by Soraya Naomi
He watches me with suspicious eyes, though I don’t detect anger in him, mostly disappointment.
“Adriano, are you alone?”
“I am. To show you good will, I haven’t even informed Luca.” He fishes out his pack of cigarettes and pulls one out with his teeth.
This amazes me, in a good way.
“Do you have Dimitri?” he asks, flicking open a gold lighter to hold it up to the tip of his cig.
The waitress doesn’t even stop him.
“In the trunk.”
“What do you propose we do now?” he says, taking a heavy drag, smoke billowing upward.
“That you and I talk, like we discussed. I hand over Dimitri, and we kill him, call the senator, and end this mess with him once and for all. I’ve gone above and beyond to get him within days, only to ensure my position in this Syndicate. And I’m going crazy without Rosa.”
He regards me sympathetically. I hit a nerve; he was without Cam for months. “Then talk. Tell me what occurred at James’s mansion? The footage is missing. And you’re Alessa’s prime suspect.”
Since I’m guessing Rosa’s confessed everything, I tell the truth to make sure our stories align, “Alessa is being vindictive. She and James didn’t want me with Rosa, but we were together for months, a true relationship. James had his suspicions from the start and, apparently, discovered it around Christmas but didn’t know how to come between us without alienating Rosa. James also found out Rosa had helped Mykhail right before I did.” I pause to check his reaction, which is not one of surprise, so I was correct to assume that Rosa has come clean. “James used Mykhail to frame me. He had a guard kill Mykhail, but he didn’t find Adam. Then James sent me a message from one of the disposable phones to kill Mykhail. I went there to find Mykhail already dead, and Rosa caught me. This was two weeks ago. James threatened to kill Nana if I didn’t break things off with Rosa. Why do you think I was upset and away so often that week?”
Adriano tips his cig into the glass. “Your story does support the little evidence I’ve found and what Rosalia has told me.”
“I didn’t create any problems. I was just giving James time to cool the hell down. Or a chance to get you alone. But he saw me with Rosa the night of your engagement and had Nana killed. I lost it, Adriano. How would you feel if a member killed your mother or father?”
“I would feel a need to murder him,” he replies, cocking his head. “Did you?”
I disclose the full truth; lying isn’t an option since he knows I deleted the footage at the house. “Yes.”
He doesn’t flinch at all. Instead, he scrubs his jaw. “Christ, Logan! A part of me is fucking mad for Rosalia and Cam, but another part of me understands it. I know James had issues with members dating his daughters, but I never thought he’d go behind my back.”
“Neither did Rosa and I. I think Alessa was in on it too. She wants Rosa away from this family.”
“I’m beginning to get that,” he mutters and questions, “Who else knows this?”
“No one.”
“We couldn’t find anything, so you did a good job covering your tracks and containing the mess James made. It was clever to kill him with the guard’s gun. Unfortunately, Alessa is planting doubt within my organization. The Syndicate’s in conflict, and Fallon and Cam are vowing that you didn’t kill James. So I’m in a precarious position here. I have to deal with the Syndicate members and my blood family. Why couldn’t you have come to me?”
“How and when? James had me watched around the clock and gave me a Zeus phone. I exhausted every option I could. He turned against us.”
“I know that; that’s why I’m here. I have a pregnant wife who just came out of a coma. I don’t need dissention within my organization, and you’re by far my best Capo. I understand better than anyone that this is the life we chose. We all lose someone important at one point. Since you came to me, I know I can trust you, but we can’t inform anyone else.”
This is why I wanted to become an official member of this Syndicate. Adriano isn’t a man to play mind games with his own men.
“I agree. But this also means Luca, right?” I want verification.
“Yes, no one. I’ve kept a lot of secrets, so none of the other members, except Luca, know that I don’t have the security tape of the mansion. That would support the theory Alessa is telling everyone. I’ll announce that the guard killed James. Saturday is the Catholic wedding ceremony in the church; my mother had already arranged it before James caused these issues. She wants me to be married in front of God before Cam delivers the baby. We’ve decided to proceed with the small ceremony with only the mafia family.”
