by Maia Dylan
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2019 Maia Dylan
ISBN: 978-1-77339-915-7
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Audrey Bobak
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
Authors would not be authors without the readers and reviewers who tirelessly give of themselves time and time again. So this one is for Rhonda and Tracey, two wonderful ladies I have met on this crazy author journey of mine who have reviewed my work and supported me through thick and thin over the past few years.
HIS KIND OF BEAUTIFUL
Carlisi Familia, 2
Maia Dylan
Copyright © 2019
Chapter One
“Leona’s gone.”
Two words, and the bottom fell out of Tony Moretto’s world. “What the fuck do you mean she’s gone, Marissa? She’s one of your girls!”
“She hasn’t been one of mine for a long time, Tony, and you damn well know that.” Marissa’s voice was sharp down the phone line and Tony had to bite back an impatient curse. “After all that shit with Angelo, she wasn’t interested in being a part of anything to do with the Carlisi family, and to be honest with you, I don’t blame her.”
Tony began to pace the street outside the new storefront for the Holi Cannoli bakery, frustration a living, seething beast within him. “She’s one of ours. Period. If you made her feel any different, then you—”
“If I made her feel any different?” Marissa exclaimed incredulously. “Whatever that girl is feeling, and I am sure it’s a lot, it has nothing to do with me or how I treated her.”
Tony’s head fell back as he took a deep breath, guilt and pain slicing through him. No. It wasn’t Marissa who had let Leona down, it had been him. And Gavriil Volkov shouldered a fair amount of that blame too. Just the thought of that had Tony fighting the urge to burst back into the bakery owned by Abigail, Gavriil’s woman, and punch the man right in the face.
“You’re right, Marissa. It wasn’t you. It was me, and it was Gavriil. And that means it’s up to us to fix this, which we can’t do if we can’t get to her. Do you know where she’s gone?”
Silence met that question and Tony’s heart sped up in fear. If Marissa had no clue, then he had no leads to follow, and that was unacceptable. He had to find Leona and bring her back. She wasn’t safe out there. She needed to be back in Carlisi territory. The thought of what could happen to her out there on her own had a dark determination rising within him.
If he had nothing to go on, then he’d do it the old-fashioned way. Threatening and fighting anyone who might know anything, and hunting her down as best he could, because getting her back here with the family was the only option. Leona needed them, and by God, she needed him and she was finally going to listen to what he had to say and let him be there for her.
“Tony.” Marissa’s voice sounded hesitant, and he knew he was not going to like what came next. “Leona wasn’t just one of my girls, she’s my friend. And I do believe that she’s in real trouble.” His free hand clenched into a fist. If someone was threatening Lee, then he would rip them apart with his bare hands. “She’s withdrawn into herself and nothing anyone says seems to get through. The only person she’s spoken to since she got out of the hospital was Gavriil. He was here yesterday morning, and they spoke. She’s been missing ever since.”
Not waiting to hear anything further, Tony disconnected the call and immediately spun around, his entire being turning to ice. He stepped into the bakery, completely ignoring the enticing scent of sugar and pastry, and walked to the back of the store, toward the kitchen. He pressed his thumb to the high-end security pad that would grant him entry and stepped into the kitchen area.
There were three people in the room. Gavriil, Abigail, and Gino Esposito, another one of the Carlisi enforcers and one of his best friends. They all turned to look at him as he entered. Their expressions were telling. Only Gavriil’s expression held a thread of understanding and expectation that told him the bastard knew Tony was livid, and he had a fairly good idea why.
He didn’t stop until he had Gavriil by the lapels of his suit jacket and had yanked him from the chair. “Where is she?”
Gavriil’s expression turned cold. Tony felt the urge to apologize and let him go but didn’t. His desperation to find Lee overwhelmed his deep-seated need to respect the hierarchy in the family and the man he’d sworn to protect all those years ago.
“You lost your mind, Tony?” Gino asked from where he’d stepped in behind him. Tony knew it was only the bond the three of them shared that stopped the other man from snapping his neck.
“Not yet, brother,” Tony responded, his gaze remaining locked to Gavriil’s.
“But you’ve been hovering on the edge of losing it since we lost Anthony.” Gavriil’s voice was steady and calm, exhibiting no fear, just that icy cold that he was renowned for on the streets of Chicago.
An ache settled low in his chest and Tony gritted his teeth against it. “This has nothing to do with my father.”
“Yes, it does,” Gavriil said as he reached up to lay a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “We all lost him, Tony, but he was your dad, your best friend, and I know how much you miss him. But you have been flying out of control ever since. Blyat! You almost killed that asshole at the casino two nights ago with your bare hands!”
“He fucking deserved it,” Tony roared. He could feel his sense of reason spiraling out of control. “He was one of the bastards Angelo turned loose on Lee.”
