The Scandal: Mafia Vows

by SR Jones

  Once we’re down in the foyer, I’ve got Gus happily distracted by telling him all about the puppy Stella will get him. Yeah, Rhea might kill me, but so what? The kid is about to lose his father forever, and in his best interests or not, it’ll still suck, so a puppy is the least I can do.

  I notice the receptionist smile at us as we head out, and I give her a grin in return. Then I usher Gus to the safety of the car.

  “Can I go and pick my own puppy?” he asks, eyes wide as he climbs in the front seat.

  “Yeah, of course you can.” I take out my phone and dial the Spetsnaz guys. When they answer I simply give them the room number and hang up.

  “When are Daddy and Damen going to be here?” Gus asks, swinging his legs. “Daddy said tomorrow we’d go see Mom. She’s had an accident.” He turns to me, and his eyes are too big in his pale face. The kid’s shook up.

  God, that fucker Papan would have taken Gus to meet his friends he’s building the compound with, not caring one bit if it would affect Gus badly to not see his mother again when he knows she’s been hurt.

  I keep him chatting about puppies and other exciting stuff he can do in the coming weeks, until Damen climbs into the back.

  “Where’s Daddy?” Gus asks.

  “He’s going to meet us soon,” Damen replies. “But right now, your Mommy wants to see you. You’d like that right, Gus?”

  “Yes, please.” He’s so serious and solemn, and he tugs on my heartstrings big time.

  “Come on then,” I say as two dark figures cut behind the car and head into the side entrance of the hotel. Cleanup is underway.

  I pull out of the spot I’m parked in and drive as fast as I can without breaking the law to the hospital. Once there, I head straight for Rhea’s room.

  I step inside, and it’s like there’s a damn party going on. Maya is eating cake, and Alesso of all people is laughing and joking with Rhea. One by one they fall silent as heads turn our way, and then Rhea sees me … and Gus.

  “Oh my,” she blurts out as tears fill her eyes. “Gus, baby, Gus, come here.”

  He rushes to her. “Mom, do you feel better?” he asks as she pulls him to her and starts to cry into his hair.

  “What’s wrong, Mom. Does it hurt?” He pulls back, all concerned.

  “We went to get Gus, didn’t we, fella?” Damen says, ruffling Gus’ hair. “His dad will probably come later and visit then.” Damen shakes his head behind Gus’ back to let Rhea know that won’t be happening.

  She’s still got tears pouring down her cheeks as she hugs Gus to her and mouths to me, Thank you.

  Two hours later and everyone has gone. Gus is with Star and Markos back at the house. Damen is probably washing the proverbial, and maybe literal, blood off his hands. I’m with Rhea.

  Something has settled within me, deep and sure. I didn’t know if me and this gorgeous woman had a future. I thought two broken people made a mess, not a whole, and maybe they do, but we’d be a fucking glorious mess. I don’t care anymore if we’re a mess. I just want us to be a something.

  Rhea snuffles and stirs, her face scrunching up for a moment before it settles again.

  She has drifted in and out of sleep for the last few hours, but I don’t want to leave her.

  Her eyes flutter open, and she fixes those gorgeous golden orbs on me. “What is Papan going to do? He’ll not forgive you or me for this.” She licks her lips and swallows drily, so I take her some water.

  After she’s had a sip, I set the glass down and take her hand in mine. “Baby, he’s gone. I’m not proud to say this, but I threatened him pretty badly. I let Damen give him a bit of a slap, and he’s gone. He won’t be coming back. Damen says he was terrified. And if he does come back, I won’t let him anywhere near you. I got your son back, and I swear to you, I’ll always protect you.”

  “My hero,” she says with a smile, and it’s not said in jest. She squeezes my hand, and I know she means it.

  At first it might have scared me, this woman seeing the good and heroic in me, but I need that I realize now. I’ve spent years with my wife looking at me like I’m shit on her shoe. Rhea looks at me like I hung the stars in the sky for her, and I inhale that shit like a drug.

  “Get some rest,” I say. “I’m staying, okay?”

  “Okay, my hero. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” She drops a kiss to my hand and then her eyes drift closed.

