Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Women were not supposed to linger on his radar. There had never been a woman he’d been interested in. He liked to fuck and leave. There was no time for small talk. No time to make friends. He wasn’t looking for a wife.
Maria had changed all of that.
The Boss had ordered for them, and like Draven predicted, she pushed her breakfast around her plate. Antwone had invited several capos and their wives for this part of the tradition.
Draven wasn’t expecting it. He figured it would be him, Antwone, and Maria. He understood why he was doing it, showing something good, something pure from Maria. With her family being completely blacklisted, people would avoid her. She was still the enemy but as his wife, they had to hold a level of respect. Her having been a virgin also showed she stuck to their traditions.
It was all fucking messed up, but Draven didn’t have time to deal with that now. He had no choice but to leave his wife to the pack of wolves as he went into the private office of the restaurant to talk with Antwone.
“You had to bring the capos?”
“For her own good. Do you think it was going to be as easy as telling people to accept her.”
“You’re The Boss. Your word is law.”
“Yes, and people still see her as the enemy. She was their child, and a lot of people will believe that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”
Draven shook his head.
“I’m not the one who made the rules,” Antwone said. “There are many men who’d have slit Maria’s throat from ratting out her parents.”
“She came to save you and a lot of capos,” he said.
Antwone shrugged. “You and I both know how badly this could have ended. The wars it could have started.”
If anything had happened to Antwone, Draven wouldn’t have even hesitated. He’d have fucking killed anyone who stood in his way. No one took out his brother. Antwone had become a great fucking Boss. Draven just helped guide him a little. Like now, Draven would have kept Maria if he’d been The Boss. Of course, Antwone had already seen his attraction to Maria. Draven shouldn’t have been surprised. It was one of the many reasons Draven didn’t have a problem with his half-brother being on the throne of the family. He was the one who observed, who was able to read people.
Antwone had told him what was happening with their father. Draven had figured he was being a pussy. The truth was, their father’s jealousy had reached a peak that had put all their lives in danger. They had barely made it out alive.
“What do you need?” Draven asked.
They could agree to disagree about how everything could have gone down without Maria. Draven believed she showed a great deal of loyalty, not to her parents, but to his brother and the family, and that had to speak volumes to everyone. He didn’t give a shit if they liked it or not.
“I got a call last night,” Antwone said. He slid a piece of paper across the table and Draven picked it up. There was an address.
“What’s this?”
“The person on the phone wanted five million to keep quiet,” Antwone said.
This made Draven freeze. “They know?”
“That’s what they said.” Antwone tapped his fingers on the table. “I have no idea who they are, or how they know.”
“It could be a fucking crank call.”
“ ‘Antwone Esposito, the coward, the man who doesn’t deserve to sit at the head of the table. You should have died.’ He got my attention with those little details.”
No one knew The Boss’s name, and if they did, they didn’t speak of it.
Draven looked down at the address. Once he was done, he pulled out a lighter and set the piece of paper on fire, allowing it to drop to the floor, where he stamped out the ashes.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Maybe it’s time for us to face reality.”
“There is no reality.”
“What is wrong with people knowing the truth? They know your name.”
“Yeah, but there are a lot of fucking Espositos out there. No one knows exactly where I come from. The rumors run rife, but that’s all they are, rumors.”
“Why would it be so bad to let them know the truth?” Antwone asked. “Aren’t you tired of keeping this secret?”
“No, some secrets need to stay buried. Do you think he didn’t have any enemies?” Draven asked.
“He was The Boss.”
“And yet he had enemies. Look at my wife. She didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, she showed loyalty and immense strength, and yet people are against her, for who her parents were.” Draven stepped forward and reached out, gripping Antwone’s face. “Our father, our papa, nearly destroyed this family. You and I both know firsthand what it was like to deal with him in those final days before we left. He was brutal. A lot of people died because of him. He made a lot of enemies, and we promised each other that part of our past would stay buried. No one needs to know we’re the sons he tried to kill. How do you think they’d feel knowing in the beginning we ran?”