Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Security is beefed-up not because I know of any viable increased threats, but simply because I don’t want there to be any chance of anything happening outside the safety of my home, where I have been keeping Isla protected these past days.
“This is incredible,” she beams as we walk inside. “It’s even more spectacular than I remember from the last time.”
“I had the staff add a few extra details—some more lighting, a few more high-roller tables, and a new menu for the event,” I say. “I want you to enjoy yourself tonight.”
“Isn’t this gala all about business, though?” she asks as she looks around at the crowds of people talking and laughing with cocktails in one hand and dice being thrown in the other.
“No, not tonight. Tonight, I want to see you have a good time in my world,” I say as I hold her on my arm. “The other side of my world—the part adorned in luxury and fine experiences and cultured people, not the bloodier, violent side.”
“Who are all of these people?” she asks, sounding slightly nervous. “Are they all entangled with the mafia?”
“No, not all of them. Some are just wealthy socialites and influencers who enjoy spending their money at my casinos. I invited a more select crowd to this event.” I reach out and grab two champagne glasses off the waitress’s tray as she walks past us. “Cheers. To new beginnings.”
Isla clinks her glass to mine and smiles as she touches the champagne flute to her lip. But just as I’m about to take a sip from my glass, chaos breaks loose.
“Get down!” Marco shouts. He seems to come out of nowhere, slamming his body into mine to push me out of the way of an incoming shot.
There, on the second level of my casino, a sniper fired his gun with me in the scope’s crosshairs. Marco must have spotted him just before the assassin pulled the trigger, and he threw his body in front of mine and took the hit. Isla screams as she watches Marco drop to the ground, and I reach to grab her and run.
“No! No!” she cries out as she wrestles against me. “We can’t just leave him here!”
All around us, guests are scrambling to run out of the club or take cover behind the gambling machines. My men are already firing shots back towards the sniper, and several are taking to the stairs to apprehend him. I look up at the second floor but can’t see anyone there anymore.
“I need to get you out of here,” I say to her, even though it sickens me to leave Marco behind without tending to him. “I need to keep you safe, Isla.”
“No!” she screams defiantly as she drops to her knees and places her hands against Marco’s chest to slow the bleeding.
My experience tells me that a gunshot is fatal, and he won’t survive. But still, I can’t help sympathizing with Isla’s profound desire to stay with him in his last breaths. Marco sacrificed himself to protect us. It profoundly shifts my perception of what being a good man, even one inside the mafia, means.
“Alright,” I say as I kneel beside her and lift Marco’s head from the floor so that he doesn’t choke on the blood pooling in his throat.
I keep my eyes keenly focused on everything around us, to make sure that Isla is safe even amidst this chaos. Several of my men surround us, providing a barrier of protection, and the sniper is nowhere in sight. Hopefully, one of my men has already put a bullet through his head.
“Y-you need to leave,” Marco struggles to say. “Get out of here while you still can.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Isla says through her tears as she takes his hand. “We’re not leaving you, and you’re going to be fine.” She knows as well as I do that it’s a lie. There’s no chance that he’s going to survive this. But we’ll stay with him in his final moments because I owe him that much.
When Marco’s eyes fall open in a frozen stare, I know he’s gone, and that means it’s time for us to leave now, too.
“Come on,” I say as I pull Isla up to her feet and wrap my shoulder around her. “There’s nothing more we can do for him. It’s time to go.”
She nods, still sobbing, and takes my hand as we head for the door.
The next shot that I hear fired sounds like an echo coming from the back corner of the casino. I turn just in time to see the sniper in the shadows as my men pile on top of him. Only when I turn back around do I see his shot’s target.
Beside me, Isla’s mouth is open in a silent scream and the front of her dress is quickly pooling with blood. Her hands grasp the side of her torso where she was shot and her face freezes in a moment of sheer shock.