Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“Crazy, right?” she prompted in a soft voice as we stared out at the gardens. “That we are where we are.”
I knew what she meant and couldn’t have agreed any more deeply.
“Truer words have never been spoken.” We all laughed at how crazy the world was, but had it ever been better than it was now?
And I knew it was only going to get better.
As we sat amongst the flowers, with the sun shining down and warming everything it touched, I took a deep breath and just let my happiness consume me. And although I wanted to hang on to this euphoria for as long as I could—for my entire life—in our world, happiness was always poisoned by darkness.
But for now, at this moment, I didn’t think about any of that shit. I just focused on the here and now and taking one day at a time.
I allowed myself to enjoy the fact that I was going to be an aunt again, bringing my total to three little ones I’d get to spoil and then hand back over to their parents. I let the joy take over that I was newly engaged and had a man who loved me and our unborn baby more than anything else.
I felt the warmth of my sisters-in-laws’ support and that my brothers accepted I was happy and were letting me make my own life decisions.
In our world, where love and darkness were like oil and water and giving into your happiness could mean life or death, I was finally being selfish and taking what I wanted.
And fuck anyone or anything that tried to change that for me.
34
GIO
I’d taken Dmitry and Nikolai to my office that overlooked the gardens simply because I wanted to keep an eye on Tatiana. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, couldn’t stop touching her when she was near.
I’d had business to deal with on the West Coast, and because my sisters wanted to come back “home” to visit, it was the perfect chance for Dmitry and Nikolai to come and for us to deal with all the shit we found out since the last time we met up.
Seeing the women in the garden brought a smile to my face. This home had held a lot of shitty, nightmarish memories. But over the years, after my father had been killed and my mother had moved away, I tried my hardest to make good memories for my sisters. I wanted them to know this place could be one in which they found happiness and comfort.
I turned and faced the Russian brothers, who had their gazes trained out the windows as well, no doubt admiring their wives and enjoying the peace on their sister’s face. I paced, my mind racing with all the information I found out from my informants.
A bit of money and drugs tossed their way opened more doors for finding out even more shit. It helped that they knew my reputation and that I’d cut off tips of fingers and toes to get what I wanted. Needless to say, they all sang like fucking canaries.
I moved over to my desk and took a seat at the same time Dmitry moved from the window. The silence between the three of us was thick, broken only by the occasional distant sound of Luca screeching in happiness as he ran around.
“What did you find out about The Stygian Syndicate?” I growled, finally breaking the silence. I leaned back and looked over at Dmitry. After a second, Nikolai finally turned and faced me as well but still stood by the window, so he could peek out each time his son let out a squeal. Just in case.
Dmitry scrubbed a hand over his dark hair and gestured for Nikolai to speak.
“The Stygian Syndicate is the Greek Mafia.”
I’d found out as much, so I added, “And Carmine’s been working with them.”
Dmitry's eyes seemed dark and cold. “The Stygian Syndicate came out of fucking nowhere. But it’s clear they aren’t working alone, even before we knew Carmine was involved.”
I didn't know the hard facts and details about Carmine’s connection, but there were murmurs about the Head of Italy dipping into other business ventures, and I’d found out enough to know that his rogue bullshit was causing issues.
“You’re sure about Carmine?” both Nikolai and Dmitry asked in unison.
“I don’t have any hard proof, but I know he’s doing rogue shit. He was the one to make the order about Maksim, and he specifically wanted me to carry it out.”
Dmitry growled, and I could feel an iciness settle over the room.
“He wanted me to do it, so it caused issues between the three of us. He wanted that rift, that tear,” I murmured, cursing at how I hadn’t come to that reality sooner.
Mother-fucking-bastard.
But what I didn't understand was why Carmine—Head of the Cosa Nostra in Italy—was working with a much smaller crime organization. It made me question what said Mafia had that Carmine wanted that badly.