“So I’m the lucky one?”
I smirk. “You’d better believe it. And if you remember, I did all that after you almost sterilized me.”
“Great, I feel so privileged.”
“It’s nice to hear you laugh. I didn’t think you knew how.”
“I haven’t had much to laugh about.” She stares at me, her eyes open wide, the flicker of anger no longer glimmering in the depths. “But I want that to change.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
We stare at each other for what feels like the longest minute of my damn life, until my throat clearing breaks the silence. “Come with me.”
I get a blank stare in response. “Where?”
“To my villa.”
Her jaw drops. “I don’t think I can go back there.”
“Trust me, you’ll be safe.”
“There’s that word again. A while back you told me I trusted the wrong people. Am I supposed to believe you’re one of the right ones?”
“Haven’t I proven that to you already?”
“Do you always answer a question with a question?” she murmurs, and I’m mesmerized once again by those lips. They’re so close, close enough for me to graze them with my own.
Eh, fuck grazing.
I want to suck on them and drag them through my teeth right before I devour her.
“I might need more convincing.”
“I might be willing to show you.”
Her lips curl upward and she gives me a long look. “Okay. But safety is relative. And in my case, it’s very temporary.”
I know exactly what she’s talking about, or rather, whom she’s talking about.
Her uncle, Nikola, the one who went off the grid once Aria and her mother escaped from Croatia. But men like him always resurface. I’ve seen it before.
I’ve also seen them all get slain like fucking dragons when they reappear.
I’m not in the business of waiting around for the other shoe to drop, though. If there’s a threat, I find it, I eliminate it, and I close the book on it forever.
Which is exactly why I don’t say a word about him, especially after she blew up at me for clipping Mirko back at my villa. If she knew my plans for Nikola, sterilizing me with her knee would be the last line of defense for her. She might just cut off my cock while I sleep. I’m not stupid enough to give her any bit of a clue that I’m tracking her rat bastard uncle and then when I find him, I will have Tommy fillet him before feeding his bloody, rancid body to wild boars.
That’s how I feel about these people who prey on innocent women who can’t defend themselves from the terrors that await them once they’ve been captured.
They should all be mutilated, sodomized, and burned alive for the horrors they inflict.
So, I play dumb, because for the first time in three weeks, Aria doesn’t look like she wants to kill me.
That’s progress.
Most people don’t change their minds about me.
They want to kill me and then they want to kill me faster, harder, and more brutally than they did when they first met me.
But fuck them all because I’m still standing.
And I always hit my targets.
“Come on.” I nod my head toward the kitchen entrance. “Frankie!” I bellow as my feet crunch the glass shards scattered over the floor.
He appears from around a corner, his eyes following Aria as she follows me out of the kitchen. “Yeah, boss?”
“You’ve got everything covered here?”
He nods, still gaping at Aria.
I snap my fingers to get his attention. “I’m heading out for a while. Call me if you need anything. Pay the cleaners when they’re done. We’ll talk about the construction when I’m back. Make sure these guys get their work done in a hurry. We don’t need any heat on us, okay? I’ve made a few calls and nobody is gonna show up here anytime soon, but we have to be ready if and when they do.”
“Okay,” he says. “I’ll take care of everything. Should I, um, tell—?”
“No,” I say in a sharp tone. “You didn’t see me and you sure as hell didn’t see her, got it?”
Again, he nods. “See who, boss?”
“Good.” I smirk, guiding Aria toward the front door of the restaurant. “That was a nice touch.”
Frankie salutes me and I pull open the door, placing my hand on the small of Aria’s back. She looks at me with a smile.
Damn, she’s gorgeous.
Lethal and vicious as they come judging from her kill numbers during the Salazar attack, but so beautiful.
I unlock the Bugatti and open her door. She sinks into the bucket seat and I slam the door closed before jogging around to my side. Within minutes, we’re on an empty road headed away from Palermo and the devastation that shook our worlds today.
I was able to keep my family safe.
Today.
