Maria (Made Men Book 7)

by Sarah Brianne

  Lucca looked at Leo. “They wanted one of us just for that?”

  “Yep,” Leo lied easily, leaning over the counter to grab an apple. “What’s for dinner?”

  “Chili.”

  “Again, so soon?” Maria asked with a curve of her lip, knowing exactly why he was cooking it. “You’re straying away from your Italian roots, brother.”

  “Chloe likes our mother’s recipes, too, you know.” Leo huffed, clearly knowing why Lucca was making it, as well.

  His fierce eyes glowed at them. “Then you fucking cook.”

  Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she happily declined. “No, thanks.” It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to cook; frankly, she just didn’t want to. It was about the only thing in her family that “societal” gender roles didn’t apply to, and she was going to take what she could get.

  It would normally shock people to see Lucca—a.k.a. the boogieman—cook and actually be good at it but, to their family, it made sense. He was Italian, and every fucking Italian was practically raised in the kitchen, learning to make pasta. And, if they weren’t cooking, they were eating. Out of all of them, Lucca not only had the most experience—seeing that he was the oldest and had spent the most time with their mother before her untimely death—but he was also the pickiest. He only liked the way he cooked—the way their mother had cooked—and his palate was definitely the most refined, as Leo was more than happy to order pizza every night. Cooking was a control thing with Lucca, and only Maria realized it.

  And she realized it because she understood it.

  Understood him.

  Their mother didn’t know something was wrong with them until Leo was born. He was the most precious, perfect baby that a mother could ask for, and every mom thought their child was the greatest gift God ever created. And, while that was true for Leo, it wasn’t for the rest of them. That was why she hadn’t seen it, thinking her first three children were too perfect for this world—until perfection actually came. Then she realized just how fucked up her first three were.

  Going into the psychologist’s office as children, Nero had spent the least amount of time with the doctor, while Maria’s and Lucca’s session lasted much longer, having needed to return for several visits before a diagnosis was made. They all were classified with the same manic end their father had of antisocial personality disorder, which was just a nice word for being a psychopath.

  It was rare for a child to be diagnosed with a harsh sentence, but it proved the extent of their bad genes. Genes that many mafia families throughout history carried. It wasn’t uncommon in their line of work to either be born with it or develop it over time. They were just unlucky enough to have one of the worst mental illness, if there even was such a thing.

  Every psychopath was different, and each psychopath had their own fucked-up version of right and wrong, which was why they appeared so vastly different.

  Nero was the most like their father. Both of them having cases much milder than the other two.

  Lucca was who he was. He didn’t change for anyone and invited the world to see him for who he was. Between them all, he was the most unstable. The only thing in this fucking mad world that kept him tethered to the ground and not in hell was his fiancée, Chloe Masters.

  Maria was a different story altogether. After she had heard she had ASPD, her young self had gone home and snuck into her father’s office to read one of the books he had about mental health. She discovered more about herself that day than she ever had or would. As she read each trait, it had sent tiny goosebumps up to prick her skin ….

  Charming.

  Narcissistic.

  Cunning.

  Manipulative.

  Shallow.

  All traits she knew she possessed but hadn’t known psychopaths carried. You would think they were loners or even losers, but they weren’t. Psychopaths were winners.

  The last trait, however, was more complicated—lack of empathy. It wasn’t that psychopaths didn’t have empathy at all; it was more described as having an empathy switch, which in turn allowed them to never feel remorse.

  It was what made Lucca one of the greatest underbosses in Mafia history, as every day his reputation became far stronger than their father’s.

  For Maria, though, it was what made everyone underestimate her, and because she was an underestimated woman, it helped keep Maria tethered to the ground.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t have empathy; there was just very little of it. The only people to whom she felt true feelings for were the women in her life and Leo. There was never a man whom she had looked at and felt something for … until Kayne. Women, though, she could meet and click with instantly. It was why everyone around her probably thought she was into women and, truthfully, she’d never been able to see herself with a man. Similar to how the men in the Caruso family expected certain things from her, other men expected certain things from women and in their future wives. That was where she fucking drew the line.

  She held respect for very few men, like Lucca and Nero, but she only truly cared for Leo, and that was because Leo was everything they weren’t. He wasn’t broken and dark inside. He was pure and light. Just like their mother had been.

  It wasn’t until after her death that Maria wondered how her mother had ended up with her father.

  It was funny how, after someone died, it changed every memory you had with them, as if death came with a different lens. The fond memories that were once seen through rose-colored glasses became tainted with shades of gray. Her new lens had left her questioning if her mother had been happy with her father, not seeming to remember if she truly had been.

  There was no question her father had been, as there was never another nor ever would be another for him. Although he was still of the living, Dante died the same moment his wife was killed in the parking lot.

  Watching Lucca put the ingredients into the pot, he was just like their father in that Lucca had only one person meant for him. Except, for Lucca there would be no living if Chloe died. And, if there was a God, He would let the devil take Lucca’s soul first.

