Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72799 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72799 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Her admission makes my chest tighten, and I lean into her, kissing the edge of her mouth, trying to soothe some of the fear away. “I won’t be alone. Soo will be with me, and we have his very well-trained security team along for the ride. Everything will be fine.”
If her arguments weren’t a demonstration of how much she cares, I would punish her for it. But how can I, when her fears reflect my own?
“I want to believe you, but…”
I shake my head and grasp her chin with two fingers, wanting her to see and hear my words fully. “Shhh, let’s spend the rest of the evening in bed together.”
A lustful haze swallows up the fear previously reflecting in the pools of her brown eyes. And there’s no place I would rather be. I can only hope that everything goes as planned.
When my alarm goes off a few hours later, I give Celia a quick kiss, casting her naked body in a sweeping glance. My cock is already hardening again, remembering all the things I did to her body a few hours ago. I barely shake the lustful haze and draw to climb back into bed away and get dressed before heading downstairs to meet Soo.
“I’d say good morning, but I’m not sure you even slept,” Soo says on a yawn, like, he too, didn’t sleep—for a completely different reason.
If he was anyone else, I might slug him in the face, but there is no one like Soo. My best friend and confidant.
I smirk. “I slept perfectly fine, thank you for asking.”
We climb into the blacked-out SUV and head across town toward the industrial park. It’s only a short ride to the meeting location Bianci requested. We arrive a few minutes early and sit in the SUV, waiting for the mysterious Bianci to make his appearance known.
The man who shows up just seconds from being late is not at all what I expect. We exit our SUV at the same time he exits his. The man is tall and lanky with black hair, and his clothes are more suited to a college gamer than an international criminal.
He approaches Soo and me alone. We chose to meet at an abandoned parking lot at the edge of town, and I wonder for his sanity that he would come out here by himself.
“So, you are the ones giving everyone trouble? I’m excited to meet you,” he says, holding his hand out for us to shake.
Soo and I share a look between us, then shake the man’s hand. Because we are both at a loss for words, I let Soo take the lead on this one.
“We want you to join us in our plan to remove Ricci as head of the five families.”
Bianci cocks his head to the side as he studies us. “Why should I do that? And please, don’t mistake it as a threat. I’m genuinely curious about what you will say.”
It’s my turn. “Because Ricci has lost his touch. Also, I just really want to kill him. Without going into a family saga, just know it’s warranted.”
A smile plays on Bianci’s mouth. “Well, it just so happens that I don’t support Ricci in his power, and I’ve been hunting my own way to remove him from the city’s criminal throne. It looks like you boys have already gotten started, though. I’m an only child, and when my father’s territory fell to me, Ricci hasn’t exactly approved of how I shifted my father’s business to the digital age. In fact, I think it’s time all the old guard takes a back seat and lets their children reform the five families into a modern era.”
Soo speaks up. “We need some kind of assurance that you’re serious about your commitment. Otherwise, you could just be talking out of your ass and playing us while you run back to Ricci to report.”
He nods and shucks a backpack off his shoulders I hadn’t even noticed. The security team goes for their guns, but Soo waves them off as the man digs a laptop from his bag.
“While conducting my own search into Ricci’s affairs, I found an interesting little corner of the world.” He types while holding the bottom of his laptop one-handed.
Then he spins the computer to face us and highlights a portion of text on what looks like a darknet chat room.
“I’m not sure if you are aware, but there weren’t always five families. At one point, we were six. And that sixth family ruled the other five. Until they were murdered several years ago. I was away at school most of my life, so I didn’t get a crash course in this world until my father passed. However, I think that this little tidbit of information about the murder of this family might be enough to ignite the other leaders into helping your cause.”