But only my brother-in-law Alek knows about my other mission, my much more covert one. He’s also the only one who knows about Aria, her history, and the hate-hate relationship we had until a few strange and intense minutes ago.
The fact that she’s in my car right now, willingly, still makes me scratch my head.
If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn she showed up at the restaurant to sink one of Tommy’s knives into my chest.
But she’s playing the sane game really well, so if she does decide to cut my jugular, I’ll be shocked to hell.
It’s a risk I’m willing to take if it gives me time alone with her.
Because for three weeks, I haven’t been able to think about much else, even with the Salazar threat hanging over my head.
“You were pretty impressive today,” I say, views of the seascape zooming past. I crack open my window, inhaling the salty air as the road winds down the mountain toward the coast.
Serenity is close. I can smell it.
“Thanks. It was a good distraction.”
“With Paolo’s sons all over the place, I guess you’ve moved into his number two spot.”
She shrugs. “I have nothing else to focus all of this anger on, so I may as well take it out on the assholes who are screwing him over.”
“Channeling rage.” I snicker. “Good plan. I’m sure you’ll be very useful to him.”
“I guess.” She pauses. “But brutalizing people isn’t really a substitute for a life’s purpose, you know? I always thought things would be different for me, even back in Croatia. I wanted to do something good and positive. You know, I used to volunteer at some of the shelters and help take care of the kids. I’d do arts and crafts with them, help them with homework, play games. They just liked having someone watch over them. I think it made them feel safer. More secure in a world where their entire futures were in question.” A wistful smile lifts her lips and I can tell she’s back there with them. “So many of them didn’t have parents. It was so sad. I guess I empathized because of things with my father. I mean, Mama was amazing, but I felt like an only child most of the time. I had a father by blood, but he wasn’t a real father.”
“How’d your mother feel about you volunteering?”
“She loved it,” Aria says. “It was actually her idea. I think she knew how much I missed out on being around other kids, and that it might be good for me to do something good at the same time. I had everything, so giving back meant a lot to me. Except…” Her face darkens and out of the corner of my eye, I can see her jaw twitch. “Except my father hated it. When he found out what I was doing, he forbade me from ever going again. Said it was an embarrassment to him that his only daughter was working in poverty-stricken areas with orphans. He wanted glitz and glamour. Everything was image to him. If it didn’t make him sparkle, he wanted nothing to do with it. The same needed to go for me and Mama.”
My chest tightens, my hand dropping to hers without me even thinking about it. It’s soft and warm and she doesn’t pull it away when I lace my fingers with hers. Instead, she gives them a little squeeze.
Okay, good,
she’s definitely not gonna cut my jugular.
Not yet, anyway.
But, like all things in my life, I always prepare for the unexpected.
Chapter Thirteen
Aria
The view of the ocean was beautiful at night, but during the day?
Truly breathtaking.
I didn’t have time to fully appreciate it last time I was here, dodging bullets and storming out with Paolo after the massacre that took place at Vince’s hand.
I take in a deep breath, pulling in the sweet fragrance of peach trees mixed with the saltiness of the sea air, heading toward the glittering waves below. It’s like the sound of the surf crashing against the shore has cast an imaginary net over me, dragging me closer and closer, dangling the temptation to dive in and wash away the toxic cloud enveloping my mind and heart. Each step toward that end helps me forget.
I kick off my heels, immersed in the memories of me and Mama dancing around in the wet sand. My body feels lighter as my feet glide over the soft sand. I dig in my toes, letting the sense of calm consume me.
My eyes drift closed and I tilt my face up toward the sun, letting the beams heat my cheeks. A breeze flutters against my hair, a swift and sudden chill slipping over my skin and my eyes fly open.
Mama.
I can feel her right here next to me, by my side, where she’s been for my whole life. She, not my father, gave me everything — courage, hope, and compassion. I didn’t give a damn about the money. I’d rather have been penniless with love of both parents instead of being showered with bullshit material things by my hateful and abusive father.
