Mob Princess: An Arranged Dark Mafia Romance (Cruel King Book 2)

by Callie Vincent

  Pava looked at me. “Everything we want comes at a cost. If you want to be free of me, you’ll have to walk around with my blood on your hands for the rest of your life. If you want to be free of my physical presence, understand you’ll never be free of my spirit. Ever.”

  I had to pull this trigger. It’d be so easy. My finger tightened against the trigger.

  “Moretti,” Israel called. “I’ve transferred your money! Give me Bonnie. Where the hell are you?”

  Pava grinned. “We’re back here, Israel! Down the hall and through the double doors.”

  My aunt whispered. “Put that gun away before he sees you.”

  I grinned. “What makes you think I don’t want him to see?”

  Never in my life did I think Israel’s footsteps would be such a relief. But hope filled my heart as he grew closer to the room.

  I felt his eyes lock onto my body.

  30

  Israel

  “Bonnie?” I asked, not quite believing what I was seeing.

  She peeked over her shoulder. “Hey.”

  I saw her two black eyes, and I promptly looked down at Pava. “I hope your wife is prepared to die for one of those bruises.”

  He grinned. “She’s prepared to die for anything. That was part of our wedding vows.”

  Bonnie sneered. “You’re disgusting; you know that?”

  I held up my hand. “Bonnie, take a break.” Mostly, I needed her to take a couple of steps back. The only reason she was still holding the gun so close to Pava’s head was because the man was allowing it. The question was why.

  Pava chuckled. “Yeah, Bonnie. Take a breath.”

  I knew there was something wrong when I siphoned his money into my own accounts and Pava didn’t call me out on it. I had an inkling there was something afoot when I emptied the bank account he filled up at the beginning of all this and I wasn’t called out on it. But in all my days, I never expected to find Bonnie holding a gun to his damn head. Both Pava and his wife had their hands tied behind their back. They sat in comfortable chairs in what looked to be a reading room, with books settled in their rightful spaces along the inset bookshelves. It was a sight to behold, and it made me wonder just how much I had been underestimating Bonnie this entire time.

  This was my chance, though. My chance to get everything I could recorded.

  So, I switched my tactics around a bit. “Well, since you’re here, I might as well ask you some questions of my own.” I picked up a chair and swung it around before I sat in front of Pava.

  “Bonnie, keep that gun steady but take six steps back. And if I give the command, pull the trigger.”

  Pava barked with laughter. “Good luck. She couldn't even kill the guard downstairs before she got up here.”

  Bonnie took the steps backward. “I didn’t need to. I promised him a job working with the Rossi family once we settle this. I hope that’s okay.”

  That was quick thinking on her feet. “I’ll find a place for him. It’s fine.”

  Pava’s face reddened. “What the fuck do you want?”

  I held out my arms. “A conversation. That’s all.”

  “Well, whatever it is you’re seeking, I don’t have it.”

  “Oh, I really think you do, though.”

  He bared his teeth. “Ask me anything you want, but I’m not going to answer.”

  I crossed my leg over my knee. “Fair enough. Did you kill Bonnie’s parents?”

  “Yes, he did,” Bonnie said. “He admitted it to me in the basement.”

  Pava smiled. “No. I didn’t.”

  Bonnie gasped. “Yes, you did!”

  I held up my hand. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Let me handle this.”

  Pava’s face fell. “What did you just call her?”

  I folded my hands in my lap. “Did you arrange to have them killed?”

  “No,” he said.

  “Did you play any part in how they died?”

  “Not one single bit.”

  Bonnie sniffled. “You’re lying, and you know it!”

  I looked up at her. “Bonnie, my love. You really need to take a deep breath.”

  Pava lunged at me. “What the fuck did you call her?”

  My eyebrows rose wondering just how far he’d take the chair. “You don’t like that, do you? That I could get one of your family members to love a monster like me. What you didn’t count on, though, were my emotions in the matter. What it might do to me and how I might end up feeling.”

  Pava sank into his chair, confused.

  I slowly stood and stalked over to him.

  “Israel?” Bonnie asked softly.

  I put my hands on my knees and dipped down, careful to stay out of Bonnie’s shot as I gazed into Pava’s furious glare. “I’m really glad to know you didn’t kill Bonnie’s parents because I think I’ve figured out who has. And I have to admit that kill is going to give them a lot of street credit. It takes balls to kill off someone like that. To pay off police officers and make it look like an accident when we all know it was anything but.”

  “What?” Bonnie asked.

  I shot her a look.

  She frowned but slowly nodded, finally jumping on board with me.

