Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
I’ve insulted his pride, and so he lashes out.
“Do you know why you’re not the leader of the Moretti family, and Vincent is?” he snarls. “Because you let your emotions run you, Luciano. You’re weaker than your cousin, and you shouldn’t have poked your nose into the business of proper leaders. Does Vincent even know you keep trying to play at being the alpha male? I’m betting not. He’ll find out soon enough though, when the wolves come knocking at the door of the Moretti house. You’re a fool to think that you’re dealing with just one man. My reach stretches much further than you can even imagine. The Barones, for starters, would be more than pleased to collect their pound of flesh from your family. Angelo Barone and I have some business together, which makes him an amicable partner of mine. You’d be wise to rethink my demand and hand Valentina Ricci back over to me before you dig a grave for not only yourself but everyone else that you care about as well.”
Without thinking first, I abruptly hung up the call. I don’t want to hear anymore of Leonardo’s bullshit demands.
I’m usually level-headed, cool-tempered, and pragmatic. But right now, I can feel my blood racing through my veins like a thousand small rivers inside of me. No one will bully me, and I won’t surrender Valentina. And if Leonardo Conti coaxes Angelo Barone out from hiding in order to combine forces with him, then they’ll have to get through me first.
CHAPTER 5
VALENTINA
Ican’t help but notice that Luc seems more on edge now that we’ve gotten up into the hotel suite than he was down at the casino bar. When he returned from taking his phone call, his demeanor, although he tried to hide it, seemed different and more worried than before.
“Is everything alright?” I ask as he pours himself a scotch from the minibar and takes a seat on the long couch in the living room of the suite.
“Yes, everything is fine,” he says with a tight smile. “Are you okay? I know you’ve been through a lot, and I’m sure it’s difficult having everything up in the air right now. I promise that we’ll get you settled as soon as possible.”
“Settled?” I ask, not even sure what that means for me anymore. I sigh and sit down beside him as Luc hands me his glass to take a sip, but I decline. “Do you remember the conversation that we had while we stood in the corner of that gala years ago? The one that made me giggle and garnered the attention of everyone around us.”
“I do,” he says with a small chuckle. “There were at least two other men standing close enough for me to hear their remarks when they looked over and saw you smiling so widely. Honestly, I wanted to punch their lights out for thinking such salacious thoughts about how delicious you looked in your dress.”
“You never told me that!” I laugh. “Well, I was thinking more about what you said that made me giggle. We had been talking about my love of photography, and you suggested I take a series of candid mafia photos—a sort of visual exposé. I responded that photographing the mafia would likely anger them, and you joked I could use the photos for their obituaries if they dared to harm me.”
Luciano laughs again and nods as he remembers the conversation vividly. “That should have been your first clue that I didn’t want anyone else touching you.”
I can feel the heat rise to my cheeks when I think back to that night. I knew I felt a burning attraction to him, but I was still uncertain if Luc felt the same way about me. After all, he was older, in a position of authority as a consigliere, and could have had any woman he chose. It didn’t seem plausible that he and I would ever have the chance to be anything more than friends, and yet—here we are.
“It’s been a long time since you and I have had the chance to sit and talk,” I muse as he refills his glass. “When you climbed into my window, there wasn’t much talking that night, and then after the incident at the church in Italy and on the plane ride home, well, there wasn’t much talking then either. I’ve missed our friendship.”
“So have I.” Luc leans forward to kiss me and, as much as I want to, I feel like maybe we should slow things down a little. Everything has been a crazy, passion-fueled, adrenaline rush since he climbed through my window, and I want to make sure that it isn’t just a forbidden lust that is behind our feelings.
“I think maybe we should take things slow now,” I suggest as I let my lips brush against his. “Get to know each other again in the midst of all this chaos.”