Mr. Regnante (Mafioso Series Book 1)

by Serena Light

  "Y-you know..." Rosalie spoke with a high pitched voice, clearing her throat and trying again. "People-people generally ask the other out after a date or two."

  "I know," Arcangelo nodded, "Just thought I'd give it a shot," He added with a shrug before standing up, stretching his arms over his head as he let out a content moan, walking over to his closet.

  As he walked away, Rosalie was reminded of everything the two had been through so far. Sure, he held her at gunpoint on their first encounter, but then he saved her numerous times. He helped her care for her choked throat, rescued her after the assault, had her nursed back to health, took care of her when she was drunk and hungover. He trusted her with his niece and nephew and his thoughts. As matter of fact, she knew how everyone at the estate would silently be watching the two interact "shipping them" harder and harder day by day. If she didn't know any better, Rosalie was certain that people were betting on them too.

  In retrospect to her realization, they both were nothing short of a couple...just without the official status of it all.

  Rosalie was jolted out of thoughts by Arcangelo returning, still in his sleeping clothes as he searched around his room for something.

  "I feel like I should do at least something productive today..." He spoke, looking around his bedroom as he rested his hands on his hips. "Any ideas?"

  "Yes." Rosalie breathed out, staring at him from the bed as he looked at her expectantly.

  "What do you have in mind?"

  "No. I mean, yes I'll be your girlfriend."

  He blinked at her in silence, his hands lowering to the side as he stared at her in confusion.

  "You-you don't have to..." He trailed uncertainly as he approached her seated figure. "I'm not forcing you into-"

  "I'm saying yes because I want to," Rosalie assured him, watching him settle on the edge of the bed as he looked her over, and her hair sticking up in odd angles as she could feel heat creeping up her neck and to her cheeks. "I mean...we're practically a couple, what's the harm in making it official?"

  "Are...are you sure?" Arcangelo had to ask again, unable to believe that she was willing to be his girlfriend.

  "Yes!" Rosalie laughed at his uncertainty. "Yes, I'm-" She started to say before she was halted by his lips on hers.

  A soft groan escaping Rosalie as he rolled them over; forcing her beneath him as his lips kissed a trail down her neck to her chest. Her fingers tugging at his shirt, until he sat up and pulled it off, throwing it to the floor before looming over her again.

  Rosalie's lips parting as her eyes glazed with lust, her hands ran over his bare skin, a soft moan escaping her lips as she felt every indent and change in his skin, her fingers caressing the few scars on his chest as she opened her mouth to ask about them, but never getting the opportunity as Arcangelo claimed them with his, mentally relieved that she couldn't see the abundance of scars littering his back.

  Each of them holding a dark story of their own.

  --

  Arcangelo deciding that his impromptu vacation of 2 days needed to come to an end; and set off to work early morning the next day even if his staff wasn't expected back till a day or two later. Throughout he hadn't seen Rosalie, and he tried not to let it bother him, and since he was thinking about Rosalie, he finally knew what to do about her university which would be resuming soon.

  "What's going on?" Rosalie inquired from behind him as he turned around, staring at her confused expression as she watched men empty out her things and take them away.

  "Glad you could join us," Arcangelo spoke emotionlessly, dismissing the memory of his agreeing to be his girlfriend.

  "What's going on?"

  "I came up with the solution to your questions."

  "Really?" She inquired, instantly perking up with interest as she moved closer. "And what do you propose?" Rosalie continued with a teasing smile, looking up at him with glinting eyes.

  "You can go home."

  "What?" She backed away as he said it, confusion flashing across her features.

  "You can go home," Arcangelo repeated as she looked away, almost disappointed. "I don't understand, I thought you wanted to go back."

  "I do!" Rosalie exclaimed a bit too enthusiastically as he raised an eyebrow at her response. "I mean, I do. I was just wondering about the mark-"

  "Oh, right. I'm assigning two guards to you at all times."

  "What?"

  "Yes. They will be there for your protection. They will take you to university and wherever you want to go. One of them will remain in the car with the other following you everywhere. And once you're at home, they will be in the apartment across from yours, monitoring any movements around you via security cameras installed in your hallway."

  "But there aren't any video cameras in the hall."

  "Oh, but there are."

  "So what? That's it?" Rosalie inquired as she crossed her arms over her chest, anger bubbling inside her. "I get to go home now?"

  "Yeah, pretty much." Arcangelo nodded. "I mean, I can't keep you locked up here against your will when you have studies to consider. You can go back to your life and I'll go back to mine. You can resume your education and your socialization with your friends and family, etcetera."

