Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
Family.
It was a fickle word for a man who spoke the oath of the omertà. It meant that while you had a family you were been born into, you still swore that your loyalty to The Family came above all.
Vincent had thought himself lucky that joining the Caruso family was one and the same for him … until he found out the devastating news that his father, Vinny Vitale, had betrayed his oath.
The Vitales had been the trusted advisers and confidants to the Caruso bosses since the creation of the family. With his father as one of the greatest consiglieres in history, he had helped broker a deal between the two feuding families, the Carusos and Lucianos. So, imagine the surprise when they had all found out that Vinny was the elusive killer One Shot who had not only taken Luciano lives, but the Carusos and, perhaps the most devastating of all, Dante’s late wife and the mother to all his children, Melissa.
Now imagine how his son, Vincent, felt.
Looking at anything that reminded him of his father was hard. Looking at any other made man in the family was hard. Looking at his girlfriend, Lake, was hard. Hell, just looking at his reflection in the mirror was hard. But worst of all, looking at his bosses, Dante and now Lucca, was the hardest of all.
He should have been labeled as a betrayer and killed right alongside his father, yet he hadn’t. Dante, Lucca, Nero, and everyone else in the family had shown him forgiveness, because they’d said there was simply nothing to forgive. Telling him that they themselves hadn’t known the extent of Vinny’s betrayal, so how could he have known? But he should have.
Vincent was dumb.
Naïve.
Talkative.
Idiotic.
Charming.
He was a funny yet endearing kind of person who joked way too much in life, but not anymore. Nothing in life was funny, or a joke, and he was, most of all, no longer a charming, naïve, talkative idiot who was dumb enough to miss the obvious.
Now, as he ran miles around downtown, in dangerous places, hoping for someone to give him a reason to kill, after months, his prayers had finally been answered.
So, imagine his surprise yet again to find them to be answered right in the Casino Hotel …
Valerie had been internally screaming for help as she was forced to leave the Casino Hotel, knowing Edmond had a trained gun right at her back. Without her bat or a weapon of her own, any false move meant she’d be dead. If it hadn’t been for the crowded casino, she’d at least tried to fight back like she did with Gerard, but she hadn’t been comfortable risking the lives of bystanders.
She’d kept her head forward while her eyes scanned the casino for anyone she knew who could help her, but with not a single made man in sight, or a customer willing to even look up from their slot machine, she’d known she was shit out of luck.
Trying to desperately think under pressure of what to do, she had devised her best plan of taking Officer Daniels and Sal’s advice of running like hell. Sure, she’d probably get shot, but she’d have a better chance of it not being fatal or paralyzing her from the waist down.
As soon as she’d crossed the threshold of the Casino Hotel door’s, she had planned to run, but that plan had gone to hell in a hand basket when a man in a gray hoodie, who had been drenched in sweat, bumped into her and sent the gun at her back pinching into her skin with no doubt of it going to leave a bruise.
The strong man had caught her from falling, making Valerie practically curse out loud. She would have preferred that, as it could have given her enough of an element of surprise to take the gun from Edmond. But, as the man had held her steady for only a brief moment, Valerie had caught that baby blue gaze under his low hood that was unmistakable.
Vincent.
And in that second, her gamer brain had known exactly what to do.
“Sorry.”
Vincent had muttered harshly once he’d grabbed a hold of the woman to steady her. He had almost thought it was a boy at first, only deciding to catch her once he realized he was a she. He wanted a reason to fight someone, but he drew the line at women and children.
His hood had been so low from his run out in the cold that he didn’t bother enough to look before he jogged through the open door. Nor had Vincent bothered to even look the woman fully in the face. It wasn’t until he felt the rigid woman in his arms that he finally decided to give her a real look.
It was Valerie, the girl he had met yesterday at Sal’s place. If he hadn’t already met her, he would have thought nothing of the frightful look she gave him. He thought the obnoxious gamer held anything in her but fear.