Mama gave up so much for me, including her life. Love and loss surge through me, making tears spring to my eyes, and I want more than anything to wrap my arms around her and squeeze, to tell her that I will make this right, that she didn’t die in vain.
But all of that is yet to be determined.
I still need something…or more specifically, someone.
And that’s exactly why I’m here right now.
My goal is simple. Find Nikola and kill him.
It’s the only way to end the nightmare…for all of us.
I run a hand through my hair, inhaling once more before turning back toward the house. “Oh!” I yelp, startled when I see Vince standing behind me. A tight white t-shirt stretches across his muscular chest, and he opted for board shorts instead of the jeans he had on earlier. I guess a change of clothes was kind of necessary after the restaurant attack, and he clearly didn’t waste any time once we got here.
“You okay?” he asks. I can see concern in the depths of his dark eyes, and I wonder for a split second how far that will actually get me. He still cares, I can see that.
Good for me.
And my agenda.
I just need to keep my focus…my real focus, not the eye candy he’s dangling in front of me right now.
Except…that smoldering look is melting away my plan. All rational thought blurs as he pulls off his t-shirt, his massive arms flexing as he raises them. I bite down on my lower lip as my gaze traces the cuts of muscle adorning his bronzed chest.
Sweet Jesus.
Suddenly, my mouth is drier than the sand beneath my feet.
“Yeah,” I say, forcing a smile.
“I was surprised you got in my car before.”
“Me too.” I cock my head to the side. “I didn’t think I’d ever be invited back here again.”
He smirks. “Me either. I’m not usually the guy to give second chances.”
“So, why did you?”
“Because you needed one. And you earned it when you showed up for me and my family today.” Vince nods at my outfit. “You need a bathing suit or something before you spontaneously combust? It’s a little warm for the catsuit, yeah?”
Beads of sweat pebble the back of my neck, and the realization that I’m still covered from head to toe in black leather makes me sweat that much more. Well, the outfit and the fact that being this close to his half-naked body is making my temperature rocket. “It is.” I try hard to tear my eyes away from his lust-filled ones, but I can’t. Don’t really want to, if I’m being honest. “But I don’t need a bathing suit,” I whisper, dragging the zipper of the jacket down and tossing it to the sand, letting the light hit my bare skin. My fingers move to the pants, fumbling with the button and then pulling them off each ankle, my movements slow and seductive as I strip down to a lacy black bra and matching thong.
The effort isn’t lost on my host, either.
“That’s better.” I blow out a breath, pull my hair to one side to give my neck some air, and step toward Vince. His hungry gaze is busy tracing over my curves, re-igniting sparks of desire deep inside of me that I felt weeks earlier. I’d thought they were all but extinguished after that night, but right now?
They rage with a ferocity I’ve never felt before, making this whole thing even more dangerous than it already is.
Because I don’t want to have an agenda.
I want him.
I want this.
And not just as a critical part of my endgame.
He laces his fingers with mine and pulls me against him. “You’re overheating. I think you need to cool off,” he murmurs.
I let out a breathless giggle as I brush against his taut chest. “Are you sure it’s me who’s overheating?”
He snickers. “Maybe we both are. Come on, I have drinks in the cabana.”
I follow him toward a large white stucco building that looks more like a pool house than a cabana. He pushes open a door and I follow him inside, the floor tiles cooling my feet as I pad across them. I look around, my mouth agape. “This is your idea of a cabana?”
“I had it built once my niece and nephews were born. Made it easier to have a place close to the beach for them to play and nap when they came to visit. Cuts down the back and forth to the house.”
I nod, gazing up at the villa on the hill above us. “Yes, because the ten-mile walk is so treacherous.”
He snickers and pulls open the stainless steel refrigerator. “What good is the money if you don’t use it? Not like you can take it with you,” he says, a strange expression darkening his expression. “What would you like?” he asks me, and the second his eyes find mine, the expression disappears.
