Beyond Forgiving: A Dark Mafia Captive Romance (The Underworld Book 2)

by Jolie Damman

I knew he wanted to punch me, but he didn’t want me to pull out my gun and shoot him dead right now. He was worried about his family. And I could see that one annoying thing in his eyes. He loved Editta.

  Well, so did I… once. Not anymore.

  “Just don’t harm anyone from my family again, Basilio. That is all I ask of you.”

  He took one step backward and straightened up himself. I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t beat up women.”

  “That’s not what she told me.”

  “Oh, so you did know she was cheating on me, right?”

  He gulped. I got him. His lie was revealed.

  “She told me everything. I took pity on her. How could I not?”

  I calmed down a little. I knew that was what had happened from the very beginning, but I still needed to hear it straight from his mouth.

  I turned and walked away. When I crossed through the still-open doorway, he begged, “Don’t kill her.”

  Maybe I should have replied to him, but I was past that. He didn’t know one thing about me. Editta didn’t tell him the whole truth. I tended to get angry more often than I should, but I never laid a finger on her.

  When I pushed her inside the pub, it was because I was drunk. I never once beat her up. She would not be alive right now if I was a different man.

  Despite the pain and the hate, I never raised a fist to a woman, and she wasn’t going to be the first.

  Chapter 5

  The Bottomless Pit

  Gloria

  Basilio left me with a memory I was never going to forget. He wasn’t the one that killed my dad and uncle, but he was part of it all. He didn’t feel ashamed that he helped to make it happen. He was pointing a gun to my brother and my family, and that was a memory I was never going to forget.

  That was not something I could forgive, and I never would. My whole life was destroyed, and it was in large part because of him. I guessed I should be thankful he didn’t kill my brother. Gino didn’t do something rash, and was now one of the few I could rely on.

  My mom and aunt never recovered from that night. They cried for days and nights, and I couldn’t do anything to help them. I felt powerless and useless.

  We even had to hire more people to take care of the place, and now it wasn’t even ours anymore. It was another property of the Calabrese now. Barnaba wasn’t satisfied with getting his revenge. He needed more, and no one could get in his way.

  It was difficult to know which of them I hated more. Paolo was the silent, smirking type, but he was cunning and I knew his reputation. I knew how many people he tortured to their slow deaths. Barnaba was like a loose cannon, and he did whatever his merciless heart wanted. Basilio was cruel and ruthless, and I should also say I felt like killing him very slowly. He punched my brother when he was talking to him that night.

  Cars pulled over in front of our home, and when I looked out the window, I wasn’t shocked it was Barnaba and his two sons coming to us. My brother was with me, and mom and aunt were sitting on a couch.

  My brother, as the head of this family now, needed to negotiate. Something terrible was about to happen, and I needed to be ready for it.

  Mom looked defeated and worried. She didn’t have that brightness on her face anymore. She looked like a ghost. My aunt wasn’t faring much better herself. Her hands had long given up. She stopped working in her store.

  I had some strength in my heart and mind thanks to Gino. He and I were close, and as long as he was brave, I wasn’t going to give up.

  The rest of my family was with us, and we were all concerned. We had no idea what was going to happen now. Were they going to make us all work for them? Kill for them? Rob to make them happy?

  Those were things my family did before, but we did it for us, not for other people.

  My palms grew sweatier by the second. Basilio was with them, and I couldn’t help but feel a great, immeasurable repulsion for him. I wanted him dead on my floor, his body lifeless.

  I clenched my hands. That was something that was going to have to wait. I talked with my brother before. He said that, once the dust had settled, we would be able to strike back. He would devise a plan.

  He was in pain. His eyes looked hurt. I knew he wanted to kill them all right now, but once again, he remembered he would be put down before he could get them all.

  And Barnaba and his sons weren’t coming alone. He had his goons with them. Of course he would bring the whole gang here. He needed to make a point, and he was making one. He was making sure we wouldn’t do anything rash.

  Gino said, “Let me deal with this.”

  I wanted to say I was going to help him, but I knew he meant it when he said that. He needed me safe right now. I said I wasn’t going to wait upstairs again, and at least this time, he agreed with me.

  I felt more relieved to be able to see everything transpiring in front of me. I didn’t want to miss a single detail of the meeting. It wouldn’t really be a meeting, though. More like them telling what they needed from us, and we saying we would obey everything.

  I nodded and he went to open the door. Barnaba and his whole gang stepped into the living room. We weren’t even able to clean all the blood from the floor yet. I could still see the dried, darkened marks that terrified me.

  Basilio’s eyes found me, and he smirked. I avoided looking at the others. They were all here, and they outnumbered us by so many I couldn’t even begin to imagine how we could bring them all down.

