Dirty Hearts: A Bad Bod Mafia Romance

by Gray, Khardine

  I stepped forward and touched the edge of his chin. “You can’t blame yourself for everything that happens. You can’t, and definitely not when someone else is double-crossing you. Can’t you see that, Claudius?”

  He shook his head, not answering. “I have to go speak to Luc. I have to… I’ll check back on you in a little while.”

  All I could do was nod, but I got some respite when he pressed his lips to my forehead and planted a kiss there. I looked up and brushed my nose against his. It made him lower his head further and cover my mouth with his for a lingering kiss.

  I was just about to get lost in it, in him, when he pulled away.

  He pulled away and walked away from me, going through the door and closing it behind him.

  My lips still burned from the heat of his kiss and all that I felt for him.

  What was I going to do?

  What the hell was I really going to do?

  I couldn’t just run away from the situation. Run away from him.

  I was inclined to blame myself too. This time for allowing my heart to guide my actions.

  Coincidence had reunited us with my enquiry for the building on the east side for the new restaurant. But my heart did the rest. I decided that I wanted him. All of him, and everything that made him, him. Claudius. The mafia boss.

  I decided that he was what I wanted. I’d never blamed him for the past. I’d simply wanted to understand what happened, and that led me here. Here. To this point, where loving him was making me crazy and the thought of being without him felt like it would kill me.

  The door opened again, and I thought it was Claudius because there was no knock first, but it was Jude.

  A soft smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and like Alex, his eyes brightened as his smile did.

  “Claudius sent me to stay with you. I hope that’s okay.”

  No, it wasn’t okay, and I wanted to argue, but there was no point. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to take out my anger on him. It wasn’t his fault that the situation was how it was.

  “It’s fine. I’m not really in the talking mood though, so don’t expect much out of me.”

  He smirked. “Don’t worry. I doubt we’d have much to talk about.”

  He locked the door and positioned himself against the pillar that led out to the balcony.

  “I’m sorry. That was rude. Today was just exhausting.” I wasn’t normally like this.

  “Today sucked. That’s what.”

  I thought of what Claudius had said. That he thought the person who’d hit him was either Jude or Alex. Jude stood before me, so it must have been Alex. Showed what a poor judge of character I was.

  I’d seen Alex only this morning and thought I’d sensed no ill-will in him.

  I didn’t, and it surprised me that he could have betrayed Claudius. I guess that was how it worked though. It wouldn’t be betrayal otherwise, if the person doing the betraying wasn’t someone you trusted first.

  “Yeah, it really sucked a big one.”

  “You’re not used to this. I get it. My older brother was killed in the street right in front of my eyes. He got caught in the crossfire in a gang war. He was the best guy I knew. Took care of Alex and me after our deadbeat mother left us for dead. He took care of us like we belonged to him.”

  “I’m sorry. Loss is always hard.” I looked him over and got the oddest feeling. I couldn’t put my finger on what the feeling was, or why I felt it.

  It could have been his body language. His eyes didn’t match the melancholic emotion he was going for in talking about his brother.

  “He’s why I wear the cross. He’s why I joined the business. Maybe Alex too. Things were different back then. We were ruthless. None of this cleanup shit or cleanup the business crap. How can mobsters be clean, right? I didn’t know how it would work, but Raphael made it work. Our old boss. I suppose it was easy to accept it when you’re rich and not aim for more and risk it all. It’s playing it safe. Easier when you own Chicago. And with guys like Claudius, Lucian, and Henry, how could a guy like me ever work his way up the food chain?”

  His conversation had taken on an angle I wasn’t sure of.

  “Aren’t you part of The Four?”

  The corners of his lips turned up, and he came closer to me. He reached out and touched my bare shoulder, then dropped his hand to his side.

