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)
The Russos are infamous for sourcing any arms you’d need or want. The Morettis are the complete opposite. You want something to take you higher than ever before, we’ll get that for you.
Drugs and weapons are what we deal in. They go hand in hand beautifully and they offer us the income to live the life we have grown to enjoy.
I tap the call button and press the device to my ear.
“Franco.” Lucio’s deep timbre comes from the other end of the line. I expect him to sound as smug as he always does, but there’s something off about his tone.
“Are you okay?”
“There’s a shipment coming in at midnight. South Dock. I need you there,” he informs me without responding to my question. That sets me on high alert.
“What the fuck is wrong? Why can’t you do it?”
“There’s also an envelope with all the information you need in my desk. Left-hand side, second drawer. You have the key.”
“Lucio, I swear to God. Dimmi cosa sta succedendo,” I order him to tell me what’s going on using our mother tongue.
“È necessario il tuo aiuto,” he tells me your help is needed.
Before I can respond, the line goes dead. When I try calling him again, the phone goes directly to a voice messaging service.
“Fuck!”
“What’s going on?” Gio saunters out of the building toward me.
Shaking my head, I meet my brother’s eyes. “I don’t know, but we need to get to the Russo building right the fuck now.”
He nods, and we slip into the car in silence. Gio drives, and Matteo watches me intently. I can tell he wants to ask, but I don’t offer him an opportunity to because if I had to be honest, I’m concerned something is terribly wrong.
2
Raina
The phone buzzes beside me while I attempt to study, but when I see his name, I can’t not answer. Swiping my finger over the screen, I put the phone to my ear and listen a beat before answering. It’s our secret code. “Hello.” My greeting is tentative as I murmur into the microphone.
“Bella.” The word is like a spark. It ignites every nerve in my body. “You’re alone, yes?”
“Yes, Lucio.” When I purr his name, the deep rumble of his growl is more than enough to have me dropping my pencil and allowing my eyes to flutter closed.
“I need you to listen to me, Bella.” He calls me that because he said I’m beautiful. We’ve been doing this for far too long. This taunt and tease, back and forth. It’s like a tennis match. He was my first. And with everything I offered him, he gave it back tenfold. When he took my virginity on my eighteenth birthday, I felt like I was floating. It hurt, I screamed, but I wanted him so much. Even though his mouth devoured me for an hour before he slid inside my body, I’d never felt pain like it.
Now that I’m nineteen and I’ve experienced him for almost two years of my young life, I crave him like a drug. A hit of Lucio Russo is everything I need to survive. I know I shouldn’t, but I have become obsessed with him. It’s been four long years of me knowing him, and all I want is what he gifts me. The danger, the raw passion, and the lust.
Since I’m alone at home, I want to ask him to come to me, but I know he won’t. There are rules in place for me and him. His world is dangerous, and he fits into it perfectly. But he’s never put me in danger. Even though I hunger for adventure.
“Raina,” he coos in my ear, caressing my name as if it’s the most delicious thing he’s ever tasted. “I want you to know you’re special, Bella. Don’t allow anyone to diminish your shine, your beauty. I needed to tell you this, so you know. I’ve had things happen and I’m going to need you to do something for me.” He sounds serious, which sparks fear in my chest.
“You’re scaring me, Lucio.”
He doesn’t respond immediately, but I say nothing more. I hear muffled voices on the other end of the line, and I’m certain he’s busy. A moment passes, then he’s back. “Listen to me. My cousin Franco will come to meet with your brother tomorrow. He’ll explain everything.”
“Oh? But why can’t you just tell me now?”
More silence greets me, and I wait. The past few years have been like a cat-and-mouse game. He disappears, and I wait. Sitting silently in my room, I spend my time studying, but he’s always in the back of my mind. Lucio Russo, the youngest capo since his own father had taken over the organization. I’ve heard of the cousins, the eldest, Franco, and the younger brothers, Giovanni and Matteo.
“Hold on, my darling,” he tells me, then I hear a man speaking to him, but I can’t make out what he’s saying. Lucio responds, “Sì, è stasera.” Yes, it’s tonight. When he speaks in his mother tongue, his accent is thick like syrup. But there’s a huskiness to his voice that makes me shiver. The man is an animal. He’s a murderer. He enjoys making people bleed. Once he told me he drained someone by hanging them from the ceiling of his warehouse and watched the blood drip from the slash in their neck.