Ciro kept up with the women, but Vince stayed back with me. “Gianni is going to be trouble,” I told him. “Have him followed, and have the two men who have been watching Iron Hand stay vigilant. If he tries to retaliate against Anya for Martina, take him out.”
“You know that will mean war,” Vince warned.
“Fuck war. I’ll annihilate them all if he touches her.”
Chapter 25
Anya
I tucked the covers tightly around Ryan and bent to kiss his brow. His lashes fluttered up, and he smiled happily before cuddling deeper into his pillow and falling straight back to sleep.
Our story hadn’t lasted long tonight. Jenny had tired him out playing games with him and his cousins all afternoon to distract them from the fact that their parents were tense from the funeral earlier.
“Good night, l’venok. Sleep well.” Stroking my fingers over his brow, I turned off the lamp beside the bed and walked quietly out of the room.
In our room, Cristiano was just coming out of the bathroom. Dressed in nothing more than a thin pair of pajama bottoms, he finished towel-drying his hair as he paused and kissed my lips before heading toward the bed.
The domesticities of the moment lifted my heart along with the taste of him on my tongue. Content, I moved to what was now my side of the bed and picked up my bottle of lotion. Slathering my hands, I sat down behind him and started rubbing the unscented lotion into his shoulders.
His groan was all the reward I needed as I began to unlock the tension in his shoulders that had been building since his father’s death. “Annie, that feels amazing,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Fuck, woman, I love you.”
Laughing softly, I focused on his left shoulder blade a little more. “I’m glad, moya lyubov.”
“What does that mean?” he asked after a beat. “You’ve been saying it a lot lately, but I don’t have a clue what it means.”
I worked my fingers into the knots at the base of his neck. “It means ‘my love.’”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm, what?” I asked distractedly, focusing on my task.
“I like that. I just thought it would be something else. Ryan told me your nickname for him means ‘little lion.’ Just figured I was the big lion.”
Laughing at the pout in his voice, I continued the massage. “Are you jealous of your son, Cristiano?”
“A little,” he surprised me by admitting. “But I love how you are with him, so I’ll get over it.”
“How big of you, moye zoloto.”
“What does that mean?” he grumbled.
“My gold,” I translated for him.
His head turned enough so he could glance at me over his shoulder, a smirk on his face. “I like that one.”
Getting on my knees so I could put more pressure on his back, I kissed his cheek. “I thought you might,” I breathed at his ear before nipping on the lobe. “Now come to bed, moye zoloto. I need you.”
With a growl, he turned so quickly I nearly squealed. Grabbing my thighs, he flipped me onto my stomach and pressed his body against my back. His lips touched my ear, his breath hot against my flesh, and whispered something in my ear in Italian. It sounded sexy as hell, but I didn’t understand a single word of it.
“What did you say?” I panted, feeling his cock flex against my hip.
“I said I will make love to you until you can’t walk in the morning. That I will worship your body and brand you so the entire world knows that you are mine.”
“Mm,” I purred, arching my back into him. “I like that.”
--
The next morning, I ate breakfast with Ryan and Scarlett’s children before the older two had to go to school. Afterward, when Scarlett had bundled up the twins to take them to school, Ciana tried to tempt her cousin into staying home to play with her.
“Please, Ryan,” she pouted prettily. “I’ll play whatever you want to play. Just please, pretty, pretty please, stay with me today.”
“Why?” he asked, confused. “You don’t like doing anything I like to do.”
“Because it’s lonely and boring here without my brother and sister. And it’s too cold to go outside. Papa won’t let me go to Adley’s house either.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes already full of tears. “I don’t like being all alone. I wish I was a big girl like Zariah so I could go to school.”
Feeling bad for the little girl, I urged Ryan to stay. “Today Ciana needs a friend, l’venok. Stay and play with her.”
Torn, he glanced from me to his cousin. “But I will miss you,” he said after a moment.