  “Yes, but that’s just a fancy title for a slave. The Four. We’re just boys running around and playing the game of follow the leader. I’m what you call an observer. I watch and wait for opportunities to come my way. Then I try to eliminate whoever I can in whatever way I can in the time I have. Henry first. He was the love child. The example of a man who could live the vanilla life with the wife and the kids and be part of the business. He just did the books. That’s it, but he was part of the trio. Claudius, Lucian, and Henry. One down, two to go.”

  My breath stilled, and I backed up my thoughts of cursing myself on having bad judgement of character.

  “What are you saying to me?”

  “I’m saying that my way was a slow-as-fuck way to climb up, but it kind of worked. When done properly, time is irrelevant. By day, I was a member of the infamous Four, living it large with the Rossis. By night, I worked for the Manellos. They pay a lot for a guy like me who could work both sides and for so long. They always wanted the power the Rossis had, and I just had to find opportunities to take down the leads. The people in the way. Henry’s death caused a ripple effect and sowed the seed. He was the first one of them to die.”

  “You… you were responsible for Henry’s death?”

  He smiled a maddening smile, and it was in that moment that I saw his true colors.

  “Yeah, I was. I was the one who helped Victor Pertrinkov get to Henry and his family. And hey, presto, look at us again. You and me.”

  I started to shake, and my knees turned to water. “What do you mean… again?”

  “I was the one who told Goliath where Marissa was staying. The safe house. While he got her, I grabbed you. I was the one who grabbed you.”

  I went to scream and call for help, but my throat closed up and the room moved.

  What the hell?

  “Shhhhh, don’t worry, Angel Doll. It’s just a little something I put on you to get you out of the house,” he said in a sing-song voice. He’d touched my shoulder moments ago. What did he put on me? “Can’t scream, can’t shout for dear old Claudius. You see, that bomb was supposed to kill him too. Him and Marissa. That was what I wanted, but that’s the kind of shit that happens to you when you’re a grunt. See, if it had been me in charge back then, I would have seen shit clearer that day. Because anyone who knows him can tell straight away that you were the twin he loved the most. Not his wife.”

  My legs gave, and he caught me. The room spun, and my arms felt like I had weights attached to my fingers.

  “I guess I’m the Trojan horse.” He laughed. “Dressed up like a blessing of a gift in disguise.”

  I was a fool not to be suspicious. Through all this, Claudius had never sent any of his men to watch me. Never.

  It was always Luc, or one of Luc’s guys.

  Now I knew why.

  Claudius had never trusted his own men.

  The window opened, and a man I’d never seen before stepped through it before I blacked out.

  Chapter 30

  Claudius

  * * *

  “What now, Claudius?” Luc asked with a tentative expression.

  I was helping him sweep up some broken glass.

  Everyone was milling around doing stuff to fix the place. I felt like I should be doing it all.

  Luc continued to stare at me, obviously expecting more than the nothing of an explanation I’d given him. I just didn’t know where to begin.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry this happened in your home.”

  “Claudius, just tell me what happened.”

  I pulled in a deep breath, looked ahead to the glass doors that were all smashed up,
then back to him, and filled him in.

  “You never saw who hit you?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Alex. Had to be him. But I thought it was Jude. Luc, I was out of it. To me, it sounded like both of them.”

  “Maybe it was.” He quirked a brow.

  “Jude’s here. I’m certain I saw one person with Goliath. One other voice asking if he wasn’t going to kill me.”

  When I’d come to, it was Dante and Gio who stood over me, trying to wake me up. Cora had told them where to find me. We came straight here. I rode as fast as I could because I knew what was going to happen.

  I just knew.

  “He’ll strike again. I say we go after him before that happens. We can’t sit around here.”

  “Luc, I can’t drag you into my mess.”

  “I’m already involved, Claudius. They knew to come here. They knew I live here, and yet they came. I have a wife and a child. When they stepped on my property and shot up my house with my wife and my child inside it, they declared war on me. So, I’m asking you, what now?” Luc eyed me dangerously, and I frowned. This was exactly what I’d never wanted to happen, but then, what did I expect?