  “Who the hell’s claiming responsibility for that?” Pava demanded.

  His wife whispered something to him, but I didn’t catch it. And it didn’t matter. Because I knew this man’s pride and hubris would bury him before we ever could.

  I shrugged. “Why do you care? Now, you can avoid all the heat that would’ve dropped down onto your shoulders and, well, Carmela Esposito—”

  “You really think the Esposito's carried out that hit?” Pava demanded, spittle flying from his lips. “You really think that’s what happened?”

  “It’s the only logical explanation at this point. Also, it’s the word on the street. We all know you wouldn’t kill your only brother. I mean, come on. You’re not that good at what you do.”

  He lunged at me, his chair almost tipping over. “That’s what you think. That’s what you all think. But you rest assured I did pull that off.”

  “Pava, shut up,” his wife bellowed.

  “I killed that man and his wife. And Bonnie should’ve been with them that night. All of them should’ve been in that car, except my wimpy brother had to go and make it a bullshit date night. I swear to fuck, it took me forever to get that damn bomb built.”

  “Bomb?” Bonnie asked.

  I grinned. “I never thought you’d be so intelligent as to craft your own bomb, Pava.”

  He chuckled maniacally. “Make my own? Hell, no! I outsourced that shit. But you’ll never be able to prove it. I destroyed all the contracts. I took care of all the recordings. I paid police officers so well that most of them have already retired and moved out of the country to live there on my dime. And if it hadn’t been for that pathetic, fat-ass wife of his, my plan would’ve gone off without a hitch.”

  “So, you did kill your brother. And his wife.”

  Pava snarled. “And I’d do it again to usurp his business in a heartbeat. What that man built has made me richer than I ever could’ve made myself. You’ve dug yourself a hole you can’t fill, Israel. You’ve messed with the wrong man. And once I’m out of these ropes, the first head I’m staking on my property is yours.”

  I leaned away with a hiss. “That’s what I thought. Bonnie?”

  “Yes?” she asked weakly.

  “You can drop the gun. Though, don’t set it down. You might need it.”

  Pava blinked. “Wait, what?”

  I plucked the recording device from my pocket, and I watched the man’s face go white as a sheet.

  “I told you he was recording you,” his wife said.

  Then, I stopped the recording. “What part do you want me to play back for you? Hmm?”

  Bonnie sighed. “You’re brilliant, Israel.”

  I nodded at her. “You’re not so bad yourself, beautiful.”

  “That’s it!” Pava roared. “
Let me out of this fucking chair and fight me like a goddamn man, you son of a bitch!”

  “Psychological game, right?” I asked.

  He glared up at me. “You’re done for, do you hear me? You’re finished, Israel! You and your entire pathetic, weak-ass family!”

  I slid the recording device back into my pocket and planted my hands on the arms of Pava’s chair, before placing my face so close to his I could feel his putrid breath against my skin. “I’m going to leave you here to free yourselves but enjoy the moment. Because if there’s anything you don’t give a man like me, it’s time. I’m using this time to plan, Pava. I use time to connive and concoct and concur. So, enjoy the time you have trying to get yourself out of these bonds. Because when you come out of this room? I have a plethora of games waiting for you. Games I’ve wanted to play with you for a long, long time. And if you don’t play them? If you don’t enjoy them? If you don’t give it the good ole’ college try? This recording goes to the police, and I’ll let the men you’ve abandoned slaughter you in gen pop. Am I making myself clear?”

  Pava grimaced. “Crystal.”

  I leaned up. “Come on, Bonnie. We have dinner plans.”

  When I offered her my arm, I found her staring at me with wide, untamed eyes and a small smile against her cheeks.

  “I could use some food,” she said as she took my arm.

  We left in stride together, keeping in time with one another while her uncle yelled curses after us.

  Curses that wouldn’t do him a bit of good with the hell I was about to rain down upon his head.

  31

  Bonnie

  The fresh air that wafted up my nostrils contrasted the stingy basement I’d been locked in. It contrasted the darkened home we just escaped from, and it definitely contrasted the phantom feeling of that gun pressed against my palm.

  I looked down at my right hand to remind myself that I wasn’t holding it any longer. Instead, I held Israel’s hand, our fingers intertwined and his thumb stroking my skin as if I were some sort of beautiful prize to him.

  I love you, my Israel.

  We approached his car and he reached for the handle. “Your door, beautiful.”

  I nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Of course. Anything for you.”

  My heart fluttered at his words. “Do you really mean that?” I sat down inside the car.