  Barnaba gestured with his hand, and my brother walked to stand in front of him. Their Colts were tucked in their waistbands, and they were ready to make use of them in case things turned south.

  But they wouldn’t. This was going to be a calm meeting. No shooting, just talking.

  “What do you want, Barnaba?” Gino asked.

  I knew he looked tough, but his hands told me otherwise. He was frightened. This could end so badly for all of us. It wouldn’t take much to convince the Calabrese we weren’t worth their trouble.

  “Before we begin this, I need to tell you what I want to do with that beautiful lady over there.”

  His eyes darted to me. He was talking about me, and my heart leaped. What did he want to do to me?

  I knew my brother wanted to tell him to fuck off, but he wouldn’t do anything rash right now.

  “Leave her alone, Barnaba. She has suffered enough.”

  “No no no, I’m doing what I want, and I want her to live in New York with my son, Basilio.”

  Basilio glanced at me. A smirk permeated his cruel face. I hated him so much. I wanted to strangle him.

  “What?” Gino looked incredulous. “I don’t understand.”

  “You want me to repeat myself, boy?”

  Gino gulped, and took a step back.

  “That's what I thought.” Barnaba’s smirk widened.

  Basilio walked over to him and gripped the collar of his shirt, their eyes got so close I could almost palm the tension in the air. “You took my girl away from me, and now I’m going to take your sister from you. Don’t you agree that’s fair?”

  Gino’s eyes trembled, and I knew he wanted to kill Basilio right now. I would even help him, if I could. But such a thing - that dream - wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

  Basilio withdrew his hand and walked back to where he was standing before. Gino tugged the collar of his shirt a little, fixing the wrinkles Basilio made on it.

  He glanced at me, and I knew why he did so. He was asking for my opinion. Was I okay with such a big change in my life? I would move all the way to America, a land I never visited before. I didn’t even know the language they spoke over there.

  And I would live with none other than Basilio, their heir, and Barnaba’s most loved son. Maybe I was being repetitive, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I hated him. I wanted to see him dead, not to live with him alone and without my brother to help me.

  But I needed to make a decision. Barnaba was waiting for Gino to tell him there wasn’t going to be a
problem with what he wanted, and maybe my brother was going to say just that, but I couldn’t wait anymore.

  I stepped forward, getting in between them. Sometimes, I was stupid like this.

  “I’m going to live with him. I don’t care. Just don’t harm my family again.”

  Through the corner of my eye, I noticed my mom’s and aunt’s heads snapping to me. They couldn’t believe I was going to do it. Without complaints. I was going to live with the heir of the Calabrese family, and I didn’t even try to change their minds about their plan.

  My mother, who was silent this whole time, stood up quickly from the couch she was sitting on and rushed over to me. I was startled when she grabbed my hand and took me with her to the kitchen.

  She put me against the wall and said, “Are you crazy? You can’t live alone with that man.”

  “I’m sure I won’t be alone. There will be more people there with me, and you can come to visit me.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Mom.” I looked seriously into her eyes. “I need to do this... for dad and uncle.”

  She studied me for a second, most likely thinking of a way to convince me, but then withdrew her hands. “Alright, but you won’t be alone there. I’m sending your brother with you.”

  She took my hand again and walked me back into the living room. Barnaba said, “So, made a decision already?”

  Mom said, “Yes. I’m allowing my daughter to go live in New York with… him, but there is one condition. Two, actually.”

  “Oh, let’s hear them,” Barnaba said.

  Mom sucked in a breath. “She won’t go there by herself and I want to know why you want her.”

  “It’s pretty simple. We are expanding our operations, and I heard America is the land of opportunities. Well, I want to make sure the Calabrese family will be even bigger.”

  Paolo licked his lips and Basilio’s face continued to terrify me.

  “What about the second condition?” Mom asked.

  “It won’t be possible to allow him to live with her. The house will be owned by my son, and he will be the man of it. I’m sure he doesn’t want him there.”

  Gino said, “Mom, it’s fine. I can live elsewhere there. If Gloria needs me for anything, I will still be able to help her.”

  Basilio said, “And I agree with papa. I don’t want him on my property.”

  Mom looked at me, Basilio, Paolo, and Barnaba. Her eyes were trembling. She was so concerned about me I could almost palm her worry. I wanted to tell her I would be okay, but if I tried to do so, she would tell me I was lying to her.

  I didn’t want to make her think I would be lying to myself too.

  Mom breathed out, and said, “Alright, she will go, but I also want to be able to visit her.”

  My aunt said, “And I want to be able to come visit Gloria too. She is my niece and I love her.”