  I must have expected something when I’d asked Luc to step in and take care of Ava. I must have known on some level that things could go south and he’d have to get involved.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Guys.” Amelia ran down the stairs looking panicked. “Did Ava come down here? She’s not in her room.”

  I shot up and glared at her. “No, I left her up there ten minutes ago.”

  My phone started buzzing in my back pocket. Amelia instantly looked nervous.

  I looked at the phone screen and saw it was an unknown number calling. Immediately, a chill ran down my spine.

  I answered it though. “Hello, who is this?”

  “A friend,” Goliath cooed and laughed. The sound made my blood heat in my veins. “Isn’t it funny how people have that saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But is he really? What’s to stop that guy from being your enemy too, and in the end, who can you trust?”

  “What do you want, Goliath?”

  “Well, thanks to you, I have one seriously pissed-off client, and my nukes are on the way to the bongo, bongo dimension. So, I came up with a way of how you can fix this.”

  “You can go fuck yourself. When I find you, I’ll cut your head off.”

  “Thought you might say that, mafia boss. You see, you underestimate me. Again. While you were busy running off to your princess, I took the next best thing. Your second helpless. Your father looks just like you. Although he doesn’t carry the bruises so well. It’s old age.”

  God! Nooo!

  No.

  “Pa. You fucking bastard, you took my father.” I looked at Luc and couldn’t breathe.

  Luc gasped, and Amelia’s eyes widened with terror.

  “Yes, and your girl too. Jude sends his regards. He took her the first time way back when and specifically requested he do it this time again.”

  Everything inside me stilled. Everything. Jude. It was Jude. I’d been right. It was Jude.

  But the first time? God, no. What the fucking hell?

  I stared at Luc, feeling helpless. Again.

  “What do you want?” I asked Goliath, my voice weak sounding like the shadow of myself I’d become in those few seconds. Nothing like the leader I was supposed to be.

  “I want everything. It kind of worked out very well. Your little plan. The Manellos and Antonellos have wanted the power you people own for a very long time. You’re going to sign the business over to me. Everything, money and assets. Meet me on the roof of the warehouse in forty minutes. You know the one.” He hung up, and I growled like an animal.

  The fucking evil son of a bitch. The warehouse, sure I knew the one. It had to be the one I never got to, to save Marissa.

  Luc grabbed me and shoved me hard against the wall.

  “What the fuck happened?” he shouted.

  “He took Pa, and Jude took Ava. He wants the whole business. They’re at the warehouse. The one Marissa got blown up in. I have to get them. Both of them.” Again. Both of them.

  Just like fucking last time and I knew it wasn’t going to be as clean as what he’d said. There’d be something else. Something more to the game. He never said I’d get Pa or Ava back when I signed over the business.

  “We. Claudius. It’s we. Not just you. Now, let’s go,” Luc commanded, baring his teeth. He let go of me and faced Amelia, who looked beside herself. “Goddess, you take charge. Round up my guys and tell them to head to the warehouse but keep out of sight. We’ll take Dante and Gio for backup.”

  “Luc, you better come back to me,” Amelia said, voice shaking.

  “Goddess. You know I will,” he told her with conviction.

  Guilt at its fullest and finest consumed me further when I looked from Amelia to Luc, but there was no time to waste.

  It had to end here. Today, one way or another. I couldn’t allow this to happen again.

  Pa and Ava …

  I couldn’t lose them. Wouldn’t.

  Failure was not an option.

  Untitled

  * * *

  The wind lifted the ends of my coat and my hair as I stepped onto the roof of the warehouse. Whenever I came to the docks, I never ventured this far because to me it was a tomb. Marissa’s tomb. Her grave was bad enough, but this was the place she died. What we buried of her was…

  No… don’t think …

  I had to stay focused. I had to. Needed to.