“Alessa will be a problem,” I warn him.
“She won’t be there. Alessa isn’t Cam’s favorite person, and she’s with her own family. She left Rosalia, and I’m pushing her out of the Syndicate. She’s causing too much trouble, attempting to talk to members and circulate the story that you killed James. She needs to know her place. She’s no one anymore, and her husband was disloyal to me.”
“What? Rosa’s been alone? With Adam?”
“No, not completely. Cam, Fallon, and Mary help her with Adam.”
I plow a hand through my hair. “God, I miss her. Does she...”
“She believes you’re innocent,” he fills in and tosses his smoke in the glass before sliding out of the booth. “Let’s finish off Dimitri now. I want to go home to my wife and have my head Capo back. We’ll drive to the warehouse in your car and pick up mine on the way back.”
I receive further proof that Adriano trusts me one hundred percent when he doesn’t even check the trunk of my vehicle. Victory is near.
***
Up north, at a brown brick warehouse used for captives, Adriano and I carry an unconscious Dimitri to the back. The soles of my shoes click against the concrete floor while we deposit him in front of the lengthened, high-temperature cremation oven. Adriano steps over him and presses the button. Noises creak as the oven gets started and flames fire up.
We stare down at a thin Dimitri as we stand opposite his body, and Adriano extends his hand. “We never talk about this to anyone. I’ll say I handled Dimitri and make sure everyone learns James was killed by the guard who was also found dead at the mansion. I’ve also disposed of the body of the other guard I presume you murdered.”
Every loose end has been tied up. I bet on the right person and shake his offered hand, sealing our pact as boss and Capo as a smirk crosses his face. Adriano grasps that I’ve turned into a full mafia member who doesn’t allow feelings of regret or guilt to cloud his judgement. I’m not a man who waits around for justice anymore. While for years I wandered this earth alone, this organization has given me a purpose, a love.
Then Adriano opens the oven door and reels out the stretcher for us to drop Dimitri onto it.
“Let’s end this fucker once and for all,” he decides with his palm on the head of the stretcher.
“Amen to that,” I agree.
He rolls Dimitri all the way inside, shutting the door with a firm click, and we stand there in silence as the smell of singed flesh permeates the air.
A burden lifts from my shoulders, and a calmness replaces it. In due course, I got my revenge on everyone. Although my biggest challenge lies ahead of me – I need to explain everything to the woman I love and win her back.
After I’m lost in thought for several minutes, Adriano declares, “Welcome back, Logan.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m glad you reached out to me that first night.”
“Why didn’t you contact me sooner?” I ask.
“I had a feeling what you might do if I didn’t, and I had to assess the situation,” he reveals. “You saved me a huge amount of work without any pay.”
“I did. Now you need to defuse the situation among the members regarding James’s death.”
The corner of his lip kicks up. “I will; don’t worry. I’ll just play my boss card. No one will go against me
now that I’ve reinstated you. But don’t make me regret this, and do not break Rosalia’s heart. I’ll shoot off your cock then.”
“Never,” I say wistfully as we move out, and I drop Adriano off at his car, still parked at the diner.
Even though it’s early Friday morning, I’m unable to postpone seeing Rosa until the wedding on Saturday. I’ve waited a long time for someone I can care for unreservedly. So I disobey one order, because it’s simply impossible to stay away any longer.
CHAPTER 46
Rosalia
On Friday afternoon, I enter the Parish of the Blessed, where Adriano and Cam will be married tomorrow. For almost a week, I’ve struggled to not drown in grief. My mom is still outraged and not ready for a normal conversation yet. She didn’t want to sleep at the house after the crime scene had been cleaned, so she’s been staying up north with my aunt.
I’m back in my pool house with Adam and have discussed at length with Cam and Adriano how I should proceed. Cam has sworn to support me with Adam any way she can as she’s seen how emotionally involved I am.
