Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 102335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
My aunty sniffles, wiping her nose. “Your mama would kill him herself.”
“What do you need me to do?” I ask them all, looking around the room. “I think I have a few soldiers still on, but I will need to source one I can trust implicitly like I did Val—”
“—fucking Russian.”
I ignore his stab at my best friend.
Gio enters farther into the room, sitting on the armrest of my chair protectively. “We will get that handled. You need to bring your family back here and take back that throne before the vultures slither in.”
“We know you can do this, Ruby Rose. You are far better than Victor was. You gained respect on the streets, respect you worked to get just by being yourself.” Uncle Tommy stands, buttoning up his jacket. I gaze around the room at the rest of my uncles and aunties, the commissioner who nods in agreement.
He speaks. “This is agreed upon within the commission too, Lala.” They all share the same somber expression, but they’re right. I can take this. If anything, I want to just to slap it on Victor’s rotting corpse that I can.
“Okay. I will do that.” I watch as they all leave, except Gio, who is staying behind until we have men stationed back on the property. Walking toward the fireplace, I toss in a few pieces of wood and kindling, taking the matches off the mantle and striking up the flame before flicking it in.
“I need answers on Mama, Gio. It doesn’t make sense why someone would kill her. I know Victor was a monster, but he didn’t do this. I know it. Everyone knows it.”
He comes up behind me, holding a freshly poured glass of tequila. I smile up at him, taking a sip of the honey liquid of Don Julio.
“What about Skully? We don’t know much on him, so I have a few people working on tracking him down. No one can hide that well.”
Turning around, I take a seat on the mantel just as my phone vibrates between my boobs. “Shit.”
“Answer it. May as well rip off the Band-Aid now.”
I swipe the arrow across my phone. “I know.”
“Ruby, I’m going to fucking kill you if you ever pull that shit again.”
“Sorry.” I wince. “I got a text from Gio, Wicked, and you know—”
He breathes out a deep breath, and guilt takes hold of me. I should have probably texted him when I got here. “I know. What happened?”
“Looks like we’re moving in here.”
“Mmm. Figured as much.”
“Blood in—” I stare off in the distance. “Blood out.”
Wicked is silent for a few seconds. “Baby, this is probably a good thing. I know you’re not feeling that right now, but you should take back the power he tried to steal from you.”
“I know,” I answer, looking up at Gio. “They got the house cleaned and soldiers are being transferred here as we speak. I’ve got a lot of work on my shoulders, so I’m going to have to spend the next few days trying to find a nanny since I always had Mama.” I hold my breath. “Are you going to move in too?” Wicked and I have never defined anything with our relationship, mainly because neither of us has had to. We simply existed inside one another whenever the other was around, as if no time had passed.
“Not right now, baby. I’ve just taken the gavel here, I need to stay around and make sure everything is tied down. Then I will be able to, okay?”
My heart sinks, but I understand why. “I get it.”
“Alright, we’ll bring everything over tomorrow. Just crash there for the night and I’ll bring Wolf then. Someone there with you?”
“Gio.”
Wicked chuckles. “Little fuck.”
“Not so little anymore!” Gio calls out loudly. How the fuck he heard is beyond me.
“Okay, I’ll see you then.” I hang up the phone and place it down on the mantel.
“What’s up with you two, anyway? That’s a whole lot of damage between two humans. I don’t know how you both made such a cute kid.”
Shaking my head, I reach for the packet of smokes on the coffee table, placing one between my teeth. I stare up at the ceiling, stark white, with wooden pillars. The art Victor chose still hangs on the walls, and anger bubbles beneath my skin. “We’re going to rip this house up a little before tomorrow.”
There’s a secret I’ve kept from her.
And when she finds out, there’s no coming back…
“This is much better.” I look around the house, placing my hand on my hips and swiping my forehead with the bandana I tied to the front of my head. Gio and I did most of the work around the house last night, but this morning we had soldiers already sanctioned at the gates, front doors, and out back. Part of my clearing everything out was removing anything that reminded me of Victor. I didn’t want any reminders of him in the house at all.