Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“You’re not going to kill him,” she says. It’s not a question and not really a demand. Just a statement like she wants to believe the best from her oldest son.
“I’m not going to kill him,” I confirm. And I mean it. “Assuming I don’t have to.”
She closes her eyes and nods her head. “What do you need from me?”
I tell her my plan. It’s surprisingly simple and came to me last night. I’m not sure it’s going to work, but at this point it feels like I have only one option.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try.” She gathers up her sunglasses and puts them back on. “I should get going before your father gets worried.”
“I’ll keep Davide from killing anyone in the meantime. And, Mom, it’ll be okay, I promise.”
She nods, looking older than I’ve ever seen, and bends down to kiss my cheek. Then she’s gone again, pushing out into the day.
I don’t know how it’s going to be okay.
There is too much pressure pushing against either side of me. Santoro is still out there harassing our soldiers and lieutenants while my father is patiently waiting at the oasis like a spider in his web. Either one of them will gladly gut me and feast on my entrails if they catch me, which means I have to be twice as fast and twice as smart if I’m going to win this.
I leave the coffee shop. It’s a nice morning. I take a stroll through the downtown streets, humming quietly to myself, softly so that none of the nice-looking professionals think I’m an insane person, until I spot a man standing in the doorway of a sports equipment store located next to a dry cleaners. I walk over to him and lean against the front window.
“How are the digs?” Emilio asks. He’s Davide’s most trusted soldier and close friend. If there’s anyone in the Famiglia I can trust right now, it’s him.
“They’re not bad. Tell my brother I’m fine, but I’m going to lie low for a while.”
“That’s for the best.” He sighs and stretches. “Things are tense back home. I’m kind of surprised nobody’s gotten killed yet.”
“Davide can’t turn this conflict into a shooting war. We’re going to figure it out before the Famiglia starts tearing itself to pieces.”
Emilio snorts and waves me off. “Nah, I mean, your sister Laura. She’s fucking pissed.”
I smile to myself. Laura would be mad. She’s a homebody and barely ever leaves the oasis, but if there’s anything she hates, it’s being told what she can and cannot do.
“I need a favor from you. There’s a restaurant in South Commons, it’s this little Italian joint Santoro owns. I want you and your boys to torch it.”
Emilio’s eyebrows raise. “Don’t you have your own guys for that?”
“They’re going to be busy killing other people. Tell your boss it’s coming straight from me, alright? He’ll be fine with it.”
Emilio cracks his knuckles and steps onto the sidewalk. “If there’s one thing Davide loves in this world, it’s killing Santoro’s people. And his wife. But mostly killing.” He shrugs and gives me a wave. “I’ll tell him we spoke.”
I watch Emilio walk off. For a while, I remain where I am, keeping an eye on the cars parked nearby, looking for movement, and anyone that walks past or drives too slow. I’m trying to catch a tail, but there’s nothing suspicious.
I hate this spy shit.
But the lines are drawn. I’m on the outside, and if I want to break through and make Dad see reason, I need to play the fucking game whether I want to or not.
Chapter 40
Emily
I get three days with him. Three days in an apartment near the water that’s not much more than a bed, a couch, and a kitchen. Three days of drinking wine, eating take-out, and having more sex than I thought my body could physically handle.
Three days of laughter, three days of movies and music, three days of a little dancing even though Simon doesn’t want to.
I drop the pretense of not being totally head over heels for him and let myself enjoy the weird break from reality. I throw myself into it and refuse to think too much because every time I stop to look at our situation, it only makes me fucking terrified.
Three days with Simon are the best three days I’ve ever had in my life.
It’s like a vacation, except it’s a forced vacation and if we get caught by a whole litany of people, we’re probably dead.
Simon tries to make it feel normal. There are tells though: he pays for everything in cash and he wears baseball caps pulled down over his face when he leaves the house. Since we left the oasis in a hurry with nothing more than a hastily packed duffel, he buys us both new wardrobes, which is a fun afternoon spent online shopping, then trying things on, then taking it all off and fucking again.