Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“Do you think Vincent is a decent man?” I ask.
Confliction plays out across her face almost instantly. “What do you mean by decent? You realize who he is, right?”
“Yes,” I nod. “Vincent Moretti, notorious mafia don and lethal killer.”
Her eyes widen a bit in shock at my bluntness.
“I realize you work for him,” I say, stating the obvious. “And I’m sure your loyalty to Vincent is unwavering, but woman to woman, I’m asking you to tell me the truth. Please.”
Zara takes a slow sip from her coffee cup. She’s reluctant to be seen as befriending me, and I can understand why. Everyone around this place knows that Vincent demands unadulterated loyalty from each of them. Consequences for disloyalty are dire, as one dancer backstage at the ballet discovered—the night my life changed. But conflicted or not, Zara is the closest thing that I have here to a friend. Even if her answer is cryptic.
“Even the Devil was a good man once upon a time,” she says. “All of us have moments with wings and moments where we fall from grace, Isla. And all of us like to keep the worst versions of ourselves private. But privacy is an illusion, and you should trust no one—including me.”
With that, she stands up from the table, leaving me to wonder who, if there’s anyone here, I can actually trust. I still want to believe it could be her.
“Morning, ladies,” Vincent’s consigliere says as he strides into the penthouse.
I can see Marco close the door behind him after letting Luc in. It is a bit of reassurance knowing that Marco is always lingering nearby. As my personal bodyguard, he’s the second most vested person committed to keeping me safe. Some others I’m not so sure about, especially ones like Alonzo.
I watch as Luciano comes in to talk to Zara for a moment, and I eavesdrop on their conversation. Him, I’m not so sure about. I think his careful rule-following makes him potentially deadly or restrained, depending on the rules he follows.
“Any news on that small project I asked you to look into, Zara?” he asks as I go to stand by the window and pretend to be uninterested in their conversation.
“The Conti Family hack?” she asks. “Not yet. Leonardo Conti keeps his computer servers tightly monitored. Hacking into that is going to take some time. It might help if you tell me exactly what information it is that you want me to find in there.”
“Anything he’s got on Valentina Ricci,” Luc answers.
The abrupt silence causes me to turn and glance over at them. Zara has one eyebrow raised and her jaw dropped as she looks at him.
“Luc,” she says finally. “You know that heiress is off-limits, right? You’ll start a war between the families if you even so much as think about—”
Vincent’s arrival interrupts her vocal concern. Instantly, the two of them drop their conversation and greet their boss as if they hadn’t been talking at all. It’s a small hairline crack in what is otherwise a perfect façade of obedience. But my attention is no longer focused on them. It’s immediately redirected to the man that I’ve been longing to see for days now.
“Vincent!” I call out without meaning to sound so panicked. “Where have you been?”
He looks straight at me but says nothing. He goes to Zara and Luc, addressing them both. Their conversation quickly turns to one of business, spoken in coded words so that I can’t quite follow what they’re saying as I stand there being ignored.
He’s punishing me with his silence. The kiss enraged him, leading to my punishment via his absence; alternatively, Vincent’s response to it might explain his wrath. When he gets ready to leave, I call out to him again.
“Vincent, wait. I need to talk to you,” I say as I walk toward the door and stand in front of it, using my body to block him from leaving.
He could easily shove me aside. Instead, he glares at me with a sort of unchecked vehemence that makes my hands shake. Still, I don’t budge.
“Leave us,” Vincent commands over his shoulder to both Zara and Luciano.
I step away from the door as the two of them walk out. Zara hesitates, her look conveying sympathy, as though sensing my imminent scolding. It makes me feel a little bit reassured, thinking that maybe she really is forming a slightly protective friendship with me. With them gone and the door closed, it’s only Vincent and I left in the room filled with palpable tension.
“What is it that you need to talk to me about, Isla?” he says with a carefully controlled tone.
“Where have you been?” I ask, taking a step closer to him. “Why haven’t you been back here to see me in days? You can’t just keep me locked up in here like some sort of doll on the top shelf that you take out to look at every once in a while? You can’t just ignore me, not after what happened between us.”