  I watch her for the longest time, and something akin to peace settles in my soul.

  I have all I want here in this room, and I know with clarity that she’s it for me. I’m not going to walk away from this. Rhea and me, we’re going to make a go of things.

  No matter how hard it is, no matter what kind of outrage it causes Helena and others, I’m going to make this woman mine.

  EPILOGUE

  Rhea

  It’s been two weeks since I got out of the hospital, and my life is crazy. I can’t sew yet because of my arm, but I have orders for tops piling up. So far, people have said they are happy to wait so long as they get a top eventually.

  I’m still living above the garage in the apartment, but Gus and I spend a lot of time downstairs in the house. It’s a big hive of happy activity, and I love it. My memory is mostly returning, but I still have gaps. Particularly, I seem to have lost a week before the accident, give or take. I can remember parts of it, but it’s vague, like a dream. When I try to pin the memories down, they slide away from me. It’s frustrating and a bit strange.

  Gus runs past me screaming and laughing as Alesso chases him, making crocodile motions with his arms. My son makes my heart sing. So does my daughter. She’s been warmer toward me since I’ve been spending so much time here, and that makes me happy too.

  My therapy has been helping with the panic attacks, and now I tend to only get the odd one at night when I’m all alone in the dark. Then, when the dead of night is wrapped around me, I once more think of what I did to my daughter, and the guilt hits hard and fast. I also think about Papan, out there maybe, waiting for me one day. I know Stamatis says he’ll protect us no matter what, but I still fear Papan reappearing and trying to take Gus again.

  As for Stamatis. He and I are getting serious. More so than I believed we ever would. He’s even mentioned us moving in together one day soon, and the idea both thrills and terrifies me. What if it doesn’t work? I can’t do it yet. If it were only me, I would in a heartbeat, but I have to make sure it is right for Gus. I can’t leap into something when it might go wrong and then create more upheaval in my little man’s life.

  So, for now, I ask Stamatis to wait. He seems happy enough to do so, but he’s not a man who will wait around patiently forever.

  When I think of him, my stomach flips, and I get butterflies all over again. The man knows how to make me weak at the knees, that’s for sure, and he’s shown me new things in our sex life I never thought I’d get to experience. We’ve had sex all over his rapidly filling house. And last night he took me in the shower, up against the wall as he’d said he wanted to. He’s insatiable, and I love it.

  I’ve noticed that the furniture he’s filling it with isn’t the sort of stuff a bachelor would get. No, he’s making a home for a family, and I’m certain that’s for Gus and me when we’re ready to move in. The other day, he instructed Maya to create an awesome room for a little boy, and my heart soared.

  “What are you smiling at all secret like?” Maya smiles at me.

  “Nothing,” I reply, not wanting to give my thoughts away. Keeping my hopes and dreams to myself for now because sharing them still feels too scary.

  “Naughty things, I think,” she teases.

  “Or, you’ve got a one-track mind.” I laugh.

  “You’re not wrong,” she says.

  “Hey, Rhea, you’re famous.” Stella comes into the room and holds up the local paper.

  I wonder if it is to do with the tops I made? They’ve caused quite a splash amongst the wealthy here. But then I see the picture, and it’s
of me and Stamatis. My stomach sinks. Oh crap.

  “Ooh,” Maya says. “You look amazing.”

  “Oh, God, I’ve got to call Stamatis.”

  I run out the door, across the way to my apartment, and pick up the phone. He answers on the second ring. “Stamatis,” I say breathlessly. “You better brace yourself.”

  “Already seen it,” he says with a chuckle, then his tone turns serious. “Although, so has Lena, and she’s spitting fury at me over it.”

  “I don’t want to cause you any trouble. We can deny it.”

  “No fucking way, Rhea. I’m done hiding, and she can damn well accept it. She said I’ve caused the biggest scandal in years, but I call bullshit on that.”

  “We’re a scandal?” I ask. Oh, gods above, will Papan see this wherever he’s hiding out? My remaining estranged family? My word, I’m infamous.

  “Yeah, baby. We’re a scandal. I’m coming over. Stay there.”