I bent and hugged him tightly. “I won’t be gone very long today,” I promised. “I just have a little paperwork to do, and then I will come straight home. Okay?”
Begrudgingly, he gave in. “Fine. But I’m not playing with her stupid dolls.”
Laughing, I kissed his cheek. “Maybe a little? Just to be fair.”
“But, Anya! Dolls are for girls.”
“I have some boy dolls,” Ciana offered. “And we can play in Zayne’s room. He has robots and soldiers and all kinds of cool boy things.”
“I have boy stuff too,” he reminded her. “Let’s just play in my room.”
“Okay!” She jumped up from the table. “Let’s go.” She waved to me and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the dining room and upstairs.
Shaking my head at the two of them, I went to tell Cristiano goodbye.
His head was bent over his own paperwork when I found him in his office, a frown pinching his brows together. I knocked twice, grabbing his attention. When he saw me, the frown disappeared and his eyes warmed.
“I just wanted to tell you I’m leaving. Minus your son. Ciana and I talked him into staying home today.” I walked over to his desk and moved behind it. Glancing over his shoulder, I took a look at the papers in front of him, but I was unable to make sense of what I was seeing. “Problems?”
“I’m thinking Scarlett needs to become my business manager when things calm down for her,” he said with a grunt. “This shit makes zero sense to me half the time. She’s so much better at this crap than me. Guess I should have paid more attention in those Econ classes in college.”
He moved his chair back enough so I could sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around my waist, his lips touching my cheek. “If you tell me what is what, I’ll try to help you when I get back.”
“No, tesoro. You have enough on your plate. So does my sister. I’ll figure it out on my own.”
I cupped his jaw, my thumb stroking over his cheek. “Asking for help doesn’t mean you’re weak, Cristiano. Ask Scarlett to take a look at everything. Get her advice on it. Plus, it will give her something to do other than think about her pregnancy or Victoria’s issues.” Kissing his lips quickly, I stood. “Have a good day, moye zoloto. Love you,” I called over my shoulder as I headed out the door.
“I love you too,” he called just as I closed the door behind me.
Laughing, I went up to our room to grab my things. I wanted to check in on Ryan and Ciana, but I knew that if Ryan saw me, he would probably change his mind and throw a tantrum. Wanting to avoid that, I rushed down to my car and headed to the club.
Iron Hand was opening in just a few short days, but thankfully everything was all set to go. All I had to worry about was the PR for the reopening. Between ads on the radio, commercials on television, and flyers all over the city, I knew it was going to be epic. On top of that, I had some A-lister people coming to opening night that would have patrons showing up in droves.
I hoped.
When I got to the club, I was so busy making lists in my head to remind myself to confirm a few of the guests that I nearly missed the sound of a muffled sneeze coming from the back of the car. I paused with my hand on the door handle and waited, straining my senses to pick up the presence of another person.
Shit. How had I missed that?
I’d let down my guard, and if it were someone there to take me out, I
would have already been dead. It had been years since I’d been put in that type of situation, but I still should have detected that I wasn’t alone in the fucking car.
“Ryan Vitucci!” I turned in my seat and looked down at the little boy curled into a ball behind my seat. The little sneak had actually gone undetected for the entire drive, which should have impressed me—and it did. But I’d told his father he wasn’t going with me today.
His head popped up, his chin set in that stubborn way that reminded me so much of Cristiano, it killed me. “What? I didn’t really want to play with Ciana. She said we didn’t have to play with dolls, but she lied. As soon as we got upstairs, she wanted to play with her stupid dollhouse.”
“So you left her crying?” I shook my head at him in disappointment.
“Course not. I told her let’s play hide-and-seek. She will look for me all day.”
“Smart. But still not nice.” After getting out, I helped him out of the back seat. “You shouldn’t play tricks on people, l’venok.”
“It’s not nice to promise something then lie about it either,” he grated out.
