The Camorra Chronicles Boxset (Books 1-3)

by Reilly, Cora

  My chest tightened. I didn’t tell her that my mother was still very much alive. I brought Serafina’s hand up to my face and kissed her palm then the scar I had created. “I won’t allow you to be dragged down into my darkness.”

  I was going to kill my mother one day.

  One day, Nino and I would be strong enough to do it.

  “That’s not your choice alone.”

  “I rule over hundreds of men. I can be very convincing if I try.”

  She smiled a slow, fierce smile. “Believe me, I know. You convinced me to fall in love with my captor. But I can be very stubborn.”

  I pulled her closer. “That’s true. You almost brought me to my knees.”

  She raised one perfect blond eyebrow. “Almost?”

  “You had me lying in my own blood at your feet, isn’t that enough?” I asked in a low voice.

  “Don’t do that ever again.”

  “I won’t. The next blood I’ll bathe in won’t be my own.”

  Realization flickered in her eyes. She sighed then kissed me. “You swore not to kill my family.”

  “Angel, I swore not to kill them that day. The men in your family are high-ranking Outfit members. Your uncle is Dante fucking Cavallaro. If I want to win this war, I’ll have to kill him, and I will win this fucking war. Because if I don’t, Cavallaro will and that means Nevio and Greta, you, my brothers... won’t be safe. And I don’t care how many I’ll have to kill to guarantee your fucking safety. I will kill everyone who threatens the people under my protection.” I touched her throat, stroking the soft skin there. “You can’t have it all. You have to make a choice.”

  She shook her head. “I made my choice, Remo. I chose you and I’ll choose you over and over again.”

  Fuck. I didn’t deserve this woman.

  SERAFINA

  We’d been living in Las Vegas for two months now. I was starting to feel at home, more at home than I’d felt in Minneapolis since I’d given birth to my twins. I kept sending Samuel messages, but they became less frequent because of his lack of reaction. Every week I’d send him a short note telling him I was well and a photo of the twins and me. He hadn’t replied so far, but I knew he’d read them and even that was a small victory. He hadn’t blocked me. He still wanted to know how I was doing even though I was practically the enemy now. The war between the Camorra and the Outfit wouldn’t end anytime soon, even if things had calmed down for the moment. Dante was probably planning something, and I was fairly certain Nino and Remo wouldn’t ease down on the Outfit either.

  Remo’s birthday was tomorrow and even if he didn’t celebrate it, I wanted to give him something special. It was difficult to come up with a present for someone who ruled over the West Coast and could buy anything he wanted because money wasn’t an issue.

  It had taken me a long time to come up with something that held meaning and showed Remo what he meant to me. Early in the morning, after another sleepless night with the twins, I approached Nino who was swimming his usual laps in the pool. Kiara was keeping watch over the babies since they were both rather needy at the moment due to their teething.

  Nino noticed me standing beside the pool and swam toward the edge. “Is something the matter?”

  “I have a favor to ask of you.”

  Nino hoisted himself out of the water. My eyes scanned the myriad of tattoos on his upper body and thighs. Nino regarded me curiously, and I realized I’d been staring. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to gawk, but I was wondering where you’ve had your tattoos done.”

  Nino walked over to the lounge chair and picked up his towel. “Some of them I did myself. The ones in places I can’t reach I had done in a tattoo studio not too far away.”

  “You do tattoos?”

  “I can do them, yes,” he said. “Why?”

  I hesitated. “Because I want to get a tattoo. Can you do it for me?”

  “That depends what exactly you want.”

  “I want angel wings on the back of my neck,” I said, a flush spreading on my cheeks under Nino’s scrutiny. I wasn’t sure if he knew Remo’s nickname for me, but it felt like something personal I was sharing.

  “Wings, I can do ... if you have a design in mind. Can you show me where exactly you want the tattoo?”

  He came up to me and I pushed my hair to the side, baring the nape of my neck and touching the spot. “Here.”

  “It will be painful,” Nino warned.