  He sat next to me before his eyes met mine. “I meant everything I said in there and then some.”

  I shook my head. “I still can’t believe you came after me, that you risked so much money and the entirety of your empire to come rescue me.”

  “Well, I’ve found out a few things about my own family since this debacle started.”

  That was a curious turn. “Wow. It hasn’t even been a full day.”

  He chuckled. “Nope. Been a long day, though.”

  I leaned back against the seat. “I’m starving.”

  “I meant what I said about food. Gary?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Back home, please.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Gary?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  I released a ghost of a chuckle. “No, no. Sorry. I just—since when do you call him Gary?”

  Israel grinned. “It’s a new development.”

  “And the ‘please?’”

  He winked at me. “You tell anyone I use that word and you’re dead meat.”

  I smiled. “Sounds like foreplay to me.”

  He growled. “Don’t I know it.”

  I looked down at the device in his pocket. “Are we going to take that to the police?”

  “Oh, I’m having the chief of police meet us at my place. I’m going to hand this off to him, and then your uncle is going to be facing a very interesting trial.”

  “So, you think they’ll arrest him and hold him without bond until the trial?”

  He chuckled. “Trust me, that’s going to happen.”

  “Do I even want to know?”

  He shrugged. “You might as well since the Moretti family’s going to need a leader in your uncle’s absence.”

  The weight of that reality settled into my lap. “My aunt is going to take over?”

  Israel smiled deviously. “No.”

  “Well, Brianna’s not nearly as knowledgeable of Pava’s empire as she is.”

  “There’s someone else who’s better suited, though. And since it’s very clear on that recording that your aunt was trying to get him to shut up—which is circumstantial evidence that your aunt knew about his plan—that means she won’t be able to step up in the first place.”

  He meant me. “Oh.”

  He nodded. “Oh, indeed.”

  I pointed to my chest. “You mean…?”

  He took my hand. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”

  “But I—I can’t—you really aren’t—me? Take over the Moretti family?”

  “He said it himself. You’re family. He might have tried to backstab you and kill you in the process, but you’re family. And with your aunt’s arrest right behind his along with your admission that Brianna isn’t smart enough to step up to the plate, it leaves only you to resume that role.”

  My legs went numb. “Oh, wow.”

  “Think of it like this. If you head up one family and I head up another, they won’t have a choice but to work together. The two of us will wield more power than any other family in this game if you step up to the plate and work with me.”

  It was a brilliant idea. “You really think we could pull this off?”

  “I know we can. All it takes is the same strength I saw back in that house. The same strength that got you out of that basement and enabled you to put a gun to your uncle’s head with a direct order to kill him if I asked it of you. Would you have done it?”

  “Done what?”

  “Killed him if I asked.”

  She swallowed hard. “I actually think I would have.”

  He squeezed my hand. “Then, take your rightful place as the head of your family. Show your uncle and the rest of them how strong you really are. Show them that, no matter what they take from you, fate will always find a way to intervene.”

  It was a terrifyingly, thrilling idea. “If we do this, that means your family will leave you alone, too. They’ll never be able to go head to head with both of us.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on.”

  I leaned toward him. “If I do this, you owe me an explanation for everything. What's going on, what Giovanni did, what your father is wrapped up in. We need to sit down and have an explicit conversation with one another about everything. Front to back for business reasons.”

  “And you’ll get that conversation once you agree to the plan.”

  How could I resist? “You and me?”

  “The both of us.”

  “Together?”

  He kissed the back of my hand. “Through the whole of it.”

  I drew in a deep breath. “Then, I accept.”

  He bit his lip and smiled. “There was no offer to accept, Bonnie. Only a moment for you to take for yourself and realize exactly what you were born to do.”

  I smiled. “I’m going to run the Moretti family.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “And I’m going to make sure this family stands by a moral code they should’ve stood by when my uncle was plotting my father’s demise.”

  He kissed my forehead. “There’s my good girl.”

  I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

  As Israel cradled me in his arm, I thought about the future. About what it would mean on the streets for me to step up and assume the head position of the family. What would they think? What would they do? Would it open us all up for attack? Or would people gun for us even harder?

  “Settle that mind, for now, beautiful. One step at a time,” Israel whispered.

  I smiled. “You always can read me like a book.”

  “And
that will never change, beautiful.”

  Thank you for reading!

  I hope you enjoyed the second book in my Cruel King Series.

  Be on the lookout for book 3!

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  About the Author

  I'm Callie Vincent and I write Bastardly Heroes and Dark Romance. I hope you enjoyed my second book, Mob Princess.

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