Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
The answer hit me hard.
Yes. Yes, I could.
I looked down at that boy and quickly reassessed the situation. This kid may just be the most honest person in this godforsaken place. More honest than me. He didn’t lie about what he was. I could use someone like that on my team.
My heart pounded in my chest, and I swallowed hard, removing the shiv from his neck but gripping his shirt tighter. “You’re never going to survive in this place. What the fuck do you think you’re doing, picking a fight with the tank?”
His eyes closed, and he bit out, “I don’t give a shit if I die. No one else would either.”
My mind worked. A decision was made right then. This boy and I, we could help each other. “I’m going to help you make something of yourself, kid.” I stood, and he seemed surprised at my change of attitude. “Don’t you want to get back at those people who said you’re no one?”
He sat up staring into the hall by my hip, gripping the bottom of the cot so hard his knuckles turned white, and I knew my words had affected him.
I pressed harder. “You stick with me, and we’ll watch the world burn.” A harsh smirk tilted my lips. “Set it on fire yourself. Hell, I’ll even hand you the lighter.”
His grip loosened, and he muttered, “I’m not like you. I’m not smart.”
A humorless laugh escaped me. “Who told you that? Them?”
The boy’s attitude toward me softened a little. “And I thought I was crazy.”
“I’m not crazy. I’m determined.” I made a vow to that boy. “We’ll have it all. Money. Women. Power.”
The boy’s lip twitched. He thought I was out of my mind. “Oh, yeah? How are we gonna do that?”
With determination, I stated, “However the fuck we have to. You might even get to kill a few guys.” He must have heard the truth in my tone, because his eyes snapped up, his hard gaze meeting mine strength-to-strength. “You’re either with me, or you’re against me.”
He huffed out a laugh, shaking his head, running a hand through his messy hair. When I didn’t respond in kind, he lost his laughter, blinking at me with shrewd eyes.
A full minute passed before he answered, “I’m with you.”
I smiled then. “What’s your name?”
“Antonio Falco.”
A snort escaped me. Of course it was. “I’m calling you Tony.” I moved to exit his cell, turning to face him at the open doorway. “I’m Julius. Nice to have you on board, brother.”
Later that day, the good news reached me. My sister had survived. She was being moved to the psychiatric health ward, but she was going to live.
This day just got better and better.
The boys of juvie didn’t know what hit them. Tony Falco had a fight in him that even I couldn’t tame, not that I wanted to. With my encouragement, he let loose, targeting the most feared of boys and tearing them to shreds.
I was the brains. He was the brawn.
Within a fortnight, the boys held their heads lowered submissively when they walked past us in the quad, hoping to avoid detection. We had high hopes for ourselves. Who would’ve thought that a mere ten years later, grown men would cower in our presence.
We were a force to be reckoned with. As I had promised my friend, my brother, we watched the world burn, and the stench of burning flesh did nothing to sate our hunger for power.
We wanted more. Needed more.
I lost my brother because of a confidence I had instilled in him. Despite what I had told him, we were not invincible. He put his faith in me, and I’d let him down.
Losing Antonio “Twitch” Falco left a gaping hole inside me.
I wish I had done things differently.
But that was then, and this is now. I am a different person from the cocky bastard I was five years ago. These days, I’m very much a realist. I won’t be blowing smoke up anyone’s ass, not ever again.
And as I make my way up the stairs of my home and stride down the hall to the open bedroom, I stare down at the still form on the bed.
My lip curls in disgust.
I have always been a good judge of character.
How did I get it wrong with this woman? I silently worry that my attraction to her may have blurred the lines.
My feet move of their own accord and my knee nudges the bed, jolting her into awareness.
Her swollen eyes blink away sleep, and she stares up at me with those big eyes, her long lashes fluttering lightly.
She’s so goddamn beautiful.
And that just makes me angrier.
“Get up,” I order, moving back toward the door.
But she doesn’t follow.
Seeing her sleep addled, with her full pretty mouth parted in surprise as she eyes me cautiously, causes me to rage inside. I want to kiss those sweet pink lips punishingly until they bleed.