Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
“He was?”
“Yes. His penchant for ... playing with his staff. Torturing them. When your mother was alive, one of the bodies was discovered. Luiz liked to play cat-and-mouse, and he didn’t clean up his mess quite so well. It nearly brought the Russo Mafia down. That one tiny mistake.”
“How come I never heard of this?” Massimo asked.
“Only a select few people knew, who had a way of cleaning it up.”
“You did.”
“I had no choice.”
“What did you do?”
“Luiz had gone into Vigo Bratva territory at the time. It was easy to mark the body in a way that made it a Bratva kill.”
“How did you do that?”
“I had my ways.”
“You broke into the morgue and added markings?”
He shrugged. “Like I said. We have all done a lot for this family. After that, Luiz lost favor, and with it, power.”
“He was still a capo.”
“Yeah, but no longer close. You have seen the number of times Luiz was invited to social events or functions. You also saw where his house was. That is not where he lived originally. He got evicted from the house and the prestige Russo had lavished on him. He helped to forge the Russo Mafia, but he nearly ended it with his own cruelty.”
Massimo frowned. “Could it have been someone within the Russo family?”
“No,” his father said.
“How can you be sure?”
“Because they wouldn’t have made the mistake of Luiz not being there, and if they wanted the money, they wouldn’t have left it with him. Also, to get the message across, they would have used you, my son. We both know there is a reason you’re called a monster. You’re Russo’s monster. You’re the one they fear.”
“So, you don’t think it could have been an inside job?” he asked.
“No, it couldn’t have been. It would have been handled a lot neater.”
There was a knock at the door.
Massimo turned to see Isabella at the door. “Dinner is ready.”
“We’ll be right out,” his father said.
“You surprise me, playing charades as well as Pictionary with Isabella and my wife,” he said.
“Adelina is not what I expected. She is a nice woman. A good woman. It is nice to know you do, to a certain extent, have good taste.”
This made him laugh. “Are you kidding me right now? You’re telling me I have good taste?”
“You can’t always like where you come from. Adelina’s family are shit, but Adelina is a good egg. I like her.”
Coming from his father, that was high praise indeed.
****
“Stop being so nervous,” Massimo said.
“I’m not nervous.”
“You’re shaking,” Isabella said from behind her.
Massimo had insisted on driving them to a cocktail dinner. It was suspected an engagement was going to be announced, but it was a dinner that Vincent had said the family couldn’t miss. Although, he had wanted another round of charades.
It would seem she had found a family who liked board games, question games, and it was a lot of fun to get involved with them. Vincent wasn’t joining them. He had sent them off to enjoy the party.
Adelina didn’t want to go. This was their first party as a married couple. Isabella had helped her choose a dress. She had wanted to wear a giant sweater over the top, but Isabella and Massimo had insisted she go the way she was. The dress was one shoulder, and curved around her breasts, going under her arm on the opposite shoulder. It was a lovely solid deep green color that Massimo had said brought out the color of her eyes. She had always considered herself to have rather dull eyes. There was a slit up the side of the skirt, ending at mid-thigh. She had never left the house in anything quite so revealing.
It also molded to every inch of her body. All her curves were on display. Her long brown hair was curled with a few pieces pinned back, with a diamond butterfly clip for effect. Diamond earrings, along with a necklace and a matching bracelet, completed the outfit. She was stunning.
Massimo had presented her with the jewelry tonight. She had never been in anything quite so beautiful.
She felt a little sick, but they arrived to find a man waiting to take their car. Massimo’s men were traveling behind them.
Massimo got out of the car and helped his sister out of the back. Isabella had opted for a red dress that hugged her slender figure and enhanced her features, complete with spaghetti straps and silver jewelry. Her hair was pinned off her neck, which showed the shiny choker around her neck.
He opened the door for her, and she took his hand, stepping out. She was also in heels. This could be a disaster. She knew how to walk in heels. Back home, being ignored, she had to find ways to entertain herself, and practicing how to walk in heels was one of them. Her stomach was doing flip-flops.