  About twenty feet away from me was Goliath with another two guys. The guys had their guns at Pa’s head, and Goliath stood beside them with a smile that widened when he saw me.

  I was looking at Pa though. They’d messed him up real bad. His face was black and blue with bruises. And swollen. Blood stained his white shirt.

  The sight made me sick, and the guilt washed over me.

  I stopped paces away from them and held up my hands to show I had no weapons.

  Luc and the others were stationed around the two warehouses opposite us. Knowing they were here gave me hope. It wasn’t like last time when I’d had no one.

  As I looked at Pa, I was reminded of the meeting Dad, Luc, and I’d had with Raphael years ago. Raphael had chosen Luc to take over the business, and it had pissed me off because I’d felt I deserved it more. I’d wanted it bad because I saw myself as a leader. I saw myself as the kind of man who could run the show and have a handle on the vast expanse of what the business covered. Then Luc gave me the business. He gave it to me, and I had that dream all over again.

  When Goliath told me his demands, it felt like nothing to give the business away.

  But would it be in exchange for Pa and Ava?

  That played on my mind the whole way here.

  “Claudius and Marcus Morientz. You know, seven years ago, I didn’t know who I was in the company of.” Goliath laughed. “Thought you were just a grunt looking to make an extra buck. But maybe back then you were. Look at you now, all grown up and mafia boss. You did good, kid.”

  “Don’t fuck with me!” I roared. My voice carried across the way. “You’re only alive because you have my father. I’m here, we’re doing business. Now, let him the fuck go.”

  Goliath laughed. “You must be mistaken making such demands. From where I’m standing, looks like I’m the one who calls the shots here. Not you, boss.”

  “Just out of interest what do you get?” It was curiosity.

  “Wow, you concerned about me? Don’t worry I’ll get my prize. It just so happens to be whatever I want.”

  “Let’s just get this over with. Give me my father first, then I’ll hand you the business.”

  Now, he roared with laughter. Of course, he would.

  “You really think you’re running this show, don’t you?”

  God, the plan was for my guys to move or do something the minute they saw a chance.

  Right now,
the men with Pa had their guns too close.

  They could shoot him. I had Dante stationed on the water tower to my right with a rifle. He was a good shot and would have taken the shot by now if he’d seen a chance.

  Goliath was mine to deal with in whatever way.

  “I’m making my demands. At least get the fucking guns away from him.” My heart started galloping when I thought this might not work.

  It might not work. Then what? Fuck.

  “He has nothing to do with this. It’s you and me, and I’m here, aren’t I?” I added.

  Goliath pulled out a shotgun from the bag on his back. He whirled around to face Pa, but at that moment, I heard a sound. A motorcycle. But up here? Why did it sound so—?

  Fuck.

  It came out of nowhere. A powerful Kawasaki engine boomed. The sound thundered around us. I looked to the warehouse roof on our left just in time to see the biker jump the bike from the roof and zoom across to us, sailing through the air with the precision of a real pro. You’d have to pay good money to watch a stunt like that.

  When the bike touched down on the hard on the concrete, the biker twisted around and fired two shots from his pistol. Two shots that landed straight in the two guys who stood next to Pa. Right in their heads.

  The fuckers didn’t even have time to register that they were dead.

  Goliath tried to shoot the biker, but Pa got him good when he whipped out his leg and swiped him, knocking him over.

  Pa looked to me.

  “Go!” I cried. While he made his escape, I moved to Goliath. In the meantime, the biker continued in his blaze and jumped the bike to the next building.

  The only person I knew who could do shit like that was Alex. Just before I grabbed Goliath, I saw a woman who looked like Cora hop on the back of the bike as it landed on the roof of the warehouse.

  Again, no time to process. I threw several punches in Goliath’s face. It did nothing but split his lip. Fucking bastard.

  It was time to end him. I was still suffering from earlier, but rage fueled me. The man had tried to take Ava, he took Pa, and he’d killed Marissa.