Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Hard, rough, and violent.
Preferably Raina Lombardi.
My mind isn’t on work since it keeps wandering to what I’m about to offer Raina. I’ve never been this distracted over a woman before. There’s something about her that’s gripped me and I wonder if it’s the innocence she exudes. She’s a drug, a wicked sin that’s burrowed into my veins, and I want to slide inside her over and over again.
My phone buzzes on the desktop. When I glance at the name on the screen, I can’t help the anger bubbling up from my gut, racing through my veins.
“To what do I owe this pleasure, Cristiano?” My voice is ice, dripping with a poison I hope will kill the asshole wherever he is.
“Is that any way to greet me, amico?” We’re not friends. Not anymore. Once I trusted this man with my life, but now… Now I’d prefer to see him lying in a pool of blood, gasping for his last breath.
“What do you want?”
A heavy sigh sounds through the speaker as he deliberates if he should play the asshole or just tell me what the fuck he wants.
“A meeting. Bring the contract and I’ll look it over.” He’s been wanting in on our territory for years, since my father died. I’ve been pushing back because I don’t trust him. I don’t like him. In fact, I hate him, but he’s got connections we need. Keep your friends close, but your enemies, if you don’t kill them first, keep them even closer.
“And what makes you think I trust you enough to walk into your warehouse with your thugs guarding it?”
He chuckles then, a sound I remember from our younger years when we were close, when we were inseparable. He was like a brother to me. Then he fucked up. He took the life of a woman I loved. “If I wanted you dead, Moretti, you’d be six feet under by now.”
I can’t help laughing at that. “You’re welcome to try, Russo, but I don’t think you can handle killing me yourself.”
“Two days, Franco. My warehouse on the pier in San Pedro. Bring your brothers. I’d love to see them again.” Sarcasm is thick in his voice.
“Two days.” I hang up before he can say any more.
Pushing up from my luxurious office chair, I head out of my office and into my wing of the mansion. In the bedroom, I pull my gym clothes from the closet and change from the three-piece suit into sweats and a T-shirt. Once I have my trainers on, I head into my personal gym. The treadmill always seems to clear my mind. Setting it to an uphill run, I set about attempting to forget about Cristiano, the man who almost fucked me over today, and focus on the pretty blonde.
I want her here. In my home so I can keep an eye on her. It’s the least I can do since I was the cause of her losing her home. Only, she doesn’t need to know what I did. My part in her father’s demise will be kept a secret from the Lombardi princess.
Her father helped mine for many years, and I intend on repaying the favor by making sure she’s safe from those who would still be out to hurt her. Perhaps this time I’ll be the hero in her fairy tale. The knight in shining armor. Deep down, though, I know I’ll never live up to that fantasy. She’s too pure for me. I’ll taint her with the darkness that follows me everywhere I go.
The sweat that trickles down my spine is at boiling point, not from the heat of my home gym, but from the temperature of my blood as I think about her. Picturing her on her knees. Seeing her smile when I touch her gently, yet firmly. After all the violence I’ve witnessed in my life and with all the blood on my hands, I wonder how I can even fathom my hands on her porcelain skin. I want her too much. I’ll put her in danger by claiming she’s mine. There are too many enemies out there wanting revenge and I’m their target.
As much as I don’t want to admit it, I can’t stop the desire I felt when I laid my eyes on her. Nothing is going to stop me, as wrong as it is. I’ll have her.
She’ll have to learn who I really am. I wonder if that would scare her away, or would it make her come closer until she’s completely enveloped in the depravity of our family. The Nostra are dangerous men, with me as their leader. I wonder if she’d want to rule beside me.
Shaking my head, I try to clear the thought that’s hit me like a sack of bricks. I’m getting ahead of myself now. Who knows if she’ll want me near her.