Mafia Protection (Tomassi Series Book 1)

by AA Lee

  Rafa chuckled. “Well, I figured as much. The owner will be pleased that you agreed. I think you will both learn to get along nicely. Now for the rules,” he said.

  “Rules?” Ella had always followed a list of rules. The owner was acting exactly like her father who watched every move she had made while growing up.

  “You did agree to the courtship, didn’t you?” Rafa asked.

  “Yes, but it’s not like I had a choice.”

  “Actually, you did. You just liked the other choice less.”

  “Right,” Ella sighed.

  “Good. And I suggest you remember these rules or it could be your life.” His serious look dared her to argue. His expression made Ella believe that her life would be in danger if she did not follow them. “Number one: If you ever mention that room with the guns, we will kill you, understand?”

  “Completely,” she sulked. Finding that room was probably worse than having heard Angelo pull the trigger on a gun. She did not even actually see him do that.

  “Number two: If we let you leave the premise, don’t run. It will be pointless, and we will find you. Don’t waste your time and don’t waste ours.”

  “Yes,” she said annoyed.

  “Number three: You are with the owner, so act like it. You will earn instant respect with that ring. No one in this club will question you as long as it’s on your finger, so never take it off.”

  “Okay, but shouldn’t I get to meet him first? That would be the decent thing for the owner to do.”

  Rafa smirked and shook his head. “I don’t answer questions for the owner. When he wants you to know something, he will tell you without your asking. That brings us to the last rule. Don’t ask questions, and do exactly as you are told. The rules aren’t hard.”

  No, not hard, Ella thought, just impossible.

  “Good…. I will tell the owner that you have decided. While you wait, I will send someone to take you to a different room where you can eat and shower.”

  “But wait. I want to know…”

  The door closed, cutting Ella’s words short, and she sat back on the bed, slumping to the pillow. This was so much worse than living in her father’s house. At least she knew what to expect from him. She sorted through what she did know. The owner kept a large room full of guns. Someone killed Halsey without a second thought, and if she did not do what he said, she could face the same.

  Ella’s heart beat fast. She almost felt like she could hear the loud pounding against her chest instead of simply feeling it. Would the owner force her to forget about Angelo? Must she put him in the back of her mind as though she had never met him at all? Did he only own this club or was there a harrowing, more complicated organization behind it all? Ella could not think.

  ***

  Angelo looked at a screen on his desk and started the video of the poker match over for the fourth time in a row. If it had not been his own men at that table, he would have thought someone had tipped her off. Ray was the dealer who dealt Sammy a double card. Jim took the extra chip, and Rafa was talking to him on his earpiece.

  “It doesn’t make sense.” Angelo tapped his fingers on his desk and looked at the men on the sofas. Jim and Rafa sat on one sofa; Ray and Brett sat on the other. Maybe they caught something he did not.

  “Go on,” Rafa urged.

  “The poker game last night doesn’t make sense. Even if Ella caught each of you cheating, there is no way that a young woman of twenty-two would have looked for a camera.”

  “Yes,” Rafa said. “That caught me by complete surprise too. She might be a better match for you than I thought.”

  Jim nodded. “When she slapped the camera on the table and knew exactly what it was, I thought I was going to have to leave. I found it hard to keep a straight face.”

  “Did all of you see the way she kneed Halsey? Ella had perfect form. If she hadn’t fallen, I think she could have gotten away.”

  “We saw,” Ray added, moving his brown hair from his eyes. “I have never seen anything like it.”

  “Exactly, but it’s like she doesn’t even realize that her knowledge is out of the ordinary. The way she pointed all of you out seemed completely natural to her.”

  “And the way she felt for that camera seemed like she knew it would be there,” Rafa added.

  “Rafa, come here,” Angelo ordered. He picked up a folder from his desk and held it to Rafa. “Take this folder down to Donnie. I want to know everything about her, and I don’t think she knows a thing about her father. Have Donnie dig up anything he can on him. I want to know every business he owns and who his associates are. I want the info as soon as he gets it. Then maybe I can figure something out.”

