Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
“If you talk to me like I’m a dog, they will be the last words out of your mouth.”
“You can’t kill me.”
“Did I say I would kill you? People survive with no tongue and no hands. Keep them to yourself and don’t touch my wife again.”
Leonardo smirked. “How does it feel to be second best?”
Giovanni kept his steely gaze pinned on the cruel man in front of him. As Rossi’s eldest son, Leonardo was used to getting what he wanted, and anything that got in his way, he stepped on it or he got his father to remove it.
The man was a piece of work, and not in a good way. He’d seen what the man had done to the women he used, tossing them aside. There were a dozen women who had this man’s offspring, and he didn’t care for any of them. He wouldn’t acknowledge them as his own. His father had to deal with it, as did he.
Giovanni had paid off quite a few women. Most of them had been too terrified to even think of pressing charges. The word rape was never uttered because they knew if they dared to, they would be dead. Some women had died because of what this man had done.
Giovanni would love an opportunity to wipe the world of this piece of scum, but he was Rossi’s son, the heir to the throne. That was what Giovanni feared the most, that this son of a bitch would survive, and then they were all in danger.
Where his father was calm and reasonable, Leonardo was not. There would be no reasoning with him.
He had to keep a close eye on him. Now that Giovanni had claimed Valentina, he knew she wasn’t safe, not from Leonardo. There would be no telling what he’d do, but now that he had given the man an opening, he knew what was coming.
Giovanni would do everything in his power to protect her. The moment he made his claim, he’d seen the anger in Leonardo’s eyes.
The other man hadn’t wanted her, had been sickened by the scars she possessed. The instant another man wanted her, he acted like a petulant child. Like another kid in the playground had dared to play with a discarded toy.
He wasn’t like the women he hurt, or the men he bribed. Giovanni wasn’t afraid of Leonardo. He stepped closer to the other man, and Leonardo was too afraid to hide his reaction. Good. That fear would help him.
“Second best? To what? To you? Your name wasn’t on her lips last night. It was mine, so many times, and it was my dick taking her virginity. Valentina is mine, and she was never yours.” He pointed a finger at Leonardo’s chest and saw him flinch away. “And if you dare to go near her or hurt her, I swear you will live to regret it.”
“How dare you challenge me!”
“Just remember who keeps you in your place, boy! I don’t have to kill you to get what I want. There are so many things I can do to you. Don’t even think to test me.”
“I thought I heard some commotion out here.”
Giovanni didn’t look away. He continued to stare at the man’s son instead. It was Leonardo who glanced away, showing himself for the coward that he was.
“No commotion, Father. Just congratulating a man on a job well done,” Leonardo said, attempting to pass Rossi.
Thomas Rossi wasn’t allowing his son to go quietly. “You embarrassed me today. You owe Mr. Romano an apology.”
“What?”
“We take our traditions very seriously. Apologize! Now!”
Giovanni waited, not sure if the young man would dare to go against his father, but he was more than happy to see what happened.
“I apologize if my accusations caused you offense. I know how serious it is to lie, and I would hate for there to be repercussions for your inability to perform.”
It was both an insult and an apology. Giovanni smiled at him and gave him a single nod.
Leonardo departed, leaving him alone with Thomas Rossi, who tutted. “I don’t know what I did wrong with that boy.”
Giovanni was very much aware of Rossi’s annoyance and disappointment when it came to his son.
If it hadn’t been for Leonardo acting on his own decision when it came to terminating the engagement with Valentina, Giovanni had already been ensuring it happened.
“He has a temper,” he said. “I took care of the maid.”
Rossi cursed. “Another one.”
“This time he raped her and allowed two of his men to use her as well.” Giovanni hated Leonardo. He was growing tired of cleaning up after the little shit’s messes. “It won’t be long before he does something you can’t clean up.”
He spoke freely, as Rossi and he had an understanding when it came to the man’s son. Leonardo had already put himself in so many difficult situations that Rossi had to arrange to get him out of them. It was putting strain on the Rossi line. This wasn’t good for business.