Page 94 of The Gangster King

I’m powerful.

Covered in tattoos and in my eyes I see fury, revenge...

Pain.

I’m going to fucking marry you. You’ll be happy, kitten. I promise. For the rest of your life, I’ll give you everything you want.

My natural tendency is to send my men to war and get Adelina back. But she wasn’t taken from me. She left.

I spit, rinse, and drop my toothbrush into the holder. Then walk back into my bedroom.

I stare at the bed.

She should be in it.

I reach for my phone on the bedroom cabinet and pull up a number. Then let it dial.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Then she answers but doesn’t speak. I listen to her breathing, the rustle of her sheets as she moves.

“Please don’t kill anyone else,” she says softly, and my eyes press closed.

It takes me another moment to reply.

“Come home.”

“I don’t know where home is,” she replies after a second, and I can hear the tears in her voice.

Then she hangs up.

I slam my phone against the wall. “Fuck!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

ADELINA

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I have to leave now.

I don’t trust Dante not to do somethingelsestupid and hurt more people, despite my plea to him just now.

Nor can I let my father send me to marry smelly and cruel Roger Amato.

I shower, dress, finish packing, and then glance around my room. It’s finally time. It’s time to say goodbye to everyone and everything in my life.

I pull a photo of my mother and father out of a frame and slide it into the pocket of my bag. Then, as I’m heading across the room, I see one more.

Gianna, Leo, Dante, and I sitting by the side of the pool. We’re in our late teens.

Dante is watching me. I’ve never noticed before. Not like I do now. I rip the frame off and stare at it again.

He loves me.

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