King of Souls

by L A Cotton

  My thoughts drifted to Arianne; icy fingers of regret clenching around my heart. She would be heading for class soon. I knew because Luis had already texted me to tell me of their plans. He might have been on Roberto’s payroll, but I trusted him. I trusted him to do right by Arianne.

  My pocket started vibrating and I pulled out my cell, surprised to see my father’s name. “I’m going to take this outside,” I said to my uncle and aunt before slipping out on the deck.

  “Niccolò.”

  “Old man,” I teased.

  “Watch your tongue, boy.”

  “How’s... everything?”

  “Tommy is working round the clock to dig for dirt on Mike Fascini, and I have Stefan helping him.”

  “Did they find anything yet?”

  “Aside from the fact he might be a ghost from the past coming back to haunt us, no.” He let out a heavy sigh. “How’s Boston?”

  “It’s not home.”

  A beat passed and then my father said, “I know, Son. I know. But you need to stay put. The last thing we need is to go to war before we’ve got all the facts.”

  My hand clenched around the rail. “He promised her to him. He fucking handed her over to that piece of shit as if she’s nothing more than a—”

  “Niccolò,” my father’s tone was sharp. “You need to keep your head. We can’t have another incident.”

  I winced at that. “Tristan was an accident.”

  “I know that and you know that, but he’s in a coma for fuck’s sake, Son. Roberto has every right to want retribution for that.”

  “He was on our side,” I said. “He was going to buy us some time with the Fascini.”

  “Was he? Or was he just trying to get you out of the picture?”

  “Something doesn’t add up.” I released a frustrated breath. “Arianne told him about the evidence, told him she had proof that Fascini...” The words drowned in my anger, my body vibrating with unspent energy.

  “You need to calm down, Son. Letting your anger get the better of you will do nobody any good.”

  My teeth ground together behind my lips as I pressed them into a thin line. I would never forget seeing Arianne broken and bruised in the back of Bailey’s car.

  “Niccolò, listen to me. You cannot lose yourself to this. Do you hear me? You’re up there in Boston while your woman has to stand strong and play her part. If she can do it, then by God, you have to—”

  “I know.” I expelled a long breath, forcing my muscles to relax.

  My father was right. I couldn’t afford to drown in anger and rage. It wouldn’t help me, and it certainly wouldn’t help Arianne. I just felt so useless being exiled here, so powerless.

  “Tell me what to do.” My voice cracked, my pain filling the silence that followed.

  “You stay strong and you wait. You are Marchetti, Niccolò. We don’t cower to our enemies and we certainly don’t run.”

  I scoffed at that because I had run. I was hiding out in Boston while he tried to get a handle on things.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said as if he could hear my thoughts, “but we need to handle this the right way. If she’s as important to you—”

  “She is,” I snapped.

  “I know, Son.” He let out a resigned sigh. “I know. That girl... she has a way of bewitching even the coldest of hearts. Arianne is as good as family now. I give you my word I’ll do everything within my power to make sure she doesn’t get hurt again. But you need to trust me.”

  “I trust you,” I ground out. “That isn’t the problem.” I just didn’t trust that piece of shit Fascini. He’d already hurt Arianne twice before. What was stopping him from doing it again?

  “She has her bodyguard. And I’m putting a guy on them.”

  “Who?”

  “Niccolò.” His tone was harsher. “Trust me to do my job. We have time. You said Arianne’s birthday isn’t until February. That gives us enough time to figure out how best to play this. If we go in all guns blazing it could jeopardize everything, Son. And we can’t risk that, I won’t. La famiglia prima di tutto.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I’ll call as soon as I have more.”

  “Okay.” The word weighed heavily on me.

  He was right. So long as I was in Boston and he was there, I had to trust he could handle things.

  It didn’t mean I had to like it though.

  I SPENT THE DAY WITH Benny and a couple of his guys, collecting pizzo. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than sitting in my uncle’s house, dwelling.

