Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
“Okay, Gio. We can get it done and call in Father Anthony for the service.”
“We can have an outfit picked out by then. I’m sure Mom is itching to plan it.” I looked at my father, hoping he had mentioned it to my mother because I haven’t. From the expression on his face, my sister smirks. “I’m guessing Mom’s going to be in for a surprise. We better get a move on.”
“We need a moment, so can you leave us?”
“Absolutely. We’ll make the preparations, and I’ll tell your mother. Be prepared for her,” my father says with a smirk on his face. One by one, the men leave the room until we’re alone. I lock the door behind them and find that Patricia’s eyes are focused on the pool of blood on the floor.
I cover her eyes and then tilt her head. “Don’t look at that.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You don’t need to see that mess. Come sit on the bed and tell me what happened, exactly. I love my sister, but I know when she’s full of shit, and let’s just say something’s not quite adding up.”
She bites down on her bottom lip. “She’s mostly right. It’s like she said. He crept in here while I was sitting on the bed. You weren’t gone long before he started making accusations about me coming in here to sully this family. He was going to use me like the dirty filth that I was and that he’d leave me like the trash I was on my father’s doorstep.”
“Damn. I should have been the one to kick him down the stairs.”
“Is he dead?”
“I don’t know, but if he’s not, I’ll toss him down a couple flights.” She lets out the tiniest laugh that hits me dead in the chest. “A sense of humor is good. That means you’re not going to pass out on me.”
“I might not be like my father or his goons, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen someone roughed up.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it. That fucker came in here with the intent to hurt you and much fucking worse.”
“I’m fine.”
Chapter Six
Patty
I’m far from fine, but what can I say? Hey, Gio, I want to run but you won’t let me. I’m petrified that any one of your men will kill me or that your sister was about to sneak in the room and happened to catch him off guard. I didn’t know if she came in to do the same thing as him or what.
“We have a wedding to plan, so come on. Let’s go down and join the rest of the family before it gets any later.”
His phone rings, and he picks it up before we even reach the door. He speaks rapidly in Italian and then ends the call. “Your father is on a rampage. It seems he’s lost a great deal of money today and believes you’re the thief. The wedding will be moved up. In the next twenty minutes. I won’t have your father coming to interrupt it.”
“What? He’ll come here, looking for me?”
“Only if he wants a bullet in his head.” I gasp, pressing my hand to my lips, and Gio looks into my eyes. “Don’t think about calling him either, because I will end him in a heartbeat, Cupcake.”
I roll my damn eyes at him. “I don’t know how often I have to tell you, but I don’t want to return to my father, especially if he thinks I somehow managed to steal his money.”
He cups my chin, staring deeply into my eyes with a heated gaze, and his voice deepens, saying, “Just reminding you that you’re mine.” I should be pissed and scared about his decree, but a strange tingling centers between my legs like it has since I met this man just hours earlier.
I stare at him in return, maintaining a brave face, holding in the lust because weakness wasn’t allowed at home. He smirks and then releases his grip on my face before taking my hand and leading me from the room.
“Where are we going?”
“Downstairs to be married, unless you planned to be married in a pool of blood. Frankly, it would be fitting given our family rivalry, however, it’s to be a joyous day,” he says sarcastically. Dickhead. He’s tying my future to his like it’s nothing and treating it like a chore.
“With that fucking enthusiasm, I might as well have married the Russian,” I mutter under my breath. I regret the words as soon as they’re out of my mouth. Apparently his hearing is as good as his looks. He moves fast as lightning, spinning me around and pressing my back to the bedroom door, body firmly on mine.
His breath is hot on my skin as he breathes heavily, anger deep in his gorgeous and deadly eyes. “Did you say you’d rather marry someone else? What fucking Russian? Who the fuck else thinks he has a right to this pussy? Who thinks they have a right to what belongs to me?”