Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“Hello Gabriel, Isla sends her regards.”
“Tell her I say hello too,” he replies. “We’ve missed seeing her around the club.”
Behind his pleasantries, I can hear a tightness in his voice. Gabriel has always been great at collecting and keeping secrets, but he’s never been good at masking his mood when he’s hiding something.
“What’s on your mind, Gabriel?” I ask, wanting to get to the point of his call.
“I just thought I’d call to give you a heads-up, as a courtesy. There’s been talk around the city that your absence has left an opening.”
“What kind of opening?” I ask, suddenly reminded of the odd text message that I received back in Vegas before I brought Isla here.
I never followed up on that because there are always rumors and whispers among the underground, and most of them turn out to be nothing. I was much too focused on my plan to go with Isla to Italy, and in that moment, the cryptic text seemed meaningless. But now, as Gabriel pussyfoots around hinting at something without divulging it completely, I wonder if I overlooked something in my haste to leave Vegas.
“A new don,” he says bluntly. “The Saint.”
That name now rings familiar to me.
“You’ve been away from the action, Vincent,” he continues. “And you know how things are—this city, and this empire you’ve built here, needs a man at the helm. One that is here on the ground, taking control over things.”
“Control?” I ask, with increased interest in who this new don might be that is looking to unseat me. “Are you suggesting that there is another man in the ranks who is after my empire?” I’m not sure what to make of this news, especially since I’ve heard nothing in terms of an uprising from Luciano. I would expect that if there was a man wanting to unseat me, that Luc, as my consigliere, would have informed me of such a thing by now—unless he has reason not to. “I can’t think of anyone who would want to go up against me, The Devil of Vegas.”
“I’m saying,” Gabriel clears his throat and then continues in a whisper. “That everyone worships the devil’s power. But they forget—it’s the Saint who holds his secrets.”
THE END