  “Heads up, Nic,” Felix said as we approached the dingy bar. “We usually don’t walk away from this place without getting our hands a little dirty.”

  My spine stiffened, my senses going on high alert. It looked like bad news. The flickering neon sign was busted, reading hooters instead of Shooters, and the door had seen better days. But it only seemed to amuse Benny as we ducked inside.

  Some bluesy track spilled out of a jukebox in the corner of the room and a few guys sat around drinking beer and playing cards.

  “Benny.” One of them gave him a sharp nod.

  Felix and Dimitri fanned out, one of them hovering by the door, the other moving to the door to the restrooms. One hand casually rested inside their jacket, their expressions void of emotion. The temperature in the bar cooled significantly.

  The group of guys drinking seemed unaffected though, going about their game of poker as if it was just business as usual. And it probably was. People involved with the Family knew the score. They knew that at least once a month guys like me and Benny would come around to collect. Sometimes they paid for protection, sometimes they paid to do business on Marchetti territory, and sometimes they paid because they had a debt to the Family. Either way, when the date came you paid up.

  And if you didn’t... well, that was a whole other story.

  “Yo, Gino, you back there?” Benny called out. He was standing at another doorway, this one concealed by a heavy black curtain. There was some shuffling and cussing and then a muscled guy appeared wearing a white wifebeater, tattoos snaking up his arm and around his neck.

  “What the fuck, Benny? You can’t cut a guy a little slack?”

  I smirked. It was always the same with these coglioni. They knew the order of things, yet nine times out of ten they tried to wiggle out of paying up.

  “You know, Gino, I thought you’d get a fucking clue by now.”

  A couple of the guys at the table glanced over, and Felix inched forward. I felt for my own piece but Benny shot me a look that said, ‘we’ve got this’.

  “Gino,” a petite woman appeared, grinding to a halt when she spotted us. “Oh, hey, Benny. Gino didn’t say you were coming around.”

  “Seems Gino has a little problem keeping a check on the date.”

  “Let me get you guys a drink?” She added, “Maybe something to eat?”

  “For fuck’s sake, Jen, they don’t want a drink.”

  “Actually, I could take a drink.” Benny glanced over at me. “What about you, Nic? You want a drink?”

  I shrugged. I wasn’t here to play games; I was here to distract myself.

  “Sure thing, Benny, let me see to you guys.” She started moving around the bar, but Gino’s hand shot out grabbing her wrist. “Go out back and fucking stay there.”

  “Don’t be that way, baby.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “We have guests. We should show them a proper Shooters welcome.”

  He leaned into her space, pressing his face up against hers. I lunged forward, but Benny’s hand shot out. Anger simmered in my veins. She was half his size and Gino was staring at her as if she was the devil incarnate.

  “I said get in the fucking back, puttana.”

  “Gino.” She laughed, but it was strangled. “Please, we have guests.” Her eyes pleaded with him, but it only made his nostrils flare.

  She went to move around him, but he grabbed her wrist again, and pain etched into her expression. “Okay, I’m going
... I’m going, stop making a scene.”

  Gino muttered to himself as she disappeared through the curtain. “Fucking broad doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut.”

  Benny sucked in a harsh breath. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

  “Fuck my mother. Stupid whore didn’t know her place either.”

  “Nice to see you keeping it classy, Gino,” Felix deadpanned, his expression tight with contempt as he pulled to his full height.

  “We came here to do business, not to shoot the shit, so can we move this along?” Benny raised a brow.

  “More like came here to fuck me in the ass.”

  “I hate to break it to you, stronzo,” Felix barked out a laugh. “But you’re not my type.”

  Gino grunted, pulling out a money tin. The group of guys seated at the table paid him no attention as he pulled out a chain from around his neck and unlocked it. “It’s been a slow month.”

  “Tell it to someone who cares.” Benny smirked, advancing on the bar. “Make sure it’s all there,” he ordered.

  “Yeah, yeah, keep your hair on.”

