Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“Good. Go with them. We can’t afford for anything to go wrong. We need a smooth delivery to ensure a good working relationship with the brothers, and remember, don’t piss them off. They won’t hesitate to put a bullet right between your eyes.”
“Comforting,” he mutters.
“Wasn’t meant to be,” I state before ending the call, and while I might not trust him to always have my back, I do trust him to get the job done better than anyone else. He can be a charming motherfucker when he needs to be, and on more than one occasion, that charm has saved our asses. As for me, I don’t suck up to other men by acting like a charming fool. The only time you’ll see me laying on the charm is when I have a woman on her knees and my cock in her throat, and as for Chiara, I’ve never seen a woman look so beautiful when she’s working my cock.
I’m not going to lie, I feel like a fucking prick for speaking to Chiara like that when she walked in on me and Evie. She has been asked by Rachael to take care of the funeral arrangements for Phillip, and we were only just getting started when Chiara came running in looking as though she were about to be sick, and the moment she noticed Evie behind me, I knew exactly what was going through her head. Maybe it was cruel to not tell her what was really going on, but I need her to stop seeing me as her savior and more as the villain of her story.
As much as I wish I could be that for her, I need her to fear me, to truly understand who I am. It just happened that Evie is so socially awkward that the moment Chiara came racing in, Evie’s anxiety peaked, and in Chiara’s haste, she couldn’t tell the difference between Evie’s fear and her anxiety.
The moment Chiara was gone and the door closed behind her, Evie wasted no time to chastise me, but she couldn’t deny that I’d done her a kindness. Refusing to allow Chiara to break on her resolve and give me Monica’s name saved her from a burden that Evie knows all too well. Chiara won’t always have the luxury of taking the high ground. Given enough time in this world, she will eventually have her hands stained by another’s blood, and when that time comes, I’ll be right here to hold her up.
Making my way up the stairs, my gaze lingers on Chiara’s closed door, and I turn away, heading for my room instead. I haven’t seen her since she barged in on me and Evie, and the sorrow that flashed in her eyes when she turned her back and walked away nearly destroyed me. She clearly has a lot she needs to work through, but for now, I’ll allow her to rest. We’ll talk in the morning.
Walking up to my bedroom door, I find it open just a sliver and I push my way through to find Chiara sitting on my bed, her knees pulled up to her chest as she focuses too hard on the black sheets beneath her.
I don’t say anything, sensing she’s the one who wants to do the talking. Instead, I stride through my room as I work the buttons on my shirt. A moment of tension-filled silence passes, and just as my shirt hits the floor, I finally hear the soft brokenness of her voice filling the air.
“I suppose you got a name then?” Chiara asks, not able to meet my eye.
I lean back against my dresser, simply watching her on my bed. “Yes,” I say, deciding not to give her the whole truth about why Evie was really here. If they become close at any point, then that’s a truth I’ll leave up to her to share. Though to be completely honest, if Chiara did feel the need to make friends outside of my home, Evie would be the best option. She’s entirely too guarded for Chiara’s likes, but she’s the only one who wouldn’t intentionally stab her in the back.
Disappointment flashes in her lifeless eyes, and I realize that despite needing to be cruel in order to protect her from the burden of Monica’s punishment, I’ve instead burdened her with the guilt of Evie’s interrogation. She believes I broke her to get that information, and for now, she needs time to process that.
Her gaze flashes up briefly, but that second is more than enough to show her heartbreak. I’ve broken her, and I fucking hate myself for it, but she should learn now that just because I didn’t have to resort to brutality this time doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have.
Chiara lets out a heavy breath before getting to her feet and walking to my door. She opens it wider and leaves her hand on the door, pausing and glancing back at me, the heaviness between us almost crippling. “The reason I was down there is because I was coming to look for you. I’d figured out a solution that I thought could be suitable and wanted to discuss that with you, but I see now I was foolish to assume you would actually allow me to take the reins on that one.”