  Barnaba shrugged. “I respect the wish of the women of this house. You will all be able to visit her, but the visits will be controlled. I will tell you when you can visit her.”

  My mom bit her lower lip. That was far from ideal, but it was the best we were going to have. I didn’t know what my papa did to make him mad, but it must have been something big. I could ask Barnaba right now about that and… I decided not to. I didn’t think he would tell me what happened anyway.

  “And now, time to figure out what to do with the rest of you,” Barnaba said before rubbing his hands together frantically, a devilish smile on his face.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Basilio

  I took her home with me. Gloria was sitting in my car, and she looked less than pleased to be with me. Well, she was gonna change her mind about me pretty soon. Things didn’t start on the right foot because my father straight up killed her dad, but I was going to make it up for her - as much as one could, considering how much her life changed.

  She looked rather lost right now, and she didn’t speak to me during the whole ride. I took her from her place to mine, and I had just parked the car. I wanted to talk to her. I lost my Editta to her brother, and now… I wanted someone else.

  But I was no brute with women. I only shoved Editta with force in the bar because she was really making me feel mad. And she was cheating on me this whole time. She couldn’t even have the guts to tell me she wanted to break up with me.

  I could have killed her or done something worse, but it’s what I said before. I could hate women, but that was all. I never laid a finger on them. I could be forceful, but that was different from doing to them what I tended to do to men.

  I did punch her brother, but she should be feeling thankful I didn’t kill the bastard. He knew all along his girlfriend was cheating on me. He should have been a man and dumped the bitch.

  Editta… I was never going to fall for the wrong kind of woman again.

  I didn’t know Gloria yet, but she seemed different. Almost like she was innocent - as innocent one could be while being a member of a Mafia family, that was. I knew her before and she had genuine joy in her eyes. Too bad it appeared to be dimmed right now.

  Well, I was sure she was gonna beat her fears and come back to her normal life almost as if nothing had happened. She was gonna bounce back up. All people do, and her father… she was gonna one day find out he wasn’t the nice man she was thinking he was.

  And now, she was gonna live with me. My dad made his wishes pretty clear to me. “You are gonna marry her, and she will be your wife.”

  Why he was so invested in her being my wife, I didn’t know, but dad was always a loose cannon, and an asshole. I was never going to forgive him. If he liked Paolo better, that was his business. I was going to keep doing my thing, and when death came for him, he was gonna look back and remember I was the one who should lead our family.

  Maybe he already was thinking that way, but I couldn’t be sure. He was sending me all the way to New York. A new land. I had never been there. I knew the language, but I didn’t know the people.

  He entrusted me with something important. He wanted to expand the family’s operations over there, and I was gonna be the one leading them. He still trusted me on this, but he was unsure if I could become his heir. I didn’t obey every single thing he asked of me. That was Paolo’s role to play.

  I settled my hand on her thigh, and she shivered a little. “Well, time to head out and show you your new temporary home.”

  I thought she was gonna say something, but she didn’t, and I opened the door. It took her a couple more seconds than I was comfortable with to get out of the car, but she eventually did so.

  I thought about taking her hand in mine and guiding her to her new home, but then I thought that would be weird. Did I want her to be my wife? I didn’t know her well, and she was less than pleased to be with me.

  Well, whatever. I only needed to lie down now and get some hours of rest. The day was a tough one. Father was so focused on making sure he was going to integrate the new family well into ours. He had all kinds of plans. He was crazy most of the time, but there was no denying he could think things through.

  I didn’t even know what to tell her, and right now, I didn’t know what to do with her. Like, would she grow even angrier if I tried to be friendlier to her? These last few days I had to be tough all the time, and I was almost feeling that I might have lost my touch with the girls.

  But that was an absurdity. I could still soothe the heart of a fiery lady like Gloria.

  Without talking to each other, I guided her and opened the door. Out of a room came running Duilio, and he had joy in his eyes, as usual. I picked him up with my hands on his armpits and held him up.

  He was such a precious little thing. The only one in the family that wasn’t an asshole, aside from his mother. But she knew how tough the family was. She was no innocent. He was, and that meant he needed protection. My protection.

  “Hey, little one. How was today?”

  “It was fine, but I missed you. You are not playing as often with me anymor
e…”

  I ruffled his hair, messing it up. “You know your uncle has things he needs to do. I’m going to make it up for you. Don’t worry.”

  He pouted, and I could see he was disappointed in me. How many times did I tell him I was gonna make it up for him? My life was a tough one, and it was consuming more and more of my time. I needed to make time for him, or else my father’s influence was going to rub off on him.

  “Come on, Duilio. Don’t make that face on me. I don’t deserve it.”

  He sighed. “Mom said you are going to live in America.”

  Oh, she already knew about that?