Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
The lying fuck.
First, he accuses my father of killing my mom.
Now he accuses her of working with the fucking feds.
“No fucking De Kysa would ever work with the feds,” I growl.
“But she wasn’t a De Kysa, was she? She was a Draconi.”
That’s it. I rip out my gun and point it at Vincent.
Beside me, Bella gasps. “Nico, no!”
Vincent waves his hand to tell her it’s okay.
But it’s not okay.
I’m two seconds away from unloading my clip into him.
“Your mother was born Marianne Draconi. She was Michele Draconi’s youngest daughter. Your father met her when she was just sixteen and forced the marriage by brokering a deal with Michele. His daughter in exchange for no war. Gio had Michele over a barrel. He had no choice… sound familiar?”
My father did to my mother exactly what I did to Bella.
I tighten my grip on my gun.
The asshole is lying.
This is Vincent trying to mess with my head.
Surely, I would know if my mother was a Draconi. Our sworn enemy.
As if Vincent can read my mind, he says, “Your father was careful to hide her true identity. He didn’t want people to know she was a Draconi. He told people she was a Sorbello, a prestigious family from the South. Of course, there were rumors because Michele Draconi made a big deal that a De Kysa had stolen his daughter, but Gio said they were the ravings of a crazy man. He was the mighty Gio De Kysa, so no one would believe Michele over him. And of course, he made it clear to your mother that if she told anyone who she was, then she would pay with her life.” He sighs. “Soon, everyone believed the lie.”
“The Draconi are rivals. He hates them. Why would my father want a Draconi wife who would bear him children with Draconi blood?”
“Because the moment he saw your mother, he wanted her.” He drills me with a look of resentment. “And what better way to hurt your rival than taking the daughter he loves?”
The truth scrapes along the nerves of my spine.
Is my father’s venom so infectious that it’s turned me into him?
I refocus my gun on Vincent. “What happened the night she died?”
“Your mama called me and told me Gio knew everything. She was terrified for her life.”
“Get to the bit about the feds,” I growl.
“Your mother wanted out, Domenico, and the feds were the only way. After she found your father with one of the maids, they fought, and he gave her a beating. She’d had enough. She made contact with the feds. Offered Gio on a platter if they would help her escape to America. They said they would put her in Wit Pro if she gathered information on her husband.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“Because my wife and sons died, and in the weeks following, I was in so much pain, and so was Marianne. Kitty was her only friend. The grief brought us together, and before we could stop it, we were having an affair. A few weeks into it, she confided in me.”
“Why the fuck would she do that? You were my father’s best friend and business partner.”
He takes a deep breath and levels me with a look. “Because I told her I wanted out.”
Vincent’s admission rattles around the room.
I frown, trying to work out how all the pieces fit. “Go on.”
“I was tired of the life. Of the war. Of the bloodshed. I’d lost my wife and sons, and for what? There was no honor in what we were doing, and no amount of money in the world was worth looking over your shoulder every single second of every day.”
I hate it, but what he says is true. Power comes with a price. Like always looking over your shoulder or checking the shadows for someone with a gun. In this business, lots of people want to kill you, and it’s fucking exhausting.
I think of Bella and what I’d do if anything happened to her.
I’d fucking die if anything happened to her.
I relax my arm and return my gun to my waistband. Beside me, Bella lets out a relieved breath.
“So you’re telling me you were working with the feds too?” I ask, disgust coating every word. In this world, working with the feds is the biggest betrayal.
“It was the only way out. You know no one leaves this business alive. If I’d tried to leave the syndicate and move Bella to the US, they would’ve come after us. They don’t let you leave because you know too much, and you become a liability. You know that.”
I do.
That’s why I resigned myself to the darkness early on. There was no other way. I had to embrace this life with all its ugliness and pain to survive.
“So you sold my father out to the feds,” I snarl.