  Where else would I go? I’ve got my arm in a sling still, and I’m bruised in many places. I’m resting and recovering slowly. It sucks, but it also gives me a lot of time to get my head around everything that is happening.

  Thirty minutes later, a sleek car pulls up outside the main house. I see Stamatis get out from my view at the kitchen window, and I watch as he walks to my apartment, long legs eating up the space.

  When he gets here, I rush to let him up, and he pulls me into his arms, kissing me hard on the mouth.

  “I had to see you,” he says. “I know you want to wait for us to move in until you and Gus are ready for the change, but I need to know you will … one day. You were made for me, Rhea. We’re both closed off souls, but not with one another. I need to know that you’ll be mine, so I’ve come to ask you something.”

  He takes a box out of his pocket, and I stare at it, not believing what I’m seeing. “I know you’re not a person who likes a lot of fuss, and that’s why I’m doing this with so little fanfare, okay?”

  Doing what? He isn’t … is he?

  My mouth runs dry, and my heart picks up speed.

  Stamatis, big, bad, cartel boss, Stamatis, drops to one knee before me and holds out the box. “Rhea, will you marry me?”

  I stare at him, and my mouth opens, closes, and opens again.

  “Not now, I know you need time, and I respect that. But say yes, and we can have as long an engagement as you want.”

  I still can’t speak. I’m so shocked. I didn’t see this going this way, not yet; not so soon.

  Stamatis isn’t finished. “I saw you in that hospital bed, and I just knew. I’ve spent years being unhappy, and now I want to grab happiness with both hands.”

  Those words hit me hard. I’ve spent most of my life not living at all. I drifted in a daze through years, decades even. There are many people who have recently entered my life and made me feel, and of them all Stamatis is the one who makes me feel the most. The idea of not having him in my life is scary. I don’t want to think about it.

  “I want you and I to make a home together with Gus. But I also know you need time, and I will give you that, but I need to know we’re headed that way. Are you with me, Rhea?”

  I blink away the tears forming in my eyes at his words, and suddenly a bright future opens in front of me. Can I take it? Dare I? Only a month ago I wouldn’t have thought I deserved it, would have believed I needed ongoing punishment for the sins of the past, but my injury has given me time. I’ve spent that time having extra therapy sessions, and it’s helped me a great deal. Now I do believe I deserve happiness. As does this man in front of me, on his knees, vulnerable for once. “Yes,” I gasp. “Yes.”

  He puts the ring on my finger, and I stare at it in shock yet again. It’s huge. Massive. A big, glitzy diamond catching the light and sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow as I move my hand about, admiring it.

  “You’re not a flashy woman, I know that, but damn, you deserve a big rock.” Stamatis stands and pulls me to him, wrapping his fist in my hair the way he loves to, and kissing me.

  When we both finally come up for air, he turns serious. “I know this won’t be easy, Rhea. My wife is going to go ape shit when she hears about this. There will be gossip and rumors. My son is coming home, and we will be a blended family. Then there’s Gus, who we have to make sure is always made to feel safe.”

  I can’t help it, his words about Gus tip me over the edge as I blurt out a sob and start crying.

  “Don’t cry,” he says, wiping my tears away with his thumb.

  “I just feel like you get me, get us. You understand we need to take it slow for Gus, so that when we do move in together, we’re totally sure.”

  “Of course,” he says. “But we are moving in together, and we are going to be sure. I love you, Rhea. You’ve made everything bright again.”

  Who knew such a stern man could be so romantic?

  “Same for me. It’s like my world is in color now, not black and white.”

  “Shall we go tell the others?” he asks.

  I nod and bite my lip. “I hope they’ll be happy for us.”

  “Of course, they will. They all love us.”

  He takes my hand and leads me across to the main house.

  I stop when I see Damen pacing outside the house, talking on the phone. He looks serious, worried.

  When he sees us, he jerks his head in a nod at Stamatis and resumes his conversation for a moment before hanging up.

  “That was Cole. Things are pretty fucking dicey down there in South America. Can we send one of the Russians to help out?”

  “Of course. Any lead on Pamela?” Stamatis looks worried, too.