  I tsked under my breath. The guy was a real piece of work, and he was grating on my last nerve.

  “Here you go.” He shoved a fat envelope at Benny. “Now get the fuck out my bar.”

  “Tut tut, Gino. That temper of yours is going to get you into trouble one day.” Benny tapped him on the cheek before heading for the door. I followed, letting my eyes run over each of the guys sitting at the table. They were obviously regulars, but I couldn’t decide if they were Gino’s guys or just indifferent patrons.

  Felix and Dimitri exited the bar first, with me and Benny coming up behind. I’d just reached the door, when I heard Gino’s raised voice. A cry pierced the air followed by a loud grunt and more muffled cries. I glanced back, but Benny’s large hand landed on my shoulder.

  “Leave it be, Nicco. We got what we came for.”

  But I saw red when I heard another faint whimper. Shrugging off Benny, I turned around and stormed through the bar. I came face to face with one of the guys as he leaped up. “I wouldn’t go back there if I were you.”

  My hand went inside my jacket, flashing him the butt of my pistol. “You going to stop me?”

  “Have at him, man.” He held up his hands and stepped aside.

  I ignored Benny’s calls, fueled by nothing but anger and rage. She was still crying, her quiet sobs bleeding into me, turning my blood to molten lava.

  “Get your fucking hands off her,” I growled as I burst through the curtain. It was a small office and right there against the desk, Gino had his woman cowering, a bruise already forming around her eye.

  “What the fuck?” he spat. “You don’t get to come in here and tell me how to handle my shit.”

  “Apologize, now.”

  “Vaffanculo!”

  I didn’t give him another chance. I descended on him in a blur of fists and fury, relishing the crunch of my knuckles against his cheek, the soft tissue of his throat. He went down like a sack of bricks, blood trickling from his eye, grunts of pain spilling from his dirty fucking mouth. But I didn’t stop... I couldn’t.

  “Don’t hurt him, please...” The woman cried and I wanted to shake some goddamn sense into her. But I knew how it went. I knew how these women made excuses for their boyfriends and husbands. How they became so blinded to the cycle of abuse that they only ever had a list of excuses.

  My chest heaved as I crouched down, grabbing him by his collar and yanking him forward. “Touch her again and next time it won’t be my fists you have to worry about.”

  “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Spittle sprayed into the air as he tried to compose himself.

  “Your worst fucking nightmare.”

  “Niccolò,” Benny’s voice cut through the tension. “We need to go.”

  “N- Niccolò?” The guy stuttered, confusion clouding his eyes. But then they grew wide as realization dawned. “Marchetti? Niccolò Marchetti?”

  I didn’t answer.

  Shoving him hard, I stood up and smoothed down my jacket. “You should find a guy who treats you right,” I said to the woman who was still sniffling.

  “I- I love him.”

  Benny caught my eye and flicked his head to the main bar. I ducked out of there and walked out of the place as if I hadn’t just lost my cool.

  “What the fuck was that?” Benny asked the second we hit the sidewalk.

  “Just letting off some steam.”

  “Jesus, Nic, you’re supposed to be laying low.”

  “He going to be a problem?” I flicked my head to the dingy bar.

  “Nah, I’ll handle it. But maybe you should stay at the house. You’re a fucking liability.”

  He wasn’t wrong. But I’d heard that woman’s cries and all I heard was my mom and father arguing, his raised voice, her soft whimpers. All I’d seen was Arianne’s broken and bruised body all over again. And then Alessia. My sweet, innocent sister with a faceless man, a man leveraging his power over her.

  “It triggered some stuff,” I confessed.

  “You don’t say.” He clapped me on the back. “For a second there, I was worried we’d be adding clean up to our daily roster.”

  “It’s been a long time coming if you ask me,” Felix added. “Gino is a real piece of work. It isn’t the first time I’ve seen Jenny black and blue and it probably won’t be the last.”

  “You’re right,” I said around a grimace. “I probably shouldn’t come around here again.”

