Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
"When was that?" Luca asks, lacing his fingers together over his stomach. "Because I haven't seen you since mine and Callandria's wedding two months ago."
"Me either," Rafe says quietly.
"Blame him." I turn a dark look on Diego, who watches us from the far side of the room, completely silent. "I've been busy trying to keep the FBI out of our hair."
Diego has the grace to flinch.
Rafe's smirk slips.
So does Luca's.
"If you're done fucking with me now, can we discuss why you're here so you can all leave?" I quirk a brow.
Genesis smacks me across the chest, earning shit-eating grins from my brothers. "Stop being rude to everyone, Gabriel Valentino," she says primly. "They can stay as long as they want."
Like hell they can. I don't tell her that, though. I already made her cry once today. I'm not going to risk doing it again. I didn't like it much when she did it the first time.
"I like her," Luca says.
Rafe just watches her, a soft, amused look on his face.
"Are you guys hungry? Gentleman? Mafia men?" She cringes. "Sorry, I don't really know what to call you because Gabriel won't tell me anything." She turns a quizzical look on my brothers. "Is he always so bossy?"
"Yes," they say at the exact same time as I growl her name.
"What? It's just a question. Jeez, you're grumpy," she says to me. She's fucking with me again, seeing how far she can push me and how I'll react. Respect matters to La Cosa Nostra. We eat, sleep, and breathe it. If she were anyone else, I'd have her by the throat, teaching her manners. But she isn't anyone else. She's Genesis. The only fucking person on the planet who can talk to me however she wants and get away with it.
The only one who makes my goddamn dick hard when she's using that smart-ass mouth on me. I don't give a fuck what my brothers think about our relationship. I don't even give a fuck what they think about me letting her get away with using that mouth. Her opinion is the only one that matters.
"Go find something to do before you get yourself into trouble, piccola fiamma," I mutter, leaning close to whisper in her ear. "If I have to teach you manners in front of my brothers, you're not going to like the lesson."
"Maybe I will," she sasses.
"Go, Genesis," I growl. "Before I kick them out of here and show you how rude I can be."
She huffs like I'm annoying the fuck out of her and then reluctantly slides from her chair to wave at my brothers. "It was nice meeting you, I guess."
"Bye, piccolina."
"See you later," Luca says.
They both look at me once she leaves the room. I pretend not to see the questions in their eyes. I don't ask about their relationships. They don't get to ask about mine. Besides, I don't even fucking know what I'd tell them anyway. Quite frankly, I'm a hypocrite. When Luca kidnapped Callandria Genovese and chained her to his bed, I was the one who balked. Yet that didn't stop me from coercing Genesis into my house.
I'm aware that makes me an asshole. I'm just not sure I care anymore. When it comes to her, there aren't any rules I won't break, or lines I won't cross. I don't want to hear Rafe and Luca's opinions on the matter because they won't stop me. At best, they'll only piss me off. At worst, they'll shatter us.
For once, I want to fix what's broken between us, not destroy it entirely.
Diego clears his throat after a moment. "So…why the fuck am I here?"
"Because you're going to work off your debt by giving the FBI a new target," I growl, turning to look at him. "Alexander Santorum."
Surprise flares in Diego's eyes. I guess Mattia didn't fill him in. "I'm guessing this has to do with the fact that he's been appointed her conservator?"
"It has to do with the fact that he murdered her father and then had her declared incompetent to keep her silent."
"Jesus." Diego blows out a breath. "Do you have proof? Because her word isn't going to go for much if the courts have decided she's not capable of looking after her own interests."
"She has her father's records," I say. "They should contain enough to bury the motherfucker."
"For what, exactly?" Luca asks.
"Embezzlement," Rafe says quietly. "He's been stealing from the police department, using the money to purchase guns on their accounts, and then selling them on the streets."
"Her father found out. Santorum killed him before he could talk, made it look like self-defense. But Genesis was there and saw what happened. She managed to snatch the documents and run. She's been running ever since."
"And you want to turn him over to the FBI?" Diego clarifies.