  I sent him a look. “I gave birth to twins. I think I can handle a needle.”

  Nino inclined his head. “That is true. While I can’t assess the force of labor pain since I’ve never experienced it, I assume it’s excruciating.”

  “It is,” I said. “So you will do it?”

  “If it’s your wish, then yes. When?”

  “As soon as possible. The tattoo is Remo’s birthday present.”

  Again Nino gave me a mildly curious look. “We can do it later in the afternoon. I can set up everything in one of the guestrooms.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Thank me once it’s done and you’re happy with the outcome.” He paused. “I assume you don’t want Remo to find out for now.”

  I nodded. “If possible.”

  “It’s a secret I don’t mind keeping from my brother.”

  As promised, Nino had set up everything in a guest bedroom in his wing. I was nervous despite my best intentions not to be.

  Nino oozed calm as I stretched out on my stomach on the bed. He disinfected my neck before he touched the tattoo needle to the skin, and I winced at the first sting. I soon got used to the burning sensation. Nino moved quickly, meticulously, and I didn’t speak as he worked, not wanting to distract him. When he was finally done, I sat up and accepted the mirror Nino held out to me. He held a second mirror behind my neck.

  The outcome was more stunning than I could have ever imagined. I didn’t know it was possible to paint such intricate artwork with a needle. The feathers of the wings looked so real I expected them to flutter in the wind.

  “It’s beautiful,” I admitted.

  Nino nodded. “Remo will appreciate the message.”

  “You know that he calls me Angel?”

  “I overheard him saying it, yes, and you are the counterpart to his fallen angel on his back.”

  “Did you tattoo it as well?”

  “I did,” Nino murmured.

  “Why the broken, singed wings? The fallen angel is kneeling, and the tips of the feathers are crooked and burning.”

  Nino regarded me closely. “What did Remo tell you about our past?”

  “He told me your mother tried to kill you and that you almost burned to death.”

  Nino’s face tightened and he nodded. “Remo burned to save us. I never asked Remo about the details why he wanted to get the tattoo, but I think it has something to do with that day.”

  “Thank you, Nino.”

  Nino gave a small shake of his head. “No, thank you.”

  Hiding my tattoo from Remo proved difficult. I had it covered with my hair, but when I moved my head, I often had to stop myself from wincing.

  That evening, after bringing the twins to bed, Remo pulled me against him in our bedroom, his hands squeezing my butt before they moved higher. He kissed me and touched my neck. I drew back with a wince before I could stop myself. His eyes narrowed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I considered making up something, but Remo was too good at detecting lies, and his birthday was only two more hours away. “This was supposed to be your birthday present,” I said softly as I lifted my hair and turned so he could see my neck.

  Remo was quiet and I risked a look at him over my shoulder.

  Slowly he raised his eyes from my wings with a strange smile. “Wings.”

  I smiled. “Because you gave me wings.”

  He shook his head, his dark eyes softening. “Angel,” he said quietly, brushing his fingers over my tender skin. “You had wings all along. You only needed a little p
ush to spread them and fly.”

  I turned back to face him. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t have done it on my own.”

  We kissed slowly at first, but Remo quickly deepened our kiss, and suddenly we were on the bed tugging at our clothes and stroking every inch of naked skin we could reach. I pushed Remo onto his back, smiling, and his answering smile, all desire and dominance, sent a stab of arousal through me. Leaning forward to claim his mouth for a kiss, I lowered myself on his erection, groaning at the feeling of fullness. Remo pushed up into a sitting position, bringing us chest to chest, racing heartbeat to racing heartbeat. I gasped at the shift of him inside of me, at the feel of his strength as his arms slung around my back. I rolled my hips, driving him deeply into me as we kissed.

  We held each other’s gaze as we always did, and those dark eyes captivated me as they’d done from the very start. So often cruel and merciless but passionate and reverent when they rested on me, tender and caring when they regarded our twins.

