Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“That’s the difference between you and me. I don’t fuck around. Stop worrying about me. You have bigger issues. I’m thinking if I was looking to get a woman alone because she’s shit-hot but also has an old man that’s loaded, and I’m desperate for money…”
“Update me if you hear anything else,” I growl and hang up.
“Marco?” Melina says, sliding off DeLuca’s lap. He’s watching me and I know he is aware shit has just gone sideways.
“Get on the phone. Keep trying to get Helena on the phone. Don’t stop. I need her to turn her phone on and keep it on so I can find her.”
Melina is already dialing the phone, looking extremely worried. She does it while berating me though. “Fine, but you need to tell me what the hell is going on and I want to know now. I’m also going to point out that none of this would have been an issue if you had married her and clued her into the fact that you actually do care about her.”
I ignore her while getting the text from EZ. I immediately text it to Sebastian. “Sebastian, talk to Elias. See if he can get a trace on Helena’s phone and the number, I just texted you. They may be headed to Vegas.” He nods, turning away without another word. DeLuca is still watching me.
“I’ll get in touch with Victorio. He was great at that shit. It’s why I kept him as a bodyguard for so long, even though he is much better doing what he is now,” he says.
“I’m heading to America. I was going tomorrow regardless. Seems Zervas trapped her and made his move earlier than we thought he would. That’s on me. I wasn’t aware he was in over his head with Levkin. I need men on the ground in Phoenix, DeLuca. I’ll also need to take some with me to Vegas. I’m flying there since that’s probably where they’re headed. If you can’t—”
“Stop that shit right there. This is a family. I’ll call Niko. He’ll get it arranged. They’ll meet you at the airstrip. If we get a bead on the phones, I’ll route whichever crew is headed the wrong way to the correct one, DeLuca orders.”
“Sounds good. I’m leaving to get my woman,” I respond, starting to walk away.
“Praise Jesus, you’ve come to your senses,” Melina mutters, her cell still pressed to her ear.
“Any answer from her?” I stop to ask.
“No. It keeps going to her voicemail. I’m going to try texting her. Sometimes that works better,” she responds, not looking up. “When we get her back safely, I’m going to turn my husband loose on you to punish you for the stress you’ve put me under, Marco. I’m pregnant! I’m not supposed to be getting upset.”
“Melina—”
“Don’t you Melina me. You need to knock some sense into him, Antonio.”
There’s humor in DeLuca’s face, despite the tension that is still evident there. “Yeah, il mio tesoro, I do.”
“Melina,” I growl again.
“Just go get her. You’re lucky I’m even talking to you right now,” she huffs. “Damn it, Helen! Pick up the phone right now, or I swear to you, when I get ahold of you, you won’t be able to sit for a freaking week,” she screams into her phone.
“Jesus Christ,” I snap. “DeLuca contain her. It doesn’t take a big imagination to know where she picked up that threat from.”
“It’s an effective threat,” Melina mutters.
“Yeah, well, if anyone spanks Helena’s ass, it will be me. It’s annoying enough that my sister kissed her before me.”
“Say what?” DeLuca responds—doing it in a way that tells me he wasn’t aware of that little morsel of information.
“Oh my God, Marco! You need to let that go!”
“You kissed Helena? Where the fuck was I?” DeLuca growls.
“You weren’t around,” she mutters. “I’m going to kill you, Marco.”
“This isn’t shit you keep from me, Lina. You like that kind of thing then we can make it happen.”
Milena’s whole body goes tight. My gaze rakes over DeLuca and I can tell he’s playing with my sister. I can also tell that she’s hasn’t clued into that yet. I’m sure of that by the way she’s looking at him, but it’s clearer when she speaks.
“If I were you, I’d hush now. You’re stressing me out and that’s not good for me or the baby. I was in school. I was a kid and we wanted to know what kissing was all about. It was an all-girls school. The options were limited. That said, if you so much as let another woman around any part of you, the only way you’d ever get back in my bed is if you cut that part off, buried it in the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, had the ground spoken over by a voodoo warrior princess who would help to make sure that portion of your body was doomed into hell for eternity.”