Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
He was more loyal to me than my own men. Our blood was different, but it felt like it passed through the same heart. He was the last person in my life I genuinely cared for. Everyone else was a situationship, but he was family. “I appreciate the offer, but that’s never going to happen. I would never do that to your wife.”
“She would understand. She loves you too, Theo.”
I’d liked Scarlett the moment I met her, the way she commanded a room and stated what she wanted without hesitation. She looked me in the eye and told me what she wanted, having the kind of confidence that was uncommon in a woman. Even though she and Axel had been broken up for months at that point, I knew she was still his woman, so I walked out on her. It was the precursor to the relationship we had now. She really did feel like a sister. “You have a beautiful family, Axel. I would never risk what you have.”
He smirked. “Yeah, I do.”
“So, don’t worry about me.” I’d get my brother’s bones and bury them in the cemetery where they belonged. His tombstone had been engraved when he passed, and the soil was ready to receive whatever was left of him. The plot next to him was reserved—for me.
“Easier said than done, man.”
Dante walked into the room a moment later, casting me a wary stare as he moved to the couch.
There was a scar on his temple from where I’d thrown a glass at his head in this very room.
He sat back and crossed his ankle on the opposite knee.
I stared him down and waited for him to leave.
He held my look. “If there’s anything I can do to help you with Draven—”
“Do you know where he is?”
“No.”
“Then you have nothing to offer me, Dante.”
“I can call him.”
“How stupid do you think he is?”
Axel’s eyes shifted back and forth between us.
Dante didn’t reach for the cigars on the table between us. “A few years of silence have passed. I think it’s fair to assume he’s focused his attention on his own territory and spared yours.”
“I assume nothing, Dante,” I said coldly. “He had you as an ally before, so he assumed he had his conquest in the bag. But now he knows who he’s dealing with, and he’s taken his time to plot and think. He almost killed me, and he knows I won’t forget that. So if he doesn’t kill me, he knows I’ll kill him. The fuse has been lit, and at some point, it’ll explode.”
Dante didn’t drop his gaze from my stare, holding it without shame.
“I’ll kill him—and then I’ll take his territory. I’ve had my sights set on it anyway.”
I showered after my workout. By the time I woke up and was ready for the day, it was noon.
I looked at my phone before I headed downstairs and saw the message from George. Your artwork is currently being hung in the study.
Which meant Astrid was here.
The bombshell brunette who was so damn fine. With almond-shaped eyes, green like emeralds and an ass that looked like a summer nectarine in her tight dresses, the woman had a mouth that fired off like a pistol.
Her husband was a fucking idiot.
I hoped she realized that sooner rather than later—and not just because I wanted to fuck her.
I made it to the bottom floor and stepped into the study. Painter’s tape was on the walls to mark exactly where the paintings would go, and I assumed that was her doing so the guys knew where to put their nails.
A group of four guys picked up one of the biggest paintings then lifted it to the wall, catching it on the nails that had been hammered in to support it. It hooked correctly, and they stepped back to see where the painting sat.
It was perfectly straight.
Astrid stood there and examined it, wearing a pencil skirt and boots, her black blouse tucked in. She picked up a level and climbed the ladder until she placed the tool on one side of the painting to check that it was perfectly straight.
I looked at her ass—and I wasn’t the only one.
“It’s good.” She climbed back down the steps and turned to the guys. “Alright, on to the next—” She froze when she saw me, the color in her face so pale it was as if she’d seen a ghost. She did her best to recover, but the damage had been done. “Theo, I wasn’t expecting you. I was hoping you could see it when we’re all done.”
I looked at the painting they’d just hung up. “Looks good so far.” I was in just my sweatpants because I wasn’t going to change my clothes for her or anyone else. It was my home, so I could wear whatever the fuck I wanted. “I need something from my desk.”