Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“Is that true what he said? Would the Russians…”
Suddenly, I start laughing. It comes from a deep well within, a place of complete absurdity that looks down on this situation like the farce it is—a joke, unfunny, and without a punchline.
The Russians. Suddenly, I’m talking about some kind of criminal war.
“Would they get me?” I go on, giggling as I drop onto the sofa.
“Emma,” Rosa says, using my name like an accusation. Am I going nuts?
“I can’t stay here,” I tell her.
“Maybe it would be for the best,” she says softly.
She doesn’t understand. If I stay here, it will mean seeing more of Leo, possibly seeing him and letting in more of these intrusive thoughts.
“I’ll lose the lease on the apartment and the job. When I leave, I’ll have nothing.”
Rosa frowns, softly touching my knee as she sits beside me. “Dad can take care of that. He’ll make sure the job and the apartment are waiting for you. Even if that fell through, you’d never have nothing. You’d still have me, right?”
We were both the outcasts in school, Rosa because she was painfully shy and apparently ugly, and me because I was painfully shy and on the bigger side. Wordlessly, we became friends. We’d sit together at lunch, then go to the library together, our heads buried in books about wildly different topics but together.
“You should’ve told me,” I say, gently brushing her hand off my knee. “I’ve been in danger for years just by being around you.”
She stands and bows her head. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
Even if I’m supposed to be closed off, I can’t take the pain in her voice. Leaning forward, I take her hand and squeeze it.
“We’ll always be friends, but I’m pissed at you and have a right to be.”
She snatches her hand away. “I was protecting my family.”
“I consider you family.”
She huffs, folds her arms, and softens. “I’ll talk to him, okay?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Leo
“She stays,” I say firmly.
Rosa throws her hands up, then starts fidgeting with her hair. It hurts me to cause her pain, which I’m clearly doing.
She doesn’t understand. Emma is going to give Rosa little brothers and sisters one day, and Rosa wants to risk that? No, dammit. I’ve got to picture Rosa’s face if she ever found out—the tears, the betrayal. I can’t think about anything else, but I’m not putting Emma at risk, either.
“Uncle D?” she says, turning to Dario.
We’re in the living room, Dario’s forearms resting on his knees, flicking through the channels on the TV. “This is between you and your dad.”
“Is it true? Would the Russians really go after her?”
“This isn’t y—”
“Dad,” she cuts me off. “I get it. This isn’t my business. That’s normally true, but it is my business when discussing my best friend.”
Dario arches his eyebrow at me, smirking as if to say, Like mother, like daughter.
“It’s true,” I tell her. “There’s a chance. I’m not sure how high. It depends on what the Russians know about your friendship. Maybe nothing, but yes, there’s a chance.”
“And you want to keep her safe?”
I nod way too fiercely. My balls are aching just thinking about Emma, how her legs looked in those jeans, her feet tucked under that big, juicy ass. I can imagine her whole body rippling as I fuck her, claim her, own her—rippling just for me. I massage my forehead. I can’t think like this.
“She’s your friend,” I say after a pause. “What do you want me to do?”
“What if you gave her a security team?”
Dario shakes his head before she’s done asking.
“What?” Rosa demands.
“Resources, my lovely, polite niece,” he says. “This house is already protected. To assign four more men…”
“Are things that bad?” Rosa asks.
“You don’t need to worry,” I tell her. “We’re handling it.”
“Dad—”
“I said we’re handling it. She’s staying. That’s it.”
“And if she tries to leave?”
I stand and stride for the door. “Dario, we’ve got things to do. I love you, Rosa, but there are some things you don’t understand.”
As soon as I leave the townhouse, my guards flank me. We walk to the large SUV—bulletproof—and climb into the back. Dario sighs and taps his fingernail against his watch face.
“Wonder if he’s bled out yet.”
“You enjoy this too much,” I say. “Why did you have to tell her about the guards?”
“Shit, this is my fault?”
“She doesn’t need to hear all that.”
“She’s not a kid anymore. I know that’s hard for you to accept.”
I sigh darkly, staring out the window.
“Am I wrong?” he asks.
“She was the most perfect little kid you’ve ever seen. I remember the first time she smiled at me. I’d only tell you this, but sometimes, I almost cry remembering that smile.”
The driver-passenger wall is soundproofed, so nobody heard that but my little brother.
“Sometimes, I want to see that smile again.”
“Have more kids?” Dario says. “You could do that anytime you wanted. Half the women in the city want to marry you.”