Mostly, I miss Mykhail and my father. But those two people are gone, and the empty hole in my heart from missing Logan seems to be the most overpowering of them all. I worry if he’s okay, or if he just ran because he’s guilty? Logan hasn’t contacted me, and I fear I might have misjudged him, yet again.
Dejected, I tread down the aisle to the front of the church, where dozens of candles alight the area, and turn left to the confessional, sinking down onto the bench.
“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” I confess in the small booth and shut my eyes, causing two tears to roll down my cheeks in regret.
Sometimes we take risks and they don’t play out as we expected, but it’s better to regret something you did do than to regret something you didn’t do. Living with what could’ve been is far worse.
“You haven’t sinned,” a familiar, deep voice comments.
My gaze shoots up to the lattice screen in time to see Logan exiting the compartment. He yanks open my door, and I’m met with stormy, sapphire eyes – the color of a cloudless sky – that have haunted my dreams for many nights as he steps forward, but I push him out of the confessional with both of my palms on his hard chest.
“Where have you been?” I demand, wiping my tears away angrily.
As my vision clears, I’m astounded by how much he reminds me of the man I fell in love with. His navy dress shirt is tucked into his slacks, showing off his toned torso. Nonetheless, this is the man who is my Heaven and my Hell. My current Hell; but the time we lived in Heaven together isn’t easily forgotten.
He studies me for a long moment, as if I’m a figment of his imagination. Then he runs his fingers through his dirty blond hair and messes up the strands, making him much too appealing in his anguish.
“Rosa,” he says in a tormented tone. Reaching for me, he cups the back of my head and threads his fingers through my long black hair.
His sandalwood cologne invades my nostrils and brings back memories that are best left in some dusty corner of my mind. He lowers his forehead to mine, and I clutch his shirt as the passion he incites in me still pumps furiously through my veins. While we stare at each other, his thumb strokes the dimple on my cheek.
“I should hate you,” I mumble, confused.
“No. I’ve come to explain.”
“Explain what? You broke my heart and left. Everything’s ruined!”
“I had to leave to set things straight and make sure I didn’t get killed in the process, Rosa,” he snarls. Yet, in a softer tone, he adds, “But I had to see if you’re okay.”
We’re standing face-to-face, and as he tilts my head up, I recognize the flame of love in his dark irises. As usual, we lose control the second his mouth slants over mine. Logan’s lips urge mine apart, guiding me hungrily into his masterful kiss. He commands my emotions with the heat of his touch. One large hand covers my ass while he palms my head, and on their own accord, my arms wind around his neck. Our teeth clash and our tongues dance in a teasing foray – desperately recapturing a love that others tried to extinguish.
Growling, he lifts me up into his arms effortlessly. My jade knee-length dress rides up my hips when I hook my legs around him before he carries me to the church’s elevated altar, surrounded by devotional statues and lit candles. I’m shoved onto the two-step carpeted stairs in front of the altar while we grind into each other.
Logan nips a path up my throat as I gaze up at the painted angels on the dome ceiling, and he pulls my lips between his teeth, biting the corner of my mouth.
“I need to fuck you,” he groans huskily, pressing his rock-hard erection against me.
We’re both breathing heavily, forgetting where we are – in the Parish of the Blessed, in the middle of the day, with people inside the sacristy.
This is what he’s done to me. Even after everything, I’m unable to deny him. I’ve chosen to plummet into a world of sensual awakening with him once before, and I’m choosing it again.
We’ve always been reckless. We’ve broken a family apart. And now, we’re tempted to fuck in the church where the wedding will take place in less than twenty-four hours.
“No. We can’t do this here!” I press my palms against his chest with all my weight and he pulls back. “Logan, my family has fallen apart. My mom’s livid with me. What happened with my father? Did you kill him?” A tear escapes the corner of my eye, trickling down my temple as I look up at him.
