Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
She slipped out of the jacket to allow Miranda to remove the tags.
“It’s Sunday, Geno. I close early, around five. It only takes me about half an hour to lock the store up, and I go home and put my feet up.”
“Amaranthe and I will slip into the back room of the store tonight around four. You carry on as if we’re not here. My brothers may be with us. They pay no attention to any orders I give them, so even if I tell them to stay away, the likelihood of them listening is nil.”
Miranda laughed, but she sounded nervous. “Your brothers are so delightful. Lucca takes me to lunch at least once a month. Salvatore drops by for coffee in the mornings quite often. You raised them to be fine gentlemen, Geno. I always enjoy dinners with you the most.”
Amaranthe was happy to know Geno took Miranda to dinner and his brothers didn’t neglect her. She hadn’t mentioned a husband or children. She didn’t know if the woman was alone in the world, but she thought she might be. That would be sad.
“You think that woman will come back to my shop after hours to murder me, don’t you?” Miranda’s voice was steady, but the hand she pressed to her throat trembled.
“Yes,” Geno answered without hesitation. “But she’s going to find me here, not you. You’re going to be protected because I’m not losing one more person I love.”
Miranda’s eyes flooded with tears, but she blinked them away. Her chin went up and she gripped the edge of the counter. “Have no worries, Geno, I can act with the best of them. If she’s spying on me, there will be no indication you’re in the backroom.”
“Even if Lucca’s making a fool of himself, you have to be strong and not laugh,” Geno warned with a straight face.
Miranda pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. She nodded, her eyes dancing once again. Her belief in Geno was absolute.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I wish I were taller. I could be out front taking Miranda’s place.”
Geno turned around to look at his fiancée. Both his brothers did the same. The three Ferraro brothers took up most of the space in the small back room. Amaranthe appeared very small, almost fragile. No matter her size, she was a force to be reckoned with. She always would be. She was lightning fast and very observant.
“You don’t need to be bait. You managed to find out Miranda was being targeted when none of us knew. You saved her life. In a couple of minutes, we’ll have her retreat to the bathroom and stay there. It will look as if she came back here. The assassin, if she’s coming tonight, will enter and set up to attack.”
“I doubt she’ll be alone,” Amaranthe cautioned. “I don’t think any of the others were alone when they killed. I know the police reports said they were, but I don’t see how it was possible, certainly not with your parents being riders.”
Geno thought it was interesting that she’d gone to an analytical voice without even being aware of it. His woman fell back on her training the moment she was in any situation where she perceived danger.
“Miranda isn’t a rider,” Lucca pointed out. “They will expect she’ll be easy to kill. She was a model. If this female assassin talked with her at any length or studied her, she should know Miranda is as sweet as they come. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. When we were kids, we would walk all over her.”
Geno scowled at his brother. “And I beat the shit out of you for disrespecting her.”
Lucca grinned at him and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, you did, and we deserved it. There was no one as nice as Miranda.”
“I take it she isn’t married,” Amaranthe ventured.
Geno sighed. “She was. She’s a widow. Her husband was a fashion designer. They were crazy in love. The thing about our family, and that seems to include cousins, distant or not, we have the capacity to love deeply but only once.”
He was trying to tell her she was safe with him. She always would be. He wasn’t going to cheat on her. He’d never take the chance of losing her for a moment with another woman. He’d never want another woman touching him.
“Her husband died in a car accident,” Salvatore said. “She was in the car as well. In Italy, a drunk driver hit them head-on when they were returning home from the airport. He was killed outright. Miranda was in a coma for a week. Geno flew to Italy and stayed until she was well enough to be brought to New York. She lived with us until she felt strong enough to get out on her own again.”
“How horrible for her.” Amaranthe sounded so sad, Geno wanted to put his arms around her. She was too compassionate. He didn’t understand how she could be an elite rider and yet feel the deep well of empathy she had for others. “They didn’t have any children?”