Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 154882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
I hooked up with his brother.
Sunny said it was okay, and in the same conversation, said he wasn’t worried because Liam and I, or Bane and I, would never happen.
Technically, we haven’t happened. I sent an accidental sext, and Liam made me beg like a bitch in heat. We didn’t have sex or talk relationship. What was there to tell Sunny?
The truth, another voice said. Just the truth.
“Sunny, did you mean what you said about sharing me? The sweet bit at the beginning, and not the end where you ruined it.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I meant it. I’m secure enough to share because I’m the only antidote for the poison working through your veins. Too long out of my bed and the symptoms start—heart palpitations, shakes, uncontrollable fantasizing, and nonstop masturbating. Forty-eight hours and you’re jumping me for sweet relief.”
I rolled my eyes, though he was giving a scarily accurate description of what it felt like going one hour without his arms around me and us tangled in the sheets—let alone forty-eight.
“Why?” he asked.
I chose my words with thought. “I do have feelings for Liam, Sunny, and I want to be honest about it. But how honest do you want me to be? If... something happens between us, do you want to know?”
“Don’t give me the gory details, sweet cheeks. It’s my older brother we’re talking about, but you don’t have to do some weird, sneaking around thing with code names and signals.”
I cracked a smile. “Good to know. I’ll just say Liam and I are getting closer. I’m working on his younger-women hang-ups.”
“You’re the kind of woman you break all the rules for. Something tells me you won’t have to work too hard on him.” Sunny threw his knife. It smacked dead center on the flat end and slid off. “I’m sick of this apartment. I’ve read every book on my shelves and re-watched my favorite shows twice. Never die, Angel. It’s boring as shit.” Sunny gave Laurel a finger to hold. “Though I am enjoying my time with you, Mini Blaine. Don’t get me wrong.”
“I know this sucks, Sunny.” I wrapped them both in a hug. “I’m meeting up with Vito tonight. Hopefully, he has the answers we’re looking for.”
“I hope he does. I can’t keep this up forever. Too long and it’ll get dangerous for you.”
“Why would it be dangerous for me?”
Sunny sat in the chaise, Laurel tugged me along by the hair. “New boss, new blood,” he said. “North Quay has other gangs. I let them exist as long as they know who they’re working for. Once word gets around about my wife, they’ll test the boundaries to see what they can get away with. The kind of test that isn’t settled with a punch or hair-pulling. Knowing that going against the Merchants comes with a death sentence is what keeps them in line.” He looked at me with hooded eyes. “You willing to reinforce the message?”
I said nothing. Just shook my head.
“I wouldn’t want you to be in that position either. We need to know something about this enemy, and we need to know it soon.” He kissed me. “Who’s watching your back tonight? Want Coates on your tail? I can bust out the rags too.”
“Bane and Sienna are coming. We’ll be fine. I’m just going to talk to the guy, and we’re not leaving the bar.”
Vito Bernardi had the same policy. That night, Sienna and I rolled into Cooper’s Bar and Grill at eight thirty, dressed in our finest badass gear. We parked ourselves in a booth next to the entrance and sipped on soda. Me because I was breastfeeding, and Sienna because the bartender carded her.
Nine o’clock passed. Then nine thirty. By ten, we worried the bachelor and his boys changed their minds about starting the party at Cooper’s and went directly to the strip clubs. We were getting up to leave when shouting, laughing, and carrying-on bowled through the door. I spotted Vito at once.
Genny described him as a marriage between Satan’s red, rotting asshole and the spitting image of his Gorgon mother—complete with hideous eyes that turned you to stone. Between her added commentary, I got out of her that Vito sported long, black hair, greenish-brown eyes, a snubbed nose, and a grin that showed off his crooked teeth. Oddly, the imperfect smile didn’t mess up the one detail Genny left out, Vito Bernardi was smoking hot.
I clocked him at twenty-six—maybe twenty-seven, and he spent all those years being more handsome than one person could handle. Probably had a part in his character flaws.
The guys found a booth in the back, ordered a round of drinks, and began giving their livers a kicking. I sat for a solid twenty minutes, waiting for Vito to break away from the pack so I could talk to him. He was parked in the middle of the booth with three guys on either side of him. Extracting him would be obvious.