  When we’d both found our release, we stayed wrapped up in each other like that, our breathing ragged, bodies slick with sweat. I ran my fingertips over Remo’s back, tracing the spot where the wings of his fallen angel spread out. He trailed his own fingertips upwards, along my spine until he reached my new tattoo. I winced slightly and Remo’s touch turned even softer. My heart was ready to burst out of my ribcage from the look in his eyes.

  Remo scanned my expression, his brows drawing together.

  I sighed. “Sorry. Since my pregnancy I’m more emotional. I hope it’ll go away soon.” I cleared my throat then rested my palm over his shoulder blade. “What’s the meaning of your tattoo? You know why I got mine, but I wonder why you got yours.”

  A hint of wariness flashed in Remo’s eyes, the walls he was used to keeping up wanting to lock back in place. “Nino did it. About seven years ago.”

  I nodded to show him I was listening.

  “It’s a fallen angel, like you said. It represents the fall Nino and I took on the day our mother tried to kill us.”

  My brows snapped together. “Fall? You saved your brothers. How’s that falling?”

  Remo’s expression was dark and twisted, his eyes far away, haunted, angry. “Until that day Nino and I were innocent. After that we weren’t. We’d already experienced our fair share of violence from our father, but it never affected us like that day did. The flames of that day they singed our wings and our fall into darkness began. We became who we are today. That’s why the fallen angel is kneeling in pools of blood.”

  I’d noticed that the fallen angel knelt in pools of some kind of liquid, that a few of its singed feathered dipped into it, but I hadn’t realized it was blood. For a moment I wasn’t sure what to say, how to console Remo. Could words ever be enough to make the horrors of his past better?

  “I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

  Remo’s gaze focused on me, tore away from the images of the past. “You aren’t the one who should be sorry. And I won’t forgive her no matter how often she’d apologize. Not that she ever did.”

  I froze. “Your mother didn’t die that day?”

  “No. Even though I wanted her dead, I’m glad she survived that day or Adamo wouldn’t be here. She was heavily pregnant with him.”

  I shook my head, completely at a loss over what Remo’s mother had done. “Where is she?”

  “In a mental facility.” Remo’s voice dipped and turned vicious. “We are paying for it so she can live and breathe and exist, when she shouldn’t be doing either.”

  “Why haven’t you killed her?” With anyone else I would have never asked something like that, but this was Remo. Killing was in his nature, and his words made it clear that he hated his mother.

  Remo pressed his mouth to the crook of my neck. “Because,” he growled. “For some fucking messed up reason Nino and I are too weak to kill her. We haven’t seen her in over five years ...”

  “Do Savio and Adamo know what happened?”

  “Savio has known for a while. And we talked to Adamo a few months after he got initiated.”

  I stroked Remo’s neck. “Have you thought about visiting her again to try and find closure?”

  Remo looked up, his expression harsh. “There won’t be any closure until she’s dead. I don’t want to waste another second of my life on her. She’s already fucking dead to me. You and Greta and Nevio are what matters now. My brothers are what matters. That’s it.”

  I kissed him to show him I understood. I didn’t think it was as easy as that. Their mother still dominated part of their existence, but I respected that Remo wasn’t ready to seek a solution now. It wasn’t my place to meddle. He and his brothers would have to face their mother one day, and maybe then they could move past their demons.

  All I could do was show Remo a better future. A future with a family that loved him. He’d always only had his brothers, but now he had us as well.

  CHAPTER 32

  REMO

  Serafina, Leona, and Kiara were busy in the kitchen, baking birthday cakes for the twins whose first birthday was today. It was already close to noon. I doubted they’d get the cake ready in time for the afternoon, but I didn’t say anything.

  “It seems like a waste of effort to create elaborate cakes in the shape of a unicorn and a car when their only purpose is to be eaten,” Nino commented as we left the kitchen to give the women their space. They’d found images of complicated cakes on the Internet, and were determined to recreate them for Greta and Nevio.

