Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
The barest hint of a shadow flickered across Dante’s stubble-shaded jaw, so fast I might have imagined it.
“You know why you’re here,” Father continued. “Luca isn’t strong enough to hold off the Russians when they come circling in the wake of Tommaso’s death.”
“Agreed,” Dante replied coolly, dark brows lowering slightly over his keen eyes.
“And that little shit will get rid of me as soon as he can manage to stick a knife in my back.”
I jolted at that revelation. I was mostly kept apart from family politics. I knew my father was as close as a brother to Tommaso, but I’d had no idea that Tommaso’s son would turn on him at the first opportunity. What had Father done to incite Luca’s ire?
“You want an alliance,” Dante said it like it was a foregone conclusion, a fact that had been established before we’d stepped into this meeting.
Father tipped his head in acknowledgement, but the direction of his gaze flicked to Giana and me. I stiffened, unease coiling in the pit of my stomach. Why were we here? There was no reason for my sister and me to silently witness this meeting; we certainly hadn’t been called here to offer our opinions or input.
“I’m backing you,” Father announced, his attention spearing Dante once again. “I will keep my position. I will be your consigliere, and you will take control of the organization. I’m too old to be the boss. My health is already failing. You’re strong enough to push back the Bratva and even take more territory from them. You have the instincts and temperament for the job. You came up from nothing, and you’re our most powerful capo now. I choose you to be Tommaso’s successor, even if he thinks his son should come to power after his death.” His eyes lifted in a brief prayer, as though asking for forgiveness for betraying his closest friend’s wishes.
I continued to watch the exchange in tense silence, my mind racing. Giana and I shouldn’t be here. We shouldn’t know about Father’s planned coup. It put us in danger, and for all my father’s cruelty, he’d always protected us from the worst aspects of his criminal lifestyle. The violence we suffered at home was nothing compared to his vicious capabilities when it came to his enemies.
Or, it seemed, his supposed allies. He was prepared to turn on Luca and upend the organization’s power structure in order to cling to his position as consigliere.
Dante’s vibrant eyes cut into me before flicking back to my father. “And how do you propose we seal this alliance?” Again, that almost bored tone, as though he’d known exactly how this conversation would go before he’d even arrived at my house.
Father’s edict dropped like a stone between us: “You will marry my eldest daughter, Giana.”
My sister’s sharp gasp spiked through my heart, her fear lancing me with rage. My fingers curled at my sides, and my spine stiffened. She might be the eldest, but I’d always been her protector. She trembled at my side, wilting at the prospect of my father’s command.
I stepped in front of her, shielding her from him and from Dante’s arrogant gaze. How dare they treat my sister like an object to be traded? She was kind and gentle, and she deserved to be loved, not used like a pawn in a mobster’s power play.
“I won’t let you do this,” I seethed, my defiant stare clashing with Dante’s intense green eyes. They flared slightly, darkening with some emotion I didn’t fully understand.
I ignored the strange look and took a step toward him, getting in his personal space as though I could physically intimidate the mountain of a man. “I won’t let you anywhere near my sister.”
The capo was a monster with a fearsome reputation. He would be cold and possibly abusive to Giana, and she was far too frail to withstand that kind of cruelty. She would wither and waste away if I allowed them to cage her in an arranged marriage with a heartless bastard.
Dante had unnerved me during our brief exchange in the foyer; Giana would crumble if he turned that intense attention on her.
I dared to take my eyes off the threat so that I could glare at my father. “You can’t sell Giana like this. I won’t allow it. If Mom were here—”
“Don’t talk to me about your mother!” Father boomed. “I won’t tolerate this disrespect.”
He nodded at Giorgio, and suddenly the beast was looming over me. Pain cracked through my skull when his meaty hand collided with my cheek. I reeled, black flickering over my vision as a hundred bees stung my face. My eyes watered, blurring the room. Giana’s arms were around me, holding me upright when the world tilted.
In the heartbeat of dizziness, a terrible snarl ripped through the study, followed by a booming thud. I blinked hard, desperate to assess my surroundings and avoid the worst of the next blow.