Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 52592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
I finish my beer and get up to leave.
“Hey,” the bartender calls out after me. “Was the debt that Vlad owed you repaid by this bloody act? Or should we expect to be seeing you around here again soon?”
“You won’t see me around again,” I say as I walk out the door. “Possibly never.”
When I get back to my car, I pick up the phone and call in a favor to Vincent Moretti. Even though he never delivered Valentina to me for safekeeping, he still asked me to do it, so he owes me, and he’s more than willing to oblige. As long as I’m still the Ghost, powerful men still want to remain on my good side. He sees to it that Detective Monroe has a flight on his private jet out of the country to a remote location where he will stay, if he’s smart.
Before I head back to my apartment and to Elle, I have one more call to make.
“Nico, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you anytime soon,” Luciano’s voice says through the phone. “Is this a friendly call or a favor, or something more daunting?”
“A favor,” I say without needing to remind him that he, too, owes me. Practically everyone in Vegas owes me for something that I’ve done for them at one time or another. “Actually, I’m calling in a favor. I want you to ask your wife to do something for Elle Monroe.”
“That’s an unusual request,” he says.
“I know. But it’s an important one, and it’s not a large ask,” I explain. “I just want Valentina to initiate a call to Elle. I know that the two of them used to be friends, and well, Elle has just gone through a whole hell of a lot. She’s got blood on her hands, for good reason, and she could use a friend to talk to—a female friend. If the call doesn’t go well, Valentina can end it. I just feel that if given the chance, perhaps the two women could put the past behind them and rekindle an old friendship that they could both benefit from.”
“That’s a very empathetic request coming from you,” Luc says. I can hear the curiosity in his voice. “And I’m happy to ask Valentina to do it. Whether she agrees to place the call is up to her. I promised her when I married her, I would never force her to do anything she didn’t want ever again. But I agree it would benefit them both. I have a feeling Valentina misses the friendship she used to have with Elle, too. I picked up on it at the wedding.”
“Thank you,” I say, realizing as soon as I say it that I’ve never actually thanked anyone before.
“Can I ask you something before you hang up?” Luc asks.
“Sure.”
“I can tell, based on the fact that I’ve been right where you are myself, that you’ve grown feelings for this woman. And I can also let you know from personal experience that balancing mafia responsibilities along with a relationship is difficult. I can’t even imagine what it would be like for the Ghost to get involved with a woman while also protecting her from all that you’re involved in, especially a woman who isn’t even from a mafia family. How do you intend to do it?”
I pause before answering because Luciano has given voice to the very question that has been rolling around in my head all day. And it isn’t until I open my mouth to answer him that I discover the answer for myself.
“I don’t,” I say, shedding the weight of my brother’s death and my lifelong pursuit of redemption and vengeance. “I was my brother’s ghost, but Elle has made me human. I think it’s time for me to step out of the shadows and put that life behind me now.”
CHAPTER 22
ELLE
When Nico returns to the apartment, it’s almost as if none of it ever happened. There’s no trace of either my mother’s gunman or my father, no blood on the floor, no regret. There is only Nico and me, and whatever we decide to do from here. I don’t even ask him where he dumped the body or where he sent my father. I don’t care to know about any of it. In fact, for the first time in my life, I actually want to forget about everything that’s happened, everything except Nico and me.
I stand at the window looking out at the city as he comes to stand beside me. I feel much better after my shower, cleaner, clearheaded, ready for a fresh start.
“I’ve never known any place other than Las Vegas,” I tell him. “I mean, I’ve traveled outside the state and the country before. But I’ve never lived anywhere other than Vegas. In that way, I envy you. You’ve lived in an entirely different country.”