  “You heard him, Brett. You get to drive.”

  “Really?” Brett sounded disheartened. “I already missed the poker match and now I might miss something else.”

  “Brett.” Rafa gave him a look and Brett gave a sigh and stood.

  “I’m ready.” Brett walked to the door.

  “And you two.” Angelo looked at Jim and Ray. “I want you both to escort Ella to my room. I want to see how she reacts to you since you were both cheating last night.”

  “Do you want us to come back after we’re done?” asked Jim.

  “No, why don’t you drive over to the Royal Flush and check on the hotel. Make sure that everything is running smooth.”

  When Angelo was alone in his office, he watched Jim and Ray walk to the room that Ella occupied. They passed several rooms on the third floor of the club. One was his personal room; another was his office. Three smaller rooms were for security issues, and seven more for general use.

  Angelo smiled when Ella looked at them. Her immediate realization that Jim and Ray were two of the cheaters in the previous night’s poker match amused him. She stayed silent but glared at them. She knew right away that they had sabotaged the poker match on purpose; however, she did not know why. She could not have known that they were testing her…or was it possible that she might figure it out.

  CHAPTER 17

  Ella attempted to clear her thoughts when two new men entered the room. They were two of the cheaters from the night before, and they pointed guns at her to make sure she would not run through the open door. Were they trying to make her afraid? It worked. Her body shivered all over again, but did they really want her dead?

  One of them pointed for her to walk. Ella did not argue and got off the bed in an instant. When she exited the small holding room, the men led her down a hallway until they came to a set of stairs. They did not take her down the stairs but instead led around a corner and down another hallway. It looked like something she would find in a hotel with closed doors on either side, except there were no door handles and no numbers on the outsides. They stopped at the end. One of them placed his thumb on a sensor; the other pointed her through the door. The men said nothing at all to her as they closed the door behind them.

  Ella stood in the middle of the new room; there were no windows and no way out. It was dark except for the light that shown from the restroom door. A gorgeous wooden table sat between two plush recliners, and a television was mounted on the wall above a dresser. In front of the dresser were three large black duffel bags. On the bed sat another duffel bag. Ella started to walk near the bag but noticed a small closet in the corner where several of her business suits hung. Then she saw her purse on the table by the restroom and felt put out. Whoever brought them had broken into her house and went inside her bedroom. Did they go through her purse too?

  Ella forgot about the duffels. She peeked inside the restroom and saw a spacious tub with neatly folded linens lying on a shelf beside the sink. A hot bath was bound to make her aching body feel better. Taking off her clothes, Ella turned the hot water all the way up and stepped inside the tub. Then she lay against the back and closed her eyes. Under different circumstances, she could easily enjoy such an occasion, except a grim reality lurked in her mind and constantly reminded her of the true nature of the situa
tion.

  Ella sat back up and gazed in the decorative mirror that set against the restroom door. The gash on her head made her nauseous, but she needed to wash the blood from her hair. Gently scrubbing around the wound, she examined the gash again. It looked much better now and was not nearly as big as she originally thought. Relieved, she stepped out of the tub, grabbing a folded bathrobe from the shelf and then grabbing a towel.

  Ella walked out of the restroom and grabbed her purse to get her hairbrush when a voice came from one of the chairs in the room. “How are you feeling?”

  Ella shrieked at the voice and threw a hairbrush at the wall, her swift movements causing the towel around her hair to tumble to the floor. “Mr. Tomassi!” she exclaimed and sat down on the bed. “You scared me to death.” Ella pulled the sash tight around her robe and picked up the fallen towel. All she could think about was her naked body underneath the robe, even though she was sure that it meant nothing to Angelo. She thought about the dancers and figured he’d seen plenty of bare body parts by now.

  “Are you trying to knock me out?” Angelo stood up and handed the hairbrush back over to her. “I need to doctor that cut on your forehead. How do you feel?” he asked and opened up a first aid kit.

