Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 99413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
That’s classic Czar. I’m just happy he’s getting a happy ending. Not how he wanted or when. Heck, not even what he wanted, but in the end, he got what was best for him and what he needed.
Looking around, my gaze falls on Sammy watching Brooklyn and Deja. I lock in on the look on his face. His brows are drawn, and his expression is perplexed.
His gaze seems to then find Joe and Cass, and then, after a moment, he turns to Val and Uri. Lastly, he zones in on me as his father walks up behind me and wraps me in his embrace, burying his face in my neck.
The look on his face doesn’t seem to change. It’s not the look he has when he’s in a vision. It’s more like the focus he has when he’s locked in and observing.
This is his look for when he’s learning. I look back to the scene on the dance floor as LaSalle sways me in his arms. Tilting my head to the side, I take it in as a twelve-year-old boy would. Ellen’s words from the letter Sammy let me and LaSalle read last year come back to me.
Stop worrying about whether your deeds will make you unworthy of love. Look around you.
Then there were Sammy’s own words to me once LaSalle left the room that day. My brain was already overloaded with everything, so I didn’t process them fully in the moment. He looked me in the eyes with his soft-spoken words.
“Mo-mo, I saw something else about my life.”
“What was that, baby?” I had asked.
“I saw my wife. I mean, I saw her silhouette standing by me. I haven’t seen her face, but I’ve seen her.
“I have to get this right for her. She will be important to me. I breathe because of her.
“I can’t fail her because I know she will never fail me. I don’t know who she is yet, but I already know I want to keep her safe. I will train harder, and I’ll be more focused.
“I will learn … I will learn to be … I don’t want her to feel like my gift or what I need to do is more important than her. She is my peace.”
Oh my God. He needs more from us than to learn how to be a killer. He needs to understand love—how to love and how it’s received.
That’s what my baby needs from me. Not my instinct to kill but my heart to love. Sammy needs to understand both sides of the coin.
This I can do. Even Misha can give him this. We’re all lethal, but we’re all fierce lovers. I know exactly how LaSalle and I can help our son.
What he needs is already surrounding him. “Thank you, Ellen. I’ve got him from here,” I whisper.
CHAPTER 45
Don’t Play
Sammy
Five years later …
I sneak into the Spinelli home, looking for a man who I need to see. Elizaveta made sure to reveal his spy at the right time. I’ve known for five years who he has had hiding within the Alliance, so has my father but upon my request he left this to me.
I have been waiting for Spinelli to have the balls to put his play into motion. Something has changed and he feels bold enough to make moves against my father.
Now that he has shown his hand, I will be the one to finish them both. That Russian piece of trash is already dead. Now it’s Spinelli’s turn. I waited for him to bring his sons home for this.
I intend to send a message. My father and I are not to be played with. I’m not a forgiving person.
“Milano, I’m taking Marina to her friend’s birthday party,” a female calls out through the house.
“Okay, baby. Youse two be safe. Take Peno and Bruce with you. You need any money?”
“No. I’m fine. We got the gift yesterday. We’ll be back in two or three hours.”
“All right. I’ll be here with the boys. Ciro should be back soon.”
I pause for a moment. My visions never showed me a wife or daughter. Just Spinelli’s two sons, Ciro and Leandro. Leandro is the youngest.
I don’t like killing women or children, so I shrug it off and move forward. I creep through the shadows and find the room my visions have been showing me. Slipping inside the study quietly, I move into the dark corner behind Spinelli’s desk.
The thick drapes give me cover. Then I stand and wait. About twenty minutes go by before Spinelli walks into the study with one of his sons. Good, just as I wanted.
Spinelli moves into the attached bathroom as he still talks to his son. “Have a seat. When your brother gets in, I want to talk to you guys about some things.”
As he continues to babble. I slip out lightning fast and grab Leandro. I hit his pressure points before he can even register my presence. Just as swiftly, I drop him to his knees and cover his mouth with a piece of tape.