He had me there, damn it. Sighing with frustration, I unlocked the back door to the club, and we went straight to my office. “I need to call Papa and let him know you’re with me, after all,” I told him as I grabbed my phone. “You get comfortable, and I’ll be right back.”
“Are you mad at me, Anya?” he asked in a small voice.
Looking down at him, I wanted to be mad. He had snuck into my car, hadn’t told a single person where he was going to be. He was a sly one, that was for sure, and since he hadn’t been caught hiding, I knew none of the men back at the house had seen him doing it. It was dangerous, and my heart was racing so hard it hurt because of all the possible scenarios of what could have gone wrong.
But seeing those brown eyes filling with tears, I couldn’t be mad. Crouching down in front of him, I took his hands. “I’m not mad, Ryan. But you have to understand that what you did could have been bad if you had gotten into the wrong car.”
“But I knew which car was yours,” he rushed to assure me.
I stroked a hand over his hair, smiling. “That’s not what I mean. I know you know my car. What I meant was that if you tried to sneak out again and got into someone else’s car, they might hurt you. And that would make me very, very sad, l’venok. You and Papa mean everything to me, and if something were to happen to one of you, it would break my heart into a million pieces.”
“I won’t do that, Anya. I promise.” He hugged me around the neck, tight. “I love you, Anya. I just wanted to be with you today.”
Hugging him back, I kissed his brow. “I know, kiddo. I—”
A sound coming from downstairs had the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I could almost taste the threat of danger, and my stomach bottomed out.
No, my senses hadn’t deserted me, after all, because they were screaming at me right then.
Chapter 26
Ryan
Anya’s arms tightened around me, and I couldn’t breathe. It scared me for a second, made me think about when Mommy would choke me and I couldn’t catch my breath. Mommy always did that when I was bad, but Anya said she wasn’t mad.
Then she released me, and I could breathe again, and I wasn’t scared anymore. Anya wasn’t Mommy. She wouldn’t hurt me. She loved me.
Until I saw her face. Anya was so pretty. No one was as pretty as her, not even Zia Scarlett and Zia Victoria with their red hair. Anya’s face was still pretty with the way her eyes were scrunched up and her nose twitching, but there was something in her eyes that made me shiver.
Her head turned, looking at the door.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, scared.
“Shh,” she whispered, putting her hand over my mouth.
The sound of something breaking made my tummy hurt and I wanted to cry, but I needed to be a big boy for Anya. I couldn’t let something hurt her, no matter how scared I was. Papa wouldn’t be happy if something happened to her. I wouldn’t be happy either.
Picking me up, she ran across her office and pushed open a door I never saw before. There were TVs in there, but none of them were turned on, making the room very dark. She carried me to a chair in front of a long table below the TVs and placed me under the desk.
Giving me her cell phone, she moved back. “Call Papa. Tell him to come get you. That I might need some help. Okay?”
“Don’t leave me!” I begged her, the tears I didn’t want to cry falling anyway. I wanted to be a big boy like Theo and Zayne, but I was just a crybaby. “Please, Anya. I’m scared.”
She kissed my cheek, smiling down at me like nothing was wrong, but I knew there was. Something bad was going to happen, I just knew it. “Don’t be scared, l’venok. You’re going to be a brave boy and stay right here. Okay? Please? I need you to stay here and keep quiet after you call Papa.” She kissed me again, then jumped to her feet like a cat.
Backing toward the door, she put her finger to her lips. “Shh. Okay?”
I nodded, my fingers shaking as I held her phone.
“That’s my brave little lion. Now, call Papa.” I nodded again. “Don’t come out of this door for any reason. I mean it, Ryan. I will come back for you. Okay?”
I tried to nod again, but she was already closing the door, and I heard a clicking like she was locking me in. I tried not to be scared of the dark—really, I tried. I wanted to be brave for her, wanted to protect her.
Doing what she had told me to, I called Papa, and I was glad the light from the phone made it not so dark anymore.
