Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
A knock sounded at the door, before a key card was scanned, and it opened, revealing Tank.
And a very shocked expression before he cursed, looked away, ran into two walls, and left.
“Think he’s going to tell?” I panted.
Ivan rested his chin against my shoulder. “I guess if he does you won’t have to worry anymore, I’ll be dead by morning.” He tightened his arms around me. “On that nice thought.” He pressed me down onto my back and lifted my thong back into its semi rightful place and kissed me on the mouth. “Maybe it’s better this way.”
He got off me, clearly aroused, and pulled the covers over me. “Wait.” I grabbed his hand. “Don’t go.”
“Monsters like the dark.” He pointed out. “It’s a bit too light in here.”
“So, turn off the lights.”
“I wasn’t talking about the actual light that’s bright… I was talking about you.” He hesitated, then leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “Make sure my funeral’s pretty and at least pretend to cry.”
“Tears of joy?”
“Absolutely, make it embarrassingly epic,” he said sadly. “If you hear screaming, you can start celebrating.”
Minutes went by before the key card sounded again and Tank was back in my room. “Everything okay in here?”
I pretended to be asleep and nearly choked on my own breath when he walked through the hotel room toward Ivan’s room and closed the door.
No gunshots.
No screaming.
No fighting.
I wondered what was worse, the noise or lack of it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I thrive off weakness of others in a way that scares me, and yet I wouldn’t want it any other way.” —King Campisi
Ivan
“I can feel you staring at me, just get it over with.” I stared up at the ceiling, huh, never saw my death going this way. Nice hotel.
Gorgeous woman in the other room I wasn’t allowed to touch but kind of sort of did.
And blood in my future.
I failed him.
I failed my Family.
“You swore.” Tank grated out, stepping away from the door and sitting on the bed, at least he didn’t have a weapon out, then again, he probably knew I wouldn’t fight him anyway, an oath was an oath.
I sighed. “I also swore to her, and she’s my wife and wanted one thing for herself, so I gave it, like a good husband. Nobody asked her what she wanted. I did. I fucking did.”
Tank let out a rough exhale. “I know. Any more intel outside of the picture you have?”
“Underground, yes, still pulling strings. The worst has in fact happened, and you’re probably on everyone’s ‘let’s go on a killing spree’ list, good guys included.”
“Yay,” he deadpanned. “The picture is still going under diagnostics, we can’t see a face, they’re wearing a hood and a beanie, the car’s blacked out, no traceable plates.”
“Right.” I bit down on my bottom lip. “And the information that leaked toward Junior massacring Family members and embezzling money?”
Tank snorted out a laugh. “More good news. All traces link to him, if the rest of the bosses found out they’d think he did exactly what she did—betrayed the Five Families but we know he didn’t have it in him, not even when death stared him straight in the eyes. He was set up.”
“In such a grotesque way.”
“Actually…” Tank scratched his face and reached for his phone, then tossed it to me. “…figured you’d want good news?”
I grabbed the phone and sat up. “What am I looking at?”
“Bank records. All of the money was sent to his account, not a penny was withdrawn and then, as of his death, not a cent left.”
“But he was dead.” I tossed the phone back.
“Exactly. So where did the money go?”
“Not to a corpse,” I whispered. “And he wouldn’t touch blood money. How much was it?”
“Everything the Five Families promised to the De Langes for staying true to the treaty and it’s about to get doubled since you just resigned. They’re filling the Family coffers. The only question is who’s pulling all the money from them.”
I ran my hands through my hair. “Yeah. Keep digging, and I’ll keep looking weak, stupid, and easy to manipulate, as power hungry as possible and as much of a monster as I can that makes sense, within reason.” I’d also spend the shit out of whatever I could get my hands on just to piss whoever it was off.
Oh, good, well within reason. The more I hated myself, the more I wanted her.
“Don’t hurt her,” Tank whispered. “I genuinely like her and think she’s a good person, it’s not her fault she was the easiest target in all of this.”
I scoffed. “And me? What about me? I am quite literally bleeding all over the place while also sitting like a giant fat-ass duck ready to get shot for Christmas dinner, shit I’m in the Christmas Carol.”
“Does that make me Tiny Tim?”