“I know that, Tony.” Gavriil growled. “You think I don’t share your anger? I’m the reason she was in that position in the fucking first place. I’m the one who asked her to use Angelo’s obsession with her against him to get us information. It was me who—”
Tony inhaled sharply in surprise. He had no recollection of moving or making the decision to pull back his fist and slam it into Gavriil’s jaw, but that was exactly what he did.
No one moved for a moment, and then there was a distinct sound of feminine displeasure before Abigail stepped up beside him. “Tony, if you’re going to beat on my Gavriil for a while, please, do it outside.”
Gavriil huffed a laugh as he lifted his hand and swiped it across his mouth, collecting the drop of blood that had pooled there. “You worried about me, moy angil?”
“Not even just a little bit,” Abigail said with a haughty sniff. “But I don’t want blood in my new kitchen. So, if you two are determined to act like children, you can do it outside.”
Tony caught Gavriil’s eye for a brief moment, then both of them were laughing. In any other familia, striking a senior member would be a death penalty, but not the Carlisis. And not Gavriil. The two of them and Gino had been friends for too many years, and there had been punches and blood shed between the three of them on more than one occasion.
“See what I have had to put up with, Abby?” Gino complained, throwing his hands in the air. “All my damn life I’ve had to be the peacemaker while these two hotheads threw punches at each other. But now that you’ve claimed Gavriil as your own, and I still find that hard to believe when you could have had me, they’re your problem. I’m gonna go back out front a
nd eat my body weight in pecan caramel cannoli.”
The three of them laughed as Gino practically skipped out of the kitchen in search of what was fast becoming one of the few vices Tony had in life. Abby was one hell of a baker, there was no mistaking that, but her cannoli were out of this world.
“Leona is safe, Tony.” Gavriil’s voice had lost all anger and humor. When Tony turned back to look at him, he saw that he was watching him closely, as if he were searching for something. “She asked to speak with me because she wanted help getting out of town for a while. I couldn’t turn her down. I wouldn’t.”
Tony stepped back, hands on hips, his head lowered as he took a deep breath. “She shouldn’t be alone. She needs help. She needs—”
“You, Tony,” Gavriil said, dropping his hand on his shoulder once more. “For years, you thought it could never be for the two of you. I know your dad didn’t approve of where she came from, and what she did to survive, but I don’t think you ever saw her as anything other than what she is. A loyal, trustworthy woman who would give the shirt off her back to anyone who needed it. Someone whose childhood made ours look like a walk in the park.”
Tony nodded. “And she’s beautiful. You forgot beautiful.”
“I agree.” Gavriil stepped back, pulling Abigail under his shoulder. “But I didn’t want my angil to hear me say that of another woman.”
With love shining in her eyes, Abby smacked Gavriil’s stomach with the back of her hand. “Oh, stop it. You know I’m not like that.” She turned to level her gaze at Tony. “She is beautiful, Tony, but she’s scarred in more than one way. She’s lost the ability to see herself as anything but those scars, and that means she’s lost the ability to heal herself. Gavriil’s right. She needs you.”
Tony lifted his gaze to Gavriil’s and waited. No one could make his friend do anything he didn’t want to, so all he could do was pray that he saw whatever it was he was looking for. A tense silence followed for a moment, and then Gavriil nodded.
“She’s down at the lake house. And before you haul off and punch me again, I sent a couple of men down to watch over her. She doesn’t know that part, and I’d appreciate it if she never did.”
Tony exhaled a breath he hadn’t even known he’d been holding as relief flooded his system. Leona was protected and at Cedar Lake, only an hour away. Less if traffic was kind. He headed for the back entrance of the bakery, determined to at least protect Leona there if she wouldn’t come back to the city.
“Tony.” Abigail’s voice was soft, and he turned to face her. “Leona is hurting. Angelo and everything that happened has broken her. She doesn’t see herself now like I know you see her.”
Tony nodded, sent her a small smile. “That’s the thing, Abby. No one ever could see her like I do. She’s my other half.”
He strode out the door and headed for his truck. Abby was right. Leona saw herself as broken but not because of Angelo. She’d been like that for as long as he could remember. Yes, his father had disapproved of her, but if she’d given Tony half a chance, he would have told his father to go to hell and taken her as his own when they had first met two years ago. He wanted to care for her, to cherish her, but she didn’t see herself as worthy of that. Hell, he’d known she was a working girl, and had been before he ever knew her, but that didn’t matter to Tony.
He climbed into his truck, pressed the button to turn the engine over, and mentally cursed. That wasn’t true. Of course, it mattered. He hadn’t wanted her to have to sell herself to make a living. He wanted to provide everything she needed, but she wouldn’t allow it. He’d asked her so many times over the years to give him a chance, to be his, but she repeatedly told him no. That he could do better.
Leona had always been his. She just never admitted it. Well, Tony was done asking and taking no for an answer.
