Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
He was quiet.
I lifted my gaze to glance at him.
He was still smirking.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Come on. What’s the real reason?”
“That is the real reason.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Maybe you aren’t my type.”
Then he released a quick, loud laugh. “I’m everyone’s type—except gay women and straight men.”
“Cristo, you’re arrogant.” I pierced the needle into his flesh, this time digging a little harder than necessary on purpose.
He didn’t flinch. “Have dinner with me.” His voice softened now, back to his agenda.
“I’m starting to wonder if my father was right about you.”
“What does that mean?”
“That you’re a mole who will destroy us from the inside. Your first step is to fuck Vincenzo Mancini’s daughter as a big fuck-you before you do whatever else you have planned.”
His eyebrows immediately furrowed. “That’s not my style.”
“Then you just like women who are off-limits? Maybe that’s your type.”
“That’s not it either.”
“Then what is it, Wolfe?” I snapped. “We had our night together, and it’s done.”
He studied me with his eyes, razor-sharp, hard, and piercing. “What aren’t you telling me?”
I finished his stitches then cleaned the wound once more.
“Are you married? Have a boyfriend?”
“Wow.”
“I don’t have a problem stealing you from a lesser man—”
“Don’t insult me,” I said. “I don’t want to get involved with any of my father’s men. I’ve been down this road before, and I don’t want to walk down it again, alright?” That was the most I was willing to share with him.
He held my stare, unblinking, like he was desperate to know more but wouldn’t cross the boundary that I set.
“If I left your father’s employment, would you give me a chance?”
I held his stare, surprised he was willing to do that. “No. You really aren’t my type, Wolfe. Not in appearance or personality or anything like that, but in a different way.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, and a solid minute passed. Then that smirk moved over his lips when he seemed to figure it out. “Now I understand. Because I’m a criminal—and you’re looking for an upstanding citizen.”
I stared at the dirty suture kit that sat on the table.
He released a chuckle.
My gaze shifted back to him as my eyebrow cocked.
“That’s not what you want.”
“Excuse me?”
“You really see yourself settling down with a dentist or some shit?” he asked incredulously. “A boring life of mediocrity and bullshit?”
“I don’t care how boring or mediocre it is—as long as he comes home at the end of the day.”
Now his stare changed entirely, softening in a way it never had before. He seemed to read all my secrets as if I’d written them on my face in permanent ink. His eyes flicked back and forth between mine as he continued to absorb my energy, as he continued to feel everything I tried to suppress deep inside me. Then he gave a slow nod as if he finally understood. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
My eyes flicked away.
But he continued to stare at me. Stare hard. Stare like he would never stop. “But that wouldn’t happen with me.”
“Your arrogance is the thing that’s going to get you killed, Wolfe.”
He didn’t raise his voice. In fact, he lowered it. “Look at me.”
I kept my eyes on the suture kit.
His hand reached for my neck, and he gently turned my face and forced me to meet his stare. “Francesca.” His warm fingers remained pressed against my cold skin, authoritative but also soft, reminding me of our night together and the way he could take me hard one moment and then gently the next. “If you were my woman, nothing would stop me from coming home to you.”
9
WOLFE
I spotted Salvatore smoking a cigar outside the cellar. “I want to see Don Mancini.”
He just took a puff and let it escape his mouth as he looked at me. “Why?”
“I know who robbed him.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “What robbery—”
“I know their shipment from the US was confiscated. Let’s skip the bullshit.” I’d overheard Francesca’s conversation with her brother because I’d eavesdropped on purpose. I’d assumed some bad shit had happened for a phone call to take place that late. “Where is he?”
He continued to hold the cigar between his fingertips, and it seemed like he was going to take another puff but decided against it. Instead, he flicked it onto the ground and stepped on it. “How’d you know about it?”
“People talk.”
“Which people? Because it was clear you weren’t supposed to know about it.”
I stared him down and held my silence. “You want your shit back or not?”
He sized me up before he nodded toward the car. “They’re in Enna. I’ll take you.”
We walked to the parking lot and hopped in the car. Salvatore took off and made it to the main road then headed inland. Enna was the next city over, a sprawling village on the hilltop, the church one of the highest buildings in the city. Because of the elevation, it had a breathtaking view of Mount Etna, which looked like a neighbor at that angle.