Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 154525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“Finally,” Salvatore said, smiling, “I’ve got the conversation where I want it. You see the issue, yes? Marco.”
Nico frowned. “I haven’t seen Marco in a long time, Sal.”
“I did. Right before he ran us off the road.”
At once, Nico understood. He figured out why Salvatore had been so quiet for the last two weeks. That gun on the table made sense, too.
“Marco ran you off the road,” Nico said, feeling like an echo.
“Well, that’s your father’s business now. Apparently.”
“I hope you don’t trust Giorgio to handle it even the slightest bit, if at all.”
“I do not. That’s why I informed you.”
“I guess I don’t understand why I needed to know, but—”
“Because he meant it to be you,” Salvatore intoned.
“This isn’t even the fourth time” Nico muttered.
Salvatore’s gaze softened. “Yes, I do remember something like this happened before.”
“Oh, what’s your favorite? Mine’s when he gave me alcohol poisoning at six during a Christmas party, and I vomited all through the house until I passed out. First time getting my stomach pumped, fun times.”
“None of it. It all horrified me. Especially the time he wrapped you in a duvet and duct taped your head and neck before throwing you in a closet. We got that tape off just to find you blue. Carina cried.”
Nico sat up straighter as discomfort settled in.
“I had brothers, too. Once,” Salvatore added, his tone rougher. “They’re dead now, and we fought, too. We were...competitive about most everything. It just wasn’t the same with you and Marco, but your father wouldn’t hear it.”
Nico sniffed hard, swallowing back the emotion lodging in his throat. “Right, well, is Marco a discretionary thing for me?”
“Pardon?”
“My brother. Is that a discretionary thing like we talked about? You said I could use my discretion about people and things to determine whether your rules come into play.”
That conversation happened a few days after their initial talk on Salvatore’s rules, but it mattered to Nico.
“Very discretionary, given the situation,” Salvatore informed.
“Good to know.”
Salvatore folded his arms over his chest. “The phone is new, but I’m sure you can tell. The number for it is with everything else in there somewhere. Larkin is good at keeping things organized for me. You have full access to the estate, do not abuse it. And I expect over the next couple of months you will work toward finding your own place closer to wherever you find yourself working.”
“I still answer to you?”
“Everyday of your life until I, or someone else, says otherwise.”
He didn’t like what that implied.
“Could my father—”
“Be one less problem, Nico,” Salvatore interjected. “For everyone, for your own damn sake.”
He’d keep it mind.
“Uh, is it my turn now?” Nico asked.
“For what?”
“You said you’d answer my question about when you started keeping a gun if I was honest.”
“And you don’t forget a deal. You already have the answer. It’s a recent development.”
“Marco.”
“Marco,” Salvatore echoed. “I’ll give you another question, if you feel the need. Just to keep things fair between us.”
“How about two? That’ll make it three, for three folders, if you really want it to be fair.”
A chuckle rumbled across the table.
“Shoot,” Salvatore murmured.
“Are you high?” Nico asked, right out with it.
Salvatore froze in his seat. “Excuse me?”
“I heard Carina. She said opiates—”
“Hear less, Nico.”
“Right, but she said—”
“She’s wrong,” Salvatore snapped. “And what happens between my wife and I in private is none of your concern. Including the things we say to one another. You can’t possibly know the context of that conversation, or why she said it in the first place. If you’re asking because you are concerned, don’t.”
“Okay,” Nico replied.
He wouldn’t push it. Except...
“Frankie’s got games. You should be there.”
“I will be.”
“Third question, then?”
“It depends. Now you’re working my last nerve, Nico.”
“I’m good at that.”
“You bet, kid.”
“Anyway, can I go?”
Salvatore’s brow furrowed. “What?”
“Frankie’s upcoming games. Can I go? She asked me, so...”
Silence filled the study.
Salvatore stared.
Nico waited.
“She asked Carina, too,” Salvatore said to himself.
“I think she wants to see familiar faces when she looks out from the field. People that mean something to her.”
Salvatore’s gaze slammed into him again. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Don’t repeat that back to yourself too many times, okay?”
Just because Salvatore said not to, Nico did it.
It took him five times.
He meant something.
To her.
7. — pills and priorities...
Union, New Jersey
Salvatore, Big Mike’s Deli
Salvatore pinched the bridge of his nose and eyed the restaurant windows. He dry-swallowed the acetaminophen with codeine tablet that had been melting on his tongue for a minute.
Holding it there allowed the bitterness to do the real work of tricking his brain. His headache lessened immediately but that was the mind game of addiction. Pain management toed a fine line for him. Since he agreed to an IV painkiller after the accident, the demon chased him.
“Where the hell are you?” hissed Carina through the phone.
Grumbling, he replied, “Not there, obviously.”