by Bella J.
I grinned like a fucking idiot. “Then you better load that gun…brother.”
“Good God, you’re an asshole.”
I laughed as Dante took a seat on the couch across from me. Dante was the brother I liked most. He didn’t go around acting like he had a stick up his ass like Antonio did. In fact, I would even go so far as to say Dante and I had some sort of friendship brewing. We might end up being drinking partners very soon—which was a big fucking deal in the world of manly friendships.
“For the life of me, I don’t know what my sister sees in you.”
“Oh, that’s easy. It’s because of my big—”
“For the love of Christ, do not finish that sentence.”
I burst out laughing, and Dante snickered.
I nodded toward the door. “She done?”
“Yeah. The tattoo she got isn’t as detailed as ours.”
“Where is she?”
Dante got up and walked to the table and poured himself a drink. “I think she’s having a little father-daughter bonding time.”
“Ah.” I nodded.
When Dante took his seat again, I noticed the hard look on his face and knew something was up.
“What is it?”
Dante glanced up at me while twirling the crystal tumbler in his hand. “You’re officially a part of this family now, Stone. That means you’re gonna have a lot of catching up to do, starting with the Mancusos.”
I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees. “What’s going on?”
“This war between us and the Mancusos is far from over. In fact, I suspect it’s only just begun.”
“What makes you think that?”
When he glanced away like he was unable to look me in the eye anymore, I knew what it was.
“It’s me, isn’t it?”
He gulped back his entire drink and slammed the glass down on the table in front of him. “You killed Enzio Mancuso, the heir to the Mancuso throne, so to speak. So, I’m pretty sure all hell is about to break loose.”
I jerked out of my seat. “That fucker kidnapped Karina and tried to force her to marry him. God knows what he would have done to her if we didn’t find her in time. And let’s not forget he had a motherfucking gun aimed at my head. What was I supposed to do? Give him a medal?”
“I know. But the fact remains you killed him, which means the war that lies ahead would make the past battles seem like child’s play. We are open game for the Mancusos now. By killing Enzio, we have given them all the ammo they need to come for us, guns blazing.”
With anger pulsing through my veins, my vision nothing but shades of red, I started to pace, the itch to take care of those fuckers once and for all crawling all over my skin. “They won’t get near her, Dante. I will kill every motherfucker who dares to come near her.”
Dante’s expression settled into a somber look when his eyes finally met mine. “I don’t think this is about Karina anymore, Stone.”
The prickle of warning in the back of my skull traveled all the way down my spine as the realization dawned on me. Of course, they didn’t want Karina anymore. The only reason she had been the target was because of Enzio’s sick obsession with her. But he was dead, killed by my hand, and that meant…
“They want me.”
Dante didn’t move. “Not all of you.”
“What does that mean?”
“What they want is revenge for what has been taken away from them—their blood. They want payment for the wrong that has been done to them.”
“Wrong? What wrong has been done to them? Karina was the one who got kidnapped, for Christ’s sake.” Good God, I was about to have a fucking aneurysm. “Their son was one twisted son of a bitch with issues, issues only a bullet in the chest could cure. How can they exact payment if I did the fucking world a favor?”
Dante got up and straightened in front of me. “They don’t see it that way.”
“Well, someone should help them open their fucking eyes.”
“Stone.” Dante pinned me with his stare. “The only way the Mancusos will let this go is if they have your head.”
I froze, no longer feeling the need to pace, since everything inside me turned into ice. How did I not figure this out sooner? Of course, the Mancusos would want revenge. No one went around killing Mancusos and got away with it. They would want to inflict the same kind of pain, the same kind of loss they were forced to experience, on me.
Oh, God…
“Fuck.” My legs weakened as a thought popped into my head, and I fell back onto the couch, staring but not seeing anything but the dread spreading through me.
“What is it?” Dante took a step forward, and I looked up at him.
“I think you’re wrong, man.” I pulled my palms down my face.
