Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Slowly, the corner of his lips tug. “Good to see you’re a fast learner, Bella. Because that’s exactly what I am.”
He turns away and stalks toward the door.
“What happened to you?” I call out. “What happened to the boy I grew up with?”
He stops, his back to me.
Slowly, he turns around.
His face is tight.
His eyes impossibly dark.
His voice is low and dangerous. “He died.”
And with that, he turns and leaves.
11
Nico
“You insult me.” Luca Bamcorda’s fat face turns red with indignation.
We’re in my office above the cocktail den where Bella confronted me about our arranged marriage only three days ago in an encounter I’ve tried and failed to get out of my head.
“That was not my intention,” I say calmly.
“I don’t give a fuck if it was your intention or not. You disrespect my daughter by refusing to marry her. And you disrespect me by taking an Isle Ciccula bride.”
“Might I remind you that I was betrothed to Bella long before Bianca came into the picture.”
“That was before Vincent Isle Ciccula fucked your mother—”
I’m out of my chair so quick, he doesn’t even see my gun until it’s pressed into the spongy skin of his fat neck.
“You ever disrespect my mother like that again, and I won’t hesitate putting a fucking bullet through that filthy mouth of yours. This is your only warning.”
Luca doesn’t move or seem flustered by the business end of my Ruger pressing dangerously close to his jugular vein. In fact, he smiles. But this close, I can see the smudge of nervousness in his watery eyes. Is the young buck crazy enough to do it? He’s not sure.
And that, my friends, gives me an edge over the motherfucker.
“Calm down, young buck. No need to go off half-cocked. I mean no disrespect.”
I stare into the murkiness of his wet, old eyes, sending him a silent warning that I mean what I say.
It unnerves him enough that the smile slips from his lips. “I have ten men ready to come in here and unload their clips into you. You kill me, and it will mean war. You should think about that before you pull that trigger.”
“I admit a war with the Bamcorda would be nothing but a pain in my ass.” I press the barrel deeper into his doughy skin. “The De Kysa are much bigger. Much stronger.” I lean down to whisper in his ear. “And a lot fucking meaner.”
The color drains from his face.
“Relax. I’m not going to pull the trigger, old man.” I pull the gun away. “But just so there is no misunderstanding, if you ever threaten me or disrespect me in any fucking way from this moment forward, I won’t hesitate to kill you, you disrespecting fuck.”
The tension in the room is palpable.
“You need to tread carefully, Domenico,” he warns. “You treat people this way, and someone who doesn’t like you as much as I do might take it the wrong way and seek vengeance.”
“And that would be a very unhealthy decision.”
I move to the liquor cabinet and pour myself a scotch, deliberately not offering one to Luca.
He’s outstayed his welcome. It’s time for him to go.
He rises from his chair and crosses the room toward the door but pauses beside me. “It would be unwise to make an enemy out of me, Domenico.”
I take a sip of my drink and then smile. “Ditto.”
My nonchalance irritates the old man. He drills one final look at me before walking away.
I stand in front of the massive window overlooking Central Park and consider the bullet I just dodged.
In the old days, there were four families who dominated the land. Of the four, the De Kysa and the Isle Ciccula were allies, bonded in blood and honor, and respect. The third family, the Draconi, were sworn rivals of the De Kysa and Isle Ciccula. It was a bloody rivalry that went back decades. According to my old man, the reason for the rivalry was steeped in legend and no one could really say what happened, only that the Draconi hated us, and we hated them. The fourth family, the Bamcorda, were somewhere in between. Not quite an ally but not quite a foe. When the De Kysa split from the Isle Ciccula, the Bamcorda allied themselves with us against our new enemy, and it has been like that for the last decade.
Which is the alliance I just obliterated.
But it was a necessity.
Marriage to Bianca Bamcorda would’ve been a nightmare match. Two demanding people. Two selfish hotheads. It would be an atomic bomb. Explosive and volatile, followed by a life lived in a miserable aftermath.
Nothing like it will be with Bella.
Oh, she hates me. But I get off on her so vehemently fighting me that I find myself deliberately provoking her.
This shouldn’t be as enjoyable as it is.
Because this is about revenge.