Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“The restaurant business is stressful.”
“But it’d be fun.”
“That just doesn’t sound like an easy job for a parent.”
“And working in the drug business is?” I asked incredulously.
“Don’t start,” she said coldly.
I didn’t know she even wanted kids. So she wanted to lead a criminal organization while breastfeeding? While taking the kids to school? How did she expect to do all that? But instead of being the voice of reason, I kept my mouth shut. It was a beautiful morning and she was there with me, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin that.
“Do you want to have kids?” she asked. “Someday…?”
“Absolutely.”
She lifted her eyes from her food and looked at me. “I didn’t think that would be your answer.”
“Why?”
“Your line of work…and the relationship with your parents.”
“My parents are assholes. If my kid tells me he didn’t do something, he didn’t do it. Simple as that. Even if he’s fucking lying, I’m not going to turn my back on him,” I said. “And as for my line of work, I don’t think I’ll be doing this forever. Once they get to a certain age, I don’t want to be working all the time. I want to spend my time with my kids, not be an absent father while my wife does all the work.”
Her eyes remained down as she stabbed her fork into the remainder of her eggs. “That’s sweet.”
“There’s more to life than work.”
“Yeah.” She continued to stare at me.
I sliced my fork through the soft pancakes and took a bite. “We’d make beautiful babies.”
She smiled. “Yeah, we would.”
“And they’d be tall.”
“They would,” she said with a chuckle.
“And smart.”
The smile remained on her lips. “Yeah.”
I’d only been sleeping with her for six weeks, but it felt like months…or a year. I’d wanted her the moment I saw her, but now that I knew her, my attraction to her was deeper than the flesh. Her smile made me warm, and the silence between our words was comforting rather than stifling. I was talking about having kids, when my ex and I hadn’t mentioned that once, not even when we were married. But with Scarlett…it was easy.
So fucking easy.
I pulled up to the estate and parked my car.
Tonight, I had a meeting with both Dante and Giovanni. Dante somehow charmed my colleague into a working relationship, and now it was time to lay the groundwork for that operation. It was evening, so the conversation would take place over dinner.
I entered through the double doors and stepped into the parlor, the lights on low, the smell of flowers and sandalwood in the air. I slid my hands into my pockets as I slowly paced around the room, gazing at the artwork on the walls that I didn’t care about. The furniture was dark, the rugs were dark too, and the walls were covered with a gray wallpaper. Everything matched Dante’s personality perfectly, dark and elegant.
Footsteps approached. The sound of heels was distinct. They grew louder until they rounded the corner, and then the point of her heels tapped against the bare hardwood. Scarlett entered the room in a black pencil skirt with her collared shirt tucked into the waistband, looking professional but also fuckable. Her eyes shifted to me, but they only remained for a brief second before they darted away.
Her father was right behind her. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Dad.” She gave him a hug as he kissed her on the temple. Then she walked past me and out the doors, her computer bag over her shoulder, and disappeared a moment later.
The second she was gone, Dante’s face fell. The warmth in his eyes turned to ice, and the features of his face hardened to stone. His rage was quiet but rampant and potent. He stared at me for several seconds, his hostility filling the space that surrounded us, the air becoming so thick it was hard to breathe.
I held his stare and waited for the explosion.
“You seem to have a death wish, Axel.”
Here we go.
“Was I unclear before?” He slid his hands into his pockets then took a step closer to me.
I didn’t want to lie anymore. Didn’t want to pretend Scarlett meant nothing to me. And I didn’t want to tiptoe around this man any longer. This fucking psychopath. “Kill me, then.”
His eyes narrowed at the threat.
“She’ll know it was you. And then she’ll want nothing to do with you.”
Several more seconds passed as he stared me down, his silent eyes sharp like knives. “Yes, that thought crossed my mind as well. So, you’ve left me with no other choice.” He turned to his man standing in the corner, his arms resting together in front of his waist. All he did was give a slight nod, and that man ran off.
Dante turned his gaze back to me, and then slowly, the corner of his mouth rose in a smile, this plan a great source of mirth.