Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Do you really think a man like that would fall for a girl like you if your father weren't the Superintendent of Police?
Until now, I never questioned it. I never had a reason. But doubt creeps in now, choking me. Why would he choose me? If what my father said is true, Coda is in the mafia. He could have anyone. He can have anything his heart desires.
Why me?
I huddle on the couch as the moon chases the sun from the sky, asking myself the same question. Hating my father for making me ask it.
Eventually, the doorknob rattles.
I glance up as Coda steps into the room, his eyes immediately finding mine in the dark. He's so damn beautiful, like a perfectly crafted sculpture, every angle and line of his face formed with breathtaking precision.
"Karina, what's wrong?" he asks as if sensing my turmoil.
"You're in the mafia."
He flinches when I say the word, as if just the sound of it on my lips is too much for him. Wariness filters through his expression, his usual confidence replaced with something far more vulnerable.
"Karina, I—"
"Please," I interrupt, pleading with him not to try to do what he's done for the last two weeks and steer me away from this conversation. "Just tell me the truth, Coda."
Tense silence stretches between us. I can feel the oppressive weight of secrets crowding close, threatening everything we've built.
"It's complicated, cara," he sighs.
"I deserve to know. Talk to me. Please." My voice breaks, my armor in pieces around me. If I had any to begin with. When it comes to him, I don't think I do.
"I'm not trying to lie to or forestall you, angioletta. I mean, the way you view the mafia is…simple. It's far more complicated than that. But if you're asking if I'm affiliated, the answer is yes." His confession cuts through the silence like a knife. "Deeply."
My heart races, but my loyalty to him doesn't falter—not over this. The Coda I know—the man I love—is more than the sum of his affiliations. Whether he's mafia or something else, he's still Coda.
"Okay," I whisper, my voice steady.
"Cristo," he breathes, staring at me as if I'm the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. "I'll never deserve you, cara."
He reaches for me, but I throw up a hand, halting him. There's more I need to ask, other secrets that might just destroy everything. And I can't have his hands on my body while I ask.
"Karina—"
"My father came to see me today."
It's like watching a storm cloud gather over him, darkening his eyes and his aura. His jaw clenches, cold rage simmering in the depths of his eyes. "Your father should have heeded my warning," he growls.
He warned my father to stay away from me?
Of course he did.
"Why did he want me to ask you about your parents, Coda?"
"Your father…" Coda trails off with a curse. "Karina, do you understand what you're asking?"
"No!" I cry, frustrated. "I don't understand. That's the problem, Coda. I'm only just realizing that you and my father have all the pieces to this twisted and are playing some game that I can't comprehend. I'm caught in the middle, and I don't even know what I'm standing in."
"I never meant for you to feel that way," he says softly, his expression pained.
"Well, I do."
His gaze meets mine again, and I see a glimmer of regret in his eyes. "Your father is more connected to my world than you realize. Twenty-five years ago, our parents were friends. Your father was a beat cop. Mine worked in the evidence room. They were skimming small amounts of drugs until things went south."
Even then, my father was corrupt. The realization hits me like a punch to the gut.
"What happened?"
Coda takes a deep breath, as if steeling himself for against painful memories. "From what I've been able to work out, your father got involved with the wrong people. Dangerous people. Mine decided enough was enough and told him that it was over. He had a wife and kid to protect and wanted out. Your father didn't trust that he'd just walk away, so he ensured he wouldn't ever be able to betray him."
My heart pounds violently against my ribcage, each beat reverberating through my body. A mixture of fear and anxiety consumes me, twisting my insides into a knot of dread. Even before he says it, I know.
"Your father murdered my parents, cara. I was hiding in the closet. I saw him do it."
My throat constricts as bile rises up, threatening to choke me. His next words hit with the force of a tidal wave, shattering any sense of safety or trust I had left.
"I've spent twenty-five years waiting to pay him back for what he did to them."
"And now you have," I whisper numbly. My father was right; I am nothing but a pawn in his twisted game of power and manipulation. Coda was using me like a weapon aimed at my father. And like a foolish lamb, I followed him blindly to the slaughter.