It rang for a long time before I heard his voice. “I’m in a meeting, Annie. I’ll call you back—”
“Papa!” I screamed, scared he would hang up. Realizing I was loud when Anya had told me to stay quiet, I clamped my mouth shut.
“Ryan?” Papa’s voice was surprised. “Ryan, where are you? What are you doing with Anya’s phone?”
“Papa, I was bad. I snucked in to Anya’s car and went with her to work.” My nose was running, and I wiped it on my sleeve.
“Okay, well just be a good boy, and I will see you tonight.”
A loud thumping noise sounded outside, followed by a loud crash that shook the hidden door. I whimpered, afraid someone was hurting Anya. “Papa, help!” I whispered, my tears making my eyes burn. “Someone is here. Anya hid me, but I think she’s being hurt.”
Papa said a bad word, and then I heard him say something away from the phone. “I’m coming, Ryan. Stay where you are. Don’t leave that room, do you hear me, figlio?”
“I won’t, Papa,” I promised. “Please hurry. I don’t want anything to happen to Anya.”
“Stay quiet. Don’t let them hear you. No one can get into the room but Anya. You’re safe there, Ryan.”
“But what about Anya?” I whispered. “What if they hurt her?”
“Don’t worry about her.” But his voice sounded funny, and I knew he was lying when he said, “She will be just fine.”
Suddenly, the door opened, and Anya was standing there, light from her office shining behind her. She picked me up, and I wrapped my arms around her as she started running, her phone falling out of my hand. “We have to go,” she panted, pressing my head into her chest. “We have to go.”
She smelled funny, kind of like the burned pancakes Papa tried to make once. I sniffed her, but the smell was getting worse. Then I heard the screaming of the smoke detectors, and water sprayed down on us as she ran toward the back door where we’d come in.
“We’re almost there. Almost safe,” she told me, holding me so tight again, it was hard to breathe.
But then she stopped, and I tried to lift my head to see why when we were still inside and that burning smell kept getting stronger. Her fingers gripped my head hard, keeping me tucked against her.
“Well, look at that,” a deep, scary voice said with a laugh. “She’s got a brat with her. No wonder she was hell-bent on not letting anyone into her
office.”
Anya started to shake, but she didn’t let me go. She kissed my head. “I love you, Ryan,” she whispered at my ear. “You know that, right?”
I tried to nod, but it was hard.
“I need you to close your eyes. Promise me you will.”
“I p-promise.”
She kissed my head again and set me down. Taking my hands, she covered my eyes with them. “Don’t look.”
“I won’t,” I assured her, too scared to disobey her.
“What are you going to do, bitch?” that scary voice asked her, and I wanted to hit him for calling her a bad name.
“You can burn down my club. Fine. I’ll rebuild it. A hundred times if I have to. But you’re standing between my son and fresh air. This is your only warning to let us pass.”
The man laughed, and it made my stomach feel sick. I wanted him to shut up, to stop laughing. To just go far, far away from us and leave Anya alone. He said another bad word, a lot of them, calling her more bad names.
“The only way you and the kid are leaving is in body bags,” he told her.
“Wrong answer,” Anya snarled. “Ryan, are your eyes closed tight?”
“Yes!”
“That’s my brave boy,” she praised, and that was the last thing I heard her say for a long time.
Something loud crashed from behind us, downstairs where Anya had let me play one time when no one else was there. I heard glass breaking, heard the bad man say something mean to Anya. She didn’t say anything, didn’t make any noises that I heard. The smell of burning got stronger, and I started to cough because it was hurting my throat.
When someone picked me up, I knew it was her, and I started to uncover my eyes. “No!” she commanded. “Keep them closed, l’venok. Don’t look until we’re outside.”
Soon, we were outside. The smoke smell was still strong, but I could breathe without it hurting now. Still, I coughed and coughed. Anya did too as she put me on my feet. I dropped my hands, because she said I could when we were outside.
Her Mafioso King (The Vitucci Mafiosos Book 4) Page 17
