Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
She looks at the bar of soap, realizes what I intend to do, and shakes her head, her lips sealed tight.
“Open it.”
“No!”
It’s all I need, that little opening, and I shift my grip to the back of her head and push the soap into her mouth.
“I told you once I’d wash out your mouth for language, so I guess we’re killing two birds with one stone.” She tries to pry me off as I rub the bar of soap all over her tongue, the roof of her mouth, and her teeth. Her eyes begin tearing as suds form. I’m sure it tastes disgusting. “Never lie to me again. Do you hear me?” I ask, keeping the bar lodged in her mouth. “Do you hear me?”
She nods.
“Good.”
I take the bar out and release her. She spits into the sink, turning on the water to wash out the soap, coughing and spitting. I set the soap in its dish and rinse my hands under the second tap, then stand back and watch her as I dry my hands. It’s a long time before she straightens, and her eyes are red, her skin blotchy. I hand her the towel, which she takes and wipes her mouth. She’s quiet now. Sufficiently humbled? I doubt it.
“You may be able to make fools of most men, Vittoria, but I’m no fool. If you ever pull shit like this again, you’ll be begging for just a soaping of your mouth when I punish you. Do we understand one another?”
“I hate you.”
“Feeling is mutual. Do we understand one another?”
“Yes,” she hisses.
“Good. Good night, Dandelion.”
19
Bastian
I wrap up my call with Jarno and find my brother in his study swallowing the whiskey in his glass like it’s water. He’s looking out the window over the back garden, the swimming pool, and beyond to the vast blue sea.
“Hey,” I say to let him know I’m here. He’s clearly distracted.
“Hey.” He turns around.
“How was the meeting?” Earlier in the day, he met with Bruno regarding a tip.
“It’s vague but based on chatter, Sonny is planning an attack soon.”
“What’s new about that?”
His forehead is furrowed. “I’m moving things forward.”
“Forward how?” I ask, sitting down.
“You’ll go to New York to get the sister tonight.”
“Tonight?”
He nods.
“What happened to you?” I ask. “What’s going on?”
He shifts his gaze to the half-empty bottle of whiskey on his desk and pours me a glass, then replenishes his own.
“What is it?” I ask, feeling dread in my gut.
“Nothing.”
“It’s something. What?”
“I don’t think we should both be gone.”
“But you think bringing another Russo here is a good idea?”
“If her sister is here, Vittoria will be more malleable. Amenable.”
He means the marriage. “Getting cold feet?” I ask.
He drinks from his glass, looking far off again.
“What the fuck happened tonight, Amadeo?”
It takes him a minute to meet my eyes. “I kissed her.”
I stare at him. I know my brother. I know him well. And in the few times he’s talked about women, no single name stands out, and he doesn’t kiss them. Claims it’s too intimate. I get it. I don’t feel the same, but I get it. The night in the restaurant when he kissed Vittoria was for show. Or supposed to be. But I’d seen something in it then, and now I know it wasn’t in my head.
“It’s fine. It’s nothing. Just got carried away,” he says. Doesn’t sound like he believes it any more than I do, though.
“Doesn’t sound like nothing,” I say.
“Anyway, with Lucien upping security around the sister and now the chatter with Sonny, I just want to get things done sooner rather than later.”
“When is the wedding taking place?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight. Fuck. You sure you want to go through with this?”
He nods. “She’ll be twenty-one within days. Given that and with the old man gone, she’ll inherit, and there’s only one way for her brother to take majority control. She has a target on her back. Probably has for a long time, actually.”
“Why are you changing the subject?”
“I’m not. What I’m saying matters.”
“I don’t know why we should care about the target on her back.” But he does.
“We have to as far as it concerns us.”
“Is that as far as it goes for you?”
“Don’t question my commitment to our family, Bastian.”
“I’m not questioning your commitment to our family. I’m asking you if that is as far as it goes.”
“Yes,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Will you kiss her as you consummate the marriage?”
His eyes are steady on mine. “The marriage can’t be contested.”
“Again, not what I asked you.”
“Bastian—”
“Admit it. She’s under your skin.”
“She’s ours. The marriage, it’s paper. I told you that. She belongs to us both.”
“It’s going to complicate things. She’s going to complicate things.”
“She’s complicated. More than we thought. We’ll manage. As far as the little girl,” he says, changing the subject yet again. This time, I let him. I’m glad for it. “If we don’t bring her, her brother will use her as a pawn, and Vittoria will be harder to manage.”