Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“I’ve noticed.”
“I think that’s part of why we became friends from the start. I saw someone strong in Massimo. A man truly worthy of the Dragon title. But I was penned in by Medved and fighting a war of attrition. I was too busy fighting to maintain control over my empire to really get to know him. I still wonder why he saved me.”
“What happened?”
“Medved ambushed me and some of my top lieutenants. We’d gone to a meeting with several important African politicians to hammer out new mining rights and some export deals when a missile struck the building we were in. Most of my guards died on impact. I survived by pure chance. Massimo and his crew were in the region dealing with Somali pirate captains who were refusing to pay his protection price, and when he heard what happened, he dropped everything and flew hours in several choppers to get to our besieged location. My last remaining fighters and I were giving Medved and his people hell, but we were losing. We would’ve died if Massimo hadn’t pulled off an audacious rescue. But in the process, I lost my legs and nearly lost my life. Medved’s forces were severely weakened but not destroyed, and now here we are, years later, still fighting the same old war.”
I let that settle in my stomach. Massimo doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would fly across a continent for a friend, but clearly, I’m wrong about that. Maybe I’m wrong about a lot of things when it comes to him.
I move over to Rosie and keep her from making a mess. She settles herself on the floor and plays with the remote as I sit on the couch. Elias watches very carefully.
“Your daughter,” I say, not looking at him. “You called her Maggie. Was her full name Margaret?”
“That’s right.”
“And she married a man, didn’t she? What’s her married name?”
Elias’s voice is very soft. “You know that already.”
I sit up very straight and turn to him. “Her last name is Russo now, isn’t it?”
Elias only smiles. He tilts his head, studying me. “You look so much like her. And your daughter has it too. The Thorne genes are strong.”
It strikes me like a hammer. A part of me hoped he’d deny it and laugh like this is all some absurd joke. But so much of what has happened to me suddenly clicks into place.
“You’re my grandfather.” I stand and face him. My hands are shaking and I feel sick. “She told me you were dead.”
“Smart girl. She knew you’d never meet me, so why bother?”
“This doesn’t make any sense. I can’t be the granddaughter of a Dragon.”
His eyebrows raise. “Why not?”
“Because…” I try to think of a good reason. “We were struggling.”
“Think back to when those struggles started. Do they happen to coincide with my fight against Medved?”
He’s right about that. The mansion was always kept pristine until about eight years ago.
“Everything got worse when you ended up in here.”
“I’m sorry about that.” He looks like he means it. “I’ve had to be even more careful. The less contact with my family, the better.”
“That song you were singing.” I close my eyes, fighting back against a sudden flood of tears. “That Italian lullaby…”
He seems surprised. “Stella, stellina, La notte si avvicina. La flamma travalla, La mucca è nella stalla. You mean that one? Your mother used to love it.”
“She sang it to me all the time.” I whisper the English version. “Star, little star, the night is coming, the flame flickers, the cow is in the stable, the sheep and the lamb, the cow with her calf, the hen with her chicks, the cat with her kittens, and they’re all asleep, in their mother’s heart.”
His nose wrinkles. “Loses something in translation.”
“I heard you through the door and I knew. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“About a year after you were born. You were around Rosie’s age, actually. I’m surprised you remember.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? When I was here earlier?”
“I wasn’t sure.” He gestures at the chair. “Can you bring my great-granddaughter over here again?”
I scoop Rosie up and sit back down beside him. She fusses with his blankets and seems content to let him poke at her and make silly faces. She laughs when he tickles her, and it seems to make him happy.
It’s strange. This man is one of the most powerful criminals in the world. If he’s a Dragon, that means he did some truly awful things to reach his position. Yet he’s sitting there playing with Rosie like he’s just some normal grandfather.
“Mass knew, didn’t he?”
Elias grimaces slightly. “You can’t blame him for that.”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“There’s no way he could have without letting my secret out.”
“But he was there that night…” I trail off, remembering when we first met.