Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
A simple breeze would knock it over, yet he builds it anyway, with all the patience of a man who has all day.
"Aren't you worried it'll collapse?" I ask after a moment.
"Not everything is meant to be permanent, cara," he says. "There’s beauty in impermanence too. Sometimes, we're simply meant to enjoy the building while it lasts."
His words strike a raw nerve, one far too easily agitated. My stomach twists uncomfortably. Are Luca and I building a house of cards, one that was always destined to collapse? Is that what my dreams have been trying to tell me?
No. I don't believe that. I won't believe that.
"How…" I lick my lips. "How do you know the difference, Ricardo? Between what's meant to be permanent and what's supposed to fall apart?"
"You listen to your heart, principessa." Ricardo looks up from his cards and smiles at me, his kind eyes crinkling at the corners. "It'll guide you."
I bob my head in a distracted nod, staring through the maze of diamonds that make up his house. He's right. Luca told Alessio and Antonio last night that a principessa's greatest weapon is her mind, but he was wrong. It's her heart. We survive by trusting our instincts and letting them guide us. And mine have been telling me for days that Luca is my destiny. They've also been telling me that this isn't over. We haven't won.
My father isn't going to agree to an alliance with the Valentino family so long as he believes an alliance between the Genovese and Maceo families is still possible. His honor won't allow him to do so. In that way, he's just like my grandfather. Too proud for his own good. Too stubborn for anyone else's. Luca and Rafe need to talk to Alessandro Maceo before they meet my father.
"Can I use your phone, Ricardo?" I ask.
He glances over at me.
"It's important," I say. "I need to talk to Luca. You can call him yourself if you don't trust me. I just need to speak to him before he gets to…"
The breath rushes from my lungs in a strangled whistle as Marcello appears at the patio door, a gun in his hand and blood dripping from his hand. He presses his fingers to his lips to silence me, and aims the weapon at Ricardo.
"No!" I shout, shoving Ricardo as hard as I can.
The elderly man lists to the side in his chair and then topples out of it. His house of cards wobbles and then falls. Cards float to the floor, scattering around Ricardo as the back glass shatters.
I scream again, throwing myself to the floor with my hands over my head. My heart pounds against my ribcage as glass rains down around us, bouncing off the cobblestones.
"Goddammit, Callie!" Marcello roars into the chaos, the sound of his steps rushing toward me. "I almost shot you." He grabs me, yanking me up by the arms. "Cristo. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine!" I snap, slapping his hands away from me. "What are you doing here? You tried to shoot Ricardo!" Oh my God. Ricardo. I jerk away from my brother, scrambling to my feet to check on Ricardo.
He's lying prostrate on the floor, blood oozing from a gash on his forehead. His face is pale, his eyes closed. But he's breathing.
Dio, he's breathing.
"I would have shot him if you hadn't pushed him out of the way. What the fuck were you thinking?" Marcello growls from behind me.
"You were going to shoot an innocent man?" I spin to face him, horrified. "He's in his eighties, Marcello!"
"And he's helping that figlio di puttana hold you here against your will," Marcello spits. "He deserves death, sorella."
My stomach sinks. "What did you do to Alessio, Marcello?"
He clenches his jaw, refusing to answer.
"Tell me!" I shout, shoving him hard. "Where is Alessio?"
"I left him where he fell."
"You killed him," I whisper in horror.
"He was still breathing when I walked away." His eyes flash with malice. "It's more than he deserves."
"Dio Santo!" I growl, throwing my hands up. "I'm not here against my will, you big idiot. This is exactly where I want to be."
"You don't mean that, Callie."
"Yes, I do!" I cry. "I'm in love with him, Marcello. How do you not understand that?"
"Cazzo," Marcello whispers, his confident expression slipping. "You don't mean that."
"Yes, I do. So just go home. You've done enough damage for one day. Dio, out of everyone, I thought you would understand how I could love him," I say, dashing tears from my cheeks. "You hate this world just as much as he does. Except he's the only one trying to drag our families from the brink of war. You're hellbent on tipping us into one."
"How?" Marcello demands. "How does all of this possibly drag us from the brink of war, Callie? They've decimated our numbers. They've undermined his position. And now they've jeopardized our alliance with the Maceo family."