Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Instead, that will never happen, because it’s all gone.
I take back roads into the city. My car keeps rumbling like it’s going to stall every time I stop at a light, but if I keep feeding it a little bit of gas, the engine doesn’t shut off. Which is fine, that’s great, the car gets me places and it’s not like I can afford better. Only I remember when life had promise, when my dad was alive and I felt like I had a reason to wake up in the morning. All for the glory of the Santoro Mafia, right?
Except the Santoro Mafia is dead.
I’m just its last bit of cast-off memory. Me and the few Capos still clinging on to their tiny fiefdoms after they tore what was left of the organization into pieces.
I feel like a ghost as I park outside of my apartment building. It’s an old brick structure with a front door that sticks and graffiti in the hallways. Marco used to joke that it’s poverty-chic, since I’m at least in a decent neighborhood, but Marco’s gone too and screw him. Everyone’s gone.
I unlock my front door and step inside—and scream when I spot a man sitting on my couch.
“I’m happy to see you too, darling.”
My heart’s racing into my throat and I’m in full on fight or flight, except I’m freezing in place. I can’t seem to move my legs, even though my head’s going, it’s only Ronan, it’s only Ronan, over and over again. He’s not here to kill you. He’s not here to finish what the Biancos started. It’s only Ronan. That doesn’t seem to help.
“Ah, shit,” he says, getting up from the couch. “I really fucking scared you. Hey, Val, you okay?”
As he approaches, I finally manage to get myself under control. When he’s close enough, I whip my hand out and punch him as hard as I can in the chest.
Chapter 4
Ronan
Iwanted to scare her. I’m not above that. I picked the lock on her sad front door and rooted around her even sadder apartment with the express purpose of freaking her the fuck out when I saw that her car wasn’t in the parking lot this morning.
Instead, her face turned white, and she froze like she was expecting my jaw to open up and my teeth to rip her into pieces.
But fuck me, right? As soon as I get close, thinking I can try to fix my stupid mistake, she lashes out and punches me right in the fucking sternum. I grunt in surprise, and yeah, it hurts a little bit. She pushes past me and storms deeper into her apartment, putting some distance between us.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Ronan?” She glares at me, arms crossed over her chest, but I can see the remnants of her fear response. Her pupils are dilated and she’s still breathing fast. The flush on her skin is actually kind of sexy, even though right now I’m not her biggest fucking fan. Val’s always been a pain in my ass.
“I came to talk, not to get punched.” I rub my chest to emphasize my point, even though it didn’t actually hurt. “You bruise me, darling.”
“You can’t just break into people’s apartments, you selfish piece of shit.”
“What was I supposed to do? Sit down in the lobby and wait for you?” I cock my head, trying to fight a smirk. I bet she would’ve loved that. All her neighbors would be gossiping hard right now if that had happened.
“You could’ve called like a normal fucking person.” She takes a deep breath and blows it out. “God, you scared the crap out of me.”
I kick the door shut and gesture at the kitchen. “I brought coffee and bagels, if you’re hungry.”
I can tell she wants to berate me some more, but she glances over at where I have the food waiting for her on the counter, and her expression changes. Her eyes widen slightly, and she licks her fucking lips.
The girl’s got to be starving.
Her cupboards are barren. Seriously, she’s got absolutely nothing aside from some cheap ramen. When I saw that, I went out and got her something to eat, thinking she’d need it when she got home.
Sure enough, the girl rips into a bagel without even bothering to add cream cheese. Like a fucking savage. I make a face. “That’s horrific,” I say, gesturing as she rips into it with her teeth bared.
“I was just lying outside all night watching some crappy chop shop work. I’m hungry, okay?” She drinks some coffee and I swear I think she groans. “Where’d you get this stuff, anyway?”
“Fancy little coffee shop across the street.”
“God, I love that place.” She sounds almost wistful. Because she can’t afford it anymore?
I decide not to say anything, but it’s clear she’s struggling. There are overdue bills beside her refrigerator and her cable’s been turned off. I’d be shocked if her electricity’s on for much longer too. Whatever’s going on in her life, coming to me with this job was out of pure desperation, and if I were a bad human being, I might spot an opportunity in this situation.