Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Molly and Frank took him, and they’re looking for me right now.”
When I look away, she pulls me in for another hug. “Oh, honey. I knew this day would come. Those bastards will never be satisfied.”
Her hugs always manage to make me feel things, no matter how much I try to hide my emotions.
“I’m sorry your parents are not good people,” she says. “This is why I left. Because of people like them.”
“I’m worried they might—they might—”
I can’t even say it out loud without choking up.
“Shh …” She pats my back. “He’s gonna be fine. The man can handle himself. He’s a mobster for crying out loud.”
I laugh at her comments. Always so direct. Just what I need.
“So. What’s the plan?” she asks.
“Well, we were wondering if we could maybe stay here for a few days?” I tuck my hair behind my ear. “As a hideout until the house is clear again.”
“Hmm …” She eyes the guys standing behind us, trying to listen in to our conversation, and then looks back at me. “Well, guess I don’t really have a choice now, do I?”
“You do, but …” I make a face.
“I’m your last resort,” she says, smiling. “I know.”
“The last thing I want to do is endanger your life too.”
She grabs my face and plants a kiss against my cheeks. “Of course, honey. Anything to protect my baby.”
The word baby makes my eyes spring open wide. “Oh … that reminds me … I have something to tell you.”
She frowns, placing a hand on my back. “What is it, dear?”
I bite my lip. “I’m actually … pregnant.”
Her eyes widen so much they almost pop out. “Pregnant?”
Is she going to be upset? Yell at me? Cry for me?
The silence feels like it lasts an eternity.
Until finally, a broad smile appears on her face.
Her hand slides down to my belly. “Really?”
Tears of joy well up in her eyes, and I know that I made the right decision.
“And it’s Marcello’s?”
I nod a few times, a radiant smile on my face. It’s the first time that I’m proud to say, “Yes. So you’re not mad at me?”
“Why would I be mad? If you’re happy, then who am I to get in the way of that?”
Her response makes me hug her hard. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
Because her approval was all I needed to feel comfortable about the idea of having a baby.
“So I don’t mean to be nosy, but … is that who I think it is?” she whispers.
I throw them a look over my shoulder. “Ricardo and Mario. Bodyguard and … Marcello’s father.”
She raises a brow, inspecting them both. “Mario? Oh my …”
I snigger at the way she looks at him as if she’s noticing for the very first time in her life there are some handsome men on this planet. Or maybe, just maybe, she always had an eye on her friend’s husband.
An awkward but cute smile spreads on her face as she waves a little too excitedly at him. “Long time no see.”
Marcello
The bag around my head is torn off, and I suck in a much-needed breath of air. But it’s not fresh or cold to my lungs. The air here is filled with the scent of sweat, blood, and vomit, instantly making me retch.
My eyes only barely open, the light crippling me with headaches and stabbing pains as the world begins to spin. I can barely see my surroundings, let alone guess where I am. All I know is that these walls around me are splattered with all the colors of a human body’s fluids.
Where the fuck am I?
And how did I even get here?
Think, Marcello, think.
I ducked for cover with Harper when the Irish jumped over the fence to ambush us. And when they came close, I shot them one by one and told her to run for it. But they came closer and closer and then—
My hand flinches as I try to bring it to my face, but I can’t.
My wrists are bound on my back.
Fuck.
I try to get up from the floor without toppling over again, trying my best not to vomit all over myself. They must’ve drugged me. No way in hell I would’ve come quietly, and they knew. But fuck me, this stuff really makes you sick.
After I’ve managed to stand, I bend over and heave, emptying the contents of my stomach onto the floor. The stench is exactly the same as the scent that’s been lingering in the air. Did they drug someone else too?
I look around. My cell is only a few feet wide on all sides. Barely big enough for one person to sleep on the floor. Not that I want to get anywhere near the ground right now.
There are no windows and only a single metal door that’s covered in bloody scratch marks.