  “Do me a favor,” Nero started, reaching into his pocket. “Find out if any of the students attending on scholarships have any charges on their lunch accounts. If so, pay it, if Legacy Prep wants money so fucking badly.”

  Looking at the wad of cash that Nero placed on the counter, it was clear that the Caruso men were cursed by the love of one good woman.

  She just hoped, for once, that being a woman in this family would finally pay off and exclude her from that.

  Five

  “I’ll be Wanting A Dance, princess.”

  Maria’s foot had touched the first step to head upstairs for the night when a knock on the front door sounded. Wondering who the hell would be knocking on the door at this hour, she padded her bare feet across the foyer floor, wanting to just take a look through the peep hole. It wasn’t until she peered through the fish-eyed glass did she decide she would open it herself after quickly running her fingers through her hair.

  Ew, did I just do that?

  Stopping herself from further embarrassment, she finally opened it to see the man on the other side without the weird distortion.

  “Hello, princess.” His smooth voice slid over her body, along with his hazel eyes, taking in her crushed pink, velvet shorts and matching tank top. “I thought, even at home, you might wear heels and fur.” Glancing down her body again, this time much slower, seeing just how short the shorts were and how her top revealed her toned lower abdomen. “Guess not.”

  “I don’t like to be called that, Dominic.”

  His face seemed to switch from surprised to amused. “Well, that’s too bad.”

  Crossing her arms, she raised one of her bushy brows as she blocked the doorway. “May I help you?”

  “Sure.” He took a step into the doorway, standing toe to toe with her before that bit of slyness he held quickly vanished. In its place was a seriousness so deadly that it took her b
y surprise, letting him easily push past her. “You can take me to Lucca.”

  That look on his face nearly took her breath away, especially after just seeing him yesterday for the first time in years. She had spent a few hours with him, but Maria hadn’t seen him like this …

  …Knocking on the Lucianos’ front door gave her pleasure. She loved ruining someone’s day.

  When the door flew open, Angel’s other half greeted her.

  They might have looked like the same person, but they couldn’t have been more opposite. Whereas she was beginning to like Angel, the Luciano brother whom the Carusos held as collateral, this one, however …

  “Hey, princess.” The head-to-toe inked brother smiled as his eyes traveled down her body.

  …I did not. It was impossible to miss the mask he put on the second he opened the door and saw it was her.

  Matthias put on a façade, fooling those around him, but he didn’t fool her for one second. She could see right through that mask for what he was—broken.

  Todd, her bodyguard, barreled through the door, pushing Angel’s twin brother out of the way to check the house before she went in.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Dominic, the oldest brother, stood when he entered.

  Maria stepped into the house before Todd got killed. “He’s with me.”

  This time, it was Dominic whose eyes went down the length of her tall body, taking in her high heels, short dress, and fur coat. “Why the hell are you here?”

  It had been a long time since she had seen the oldest Luciano brother. At the time, she was younger, so she hadn’t taken a good look at him. Now, as she took in Dominic’s appearance, she saw that he looked much different than the twins and their sister, Katarina.

  Whereas they were pale, with charcoal-gray eyes, Dominic had tanned skin that matched his chocolate hair and set off the brown in his hazel eyes, but it was the beautiful green in them that made them sparkle.

  “I, um …” She had to think a minute about what it was exactly she came for. “To see Kat.”

  “And what do you want with her?” He crossed his strong arms over his chest.

  “Well, I thought she needed a wedding dress.” Maria raised a perfectly manicured brow. “Doesn’t she?”

  “Cassius.”

  She turned her head when a young boy stood up from the couch. He looked as if he was Dominic’s mini-me. Both brothers bore no resemblance to their father.

  “Go get Kat,” Dominic ordered without looking away from the blonde.

  Staring at the little Luciano for a moment longer, she tilted her head to the side, seeing something different in the boy that was … almost reminiscent … but then he walked away.

  “Can I take your coat?” Matthias asked, clearly wanting to see her without it as he reached to help her out of it.

  “Touch me, and I’ll kill you,” she threatened with the sweetest smile.

  Matthias didn’t take a step closer, somehow knowing her smile was an act.

  The oldest brother, however, did, unafraid of her or the bodyguard she arrived with. “Does Lucca know the princess is out of her castle?”

  That smile didn’t disappear from her face. “Do you think I would be here if he did?”

  “Certainly not”—he looked at the suit who had come with her—“if this is the one who brought you.”

  It took a minute before Todd realized he had been insulted.

  Dominic’s hazel eyes moved back to her. “I hope the poor sucker knows whatever you promised him won’t be worth it by the time Lucca gets done with him.”

  “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Placing one tall heel in front of the other, she made the distance between them that much smaller. “It can be our little secret.”

  Most men on this earth weren’t worthy a second glance, yet she finally let her eyes glance down his body.

