Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“That may be true. But this is the only time you got hit because of me. That’s not nothing.”
“Even if I knew about Alen, there’s a good chance he could have gotten his hands on me.”
“Saff…”
“Soren…”
“It’s okay to be pissed at me.”
“Oh, I know,” she said, giving me a tilted smile. “Believe me, if there is anything I do well, it’s being pissed off. Most of the time without even just cause. I have a PhD in rage-outs. But just this once, I feel like I would be a major hypocrite to be mad at you. Hey, at least you suspected me. I was completely blindsided by your little criminal connections,” she teased, holding out a mug to me.
“I don’t have a lot to defend myself with other than I was all but assured he was going to jail. For a while. I didn’t think I’d be bringing that mess into a new club.”
“I get that. We all have shady shit in our pasts. And, believe me, no one knows better than I do what moral hoops you’re willing to jump through just to get a leg up in the world. You were young; there was no way you could have known how it would follow you around for years.”
“He also wasn’t always the dick he is now. He’s been on a downward spiral for years.”
“If it makes you feel better, Primo will handle it.”
“Is he… a friend of your organization?”
“Something like that. There are five families in the city. Each has a different territory. Primo runs The Bronx. And until very recently, our two families were allied against the other three families.”
“What happened to stop the rivalry?”
“Two forced marriages.”
“I’m sorry. Did you say forced marriages?”
“Antiquated, right? Primo kidnapped one of the Costa women and gave her an ultimatum. Marry him to end the war. Or he kills her family.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah. I mean, they totally fell in love and are this power couple now. But it was a big deal back then.”
“You said two forced marriages.”
“Renzo wanted a truce with the Costas as well. The Costas are like the ‘top’ family. Lorenzo Costa is the capo-dei-capi.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“The boss of all bosses. Each family controls their own area. But he controls all the families.”
“Okay. So Renzo got a truce with the Costas by forcing one of their women to marry him?”
“Well, Lore actually volunteered. She had a lifelong crush on Renzo.”
“Let me guess. They fell in love too.”
“It made me stop seeing the plots in the books I read as completely absurd,” she admitted. “Soren, I’m so—”
“You had a job to do,” I cut her off.
“Which I wouldn’t be feeling guilty about at all. If…”
“Yeah, that if…”
“I never should have let it happen,” she said, speaking mostly to herself, likely thinking about how pissed off her boss had been, how much she clearly respected him and wanted that respect in turn.
“Do you regret it?” I asked, my chest constricting at the idea of what was between us being one-sided.
Saff took a long sip of her coffee then exhaled hard.
“No. I know I should. For so many reasons. But no. But…”
I put my cup down, then reached to set hers next to it.
“Come here,” I said, reaching for her hand and pulling her with me across the apartment to that giant chair of hers. I kicked out of my shoes. Saff, brows pinched, followed my lead. Then let me pull her onto the chair, situating her on my chest. “Today was a lot.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, letting herself snuggle in.
“I can see how much Renzo’s opinion matters to you.”
“He gave me a chance.”
“Did he give you a chance, or did you prove to him your worth?” I asked, fingers drifting through her silky blue strands.
“Oh,” she said.
“I know I don’t know you as well as he does—”
“That’s not true,” she said, voice soft. “You know me better than him. Better than anyone.”
I ignored the way her words made my heart feel like it had grown too large to stay within the confines of my ribcage. “He’s known you longer. Has been around you more.”
“That’s true.”
“But I feel like I know you well enough to say that no one has ever handed anything to you in this life. You’ve worked for it. Fought tooth and nail for it. He didn’t give you anything. He rewarded your hard work. Wording matters.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“If you stop looking at his respect like a gift you have to earn and instead see it as something that is owed to you, it might make it sting less that he’s upset about this.” My hand rubbed down her arm, then my fingers laced between hers.
“Renzo genuinely sees us all as family. But in the way that he’s the father and we’re all his pain-in-the -ass kids. Who sometimes break the rules and need to be punished.”