Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
“Mrs Romano,” I offer with a smile as she leans in to kiss my left cheek, then the right. “So lovely to have met you.”
“You mustn’t be a stranger now. When you’re on the mainland, you let me know and we’ll go shopping and have some lunch together.” She grips my shoulders and offers them an affectionate squeeze.
“I will, thank you so much.” I’ve never really had a mother figure. I wanted to know what it’s like to be like the other girls who had doting moms, but it wasn’t in the cards for me. Perhaps, within this sordid world, I can find some form of a maternal connection.
“Of course! We can always gripe about the men too.”
“Oh, please, you love us,” her husband teases from behind as he offers me a handshake, then kisses both cheeks as is customary.
“Thank you for being here. Judah is just on a call.”
“I’ll see him soon for the ceremony,” Mr Romano says with a wave of his hand. “Tell him I said to not be late.”
“I will.”
Once they say their goodbyes to Val and Kai, they’re off, and slowly, each couple, and the soldiers in attendance leave.
By the time Judah is off the phone, I’m so tense, my stomach is in knots. He steps up beside me, his arm once more around my waist, but there isn’t a gentle affection to his touch, instead, it’s a tense grip.
“They found your father trying to flee Naples.” His voice is low, angry, and I can tell that the happy day has now been soured.
It’s a good thing though. He’s been found and he will be brought to justice. I just wish it wasn’t on my wedding day.
“Are we going to Naples?” I ask as I look up at Judah who has a livid expression on his face.
“As much as I want to say no, we will stay home and celebrate, I think we should go. Once this is all over, we can take a month off and just travel the world.”
“I agree with Jude,” Kai says with an affirmative nod.
Valen sighs, and replies, “It’s going to be for the best. We can get the answers we need out of him. I think the fact that we can put this to rest now, is best. Especially before the ceremony where you take over the organisation from your father.”
I know they’re right, but I still want to pout. I still want to stamp my foot and refuse to do anything other than spend the night with the three of them.
But, I also need the answers to the questions that have been racing through my mind non-stop.
“Let’s go.”
FLIGHT OF FANCY
KAI
Judah looks at me as we settle in the car and says, “Mario helped.” I didn’t expect him to say my brother had anything to do with finding Brielle’s father.
“He was the one who called?”
Judah nods. “He said that he had a team out searching because he had an inkling her father would go to the Camorra after I married Brielle.”
This intrigues me because it doesn’t make any sense. If I were him, I would have stayed clear of the men who I almost sent to prison. “Why? He fucked them over. Wouldn’t they just kill him?”
“I thought so too.” Judah shrugs and then looks at Brielle. “Do you know of your father’s contacts in Naples?”
She shakes her head, her hands tangled in her lap. “I don’t. I thought he would have gone back to London, or even the States. Since he was an informant, it would make more sense for him to go to those who helped us escape.”
I don’t miss the wince on her face as she says it. She knows her father isn’t the upstanding man she believed. It can’t be easy to know your father is both a liar and a killer.
Although, we still don’t know what happened with her transplant. “Have you taken your medication?” I ask her suddenly as the thought pops into my head. We’ve been so focused on the wedding, and trying to find her father, we haven’t checked on her.
“Yeah,” Brielle whispers. “I never forget to take it. No matter what’s going on around me. If I don’t…” She doesn’t need to finish her sentence because we all know what could happen.
Our girl.
I can’t believe she’s ours.
“Good.” I sit back and turn my attention back to Jude. “I think we need to find out where exactly he was headed in Naples. There are a few clans in the city, but there are also the smaller organisations based around the world. They’re worse than us.”
The Camorra have always been more tyrannical, more dangerous than the Sicilian Mafia. There have been instances where the clans would work together as allies. However, the structure of the Camorra is far removed from those of its counterparts.