Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
I’d forgotten about that. I’d forgotten he was a little boy once.
How different would his life have been if mom hadn’t been killed? How different would he have been?
Maybe not at all. We are still the Moretti mafia family. And he was my father’s successor. So maybe not at all.
I check my phone again for any more messages from Amal, but there still aren’t any. I’m worried about her.
The wind picks up and the rain begins anew. I push my hands into the pockets of Cassian’s jacket. The lights from the kitchen go out and I’m surprised by how much of an impact that has out here. Now, all the light is from the decorative lighting which isn’t much at all.
I should head back, but the rain intensifies, and I duck under a canopy of trees to wait for the worst of it to pass. I’m trying not to think about the fact that I’m standing at the edge of a graveyard. I take the phone out again, scroll to Cassian’s number, but stop myself from calling. He’ll think something is wrong if I do and he needs to take care of his brother right now.
I consider running to the house when I see a shape coming from there. It must be Enzo and he’s carrying an umbrella.
He stops to search for me. I’m hidden out here beneath these trees.
Relieved, I call out to let him know where I am.
He turns and heads toward me, keeping his head down against the punishing rain.
“Figured you were stuck,” he says once he reaches me. “And Cassian told me not to let you out of my sight.”
“I thought I’d wait out the worst of it.”
“The path is pretty muddy. I’ll take you around the other side. There’s an entrance there we can use.”
“What entrance?”
“Leads to the door for Azazel’s chapel.”
I’d seen that door. “I’d wondered about that. I tried it though, from inside. It’s sealed or at the very least, locked.”
“I have the key. Come on before we’re soaked through.”
“It’s a little late for that,” I say with an attempt at a smile. “Are you sure the door’s not sealed?”
“I’m sure.” It looked like it hadn’t been used in years if ever. But I go ahead of him as he extends his arm, so the umbrella shields me from the worst of the rain. When I slip in the mud, he catches me, stopping me from falling. We get to the door, and he hands me the umbrella as he reaches into his pocket for the key.
I hold it over us and look around to where I can see a few soldiers huddled under an overhang to keep dry.
“Why don’t we just go in from the front. We’re close enough,” I say, turning as I finish my sentence, but stopping short when I do.
Enzo is standing, watching me. It’s not a key in his hand, but something else. A small plastic bag he’s opening.
“What are you…” I start, confused. Enzo saved my life. He killed three men to save my life. He almost died himself to save me.
Surely, the warning bells ringing in my head aren’t right.
Just then a figure emerges from behind Enzo. He’s tall and wearing a hoodie that reminds me of the Grim Reaper tattooed on Cassian’s body.
“Enzo, watch out!” I cry out.
Enzo glances over his shoulder, then back at me. Half a dozen more men follow this first one, hoodies hiding their faces.
But Enzo doesn’t move.
In fact, he’s calm.
“Enzo?” I hear myself ask as he drops the plastic bag and holds a rag in his hand.
“I’m sorry, Allegra. I didn’t want to hurt you,” he says, and steps toward me.
I open my mouth to scream, to call the attention of the soldiers, but before I can, Enzo grabs me roughly and pulls me into his chest. He slaps the cloth he takes out of the bag over my nose and mouth, muffling my scream, my struggles are useless against his strength. The chloroform begins to do its work. My hands slip from his forearm, arms dropping limp at my sides. As the world goes sideways and darkness closes in around me, the last thing I see is the traitorous face of Enzo Trevino.
32
CASSIAN
Iscrub my face, barely able to keep my eyes open. I haven’t slept a full night in too long.
I’m headed back home after seeing Seth and speaking with his doctors and the security team. Seth is in the ICU and it’s not looking good. He tumbled down the main staircase. They don’t know what he was doing up. How he was out of his room. The security cameras happened to have stopped working right around the time of his fall. The last thing they captured was a black SUV with opaque windows pulling into the lot, two men in black, hoods pulled over their heads climbing out, then nothing.