  “Yeah, she’s being held by the cult and they are big, thousands in number; hence him needing some manpower.”

  “Christ. I hope he’s taking care of himself down there. It’s a jungle, literally and figuratively.” Stamatis blows out a breath.

  An inkling of panic hits me at the mention of a cult, and it takes me back. Back to when I was naïve and young, and I believed Leader Zeus and the brothers and sisters around him were good people. Back when they offered sanctuary, albeit with huge strings.

  Now, Stamatis offers me sanctuary, and he wants nothing in return but me.

  A car pulls up outside the gates, and Alesso comes to the door. “It’s Andrius,” he says. “And Konstantin.”

  I watch as the car crunches to a stop, and two men step out. Andrius, handsome, cold, and scary as always, but then the second man grabs my attention. My God, he’s handsome, but he’s also powerfully muscular, and hard as granite. His neck is as thick as Damen’s I’d bet, and he carries himself with a slight swagger. He’s in-your-face aggressive, and it bleeds from him.

  Konstantin’s face is set into a stern expression, made sterner by his dark hair and heavy brow. He has deep grey/blue eyes that make him somehow beautiful, and remind of those stormy skies when a summers day gets too hot and the clouds begin to build. His stormy gaze hits me, and I feel myself almost shrinking under the intensity. Then he gives me the slightest smile, and it warms him … somewhat. It doesn’t transform him, though, the way Andrius’ smile does. He’s still hard faced, even when he’s smiling. I shiver and look away.

  “Ready for the meeting?” Andrius asks in English, with a clap on the back for Stamatis.

  “Yes,” Stamatis says. “But first I have an announcement. Damen, will you gather everyone in the dining room please? And ask Rita to look after Gus for twenty minutes?”

  Damen frowns but nods, and goes to do what Stamatis asks.

  “Once we agree to this, we have to be determined to stick to the path,” Andrius says.

  “Yes, I’m well aware. Thank you,” Stamatis replies with a bite to his words.

  “I’ll try everything I can to avoid dragging any of you into this,” Konstantin says in a deep, rough voice. He sounds like he drank a bottle of whisky and chased it with twenty packets of cigarettes. It’s kind of sexy, though, his voice. “I thought it was worth
coming here so we can discuss what to do if there is wider fallout.”

  “You’re lucky you’ve got Andrius in your corner.” Stamatis nods at Andrius. “And he’s lucky he’s got Alesso and Damen in his, and that I listen to them.”

  “I appreciate this, Stamatis. Don’t think I don’t.” Konstantin holds his hand out, and I hold my breath as Stamatis considers it, but then they shake.

  “Come in.” Alesso stands back and gestures for Andrius and Konstantin to enter the house.

  “What’s going on?” I ask in Greek as I tug on Stamatis’ sleeve, holding him back.

  “Konstantin and Andrius want to talk to us about what might happen if Konstantin takes out his enemy, that man called Popov.”

  I remember the conversation around the dinner table, but I don’t like Stamatis getting involved in something dangerous. “Why does that involve you?”

  “Because I do some business with him, in a very round about way, mostly through Allyov.”

  “Does it mean you’re in danger?” I can’t bear the thought.

  “Not me personally, no, but it could affect our business, hence the meeting.”

  “That man, Konstantin, he’s scary.”

  “Yeah, he is,” Stamatis says, surprising me. “He’s Andrius, but with ambition, and that makes him someone I need to keep a very close eye on. Thankfully, he won’t be doing business in Greece, so I don’t have to worry about him treading on my territory. He already runs most of Moscow, and is now spreading his tentacles into London.”

  We go into the house, and for a moment I feel as if the shine of our announcement has been overshadowed by the arrival of these two terrifying men.

  Once everyone is gathered in the dining room, Stamatis looks around them, grins, and says, “Okay,” in English for our two Russian guests. There’s a polite murmur of laughter, but the faces around us are puzzled. I don’t blame them. It’s not every day Stamatis gathers the whole household to make an official speech. “I have some news to share with you all. Rhea and myself are engaged. It’s going to be a long engagement, to give us time to get organized, but we’re going to be married.”