Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
The sizzling noise is louder now.
I even smell the melting flesh.
I dry heave, clutching the banister. My throat is thick with disgust, my heart heavy in my chest. I grip the banister tighter, and then, moments later, a hand touches my shoulder.
I look up at Draco.
He runs his eyes up and down.
I start to step away from him, but he catches me, draping an arm around my shoulders.
“It’s done. Let’s go.”
He spins me around and we walk back up the stairs. I hear a loud grunt and a heavy thunk and I get the urge to look back to see what Bain is doing, but I don’t. I keep my eyes forward and my words to myself.
I have never seen anything like that before. I thought he would use a knife or a gun. But no. He didn’t waste a bullet on his traitorous ass. He used his own two hands and in less than a minute, Kevin was gone.
I want to be pleased by this—knowing Kevin is gone—but his words ring in my head. They repeat over and over again, and I can’t believe I’m acting like it never even occurred.
Toni is gone because Draco wanted him dead.
How can I be with Draco, knowing that he is still the man that slaughtered my husband?
In a sense, I should still want him dead.
But if Draco dies, there will be no one to protect me at all.
I would die here…and I refuse to die. If that means making the enemy my ally, then so be it.
We make it upstairs and as soon as we meet at the top, I suck in all the fresh air that I can, cleansing my mind and body.
Draco finally pulls away from me and turns to his left.
“This way.” He cocks his head.
I watch him for several seconds before following suit. He walks across a brick pathway, and then leads the way to a gated area.
The fence is painted a glossy white, and inside it are the chocolate cosmos he sent up to my room.
There’s at least half an acre of them. I can smell them when the wind blows, and they smell warm and welcoming.
For a split second I forget all about the ugly that just happened and absorb the exquisiteness before me. Draco pushes the gate of the fence open and strides in. He makes his way across the thin path that’s around the bloomed flowers and then bends down.
Pulling out a pocketknife, he slices the stem of one of the flowers and then stands up, inhaling it. A sigh falls through his full lips as he lowers the flower and then points his gaze up at me.
“Come here, Gianna.”
I walk slowly. When I’m near, he turns and straightens his back. His hand reaches up, and he tucks my hair behind my ear. I flinch, but ease up almost instantly when I realize he isn’t trying to hurt me.
“Are you glad he’s gone?”
I remain silent for a moment. “I thought I would be…but I…I don’t know. I didn’t think you’d torture him that way.”
“Wasn’t torture,” he replies, looking down at the large bed of flowers. “He died quickly, in my opinion. It’s life, niñita. Eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed.”
“Is that something your father taught you?”
“No,” he says, and then he smirks. “It’s actually something your father taught me.”
I gape at him, not daring to pull my line of vision away. “If you were so close to Daddy, why didn’t I ever see you? Why can’t I remember you?”
“Because he didn’t bring me around you. I came and left with my father. The only time I could come was during the summer because of school. During summer, you were hardly there. He used to send you to camps to keep you away from the business and violence. Your father and mine worked together often…until mine passed away and I had to take over.”
I lower my gaze to the day-old scruff on his jaw.
“Like I said before…he is the only reason you are still alive.”
“How can you remember me if you hardly saw me?”
“Oh, I saw you more times than I could count when I used to visit. Portraits, mainly. When I first saw you, it was in person though.” He laughs silently. “You wouldn’t remember. You were clueless—too focused on school and being a good girl like Daddy said.”
I roll my eyes and then look down.
“He never wanted anything to happen to you.”
“But you decide to have my husband murdered and then kidnap me,” I snap.
“I didn’t fucking know who Toni was marrying. I heard the news, heard it was happening in Mexico, set the shit up, and there was no turning back after that. I refuse to look weak or to lose authority in front of my men, no matter who I’m dealing with. Toni came into my territory thinking he was safe. I had to be quick—quicker than that motherfucker.” He grips the stem of the flower in hand, his eyebrows bunching together as he breathes through flared nostrils. “The men that work for me can be very fucking stupid. No one knew how close your father and me were. None of them, but they did know I did exclusive business with Nicotera before he died. That’s why they didn’t report a name to me. They didn’t know who you were, or that he even had a daughter, and Lion wanted it that way for a reason. In all honesty, I didn’t give a fuck who Trigger Toni was marrying. I assumed his wife was just some bitch that was like him. Greedy and fucking full of herself. I needed to see you for myself—see what all you knew—and then figure out what to do with you.