  For some reason, he was different than she expected. She thought he would be weak since agreeing to all of the Carusos’ terms, but now she could see that might not be the case at all …

  Out of all the Luciano brothers, this one, she liked. A lot …

  …Yesterday he had been confident yet distant. Today it was like he placed a brick wall between them. Radiating off him, however, she could feel his barely contained heat, knocking down his own wall, brick by brick with every passing second. In twenty-four hours, everything about him changed.

  Before opening that door, she hadn’t found him dangerous. Now, she wondered if she made a mistake by letting him into their home. Well, almost. The only thing telling her otherwise was the usual emptiness in her stomach as she talked to men was gone.

  “Is Lucca expecting y—”

  “Take me to him,” he reiterated harshly, not letting her finish.

  Maria didn’t know what possessed her, but instead of giving him hell like she would have anyone else, she simply nodded, seeing the urgency in his eyes.

  Leading him through the house, he followed behind until she approached a wooden door that held a hint of smoke behind it. When she opened the door, she expected a furious Lucca, yet he appeared to be waiting for them.

  It was hard for Maria to close the door once Dominic passed by and entered her brother’s office. She took her time doing so, hoping to hear anything the two might say, but they just quietly waited until the door clicked closed. It was even harder to walk away, knowing she couldn’t eavesdrop without Lucca knowing.

  Going back to where she had started in the foyer, she found it impossible to walk up the steps, so she took a seat on the bottom step, deciding to wait and see how this would play out.

  Dominic was here for one of two reasons—either regret or truth.

  If he was here for regret, then it wasn’t going to do much good. The price was going to have to be paid for his father’s sins, and Dominic’s father, Lucifer, had many sins. Scarring Chloe Masters for life, he died for, but almost starting a war between the families was what his sons would pay for.

  The Carusos needed assurance that it would never happen again, and they had done that by kidnapping Angel Luciano—until the time that Dominic cleaned up loose ends in his family and after their families’ blood became one; those were the terms her brother set. The new Luciano boss had promised a Luciano woman to marry a Caruso male and mother his children, but he did so without knowing that Lucca had found out Dominic’s biggest secret—a Luciano sister existed. Katarina had been handpicked by the Caruso male, Drago, and their arranged marriage was set in the next few days. Seeing him with his sister yesterday, she was sure Dominic would have never agreed to the terms if he’d known Lucca knew of Kat’s existence. Now he faced either a war he wouldn’t win or giving away his sister.

  Maria didn’t know if Dominic had accepted his fate yet—he could have. However, he could also be here to tell the truth of what really happened yesterday ….

  …“What are you doing here?” Kat asked.

  From the second she walked in through the door Maria was locked in eye contact with Dominic, and after another moment she broke it and shifted her gaze to Kat. “I thought you might want a wedding dress for when you walk down the aisle.”

  “I have a white dress, but it’s shor—”

  “Absolutely not.” Maria stopped her before she could finish the word, flat-out offended. “I am taking you shopping right now.”

  “O … Okay.”

  “I’m going with you,” Dominic announced, grabbing his coat. “Matthias, you stay here with Cassius.”

  Matthias, who was grabbing his jacket, looked defeated but stayed silent.

  “That won’t be necess—”

  Dominic raised his hand, cutting her off. “I’m not having Lucca find out I let you two go alone with this fucking idiot.”

  Again, it took Todd forever to figure out Dominic was talking about him. “Excuse m—”

  “Fine,” Maria blurted, maybe a bit too eagerly; she wanted to see where this went.

  After Kat picked up her jacket, they all
headed out the door, leaving Cassius and a heartbroken Matthias behind.

  When Dominic saw the Cadillac that they had shown up in, he stopped in his tracks. “You know what, Ted—”

  “Todd,” Maria corrected, trying hard not to laugh.

  “Todd,” he corrected, getting the Caruso’s guard’s attention. “How about you go home, and we can all just pretend Maria snuck out by herself? I think we both know I won’t touch a pretty blonde hair on her head because of what Lucca would do to me if he found out. I’m sure it’s going to be similar to what he’s going to fucking do to you if you don’t leave.”

  Her bodyguard’s face went pale as Maria waved him off. He left, running.

  “Bye, Todd.”

  Well, this should be fun.

  “Aren’t you cold?” Kat asked her, seeing that she was only wearing a dress under her coat.

  “You can’t feel cold if your heart is dead.”

  It shocked her to find Dominic had been the one to answer. She would never forget that deadly smile he gave her as he opened the passenger door of his blacked-out Mustang for her, before he continued with, “Isn’t that right, princess?”…

  …Getting into that car, she had felt that there was a man who could finally see her for what she truly was, and he hadn’t been threatened or seen just her looks. Even today, when the roles were reversed and he was the one to barge in on her home, he still seemed to see her. It was like she felt … equal to a man in this crazy mafia world.

  Both Maria and Dominic were more important than the others, and second only to Lucca, as it was clear they both wished to be him. Each wanted the power Lucca possessed but it was a power they could never hold.