Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 54283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
"What the fuck are you thinking?" Niall asks, shoving a hand through his tousled hair. His voice is rough, the betrayal in it cutting bone deep. "It's Nazario Leyva."
"Don't," I whisper.
"Don't what? Remind you who you're dealing with?" He shakes his head at me, clearly frustrated. "He's dangerous, Brynna."
"You mean like you and Dad? Because people say the same thing about the two of you, Niall," I remind him, crossing my arms to glare at him. I don't know if there's a chill in the air or if it's in me, but I feel cold all the way to my bones. "He just doesn't pretend he's someone other than who he is the way you and Dad do."
Niall's lips compress into a disapproving line, but he doesn't say anything. He can't because he knows he's wrong here. Judging Naz for doing the same things he and Dad do every day is the height of hypocrisy.
It's sad, really. Niall wants to look down his nose at Naz, treat him as if he's somehow beneath him because of who he is, but they're cut from the same cloth. Naz is just more honest about who he is than my brother has ever been. He wants the mobster life and the reputation, but not the stains that come with it.
He can't have both. It doesn't matter how hard you scrub, blood doesn't come out once it's stained your soul. Naz understands this. My brother has yet to learn that lesson.
"He killed your bodyguards, Brynna," Niall says, his voice softer. "Men you've known for years. You know we can't let that stand."
"And why do you think that happened, big brother?" I ask, staring him right in the face. "What do you think could have possibly driven him that point?"
Niall clenches his jaw, his gaze shifting from mine.
"You and Dad have been attacking his organization for months. You've snatched businesses out from beneath him just to keep him from getting them. You've taunted him, pushed him, and what has he done in response, Niall? Until you killed two of his men and stole his drugs, what was his big crime?" I demand. "He talked with me at a freaking gala! That's it."
"He's using you," my brother grits out. "How do you not see that, Brynna? You've been down this road before. Our enemies think they can push you around on the board like a goddamn chess piece to get to us. Lombardi did it. Callahan tried it. Do you really think Nazario fucking Leyva is any different?"
"You don't even know him."
"And neither do you," he snaps, fire in his eyes. "All you know is the lie he's sold you. Whatever you think this is, it ends now."
I gape at him. "You don't get to tell me what to do, Niall. This is my life. Why can't you just let me live it for once? Why do you want me miserable so damn badly?"
He stares at me for a long, silent moment before he shakes his head. Something almost…sad floats through his gaze. "I've never wanted you miserable, deirfiúr. I've only ever wanted you happy and safe. Everything I've ever done; I've done to protect you."
"Yeah, well, maybe I'm tired of being a perfect little princess in a glass cage," I whisper, my throat burning as tears prick at my eyes. "Maybe I've been tired of being her for a long time, Niall."
He swallows, his jaw pulsing with emotion. "End it with Nazario or I'll tell Da," he says. "You know what he'll do if he finds out that he put his hands on you."
I stumble back a step, shock coursing through me. "You wouldn't."
"That's where you're wrong, baby sister. I would. I will." He holds my gaze, and I see the truth glittering in the depths of his eyes. Even if I hate him for it, he'll do it. Because I may chafe against my bonds…but he never has. He's my father's obedient little prince. And if I was born to be free, he was born to follow.
"Do it, and I'll never speak to you again, Niall. Neither of you," I whisper, my voice shaking with emotion. My hands shake too, fury and devastation coursing through me. My own damn brother would betray me, pit the man I love against the man who raised me. All because duty matters more to him.
Surprise flares in his eyes, as if I've startled him this time. "You'd choose him over your own family?"
Would I? Can I? Is that really the choice I'm going to be forced to make?
"Yes," I say, meeting his gaze, unflinching. "I'd choose him, Niall. Today or any other damn day, I'd choose him because he already chose me."
"Jesus Christ," Niall mutters, his lips twisting. "If you believe that, you're more naïve than I thought, Brynna."