  Chapter 4

  Arianne

  My hands shook as I finished putting the final touches to my hair. Nora had helped me style it off my face in messy bun, with stray waves framing my face. It was relaxed yet elegant.

  The total opposite of how I felt.

  My stomach was a tight knot and my chest felt like it was in a vise, but I had to do this.

  “Ari?” Nora called, her head appearing around the door. “Are you almost... Oh my, you look beautiful.” There was a tightness to her words that had me inhaling a shaky breath.

  “He’ll be here soon.”

  Emotion slammed into me like a tsunami, and I reached out for the dresser to steady myself.

  “Hey,” Nora rushed to my side. “Everything’s going to be okay. It’s just dinner. Luis said—”

  “Just give me a second”. Eyes screwed shut, I took three deep, cleansing breaths. I could do this.

  I had to do this.

  What other choice did I have?

  If I didn’t play my part—if I didn’t paste on a smile and pretend to at least tolerate Scott—I might never get to see Nicco again.

  “Okay.” My eyes flickered open, my fingers curling around the edge of the dresser. “I’m ready.”

  It felt like preparing for battle, only my words were a weapon and my heart was the battlefield.

  “Luis will be there the entire time.”

  “I know.” I brushed a curl from my face and forced a weak smile.

  Luis was to act as our chaperone. It was all part of my father’s latest arrangement with Mike Fascini. Scott would court me—take me out for dinner, to business parties, family events—but our relationship would remain innocent until our wedding night.

  Wedding night.

  I still couldn’t believe they wanted me to marry him.

  My father said it was to protect me, but his words meant little considering he’d handed me over to my rapist as if I was a prized cow.

  I followed Nora into the living area. Luis was waiting, his expression grim.

  “Your father wishes to speak with you.” He held out his cell phone and I let out a heavy sigh. Taking it, I pressed it to my ear and waited.

  “Figlia mia?”

  “Father.”

  “Mio tesoro, please... there are things you do not understand. Things I am trying to protect you from. This arrangement is the safest option for you right now.”

  “Very well,” I clipped out. “Was t
here something else? Or are you just calling to wish me a nice evening with my fiancé?”

  He sucked in a harsh breath, cussing under his breath. “Everything I do, I do for you. One day, you will realize that.”

  “I will never forgive you for this,” I seethed. “For handing me over to the man who...” I swallowed the words. Saying them gave them credence. It gave Scott power. And I refused to allow that. I refused to let him taint the memories I had of Nicco loving me.

  He could have my company, my time, and even my hand in marriage, but he couldn’t have my heart.

  Never my heart.

  “Arianne, please try to understand—”

  “Then tell me the truth. Tell me what this is all about...”

  “I can’t, not yet.” He let out a frustrated breath.

  “Then goodbye, Father.” I hung up and held out the cell to Luis. He took it, failing to hide his disapproval. But I knew it wasn’t aimed at me, rather at the man I no longer called Papá.

  “I’ll be right there,” Luis said, “every step of the way.”

  I gave him a sharp nod and waited for him to open the door. Scott might have held a certain amount of power over my life now, but I refused to give him my obedience. I would find pleasure in the small opportunities for dissension.

  Starting with meeting him downstairs at his car.

  But as Luis pulled open the door, I froze, hatred boiling my blood.

  “Arianne, so early.” He smirked, and I pressed my lips together, swallowing the hundred things I really wanted to say to him.

  “We thought it would be less—”

  “Yeah, yeah, you can save the excuses.” He dismissed Luis, stepping closer. “Flowers, for the lady.” Scott winked, handing me the bouquet of roses. I stared at them as if he was offering me his heart, carved from his chest, bloody and still beating in his fingers.

  “Thank you,” I almost choked over the words. Reluctantly taking the flowers from his hands, I doubled back only to find Nora standing there, tears and anger in her eyes.

  “Burn them for all I care,” I thrust them at her and she snickered.

  “Ari...” Concern glittered in her eyes.