  “All right, I guess. It’s not as bad as I thought.”

  “No.” He applied a thin layer of ointment. “It looked much worse before you took a bath. It bled a lot last night, but it’s barely more than a scratch now.” Angelo smoothed a narrow bandage across her forehead. His light, gentle touch surprised her. She admired the way his eyes focused all attention on her wound.

  “That is a nice ring you are wearing.” Angelo glanced down. “You make it look good.” Ella shrugged and covered her right hand with her left. Her eyes drifted to the wall. “I hear the owner wants you to make an appearance at a party tonight.”

  “For what?” Ella muttered. She did not feel like attending a party with the owner.

  “As his girlfriend. It will be a full house. The owner invited many important business associates to visit the club. What better time is there to introduce you than during that event?”

  “What time does it start?” she asked.

  “At six when the doors open.”

  “Then can I go to Santiago’s until then and check on the restaurant? Tessa is an experienced assistant manager, but I still need to make sure she is ready to be on her own.”

  “No,” he said without hesitation.

  “But why are you keeping me here? It’s not like I’m going to say anything,” Ella said.

  “You are not leaving here yet.” Angelo’s voice was firm. “I warned you on the beach. You came back to the club. You made the choice and now you are surprised.”

  What exactly worried him about her going to Santiago’s? She would not try to run. Maybe she would go to her house, but she did not go to many other places. Whom would she tell anyway? Ella only had Lila.

  “But I don’t know anything,” she insisted. “Can’t you send someone with me if you are so worried?”

  “Why are you asking questions, Ella? I know that Rafa explained the rules.”

  Ella frowned and looked back down. “Never mind then,” she sighed. What was the point? She could ask questions all day that no one would answer. Why waste her breath?

  “I brought you something to eat.” He pointed at a tray on a small table. “You need to keep your energy up today. You will definitely need food in your system if you plan to drink tonight. We don’t want you to make a fool out of yourself while meeting important clientele.”

  Then Angelo left her alone in the quiet room. She found the silence lonesome as she grabbed one of her suits from the closet, but she took one look at the three outfits and put it back. She could not wear those. They forgot the blouses that went underneath. With a mere two buttons on the coats, her breasts would hang out for the world. They would definitely need to take her home.

  Ella returned to the restroom to brush her hair. What a mess. If the owner had planned to let people stay the night, he should have purchased some better haircare products for the guests. Ella felt like she was ripping her hair out of her head. It was long, but she never found it this difficult to brush.

  Now she had nothing to do but wait and stare at the duffle bag on the bed. Ella could not help her curiosity. She took five steps closer and looked at the door and then at the ceiling—no cameras. If they were already forcing her to stay, she would face no further consequences by looking inside. What harm could it really cause?

  She sat on the bed and eased the zipper across the bag, careful not to make a sound. The sides of the bag fell open instantly with the pressure of the weight. There were pistols, smooth and shiny, from black to silver and everything in between. Were these parts of the guns in the room that she found?

  In the corner of the bag, a light blue pistol sparked her attention. She picked it up. With the light of the restroom streaming in a straight line to the bed, she saw that the entire gun had a chrome finish except for the slick blue sides. She wanted to see how it felt in her hands when fully loaded.

  Ella looked further in the bag and found a single box of ammunition. Then she ejected the empty clip and loaded it one bullet at a time. It felt like the perfect size in her hand. She turned it over, inspected the back, looked at the hammer, and then clicked off the safety. It was gorgeous. Ella pointed it at the wall and admired the sight.

  “You had better duck if you plan to shoot that thing in here. These walls are made with four inches of solid steel.”

  Ella screamed. The gun fell from her hands and crashed onto the other guns inside the bag. As soon as it happened, Angelo jerked her to the floor and shielded her body with his own. The gun fired like a rocket. The bullet ricocheted off the door and pummeled to the wall behind. Then it bounced diagonally off that wall, hit the tray of food, and finally lost momentum when it shattered the television that hung from the ceiling.

