Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Romano pulls me off Benedict. The goons all draw their guns, looking ready to use them as Benedict spits more blood, still laughing hysterically. It makes me sick, but he’s not the first monster I’ve met who enjoys a little pain.
“What the fuck is this?” Malcolm snaps, staring around. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“Where is she?” I shout over Romano, but my second-in-command doesn’t let me go.
“He thinks we have his girlfriend,” Benedict says, shaking his head, smirking through red, bloodied lips. “He’s gone insane with jealousy.”
Malcolm’s smile boils my blood. “Oh, Gavino, I know I’m rich and handsome, but I promise you Jeanie isn’t my type. She’s much too… relatable. Too much like a daughter to me.” He laughs and turns away. “Don’t worry though. I’m sure she’s fine. Now please, my boys will walk you two out and I don’t want any more trouble. I’m willing to forget this little encounter ever happened and chalk it up to the price of doing business with a gangster. I have some lady friends waiting and I do believe they’ve called a few more of their closest besties out to party. I’m in for a wild night and I don’t want any more distractions. Take care of this.”
Malcolm exits. I stand there, snarling, but I’m outnumbered and outgunned. Benedict washes his face off in the sink and pats it dry with paper towels as the goons shove their guns against my body and steer me toward the exit. “This isn’t over,” I snap but Benedict only laughs again and spits more blood.
One of the big guys takes my gun as I’m shoved into the hall and away from the thumping music. There’s an emergency exit that spits us out into an alley. The thugs hesitate before disappearing back inside, and the door closes, clicking shut. There’s no knob or handle on this side.
I punch the damn door, frustration chewing at my insides.
Romano leans against the wall and sighs.
“That wasn’t subtle,” he says.
“No, it wasn’t.” I take a breath to steady myself before giving him a look. “But they have her.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. And I just kicked the damn hornet’s nest.” I turn from the door and start walking to the parking lot. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“We set the trap. Now we need to wait for Benedict to take the bait.”
Chapter 32
Jeanie
It’s hard to stay focused when all my mind wants to do is wander. The light remains on, a steady glow, and I lie back on the mattress staring at the ceiling, willing my body to fall asleep.
I’m exhausted. It’s a tiredness so deep that I can’t crawl free. I feel it deep in my muscles, deep in my heart. There’s a cord around my chest, and each breath is a struggle.
I keep seeing Gavino’s face as he stands near the window in his suite from earlier this morning. The pain and focus. The hatred and hurt. The pure betrayal. I wish I could open up my mind and let him see into my thoughts so he’d understand that I never, ever wanted to hurt him, that I only kept the truth about my identity a secret out of fear.
He thinks I broke his heart and that kills me.
Even stuck in this place, it comes back to Gavino. Even knowing that my father is going to feed me to his pet shark, I still keep thinking about the man that nearly gave me happiness.
It’s pathetic, I know, but I can’t help myself.
For so many years, I’ve only ever had struggle and misery. I watched my mother succumb to addiction. I dealt with rapist stepfathers. I endured abuse, neglect, assault. My body was barely my own for so many years.
And finally, I had something.
But it’s gone, and I’m alone.
I’m half drifting, pretending that I’m back in bed in Villa Bruno waiting for Gavino to come back upstairs, wrapped in heaven and buzzing with anticipation for his touch, only minutes before I was thrown crashing back down to earth. Those ten minutes in bed might’ve been the best ten minutes of my life. At least the best ten minutes without him around.
The door lock thuds and I open my eyes with a sharp breath. Benedict steps into the room, his face a puffy mess. His lips are both cracked and broken, and his teeth and gums are pink with blood. He looks like someone punched him repeatedly in the face, and for a moment my heart leaps at the thought of him taking a beating—
But the way he stares at me makes my stomach turn.
He steps into the room and closes the door.
“Hello, Jeanie.” He comes closer, hovering, dressed for the club in a black shirt and black slacks. There’s blood on his shirt, dark brown and barely visible.
“What happened?”
“Don’t worry about what happened.” He reaches into his back pocket and removes a knife. He flips it open and looks at the long, gleaming blade. The edge catches the light just like that knife back in my apartment did the last time Benedict stood over me like this and I know it’s sharp, razor sharp. I back away, pressing myself against the wall, fear pulsing down my spine.