  “I don’t give a fuck, but Serafina is so damn excited about the cakes, so I guess it’s worth the work. I doubt the kids will care much. They’ll only smash their hands into the cake and stuff their faces,” I said, peering down at Greta whom I cradled in the crook of my arm. She felt completely comfortable in my presence now, and it felt like one of the biggest triumphs in my life to have her big dark eyes look up at me with trust. And by my fucking honor and everything else that mattered, I’d never do anything to betray that trust. When she’d been wary of me in the beginning, it had felt like a knife to the heart. I’d always relished the fear in the eyes of others, with the exception of my brothers, but with my children and Serafina I never wanted to see it again.

  “I never considered marriage an option for the two of us,” Nino said thoughtfully as we stopped beside the pool.

  “I never thought I’d find a woman I wouldn’t want to kill after a few hours.”

  Greta gave me a toothy grin, and I stroked her hair back. It had grown quite long and curled slightly like Adamo’s hair did.

  “Hmm, mia cara, ready for your first swim?”

  Nevio was nestled in Nino’s arm and as usual making grabby hands at the colorful tattoos. I could already guess what he wanted to get once he was older.

  Fabiano was already lounging on the pink flamingo float Savio had used before I’d banned any kind of whoring in the mansion. I rolled my eyes at him. “That’s a disturbing sight.”

  Fabiano shrugged. “It’s comfortable.”

  Savio and Adamo were playing water ball close to the waterfall in the pool and bickering as usual.

  It was the first swim for the babies since we didn’t have a heated pool before and only had it installed now that the babies were part of our household. Nino slowly stepped into the pool with Nevio.

  Nevio let out a screech, smiling at me. My fucking heart swelled with pride. That boy didn’t fear anything. Sometimes it almost worried me how similar to me he was. He’d get himself in trouble as soon as he could walk better.

  Nino moved over to Fabiano on the float, and Nevio made his grabby hands, wanting to ride on the flamingo with Fabiano. Fabiano raised his eyes to mine, asking for permission. I nodded, twisting my forearm with the tattoo. Between us it meant more than just an oath to the Camorra, more than being a Made Man. The day Fabiano had sworn himself to me, to the Camorra, he’d become family, and I trusted him with my kids. I’d never told him, but I got why he’d acted the way he did when I tried to
drive a wedge between Leona and him. He wanted to protect her, wanted to protect someone who could see past the fucking darkness, who loved him despite it all.

  Serafina had changed my view on things, and if it was in my nature I might have apologized to Fabiano for how I’d acted.

  Fabiano held out his arms, and Nino handed him Nevio, who kicked happily with his legs until he sat in the front of the float, holding on to the neck of the flamingo.

  “I hope you gave that thing a good scrub,” I called over to Savio who gave me the finger.

  I went down the steps into the pool. The moment Greta’s feet touched the water her face twisted, but I made a low soothing sound and she relaxed. Shifting her so her head was level with mine, I lowered us further into the warm water. Greta held on to me, eying the water critically. After a while she smiled and hit the water with her palm. I went over to the flamingo float, but Greta tightened her hold on me when I tried to put her on it.

  Nevio babbled, his tiny legs wiggling as Fabiano held him by the waist. Both Greta and Nevio were big on the babbling, but they both hadn’t said any word except for ‘Mom,’ and while Nevio was already making his first steps, Greta only crawled. She was a cautious kid and reminded me a lot of Nino.

  Nevio grinned at me, squeezing the neck of the flamingo before he extended his arms with his grabby hands. “Dad. Daaad.”

  For a moment, I froze, my expression stilling. Fabiano grinned and Nino squeezed my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around Nevio and pressed him to my chest. Greta pressed her wet palm against Nevio’s cheek, giggling. I waded through the water with the two, dipping lower, causing them to scream with joy.

  Serafina headed toward us in a heart-stoppingly sexy white bikini, Kiara and Leona close behind her.

  She lowered herself to the edge of the pool.

  “Mom!” Greta called, and I handed our daughter over to Serafina. I stayed close and touched Serafina’s thigh. She raised her eyebrows. “Something the matter? You have a strange expression.”

  “Nevio said Dad,” I told her.