Chapter Two
Leona Underwood had no real way of knowing how long she’d been sitting on the deck of the lake house, staring out at the water. She’d come out before breakfast, wanting to get some fresh air, but had been held captive by the beauty and serenity of the lake before her and had sat to watch the water move and the colors of the day dance across its surface. She struggled to sleep through the night, plagued by nightmares, some new, some old, and always woke with a feeling akin to claustrophobia. She fought to pull herself from under the oppressive nature of that feeling in the city, but out here, with nothing but the lake and the surrounding forest, it was much easier.
It had been difficult for her to find peace since Angelo—no, she wasn’t going to dwell on that. She was at peace here. Or as much as she could be. She had everything she needed. Her mind was suddenly filled with smiling dark eyes, a man with thick dark hair that refused to be tamed, broad shoulders, and a protective streak like nothing she had ever witnessed before. He was good and special and wonderful and everything she wasn’t. No, Tony didn’t need her screwing up his life.
“Leona!”
She flinched and blinked a few times, dragging her gaze away from the water.
“Goddamn it, Leona, snap the fuck out of it!”
“Tony?” She was surprised at the harsh sound of her voice. She sounded nothing like she normally would.
“Yeah, bellezza mia, it’s me. Come back to me now. That’s it.”
His tone was sweet, no longer sounding harsh. It was as if he were coaxing her somewhere. Leona inhaled deeply, taking the scent of him into her lungs and closing her eyes at how delicious he smelled.
“No, Leona, don’t close your eyes, keep them open. Look at me.”
Leona complied and frowned at how difficult it seemed. When she was able to focus, she realized that Tony was on his knees in front of her, both his hands wrapped tight around her arms, his handsome face filled with concern.
“What is it?” she asked, thinking something must have happened back in Chicago. “What’s happened?”
Frustration and anger flickered across his face. “What is it? Porca miseria, Leona, I have been speaking to you and calling your name over and over for the past few minutes and you completely checked out. Are you okay?”
Leona laughed, a sound completely devoid of humor or happiness. “That’s a pretty stupid question, Tony, don’t you think? No, I am not okay. In fact, I am completely fucked up. I know this because I heard you all saying that about me, and you were all exactly right. I am completely fucked. Up.”
Tony scowled, his beautiful dark eyes flashing. “You are not. Fucked. Up. Whatever you think you heard, bellezza, I can assure you that was not it. You are not and nor have you ever been fucked up. We’ll talk more about what you are soon, but for right now, I need to make sure you’re okay. Can you stand?”
This time it was Leona’s turn to frown. “Why do you think I couldn’t stand?”
Tony’s expression softened. “Because you’re frozen. I don’t know how long you’ve been sitting out here, but it has to have been a while. You’re sitting here watching the sun setting in nothing but a pair of pajamas. Were you getting ready for bed?”
Shock slammed through her. “Sunset? It’s sunset?”
“It’s close to five thirty in the evening, Leona,” Tony said slowly. “What time did you step out onto the deck?” Leona remained silent, watching a myriad of emotions wash over Tony’s face. “What time, Lee?”
Leona almost flinched at the undisguised demand in his tone.
“Before breakfast,” she whispered.
Tony’s jaw dropped almost comically, and he stared at her for a long moment before he began a rapid stream of Italian. She watched, enthralled as he stood up and walked around the deck. Although she wasn’t too sure what he was saying, she figured they were curses, gesturing to her, then the lake, then to the heavens. Perhaps calling on the heavens themselves to help him understand her. If she were normal and not screwed up on levels she could hardly comprehend, she might have laughed at the picture he made.
Tony took a few deep breaths then turned back to her, both hands on his
hips. “Fuck.”
Leona waited for more, and when no more came, she felt compelled to ask. “Is that all you have to say? Was that the translation for what you just ranted in Italian, because if so, then I think your first language might be a little long winded.”
Tony shook his head at her as he walked to her and plucked her out of the chair. She gasped at the sudden change of position, her entire body protesting the move. She must have remained completely still for the entire day.
Tony shot her a sympathetic look. “I bet you’re feeling it now. Your muscles have probably seized with the cold and not moving all fucking day. Come on, let’s get you in the shower. The heat will help. Then we’ll set about getting you something to eat. You must be hungry.”
Well, she was now! Her tummy cramped. She was hungry. In fact, she was starving, and that surprised her. She hadn’t had much of an appetite since her attack. Her heart began to beat faster. Angelo was—
“Stop it, Lee,” Tony said with a growl as he walked them both into the large bathroom in the master suite and set her gently on the chaise lounge that sat against the wall opposite the shower. When she’d first arrived, she’d marveled at the piece, thinking it seemed an odd thing to have in a bathroom, but now that she was sitting comfortably on it, she was thankful it was there.
“Stop what?” Her voice was flat once more, and from the way he shot her a look, he heard it too.
“Thinking about that prick or anything that happened that night.” Tony reached in and turned the shower on, adjusting the temperature before turning back to look at her. “I can tell when you go back there and give that fucker more attention that he deserves. You get this lost look on your face, and the light leaves your eyes. It’s not you. You’re more than that.”