He cradles my cheek and rubs the moisture with the pad of his thumb as he holds my eyes.
Please say no. Please...
I don’t let his stare flicker away.
“No,” he answers without breaking eye contact.
My palm turns into a fist as I grip his dress shirt and puff out a deep sigh, releasing the doubt and anxiety that I’ve been living with.
Logan brushes his lips over mine in a featherlight caress. “I’m making everything right, Rosa. Trust me. I’ve talked to Adriano and will be reinstated tomorrow, but I had to stay away from you and Adam until then. Your father messed with your phone – I was unable to contact you. I came back only for you. I have nothing else left.”
When we hear voices drifting from the sacristy, we stand up and he backs away.
“Where are you going?” I whisper, reaching for him, so he stops.
“I’ll be back tomorrow, Rosa. Don’t tell anyone you saw me.” He takes my face in both hands and kisses me with bruising force. “Trust me,” he says and darts down the aisle to the front entrance right before Cam walks inside from the sacristy.
“What are you still doing here? Go home, rest. Tomorrow’s a happy day for us.”
I was originally just going to confession but ended up getting a lot more. “I’m going, I’m going.”
As I drive home, I trace my kiss-swollen lips. How is he making things right? There’s conflict within the Syndicate, I think. Some know my father is dead, and my mother’s been talking too much. Maybe I should wait to see what Logan does tomorrow and not get carried away.
After arriving back home, I’m in a much less gloomy state and cook pasta and meatballs with Adam in the main kitchen. He’s having a blast while we make dinner, and so am I.
My heart hopes with all its power that Logan will keep his word. Hope is what keeps me going these days.
CHAPTER 47
Logan
I’m finishing tying my black bow tie in Adriano’s office at Club 7 the next morning around ten a.m. when the other two high ranking men, Luca and Carmine, walk inside, and Adriano resumes his seat behind his polished black desk as they approach us.
Luca cocks his head, and Carmine perks a brow at his brother.
“Luca, Carmine, Logan has returned.” Adriano reclines back.
Luca’s eyes thin as he frowns at me and Adriano. “Since when?”
“Last night,” Adriano explains to him. “We’ve taken care of Dimitri, and Logan has informed senator Kaden. She’s
disclosed that the president is quite pleased with our swift course of action. And that’s thanks to Logan.”
Luca wants to ask more questions, but several other captains enter until all of the most powerful men in the Syndicate are in this office.
“Gentlemen,” Adriano announces. “Thank you for joining me today. Please welcome back Logan. He’s been reinstated.” Adriano opens a drawer to his left and throws a file onto his desk, steepling his fingers together. “The bullet that killed James was fired from the guard’s weapon. Insinuations that Logan had anything to do with James’s death need to be put to rest. James betrayed us and paid with his life. You cut loose anyone who questions Logan’s innocence.” He aims a quelling glare around the room.
Luca’s coolly taking it in as the other Capi accept it and nod.
“Furthermore,” Adriano continues, “I want you to keep Alessa Calderone away from the soldiers. She’s grieving and causing conflict, which I don’t need. Just don’t harm her. She’s still Rosalia’s mother, but she’s not a part of this Syndicate family anymore. Rosalia Calderone is though.” Then he looks up sideways, holding out his hand, anticipating that I want to expand on his statement.
I take my position back as if I’ve never left – the best way to enforce my power again. “Let me be clear that Rosa is off limits to anyone in this organization. No guard or soldier is allowed to make a move on her anymore. She’s my girl and will be protected by me and the men I order.”
I observe their reaction and notice Adriano smirking, yet the other men dip their chins in acceptance.
“Then go and inform your soldiers today.” Adriano dismisses them with a flick of his wrist.
They disband while Luca, Carmine, and I stay behind. Luca’s quiet, but he’ll come around eventually. Carmine shakes my hand and is just as easygoing and businesslike as Adriano.
“Possessive much, Logan?” Adriano points out, amused.
