Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 107265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
I never even thought about that. Shit, are my men safe? Maybe she doesn’t remember.
“I think we need to figure out a way to get her back. It’s the only way to ensure this place stays safe. Once we get her back, you have to kill her.” I nod my head. He’s not wrong. She’s a liability. She knows all the locations. She’s been there, so she’ll be able to tell them. I’m not sure why she hasn’t yet, but I still don’t trust her.
“How do we get her out?”
“We use Eddie. It’s the only way.”
“Call him up and arrange it. Have him bring her to a point near the estate.”
Eddie doesn’t know about this location yet.
It’s not something I can put in writing, so the estate seems like a better idea.
“Okay. On it.” Most of my men leave the room, but Lorenzo stays.
“What’s up? You have something you want to say?” I level him with my stare.
“When the time comes, Boss, I can do it.” Now I look at him like I have no idea what he’s saying. “I can kill Viviana for you, Matteo.” His voice lowers as he clarifies what he means.
He thinks I fell for her. He’s not wrong, but what he is wrong about is he thinks I’m too weak to kill the woman I love.
Yes. I love her. I figured that out after I pulled the trigger that night and didn’t kill her.
When the barrel clicked, the feeling was not disappointment. No, instead, it was a feeling of relief. That’s when I knew.
The fact still remains, she went against the family. Love or not, I’ll pull the trigger this time.
I am not weak.
37
Viviana
* * *
Luckily, I have had no recent run-ins with Salvatore.
He hasn’t been here. His presence, just a memory now, like a mirage that fades away and you wish you never saw. It reminds you of how close you came to escaping a fate worse than death, but as soon as you were saved, none of it was real.
I was close to tasting freedom.
If I had only done something about it sooner. Confided in Matteo sooner. But unfortunately, I didn’t, and now I’m stuck here, biding my time.
The door to my bedroom opens, and I jump back, expecting to see Salvatore. It’s not him, and I’m surprised to see this man standing in my room. He’s never been anywhere near me. He’s never spoken to me.
“What do you want?” I hiss.
“I’m taking you out of here.” He narrows his eyes.
“I don’t understand.”
His eyes are dark and unreadable. Why is he helping me?
“I spoke to Matteo. He wants me to get you out of here.” My heart starts to flip-flop around in my chest. He finally believes me.
“Okay.”
“Do you need anything?” he asks.
I look around the room, searching for anything I would want to grab. I take my purse and throw my phone in it.
“Anything else?”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Okay, let’s go. We have to go out the back, so no one sees us.”
“Why are you helping me?” I ask again, not understanding.
“I’m working for Matteo,” he clarifies. I squint my eyes but having a spy inside the house is something Matteo would do. Together, we take the back staircase and go down a long, narrow hall.
Eventually, it leads to the kitchen. It’s completely empty, and I wonder if it’s planned or just a stroke of luck. He swings open the back door and parked right past it is a black SUV.
“You’ll need to duck down while we pass security.”
I nod my head, getting into the back, and crawling on the floor until I’m almost tucked as close as I can under the seat in front.
Good thing I’m short, or this plan would never have worked. I can hear him speaking on the phone, but with my ears pressed against the carpet, I’m not sure who it is.
The car swerves and makes a quick right, and I’m pretty sure he’s getting directions from Matteo and trying to confirm no one is following us at the same time.
We drive in silence, other than the occasional phone call he gets. He never speaks to me. He never says anything. My mind is going a mile a minute, wondering what will happen once I’m with Matteo again. Does this mean he believes me? Does this mean he forgives me, or does this mean something else completely? Either way, I’m happy that he got me out because I was pretty sure my father was going to try to use me as bait, eventually.
I think he hoped, at least.
That’s what Salvatore implied, anyway. Maybe this way we can come up with a plan together. All cards on the table. It’s time there are no secrets, which means I’ll need to tell Matteo everything. I’ll have to tell Julia and Jonathan too. But first, we need to get to Matteo, then I can worry about the rest.