“Sparkling water would be great,” I say. He pulls out a bottle of Pellegrino, twists off the top and pours it into a glass. When he hands it to me, grazing my fingers in the exchange, the butterflies deep in my belly awaken. The urge to touch is so strong, it’s painful to ignore. I want to slide my fingertips over his skin, tracing the swirls of black ink decorating his god-like form, and run my tongue over the deep cuts of muscle.
I grab the glass and guzzle the fizzy water to clear my mind.
Despite the fact that I’m standing here in my bra and panties, this isn’t about sex.
It can’t be, not matter how much I want it.
Want him.
And judging by the way he’s staring at me, I have a feeling the salacious thoughts are mutual.
I swallow the burp rising in my throat from inhaling all of that Pellegrino water. “So,” I rasp. “What exactly do you do, Vince?”
Vince walks over to where I’m standing and leans back against the counter. “I’m a businessman. I run companies, some with Paolo.”
“And how does a businessman develop such brutal assassin skills?” I grin. “I mean, I’ve seen you take out entire armies on your own, and then today, with the knife…do you get a lot of lip in the boardroom? Are you worried about hostile takeovers?”
He shrugs. “If you get too comfortable, someone will always try to grab your power. I do what I need to keep control of everything I’ve built. If it means taking out an army, so be it. It’s part of my job.”
“How often have you trusted the wrong people?” I ask, gripping the glass tight.
“Often enough that it’s almost gotten me killed,” he says in a tight voice. “I mean, you know about my Un
cle Sil. And my family has had plenty of other people turn on us — relatives, business associates — in exchange for money. Makes it hard to trust anyone too much.” A tight smile appears on his face. “Even Paolo. Everyone has a price, Aria. And loyalty can always be bought.”
“It must be hard to work with people if you’re always suspicious of their motives,” I say, my eyes dropping to the polished marble tile under my feet.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years,” he says, sweeping a hand through his hair. “I’ve done things that have changed my life and the lives of my family members. Bad things.”
“Like what?” I ask when he pauses to take another drink.
He looks at me, a pained expression on his face, his lips pulled into a tight line. “For years, my father kept me in the dark about his businesses. He’d have me do jobs for him but I never connected all the dots. I wanted him to train me, to trust me with his legacy. But he wouldn’t. So I went on a tear. I shook shit up, went after people he told me to stay away from, and caused a lot of headaches for him. I wanted to defy him, to show him I wasn’t some weak asshole, that I could be feared and respected like he was. But he never gave me what I needed.”
“I know all about desperately trying to get your father’s approval and constantly failing,” I grumble.
“I never ended up getting it.” Vince sighs, scrubbing a hand down the front of his face. “We’d had a pretty bad blowout when he lashed out at me for some job gone wrong. Said he’d never give his respect to someone like me, son or not. I went a little nuts after that. Went out, got wasted, slept with the wife of one of his business associates.” He shrugs. “I wanted it to get back to him. All he cared about was money, so messing with his business relationships would take money out of his pockets. And he paid for it, yeah. Except it wasn’t with cash.”
“What happened?” I ask, my skin prickling under his dark stare.
“I’d been driving his car that night. The guy came home early and saw me drive off, thinking it was my dad. To protect me, my dad accepted the blame when his associate confronted him. Never gave me up. I didn’t know it at the time. He was gunned down a week later. It was kind of a last straw thing, anyway. His list of enemies was miles long, and this scorned associate had been screwed over by my father in the past. He was bound to do something to get his revenge. This just gave him another excuse to take action. I mean, there were plenty of assassination attempts on my father for years before all that. But he always managed to escape, until that last time. Pop knew it was coming, but I didn’t. And we never made things right before it happened, never resolved any of it.” Vince shakes his head, pointing to his chest. “I won’t ever be able to fix that, Aria, no matter how much good I do for my family now. I was young, stupid, and pissed off that my father didn’t take me seriously, and my rage and anger changed my family forever. It’s something that eats at me constantly, why I’m always all over my brothers when they make dumb-ass decisions based on emotion. I know what can go wrong, what’s always at stake.”
Fallen: A Dark Italian Mafia Romance (Men of Mayhem Book 4) Page 12
