Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Once the priest announced they were man and wife, he pulled her close and kissed her.
It wasn’t a passionate kiss, just two lips meeting to satisfy the union, and then he was about to leave when Lee, one of the capos who was happily married with three kids, approached.
“The Boss wants the sheets hand-delivered to him tomorrow. He also expects to see Maria there as well.”
A folded piece of paper was handed to him. He didn’t say a word but grabbed his wife and walked her back out to the car. Before he closed the door, he opened the paper to see the address. It was for a restaurant.
Draven didn’t believe the tradition of the bloody sheets would happen. He had a horrible feeling that if Maria wasn’t a virgin, this union would be null and void.
Sitting back, he told the driver to take him to his home. He didn’t go to his city apartment, but instead made his way through the country, to his home.
He didn’t understand what The Boss’s game was. If he wanted to kill Maria, then he should have done so and not created this elaborate game. Draven believed in cruelty, but there were limits to what he was willing to accept, and this level of cruelty was a whole new kind of ball game to him. Running a hand down his face, he tightened the piece of paper into a ball and shoved it in his pocket. He’d get rid of it once they returned home.
Every now and then, he kept checking on his wife.
Wife.
He never planned to have a wife, let alone someone with a whole load of baggage. He knew this would create a sweep of new gossip for each capo to talk about. He didn’t give a shit about the rumors that often spread about him. Most of them were fucked-up lies and didn’t mean anything to him. But staring at Maria, he had to wonder what the end game was.
The journey to his home took a good hour. He didn’t wait for the driver to open the door. He climbed out, holding out his hand for his wife to take. She shook a little, but he didn’t have time to baby her. He helped her out of the car, then realized they were on fucking stones. Most of his driveway was covered in tiny pebbles.
Maria let out a cry as he lifted her into his arms and carried her across his driveway, toward the front door. He didn’t let her go until they were over the threshold. The moment they were and the door closed, he put her on her feet.
Draven had limited staff. Calvin, one of his men, who only had one arm, came rushing toward him.
“I am so sorry, sir,” he said.
“Don’t be. Meet Maria, she’s going to be living here from now on. She’s my wife.” Even though he had yet to find a ring to slide on her finger. The priest had been pretty pissed off that there hadn’t been any rings.
The two capos who’d been there had shown their guns, and all annoyance had vanished from the priest and he carried on with the service.
Calvin held out his hand to Maria and she shook it. She looked pale.
“Take her to my room. Get her ready,” Draven said.
He needed to go to his office. Without another word, he left his wife and his man at the foot of the stairs. Draven went straight to his office and grabbed his phone, calling The Boss’s number. He waited. It took six rings for The Boss to pick up.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Draven asked.
“I don’t answer to you.”
“Do I need to remind you of why you’re in the place you’re at?” Draven tapped his fingers on the desk.
There was silence.
They both knew who was supposed to be sitting at the head of the table. The only reason The Boss was where he was, was because Draven had put him there. If the whole truth came out, then The Boss would be removed. He knew it, as did The Boss.
“You took your chance with Maria,” The Boss said.
“Why the ritual?” he asked.
“People want to see her suffer. They want to know she is loyal.”
“She came to you.”
“But her family are completely blacklisted, even though they’re dead,” The Boss said. “She should be dead and the only reason I showed her any mercy was because of you.”
Draven didn’t say a word.
“This is your chance to get rid of her if you don’t want to keep her. Have a taste, enjoy her, and if she lied about being a virgin, it’ll be another nail in her coffin. You get one chance with her, or you can stay married to her.”
“I’ll meet you tomorrow,” Draven said.
Without another word, he hung up. No one knew of his or The Boss’s agreement. They didn’t even know who he and The Boss were to each other.