Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Let me show you to your bedroom so you can freshen up before we start cooking,” I hear Aunt Gloria say.
As I reach the front door, Uncle Maurizio pats me on the back. “Good luck with the meeting. Call me if you need backup.”
“I’ll be fine,” I mutter.
I join Big Ricky and Bruno, and soon, we’re driving away from the villa where I spent most of my childhood.
Chapter 29
Tori
Glancing around the room, Aunt Gloria brought me to, I can’t keep from smiling.
“You have such a beautiful home,” I compliment her as I walk out onto the balcony.
The room is on the second floor, and it has a spectacular view of the Mediterranean Sea. I grin when I see a couple of sailboats bobbing on the blue water.
The bedroom is situated on the side of the house, but we still have an amazing view. The breeze plays with my curls as I glance down to the rock garden below. Seeing how high up I am, I feel a slither of fear and lightheadedness.
I turn around and walk back into the bedroom, but there’s no sign of Aunt Gloria.
I didn’t hear her leave.
The next moment, Uncle Maurizio comes into the room, and with a hostile expression, he tosses an envelope on the bed. “There’s five thousand euros. It’s more than you deserve.”
Huh?
His dark eyes lock with mine, and when I see the disgust on his face, my heart sinks to my stomach.
Oh, no!
He crosses his arms over his chest, then mutters, “I don’t know what you did to make Angelo marry you, but this farce ends today. It’s an embarrassment to the family that he married someone like you.”
Intense shock shudders through me because I didn’t expect this at all. My lips part, but no words come out.
“Angelo should’ve married Valentina Toscano and not the likes of you.” His eyes sweep over me with a look of hatred. “Take the money and fuck off.”
The anger deepens on his face, and it makes me feel like I’m something Angelo found in the gutters.
The sudden verbal attack catches me totally off guard, and I don’t know what to say. My heart shrivels in my chest as fear and panic slowly spread through my body.
When I don’t respond, Maurizio growls, “Take the money, woman! Your luggage is in the car waiting out front. Leave Angelo and never contact him again, or I’ll make you disappear.”
The threat has my fear spiking dangerously high. Even though Maurizio is no longer the head of the Rizzo territory in New York, he’s still part of the Cosa Nostra. He’s still dangerous.
Over the past weeks, I’ve been lulled into a false sense of security. I finally felt safe and no longer on guard that people like Giorgio would hurt me.
The last thing I expected was Angelo’s family bribing me to leave him. Sure, I braced for the awkwardness of meeting them, but not this.
“Ahhh…” My eyebrows pinch together, and I place a hand over my tight stomach. “I can’t leave Angelo.”
Angelo will hunt me down and kill me if I dare betray him. I mean, he killed one of his bartenders for stealing two thousand dollars! What Maurizio is asking of me is so much worse.
I’ve also fallen in love with my husband, and I don’t want to leave him.
“The money is enough to buy a ticket back to America. Go, and if I find out you contacted Angelo, I’ll make you wish you were never born,” he threatens.
“Angelo will never believe I left him,” I whisper, the shock making my voice hoarse.
“Angelo will believe what I tell him,” Maurizio snaps. “He’ll believe me over a woman he’s only known a few weeks.” He shakes his head. “I heard about the farce of a wedding the day after it happened and looked into your family. You’re a bunch of bottom-feeders and not worthy of the name Rizzo. Over my dead body will I allow you to give birth to a Rizzo heir.”
God, they faked being shocked by the news, and we fell for it. I thought they liked me.
It just shows how good they are at keeping up a deceiving act around Angelo. There’s no telling what they’ll make him believe.
Maurizio’s right. They’re his family, and I’m still getting to know him.
The intensity of the shock lessens enough for me to say, “Angelo will be very upset when he finds out you’re trying to coerce me into leaving him.”
Maurizio stalks closer to me, and I instinctively cringe backward. He shoves his finger in my face while a deadly rage ripples over his face.
“You’ve only been married three weeks,” he bites out, the rage darkening his tone.
I take another step backward and find myself on the balcony. The wind whips the fabric of my dress against my legs while my eyes are wide on the old man.