“Why do you think that?”
“Dante, they don’t want my head.”
“Stone, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“Jesus Christ.” My skin went damp as fear wracked through my body. “Dante,” I glanced up at him, “they want her head. Karina. They’re going to go after her.”
Dante fell on the couch beside me. “What are you saying?’
“I’m saying they’re going to go after what I couldn’t bear to live without. They are going to exact revenge by inflicting pain that would be worse than death for me.”
The way Dante’s face turned from a natural to a deadly pale color, it was clear he realized what the fuck I was trying to say.
“Karina,” he whispered, and my heart skipped a beat when he said her name. Just the thought of losing her, of letting one of the Mancuso bastards lay another hand on her, made the animal in me want to tear everyone the fuck apart. I would go on a rampage through Hell if it meant keeping her safe—which was exactly what I planned to do.
I stood and stared at Dante. “We keep this between us, you hear?”
“We need to tell Antonio.”
“I agree. But I don’t want this getting to Karina. We handle this on our own, and we’ll take care of it without her knowing.”
Dante shrugged. “It’s going to be a tough one keeping this from her, especially if we need to double security when it comes to her. She hates being chaperoned and guarded.”
I let out a breath. “I know.”
“Listen, Stone, maybe we should tell her. It’s going to be easier to protect her if she knows why we’re doing it.”
“No.” I scowled at him. “She’s my woman, Dante, and I am telling you she is not to know. Okay? She’s been through enough.”
Dante cursed, threw his head back, and stared at the ceiling before he finally looked back at me. “Fine. But believe me when I say war is right at our fucking doorstep, so you need to be prepared.”
“I know. But we wait for those cocksuckers to make the first move. Hopefully, they’re not as stupid as we suspect they are, and they won’t attempt to take us on.”
“Who is stupid, and who is going to take you on?”
I jerked around when I heard her voice and stared at Karina as she glanced between me and Dante.
Her face, her skin, everything about her always managed to make my heart beat a thousand miles an hour. And now, even after what Dante and I had just discussed, I was more determined than ever to hold on to what I had found in her. Love, passion, devotion—a fucking reason for living, and I’d be damned if I let anyone take that away from me.
“Oh, nothing.” I started toward her and plastered the biggest smile on my face. “I was just telling your brother my plan, and that anyone who was stupid enough to take me on would get their ass handed to them on a silver platter.”
I grabbed her and pulled her hard against me, allowing her sweet scent that always made my cock twitch to surround me.
She yelped and smiled as she stared up at me with those beautiful irises that had me completely and utterly pussy-whipped.
“And what is this plan of yours?” She bit her lower lip, and all I could think about was how goddamn much I w
anted to be the one biting that lip. I made a mental note to do a lot of biting later.
With one arm around her waist, I pulled her up and pressed my lips against hers. Every fucking time I kissed this woman, it was as if we literally melted into each other. It was like something out of this fucking world.
In the far corner of my mind, I heard Dante clearing his throat like an asshole, but I ignored him and forced my tongue deeper into her mouth, loving the way she tasted. With a lot of goddamn effort, I eventually tore my lips from hers and gazed down at her before pulling a box out of my pocket, flicking it open.
She glanced at the open box, and her eyes widened when she saw what was inside.
“Lorik, what is this?”
I smiled one of my trademark smug, happy, bordering on arrogant smiles. “This is my plan, princess.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Which is?”
I leaned down, brushing my cheek against hers, and whispered into her ear, “To make you my wife.”
—The End—
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About the Author
All the way from Cape Town, South Africa, Bella J lives for the days when she’s able to retreat to her writer’s cave where she can get lost in her little pretend world of romance, love, and insanely hot heroes.
She has a taste for dark, romantic suspense novels with mysterious, brooding bad boys and strong, sassy women who bring them to their knees. Add a little humor and a lot of sexy, and she’s in writer’s Heaven.
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