Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
My heart begins pounding. From the toilet, I hear the flush. Quickly, I turn and walk into the kitchen, reaching into the fridge and grabbing a carton of OJ. I hope Sofia can’t see the panic on my face as she walks over to join me.
“Everything okay?” she asks.
I plaster the fakest of fake smiles on my face. “Yeah. I’m not sure where Matt is, though.”
“Oh. I guess we’ll wait, then.” She offers me a shaky smile. She’s got this searching look in her eyes. She has for a while now. At first, I thought she felt awkward about how much wealthier she was than me, but what if she’s hiding something?
“Want some OJ?” I ask.
“Sure.”
Pouring two glasses, I carry them into the living room and set them on the table. Sofia clasps her hands together and glances at the door, biting her lip. “He shouldn’t be much longer.”
“There’s no rush,” I say, replaying the words in my head. He said he’d beat them to death with his bare hands, whoever they are. Maybe he was talking figuratively. That would make the most sense—a business deal gone wrong. He’s pissed, so he’s using colorful language.
Yet there’s something deep down in me that isn’t so sure about that. His tone was so savage, so genuine somehow. I almost flinch when the front door whines, and Matt returns to us. He’s trying to look friendly with a slight smile, but it seems forced in the extreme.
“Ready to settle up?” he says, not looking at me even as he speaks.
“Sure.”
Sofia averts her gaze as Matt counts out the bills. Again, it’s like he purposefully avoids trying to touch my hand. This stings me way harsher than it should. It’s just annoying, isn’t it? All that texting stuff, sending him that pathetic video, and now I’m left feeling like a clingy, needy dork.
“Thanks,” I murmur.
“Come on, Sofia,” Matt says. “I’ve got work to do.”
I try not to let myself wonder and question. It’s almost like a form of self-torture, but I can’t stop it. What sort of work, exactly? I nearly ask as they leave. Instead, I stare stubbornly down at the cash. Once they’re gone, I carry it to the bedroom and put it in my safe.
I’ve never had this much cash in the safe before. Staring at the bills, I make another mental note to head to the bank. I keep putting it off between the videos, tutoring, and waitressing.
“Soon,” I mutter, closing the door.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MATTEO
“Did Bella seem okay to you?” Sofia asks as I drive, doing my best to hide how pissed I am.
Elio called to let me know one of the Gallo enforcers was pleading his case, telling our men he was only working with Orlando because he’d threatened his family. In hindsight, I may have gone in a bit hard, but I’m sick and damn tired of being questioned by my brother. Elio knows that if we don’t do nasty, immoral shit, then we’re basically sacrificing the whole city.
“Matty?”
“I don’t know,” I say, my body stirring as the video pulses into my mind. Those shorts. Those tits. Most of all, her passion. “I didn’t talk to her much.”
“Yeah,” Sofia mutters. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m overthinking it.”
I stare at the road. It’s clear Sofia wants me to ask her some follow-up questions, but that would mess with my decisive plan to ignore thinking about Bella by any means necessary. I can’t have a crush, romantic interest, attraction, or anything. Whatever this is, it’s dead, at least until the Gallo crap is well and truly over.
What about after? Do I think I’ll be able to let myself go then? As Don of the Family, there’s always going to be something stopping me.
“What were you talking about on the phone?” Sofia asks.
“Why?”
“The door was open. Maybe Bella heard you.”
I flinch at the thought. The idea that she heard all that stuff pisses me off. I shouldn’t care, but truthfully, I don’t want her thinking of me like that. I’d rather be the people we are when we text.
“Nothing,” I grunt.
“Liar,” Sofia mutters, folding her arms.
I grind my teeth, ignoring the jab. “You know the rules, Sofia. The less you know, the better.”
“So it was Mafia stuff, then.”
“She didn’t hear.”
“How do you know that?”
“Damn it, what does it matter?” I growl. “Even if she did, do you think she’d question it? Do you have any idea how much we’re paying her? I could beat a man to death in front of her, and she’d still take the cash. That’s what I am, Sofia. When it comes to regular people, I don’t earn their respect.” I squeeze the steering wheel so hard I almost just want to tear it loose. “That’s for my men. With regular folks, I have to make them afraid or pay them, and it works every goddamn time.”