Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Funny thing, la mia danzatrice ombra, I feel the same way. I want to be right there with you. He poured love into her mind. He didn’t have his protection to give her—he was trapped in the luxury box, bait for killers—but he could give her everything he felt for her. Let her know she was his world. He might not have the words, but he had the ability to share her mind and give her the absolute honesty of his true emotions.
Geno despised allowing her to slip away from him, but the lights dimmed, signaling the audience to return to their seats. The bells chimed softly, alerting everyone the dancers were in place and act two was about to start.
The second half of the performance was even more emotional than the first half. Geno realized it would be so easy to forget his family was being stalked. He couldn’t take his eyes off Amaranthe and Jason as the tragic love story played out. Geno realized the story wasn’t just about the tale of two innocent hearts being destroyed, it was about power, greed, ego and pride. Those particular values played out in families across the globe in modern times. Often, the young lives being destroyed, the hearts broken, didn’t seem to matter as long as those in power got their way.
Some parents wanted control and insisted their children follow their dictates no matter how soul-destroying those demands were. The consequences were often the loss of the child, but those in power would rather sustain that loss than entertain a different way of thinking. Geno could see the parallel so easily between the tragic play written long ago and what was happening in the modern world.
It was difficult not to fall in love with the dancers, not just the roles they were playing. While it was true that Geno didn’t know that much about classical ballet, both principal dancers seemed world-class to him. He’d taken a lot of time to study the dancers considered best in the world, and Jason and Amaranthe were up there with them in the performance they were giving.
The audience was enthralled. Spellbound. They believed the two young lovers as they declared their ardent feelings for each other and then later met at Friar Lawrence’s garden to be secretly married. The passionate scenes were riveting, the dancing taking each act to new heights.
After killing Tybalt in the marketplace, Romeo spent the night with Juliet but had to leave at sunrise under sentence of exile. There was so much emotion between the two principals, it brought many in the audience to tears.
Geno’s warning system began to blare at him as Juliet went to the friar and he gave her a sleeping draft that would make her appear as if she’d died. The Ferraro enemies were closing in just as the Montagues and Capulets were coming to a crucial point.
Geno reached out to his brothers and cousins. The Boutlers are moving into position. Be alert.
He leaned closer to the rail, his gaze fixed on the stage and his woman dancing there. The spotlight created all kinds of shadows on the set, where she took the sleeping potion and her parents discovered her, believing her dead. The shadows made him nervous. There seemed to be more than usual.
The final scene was the most dramatic. Juliet lay as if dead in the tomb. Romeo rushed in and discovered Paris mourning her. A fight ensued. The timing was perfect for the Boutlers to attack.
Simultaneously, all six boxes were hit. Cooper and another older man slid out of the shadows into Geno’s box. Each held a knife in his hand as they went straight at Geno, who had turned to face them. Salvatore and Lucca closed in on them from either side, controlling the wrist holding the knife while Lorenzo glided silently up behind first Cooper and then the older man, snapping their necks and murmuring the traditional “Justice is served.”
Lorenzo dragged Cooper into the shadows and Lucca followed with the older man. The entire incident took seconds. Geno returned to the balcony railing, his gut still knotted. Salvatore kept his gaze fixed on the other boxes just in case his cousins might need help.
Neil and another younger man entered Stefano’s box, riding the shadow directly to Stefano. Neil’s knife was held low, stabbing upward toward Stefano’s abdomen. Giovanni slapped the knife away, hitting Neil’s arm so hard there was an audible crack. At the same time, Vittorio caught the younger man’s wrist, yanked him forward and turned hard, snapping his wrist and putting pressure on him until the knife fell. Franco came up behind him and snapped his neck as Stefano easily spun Neil around and broke his neck. Franco dragged the younger man into the shadows and Vittorio followed suit with Neil.