Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
After that, her father declared war between the De Kysa and the Bamcorda, and my brother killed him.
Now, we are the enemy.
And we’ve all been forced to do things we don’t want to.
“I’m sorry about your brother,” she finally says.
“Are you?”
My eyes narrow, and I do what I do whenever I face the enemy; I give her nothing but a stony-faced stare.
But she doesn’t wither beneath it. “Yes, I am.”
She sounds genuine. If I was the same man I was when I kissed her, I’d probably offer her a drink. But a lot has happened since then. A lot of water has gone under the bridge. A lot of blood too.
“You came here to talk, so talk.”
We’re not alone. Her gaze shifts to Dario lingering at one of the tables. He’s checking something on his phone. Or pretending to. I don’t doubt he’s listening.
“Is there somewhere private we can talk?” she asks.
I lead her through the club to my office on the second floor. I take a seat behind my desk and gesture for her to sit.
“So what’s this all about?” I ask.
“I need your help.”
I’m silent as I wonder what could be so bad that Bianca Bamcorda crossed into enemy lines to ask for help.
“With what?” I ask, mentally noting everything about the beautiful woman sitting opposite me.
She’s dressed up. But something isn’t right. The Bianca I knew never left the house unless she was dripping in diamonds and gold, with a designer bag hanging over her wrist.
But this version is different. Her nails aren’t done, her clothes are a little loose, and apart from a pair of diamond studs, she wears no other jewelry.
“My daddy died, his accountant took off with all my money, the IRS seized nearly all of our belongings, I’ve been evicted from my own home, all my friends have abandoned me, and I’m stone-cold broke. That about sums it up, I think.”
Her words aren’t flippant. They’re cold and hard. She lifts her chin. She might be scraping the bottom of the barrel coming here. But she still has her pride.
“And since your family are at the crux of this tornado of shit that has crashed into my life, I figure you owe me.”
“Owe you?”
“Yeah, I don’t have a daddy anymore. Your family did that.”
I chuckle. I can’t help it. This woman has a nerve.
But I kinda like it.
I narrow my eyes, observing her. “What do you want, Bianca?”
“What I want is my old life back. And because God hates me, you’re the only one who can help me do that.”
“What are you asking me to do?”
“I want you to find Harrison Tork and get me my money back.” Her eyes blaze with dark emotion. “And then I’m going to shoot him in the face for what he did to me.”
I’m not gonna lie, Bianca is a turn-on. Especially when that dark fire comes out of her.
“And exactly how do you plan to pay me for this?” I ask, a plan unfurling in my mind.
“Pay you?”
“You expect me to do this for free?”
“Your brother killed my daddy.”
“And your daddy kidnapped my brother’s wife.”
“And it cost him everything. He made a mistake and he paid for it. Hell, I’m paying for it.”
She lifts her chin defiantly but I see through her tough façade.
She’s hurting. And damn, I feel that in my gut. Because I might not be the same man who stole her first kiss all those months ago but I’m not completely heartless. Bianca getting hurt is a tragedy of the war between our families.
And while I don’t let her see it, I’m feeling Harrison’s embezzlement tearing through my veins like poison.
“Finding someone who doesn’t want to be found takes some resources,” I say.
“Hence why I’m here. I don’t have anyone left. No one wants to help. No one wants to be associated with me. But you’re right, I will pay you. I will never be in debt to anyone, especially not a De Kysa.”
“How do you plan to do that if you’re broke like you say?”
“When you get my money back, I’ll be rich again. I can pay you then.”
“That’s not how this works. I don’t do pro bono. What if he doesn’t have the assets anymore? What if they’re buried so deep it takes time to get them back? I’ll be out of pocket.”
She looks around the room and I can almost see the cogs in her brain working.
Her big, beautiful eyes dart back to me. “I’ll work for you.”
My laugh is cold.
Bianca Bamcorda hasn’t worked a day in her life.
Then I realize she’s serious.
“Sorry, we recently filled the vacancy for spoilt Mafia brat.”
I don’t know why I say it. Perhaps it’s because seeing Bianca reminds me of a happier time in my life that is unreachable to me now. A time when I didn’t have the weight of the De Kysa syndicate resting on my shoulders. When my brother was the hard-knuckled don and I was the easy-going brother who could steal kisses from spoilt Mafia princesses.