Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
I get myself together because I have to be strong.
“I want to see Adrienne. I want her back and safe.”
“We can do that,” the Russian says. “Only you need to make certain concessions. If you hanged yourself today, that would solve all our problems and we wouldn’t need the Adrienne girl anymore, but I suspect you won’t. Your next best course of action is to leave Luca Valverde. Throw his ring in the river. Divorce him if you can. Maybe he’ll let you live, maybe he won’t. I don’t care either way. But make sure you have no hand in their alliance with the Greeks. If you do that, and you make your way out to LA to prove that you’re no longer with the Valverde Famiglia, I’ll let your friend go. It’s as simple and easy as that.”
I close my eyes and think.
Adrienne is in this situation because of me. Because of who I am. She did nothing wrong—all she did was become my friend, and nobody deserves to suffer for the act of friendship. For a little bit of kindness. I couldn’t live with myself if she was hurt or killed. I couldn’t survive another loss like that.
I’ve lost enough.
My father. My brothers.
My life, my world.
I open my eyes and look at Luca.
Perico. My poor, dead Perico.
How am I supposed to stay married to the man that murdered the one person in my life I ever cared about? And how can I live with myself if I let another person die for me?
Luca says he understands why I can’t sit around and do nothing. Maybe he’ll understand that if I have the chance to change things, I have to take it, even if I don’t want to.
“I’ll come,” I say quietly.
“Like hell you will.” Luca stands up, rage in his eyes.
The Russian’s quiet for a moment. Silence descends on the room. I stare up into Luca’s face and I hope he can understand—this isn’t about what we built together, it isn’t about last night, it isn’t about the way I’ve begun to feel about him despite everything—this is about being able to look in the mirror. This is about saving those that I love, and there are so few of them left.
“Is that Luca?” the Russian asks. “Are you in the room, Luca?”
“Yes, Damir, I’m here.”
“I’m here as well,” Don Valverde says, looking sour and exhausted as he does it. “We’ve been listening.”
“You little Italian rats, I knew it.” Damir Novalov laughs, deep and rasping. “How does it feel, getting flushed out? No, don’t answer, no need to rub salt in the wound. How are you doing, Roberto?”
“Angry,” he says. “Annoyed. Otherwise, fine. You?”
“Oh, you know me, healthy as an ox and happy to be alive.”
“Kacia is going nowhere,” Luca says firmly and I shake my head at him.
“He’s wrong. I’ll come.”
“The girl wants to come, Luca, so let her come.” Damir chuckles again. “What are you going to do? Chain her down?”
“I won’t help the Valverde Famiglia anymore.” I look down at the phone, unable to meet Luca’s betrayed rage, because this is a betrayal of everything we’ve been building together.
A betrayal of the dream he shared with me this morning. A dream of a united Italian and Greek family, without war.
Tears fall down my face. I say, “I’d rather get killed than help the Valverde Famiglia anymore. Damir Novalov, if you swear you won’t hurt Adrienne, I’ll come to LA and prove it. I’m finished.”
“I would be happy to meet you in person, Kacia,” Damir says. “I wish I could be there right now to see the look on poor Luca’s face. His pretty Greek wife is leaving him and now he’s forced into such a ghastly position. Lock her up and keep her as a prisoner? Kill her and send a message? Let her go? All bad decisions. All work for me, so long as the Greeks get to see what sort of men you really are. Now, I’m going to hang up and let you discuss. Good luck, Kacia Florakis.”
The line goes dead.
Both men stare at me. Luca with barely concealed rage. Don Valverde with resignation. I push the chair back to try to get some distance between me and Luca as I take the rings off my finger.
“I’m done.” I place them down on the Don’s desk.
Luca’s hands shake as he snatches them away and thrusts them back at me. “You’re still my wife.”
“No, Luca. I’m not.”
“Kacia. The alliance. The peace. We can help people.”
“I’m sorry, but fuck them.” I back away from him, blinking through the tears. “You murdered Perico. Did you think I’d really forget about that? I’ve been going along with this because you said you’d kill me too if I didn’t. Everything’s been a lie, Luca. Everything. I’ve been biding my time from the start, remember?”