Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
He sighs, glancing at his watch. “It’s late.”
I keep my mouth shut, knowing that I can’t excuse myself. I have to wait until my father feels like this conversation is over to begin the long night ahead. Finally, he slams a palm down on the desk. Edoardo, Gio, and I flinch. Nobody in this room is in danger. We’re all high-level executives in a business empire that my father runs. He’s not going to shoot any of us or hurt us. But still, his anger is unsettling. I’m glad I’m not Carlo Andretti. I wonder if the man knows what kind of sleeping giant he’s woken up now that he’s threatened my father’s offspring.
“Go to sleep,” he tells me.
“Thank you,” I say, getting up before he changes his mind. I nod to Gio before slipping out the door. Sleep would be awesome, but unfortunately that’s not on the agenda right now.
I stop by the kitchen to grab a snack before heading upstairs. The cook has left some delicious-looking lasagna in the fridge, so I help myself to a slice. I grab a fork, thinking I’ll eat it cold. It’ll be just as good, and I won’t have to waste time waiting in front of the microwave.
In my room, I set my dinner down. I want to change before I do anything. Getting out of my gangster clothes makes me feel like a real person again. I choose sweatpants and a hoodie because I’m not going anywhere. I might as well be comfortable if I have to stay up until midnight studying.
I grab my computer and sit down at my desk. Opening the laptop, I call up the bar exam website. They’ve posted more questions today, which is good. That’s what I pay for, a constant stream of study material that’s almost guaranteed to help me pass. If I can just learn all the concepts and apply them to my life, I’ll be set.
I think about what I did today and how it would look to a jury. Luckily, Gio rarely beats anyone up. He leaves that kind of thing to Dante and the other soldiers. But money changed hands nearly nine times today, between people and companies that have no business working together.
I might not be a lawyer yet, but I’m keeping score. I might as well go into my new life with open eyes. Already, I’ve committed multiple felonies, and I’m just getting started. I consider my love affair with Sofia, and worry that I’m going to hurt her. She’s a sweet girl, and she doesn’t deserve a boyfriend who’s in jail.
I munch on the lasagna as I read through all the case law in front of me. I’m juggling a lot of balls here. If any of them fall, I’ll be in a world of hurt. But I’m trapped. I can’t say no to my father, and I don’t want to break it off with Sofia. So, I’m straddling the divide between worlds, hoping to avoid catastrophe. It’s consuming all my energy, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up.
CHAPTER 20
SOFIA
I’ve become an expert on my would-be boyfriend. I log every time he texts me, and when I hit a wall in my research, I go back to his text thread. I try to analyze the words he writes. Are any of them full of hidden meaning? Has he dropped any hints that I missed the first time around? Scrolling back through the blue and green text bubbles, I reminisce.
In the beginning, our texts were hesitant. We were each trying to impress the other. The more recent ones are much more elaborate, with entire paragraphs describing our feelings and our memories. I can tell that he stays up until one or two in the morning sometimes, and that he wakes up early as well. This means he’s probably not sleeping very much. I’m not sure whether that’s good or bad, or if it has any significance at all.
I usually wake up around eight-thirty because I’m not a morning person. If I have to be in the office by nine, that gives me half an hour to wake up, get dressed, drink some coffee, and drive. I’m always a few minutes late, but no one has ever said anything.
When I arrive at work, I decide to reach out to Frankie. I’m getting nowhere with my research, so I have time on my hands. Mario is waiting for me to deploy him on another assignment, but so far, there’s nowhere else I want him to go. And Mr. Harlan is still waiting for that article, and I only have a few days left to put something on his desk.
I stare at my screen for a few moments, composing a text in my head. Finally, I type, trying to make the question relaxed rather than pushy.