  Ella stared at Angelo as he looked back down at her. Fragments of glass from the television still clinked to the dresser and his body pressed her all the way to the floor. When the room was silent again, Angelo lifted off her chest and leaned his back against the bed. He looked around. Ella had destroyed the room, and she could not say a word at first. Her heart still beat so hard that she did not know whether to cry or laugh.

  “You were extremely careless,” he stated matter-of-factly, yet there seemed to be a slight smirk on his lips. His hands rested on the floor as he turned to see his television again. “I can’t believe that just happened.”

  “You saved me from the bullet,” Ella said in shock. “You pushed me down before the gun ever went off.”

  “Who taught you how to load a gun? I was actually impressed until you dropped it like a moron.”

  “I don’t know. I grew up with them and just learned, but I never carried a gun without the safety engaged.”

  “No wonder,” Angelo scoffed.

  “Well…you scared me!”

  Angelo lowered his head and glared. “You should know better than to drop a loaded fucking pistol!”

  “You should know better than to scare a woman who holds a loaded pistol. Don’t you remember how I threw the brush at you earlier?”

  “You should have never loaded that pistol in the first place, and you know I’m right.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” she said and wrapped her arms around her knees. “Thank you for saving me.”

  “We were lucky. You realize that.” Ella let out a deep sigh and squeezed her legs tighter. “Tell me how you knew there was a camera last night. It is not normal for the average woman to look for a camera.”

  “My father had surveillance cameras all over the house. I used to look for his hidden cameras when I got tired of being caught doing something wrong. Why was the camera there in the first place?” Angelo grunted and stood up. “You aren’t going to answer me?” she asked.

  Instead of responding to her question, he walked to the bag where Ella
had dropped the gun. “It is probably a good idea to unload this one, but I think I’m going to keep it out for you since you seemed so fascinated by it. I will lock the safety, of course.” He set the gun aside.

  “So you aren’t going to answer me?” she asked again. “Fine, then is that man you took me to meet at the restaurant the owner? Can you at least tell me that?” she pleaded. “Please?” She hoped it was not but she had to know. She felt desperate.

  “No,” he replied. “He is not the owner. He used to be, but he handed the business down to his son. There were some strings attached.”

  Ella let out a breath and closed her eyes. That was a relief. She did not know what she would do if he was the owner. “What kind of business did he hand down?”

  “His name.” Angelo stressed the word.

  Ella cupped her hands over her face and leaned her chin on her knees. Talking to Angelo was impossible. He was so cryptic with everything. She did not understand.

  “Come here,” he spoke again. Ella looked up. Angelo held out his hand to her, waiting for her to take hold of it; then he easily pulled her to her feet.

  Ella felt stricken by his brown eyes. They stared straight into hers and deeper as though considering what to do. He did not let go of her hand and he did not look away. He seemed to enjoy the warmth of her touch as much as she enjoyed his.

  “My father passed down the Tomassi name, Ella. I had reasons to stop talking to you, but now you have seen too much and you are at risk for knowing me. You can’t go back now, and I have to keep an eye on you and have someone with you at all times. There are many people who would love to see me dead, and they will come straight after you to make sure that happens.”

  “You are the owner?” Ella asked to make sure.

  “Boss,” Angelo corrected in a dead serious tone.

  “The boss,” she repeated, remembering how Brett had said they were the same. He now made a little more sense.

  “I took over my father’s company – his organization – around five years ago. I had been training to do so since I was young. My company operates out of Miami. We are Mafioso, Ella. You need to understand that and take it serious. We don’t fuck around with anyone, and we don’t play games. We have those guns for a reason. Right now, there is another family, the Bonadio Group, from Tampa trying to wipe us out. We have our own men on the inside to make sure we always know what they are planning. Staying one step ahead is crucial in this world no matter how we have to do it.”