Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Why?”
“Because we only have each other, and right now, you’re hurting more than anything.”
“Ricky, you don’t know me.”
“But I’d like to.”
“Damon will kill you.”
“I’ve been loyal to him and him alone. I have sworn to protect him, and I will swear to protect you.”
“Why now?”
“I don’t want my baby sister crying. You’ve been happy until now.”
“I was really fucking mad when I first got here.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t get the chance to know you. I’ve heard what people have said about you, and even though they hate to admit it, they know you’re a good person, Milah. Russo or not.”
“I hate that name.”
“Me too,” he said. “It gets kind of old hearing your mother scream it at night.”
Milah glanced at Valentino and Alicia. There was no happiness here.
She got to her feet and walked over to Ricky. “You’re my big brother?”
“One of them, I guess. Antonio wasn’t known for being careful.”
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. Ricky did remind her a little of her father, in his looks, but not in his temperament.
Chapter Seventeen
“Get your fucking hands off her!”
Damon glared at the man currently holding his woman. He’d already encountered Glory, but he’d figured Milah was aware of him using the maid to get close to her.
Milah wasn’t stupid. He never thought she was, but she had only heard part of the conversation with Raoul. She hadn’t heard the part where he confessed to how he felt about her. How he wanted to make it work with her.
Milah turned toward him, and he saw the anger in her eyes. “What part of I don’t want to see you again don’t you understand?”
“All of it.” He looked at the soldier. “I will kill you.”
The soldier merely glared at him, as if he had a right to do so.
Damon pulled his gun, ready to shoot the little prick, but Milah stepped in front of him. “No, you’re not going to kill him.”
“I’m not? I’ve got a soldier disobeying orders.”
“He’s my brother,” Milah said. “I know all you want to do is wipe out every single last Russo, but he is my brother. Do not kill him.”
Damon looked at the soldier, and sure enough, he detected the eyes, the distinctive brow.
“Don’t,” Milah said. “He has been working for you for months.”
“I had a rat amongst my soldiers, feeding Russo information.” He thought he had found the fucking vermin. He’d killed a soldier he’d detected on Russo payroll.
“I was the one who pointed him out,” he said, finally speaking up.
“Yeah, and now knowing you’re his son, I have a hard time believing it. Step away from my woman.” He wasn’t going to risk killing Milah.
“No!”
“I didn’t give Russo anything,” Ricky said. “I had nothing to do with that old bastard. Not ever. He never claimed me as his. I heard him yelling at my mom once and he said she was a whore. That I could have been anyone’s. That is not a man I want as a father.”
“Why work for me?” Damon glared.
“You’re his enemy and that made you my friend.”
Ricky grabbed the gun, and Damon was ready, about to shoot when he lowered it to the ground.
Damon heard more of his soldiers approaching.
“I only wanted to see you tear down Russo. When you brought Milah here, I wanted to meet her, but I didn’t know if she was like our father. She’s not, and now, I just want to protect her. Family should take care of each other.”
“Ricky, stop it,” Milah said.
“Take him,” Damon said.
“No!”
Milah threw herself toward him and started to beat at his chest. “Stop this. Just stop.”
He grabbed her arms and shook her. “Do you think I’m going to trust the word of a man I don’t know? This is your safety. Your life.”
“No, all you care about is your child.”
“Of course, I care about my child, but you’re fucking blind if you think that is the only thing I care about.” He nodded at his men, and Ricky was escorted away.
Milah sobbed, and he pulled her against his chest, but once again, she fought him like a wildcat. There was no giving in. No surrender from her. “Let me go.”
He wrapped his arms around her, not allowing her to leave. He pressed his face against her neck, breathing her in. “Milah, please.”
“No. You took him away.”
“You know nothing about him. You don’t know if he is lying to you. He is a stranger, Milah. Anyone could find out about the Russo and De Luca feud.”
She slowly lost all of her fight.
“I’m going to find out who he is first.”
“I hate you,” she said.
Milah pulled away from him and started to walk away. He captured her arm and pulled her in close, but she spun around and slapped him hard across the face. “Don’t ever touch me.”