Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
That was the first time he really met Dominic Luciano, and his first taste of revenge.
* * *
“You ready?”
Seeing Dominic come into her waiting room, she stood and took a few deep breaths.
His fierce hazel eyes stared at her black ones. “I want you to know that even if it meant my death, I would not let you walk down this aisle if I didn’t know you could handle it.”
“I know,” she whispered strongly.
“We knew this day would come, Katarina.”…
…They had sat in Dominic’s Mustang eating doughnuts with the words “Happy Birthday” on them in pink frosting. Normal people celebrated their birthdays on the day they were born, but being one of the unlucky ones, she didn’t. She celebrated her birthday on the day she’d apparently showed up on the doorstep. It had been seventeen years since that day, and she was definitely eighteen by now.
There was no record of whoever she had been before she was placed on that porch. Only one thing was for sure, that Lucifer was her biological father. Dominic had made Katarina Luciano exist, and that was more than anyone else had done for her. She supposed it would bother someone to not know where they had come from, but the truth was, her mother was probably dead in a ditch somewhere, knowing her father, and to get him to tell her who she was wasn’t happening, and that was if he even knew. However, she had her brothers, and that was more than enough family for her.
Putting a half-eaten doughnut back in the box, Dominic looked over at her, his face etched into a serious expression. “Things are about to change, Kat. I feel it.”
She slowly swallowed the bite she had in her mouth, knowing their father was becoming more uncontrollable and irate by the day. “I feel it too.”
“There’s going to be a day when I won’t be able to protect you any longer, Katarina. You’re eighteen now, and I’m afraid there will be nothing I can do.” She could see his heavy heart getting heavier. “But you’ll be ready. It’s what we’ve been preparing for.”
Nodding her head, she knew his words to be true. It was almost like a timer had been started, and no matter how ready she would be, Kat just hoped the clock would never run out…
…“Yes, we did.” She smiled at the memory.
“You’re going to be the one to save us all, and I couldn’t be more fucking proud.” Dominic’s intense gaze still bore into hers while his voice matched the intensity. “They might not know what you’re capable of, but one day they will. They’ll know what we are all capable of.”
There wasn’t another man on this earth like him, who had been through what he had been through, had seen what he had seen. She was convinced there was no man stronger than Dominic. He was the Lucianos’ future, and he was going to even the score.
Smiling down at her, he had one final request that he had made once before. “Make him fuckin’ regret picking you, Kat…. Give. Him. Hell.”
“I plan on it.” She smiled back.
Kat had been the one to be saved by her brothers for years, but this time it was her turn to save them. Her turn to save the family and finally prove her father wrong.
There was a place in this family for women, and like her brother had said, I couldn’t be more fucking proud.
Putting her hand through Dominic’s arm, she picked up the small bouquet of dark red roses.
The clock had finally struck seven.
Sixteen
Until Death Do Us Part
Once the doors flung open, the Catholic church not only echoed with the organs that began to play but with the gasps. Both the Luciano and Caruso sides were shocked upon seeing the first glimpse of the bride. Even the priest was taken aback.
As she walked down the aisle, her heavy dress dragged behind her while her lacy veil trailed a foot behind. It was exactly how you pictured a Catholic wedding dress to be in all its grand glory, all except for one thing…. Her dress was as black as her eyes, and her veil was as dark as her past.
This was a statement, an almost protest. There wasn’t only a wedding about to take place, but a funeral. It was a final goodbye to the life she was leaving behind and to her last name.
Lastly, this dress was her. It made her pale skin glisten and her light pink tresses glow underneath the lace. Her dark eyeshadow only added to the effect, making her look like a regal gothic queen.
When they reached the end of the aisle, Dominic was forced to give his sister away with a final hug. Even though they were prepared, that moment was harder on both of them than they’d thought it would be. You could see when he looked down at her that he still pictured her as the baby who had shown up on the doorstep in the cat onesie, and she still pictured him as the big brother who would always be there to protect her. However, they were both no longer those things, and it was time to part.