Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“You signed the agreement. You could have walked. I want my money, or you pay the forfeit.”
“Oh, murder is legal here too?”
I crashed my hand on the desk. “Twenty-four hours, Marianne Warner. You have twenty-four hours to get me the total amount of money you owe me. Or pay the consequences. Your choice.” I headed to the door, calling over my shoulder, “And my men will be watching you, so trying to disappear will do you no good.”
I slammed the door shut behind me. “If you lose her, you’re dead,” I snapped at the two men standing outside and kept walking. I didn’t have to look at them to know they took my words seriously.
In the elevator, I let my head fall back with a groan.
Tony was going to have to suffer for this one.
CHAPTER 2
ROMAN
Back in my office, I shook out my shoulders. Smacking Tony around hadn’t done much to ease the tension I was feeling. He was still suffering from what I had done to him the other night to be of much use to me.
I grabbed the bottle of scotch and sat at my desk, pouring out a finger and swallowing it down. I did it again then leaned back into the rich leather of my chair.
Her words kept playing in my head. My sister. Virgin. Have her for fun or sell her. For a night. Forever. I don’t care.
The callous tone she used and the uncaring attitude shocked me. In my world, family was important. Big or small. You protected those you loved, using whatever means necessary. You didn’t offer to sell them to the highest bidder as if they were a piece of unwanted art. And somehow, a woman doing it to her sister seemed even worse. Men were notoriously bastards. To deal with a woman that coldhearted was unusual. Not the first for me, but she seemed viler than I expected.
I turned in my chair, staring at the rushing water again. It was almost one now, and I knew below me, the gaming rooms would start to fill soon. Locals, tourists, people visiting from Toronto or the States for the day would begin spending their money. Most had a budget, and for so many, it was simply a fun day. For some, it was a career, based on calculated risk. Others, like Marianne, it was an addiction. They all fed my bottom line. I stood and went to the window, sipping my scotch. I had built this casino from the ground up. As soon as the laws changed and the casinos could be privately run, I had put my plans into action. I owned two casinos. One here in Niagara Falls, one in Toronto. Plus now, I had another one currently under construction in Ottawa. They made money. All were the perfect front for laundering the dirty money for the family.
I sighed as I thought of the family. There was only me and my brother, Luca. My father had run our family with an iron fist. Weakness was punished. Strength rewarded. We were molded in his image. Pitted against each other constantly.
We should have hated each other, but instead, it forged a silent but strong bond between us we never let him see. My father’s methods were old, violent. His ways of seeing things outdated. When he became ill and died, Luca and I changed things. Began to legitimize what we did and how we did it. Luca fronted me extra money, and I followed my dream of running real, profitable businesses. He carried on with overseeing the cities in our territory, but in a different way. Fear was still high. Intimidation ruled. But many of my father’s methods had disappeared. The ways we made money changed. Hard drugs were out. We no longer handled weapons. Art, smuggling, legalized drugs, other ways of making millions were where Luca excelled. Others of our generation learned newer ways of operating within the syndicate. New territories were mapped out, more respect shown. A few elders were still around and in control, and until they were gone, some things stayed the same. Many of them scoffed at us. Called us soft.
We were anything but.
Luca’s world crossed into mine far more often than I liked, but it was necessary. You didn’t mess with the Costas brothers. As much as I disliked the business, I enjoyed the perks. The fear. The power. The violence. At least, I used to.
But lately, I had grown tired of it all. I still exercised my rights to it, but I was weary.
Yet, this was my life.
I leaned my head on the glass, the colors of the water mixing and swirling. Hypnotic. Enthralling. Calming somehow.
My phone rang, and I tossed back the last of my scotch and answered it. “Luca.”
“Roman. How are things?”
“Good. Business is good.”