks to my mother. The trees here are in pristine condition, and the landscaping is impeccably maintained. It’s a gorgeous little oasis, and once we’re past the first houses and deeper down the block, it’s like the rest of the city no longer exists.
Of course, there are snipers on the roofs, a profusion of hidden security cameras, and drones that occasionally patrol the surrounding blocks, but she doesn’t need to know about those things for now.
Emilio pulls the BMW into my usual spot in front of my house and kills the engine. I tell him and Bruno to go get the place prepped then to head home; we won’t need them anymore.
I’m alone with Stefania. She’s not moving toward the car door, and I’m in no hurry.
“You should know that my family owns every house on this block,” I say, gesturing at the gorgeous, expensive buildings. Her eyes go wide in surprise.
“There must be twenty buildings,” she says. “You own them all?”
“There are thirty-six, and yes, all of them. Anyone you see on the sidewalk is affiliated with the organization. We’re very good at keeping outsiders away.”
“You’re in the middle of a city. How the hell do you do that?”
“Cars don’t come down here because of the roadwork. Pedestrians don’t cut through because of the very intimidating men sitting at both ends. Cops don’t bother us because they’re on our payroll. This is our block, our family home, and so long as you’re on this street, you are perfectly safe.”
She stares at me, then looks back outside. There’s nobody around—but that’s only temporary. The place will be swarming with people eager to see my new wife. It’s going to be awful.
“And anywhere else?” she asks, her voice very soft.
“Anywhere else and you’ll need me.” I put a hand on her thigh. She looks back at me and her face hardens. I can tell she’s ready to argue. “We should go inside before my parents descend. Do you want to see our room?”