Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Greta sighed. “Aurora—”
“Don’t try to make me understand him or even feel sympathetic for him. He’s out of line. I’m done with him.”
Greta bit her lip. “I’ll see if I can contact him, and then I’ll let him know. But I can’t promise he’ll listen. Nevio is unpredictable.”
The sliding doors made us both go silent. Luca stood in the doorway, and my stomach tightened. Something in his face told me I was in trouble.
“I need to talk to you, Aurora.”
I got up from the Hollywood swing. Greta gave me a worried look. Did she worry I’d expose Nevio?
If war weren’t on the horizon if I did, I might have done it. He deserved punishment. All his life his actions had never been followed by consequences, and now an innocent had to pay the price.
I followed Luca into his office where Matteo, who’d also been at the dinner with Gianna and Isabella, and Valerio were waiting. I assumed Amo would try to get information out of Greta in the meantime.
I gave them a hesitant smile. “Did I do something?”
“Sit down,” Luca said, motioning at the armchair on the left across from them, as if I was facing an inquisition.
Nerves twisted my belly as I sank down. I wasn’t concerned for myself. The worst that could happen to me was that Luca would send me back to Las Vegas, and while I wasn’t ready for that yet, it wouldn’t be horrible.
“Valerio told us about the murder of a man you were in contact with.”
I flushed. “I bought my coffee in the coffee shop where he worked, and Valerio or Flavio were always there too.”
“I didn’t suggest you were involved with this man, but he seemed interested in you. Flavio and Valerio are good at hiding their nature, so it’s not surprising that he didn’t get the message that you were off-limits. It seems someone else conveyed the message to him in a very obvious way.”
“The police think it’s a mugging gone wrong.”
“Of course, they do,” Matteo said with a snort.
“What do you think happened?” I looked Luca in the eyes but quickly lowered my gaze, unable to stand his.
“He was killed with a sawtooth knife.”
Matteo cocked an eyebrow at me. “Who do you know who has a pet sawtooth knife?”
It was Nevio’s favorite knife. Everyone knew that. “Many people use sawtooth knives, right?” I tried to look as innocent as possible.
“Bullshit. Our favorite psychotic killer has that knife. Fuck, he probably even sleeps in a bed with it and uses it to fuck his own—”
“Matteo—” Luca’s voice whipped through the room, making me wince.
Matteo waved him off. “Living under a roof with the Falcones, she’s probably seen and heard worse.”
“She won’t under my roof, though. She’s barely of age and innocent. I want you to remember that.”
“Blond and blue eyes always make you believe in someone’s innocence, Luca.”
“I’m the epitome of innocence,” Valerio said with a chuckle.
“My point,” Matteo said.
I pressed my lips together, not sure what to say or do. If Nevio had really wanted to cover up his tracks, he would have done a better job. This kill probably served two purposes: control me and provoke the Famiglia.
I feared he’d succeed in doing both.
“I accepted that he came to New York to slaughter the people responsible for Greta’s attack, I even accepted him being here for the wedding, but I don’t want the fucker in our city whenever he damn well pleases. I’d still love to slice his throat open for what he did to Isa and Gianna, and if he crosses my path in the next few days, I sure as fuck will show him my favorite knife,” Matteo said.
Aria cleared her throat, and we all turned toward the open door. She looked furious. She was one of the few people I knew who still managed to look gorgeous as she did. Her fists were propped up on her hips. “We promised Fabiano to keep Aurora safe, but now you’re questioning her and saying all these inappropriate things to her. This is unacceptable.”
Luca sighed. “It’s also unacceptable to have Nevio running rampant in my city.”
“Do we know it’s him?” she asked.
“We suspect it.”
“Why would he even be here?”
All eyes turned to me once more.
“Why did you want to leave Las Vegas?” Luca asked.
“Maybe there was someone there who made her feel uncomfortable. I don’t want to be the poor woman Nevio puts his sights on,” Matteo said.
“Nevio hasn’t set his sights on me. Nevio only cares about the Camorra and violence.”
Matteo gave me a shark grin. “That’s what everyone said about his old man too, and then he kidnapped a poor woman, and now they live their happily ever after.”
The story of how Serafina and Remo became a couple still shocked me, though I’d known about it for a while. How could you fall in love with someone who kidnapped you to destroy your family?