Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
I heard what she wasn’t saying.
Do you know how lucky you are? Do you know how much I wanted that growing up?
“I do. I’m really fucking lucky. And now you’re gonna have all that love too,” I told her.
Her smile was soft, but a little shy, before she ducked her head again.
“I think Vega had an even better time than I did. What was she talking to Brio about for so long?” she asked.
“Honey, trust me when I say that you don’t want to know,” I told her, recalling Brio telling her of all his favorite torture techniques while Vega just ate that shit up.
“You’re probab—“ she started, cutting off when there was a slamming sound against our door, making us both sit up.
A second later, the door opened, and there was Vega, drunk off her ass. She’d gone out after dinner with some of the guys. And they’d apparently gotten her shitfaced.
“You, sir,” she said, voice raised, pointing a finger at me from her outstretched arm. “When you marry Mere, you’re going to have to marry me too. We’ll be sister wives. Except I don’t want to fuck you,” she said.
“Vega!” Mere hissed.
“No, see, I have to be in this family,” she told us, waving a hand out in a very ‘it is what it is’ kind of way.
“Babe, you are in this family,” I told her. “You’re Mere’s family, so you’re this family too.”
“That is… very true,” she said with a big hiccup. “And I don’t have to fuck you. That is a win.”
“For God’s sake, Vega. Get some sleep,” Mere hissed.
“I’m going to go shoot some people. In my game, my game!” she clarified when my brow raised, a little concerned about her newfound interest in murder. “Also, if you hear the buzzer, that’s for me. I ordered cake. Did you know you can order cake, to the house, after midnight? ‘Cause you can!” she said, eyes round. “This city is where I belong,” she said, turning to head back out.
“Oh!” she said, swinging the door open, and swinging in with it. “And tell Ant that I’m sorry about his hand.”
“Jesus Christ. What happened to his hand?”
“We were playing the knife game.”
“What knife game?” Mere asked.
“You know, where you stab the knife between your fingers really fast?”
“Why were you stabbing the knife between Anthony’s fingers?” I asked.
“Listen, you ask too many questions, my man,” she told me. “What happens in the Family, stays in the Family.”
“I am the Family,” I reminded her.
“Right you are,” she said, nodding hard for emphasis. “Okay. Off to do murder. I’ll have my headphones on, so get as loud as you want. Okay byeee,” she said, closing the door, and stumbling into the spare room.
“So, it sounds like Vega is moving to the city,” Mere said.
“And you too?” I asked, tone hopeful.
“I think I might like it here. But what about Balm Harbour?”
“I’ll always have a house there.”
“And La Flora?” she asked.
“Will continue to run. If you want, you can oversee that from afar.”
“Will there still be… imports?” she asked.
“There will. But this time, those will be run by the Family, not some third party. The employees will be safe.”
“It would be nice to be able to go there a few times a year. Especially in the spring and summer.”
“I can swing going away pretty much anytime you want,” I assured her.
“If Vega and I can find an apartment—“
“Sweetheart, figured this part was clear. But seems it’s not,” I said, pulling back to look at her. “I want you to move in with me.”
Her smile was sweet.
“But what about Vega?”
“If she needs a place to crash, we have the spare room.”
She would need some time to get her life together if she was moving. And I liked Vega, as over the top as she was.
“Hey, Cesare?” Mere called a moment later.
“Yeah?”
“Can we take a trip to the hardware store? And some place to get baskets and acrylic bins?”
I didn’t plan on being in the apartment for much longer, especially with a woman to take care of, with the potential for kids in the future.
But if she wanted to fix up the place, to settle in, to build a nest, then I saw no reason to get in the way of that.
“And some big box store to get shit like drapes and bath mats?” I prompted, watching as she smiled at me before rolling on top of me.
“Hey, Cesare?” she asked between light kisses.
“Yeah?” I asked, trying to think straight through the desire building in my system.
“I think I might be falling in love with you,” she said, her voice a small whisper.
“That’s convenient,” I said, reaching up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. “‘Cause I think I fell for you the first time I saw you.”
Mere - 1 year
“What is all of this?” I asked, looking at the bags in Vega’s hands.