  "Oh, okay." Rosalie nodded as she swallowed, realizing that she had come to like it here, with him and Arsenio, and now when she thought she was finally settled, she was going back. "So...when do I leave?"

  "Right now," Arcangelo stated as she stared at him with a blank face. "Grab your stuff, let's go." With that said, he made his way out of her room--well, the former room--before going towards the entrance doors.

  Grabbing her handbag and placing all her necessities into it, she looked around the room and hoisted it onto her shoulder after she put on her coat. With a soft smile, she made her way down the hall, waving farewell to the people she passed before stepping out into the winter sunlight.

  Shielding her eyes, she noticed a black SUV standing as one of the men opened the back door for her, with Arcangelo a few steps ahead and typing on his phone.

  Inhaling shakily, she made her way ahead, halting before the Mafia Boss and instantly gaining his attention as he looked at her from behind his sunglasses.

  "So...I guess this is it, huh?" She chuckled uneasily as her grip tightened on the strap of her bag. "I'm leaving."

  "Yes, you are." He responded curtly.

  "Thank you." Rosalie breathed out as she shuffled her feet. "For everything,"

  "I owed you." He spoke softly, putting away his phone as she couldn't figure out how his eyes looked behind the opaque glasses

  "You could have let me die." She repeated his words from their very first encounter with a fond smile as it caused a slight twitch of his lips.

  "Even when I had the opportunity to save you?"

  "Even then,"

  They both chuckled at the memory, momentarily looking away as Rosalie realized that she was going back. Things would be different, she would be different, but no one would know.

  "Goodbye then," Rosalie spoke quietly as Arcangelo nodded.

  "Goodbye."

  She was about to walk towards the car, ready to settle in the back before she stopped short at the door. Arcangelo watched her back in silence before she turned on her heels and marched back to him. He was about to inquire if something was the matter before her hands shot up and cupped his face, pulling him down as she molded her lips to his.

  Taking not only him but everyone around them, by surprise.

  Salvatore nearly tripped and all the guards broke character, everyone staring in disbelief as the marked girl was kissed the Mafia Boss senseless.

  Pulling away, both of their faces were flushed as their breaths came out uneven and shaky.

  Arcangelo stared at her in disbelief, never having expected such a bold move on her part as she pulled away, releasing him as she pressed her fingers to her lips, no doubt still feeling the tingling that surged through him as well. Without another word, she turned and set
tled in the car, pulling the door shut as he couldn't see with the tinted windows.

  The guard settled as well before driving off, leaving everyone in silent astonishment.

  Inhaling deeply, Arcangelo's face flushed at the way he reacted to her. Feeling uncharacteristically embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck, and lightly kicking the ground with the tip of his shoes as he glanced up for a moment.

  His entire posture becoming rigid as he noticed all the eyes on him.

  "What are you all staring at?!" He demanded in a booming voice as they all jolted out of their stupor, going back to their posts, two guards exchanging money behind his back as Arcangelo spun on his heels, his face burning as he marched towards the entrance doors.

  "Not a word." He growled to Salvatore as he passed by, the other man simply raising his hands in surrender as a small smirk crept its way onto his lips as he felt one of the men push a wad of cash into his hand.

  "Whatever you say," He stated as he followed bouncing the money behind his back. "Loverboy,"

  Chapter XIV: Interrogations

  The surveillance room, like any ordinary surveillance room, was filled with monitors depicting various scenes of events going on. Three men were lazing in their seats, either blankly staring at the monitors or their phones, while one of them was sleeping. The smell of stale coffee drifted in the air as various snack wrappers were strewn across the floor.

  It was obvious that this room hadn't been cleaned in a long time, the air smelled stale and no window was open.

  In simple words, it was suffocating.

  Arcangelo stood in the doorway, staring at the scene in front of him. Wondering if this is how things looked like on a daily basis: full of lackadaisical people.

  Salvatore shuffled in beside him, an eyebrow raised at their lack of awareness before looking to the Boss, waiting for some instructions. Apparently, they weren't needed because the Mafia Boss grasped the door and slammed it shut, giving the three men a heart attack as they all jumped in their seats, while the one who was sleeping, fell off his chair in his fright.

  "Open a window, would you," Arcangelo stated calmly as they all stared at him in panic. One of them jumping up and opening a window like told.

  "Boss," The man, who had been staring at his phone, chuckled uneasily. "How can we help you, sir?"

  "I need you to pull up the hospital feeds of the day I got shot."

  "Of course, sir," He nodded as the two other men stood from their seats, giving Salvatore and Arcangelo a place to sit.

  The two watched as the man typed away commands into the computer, pulling up various feeds of the same time and event from different angles.

  "Here you are." He stated as he pushed himself away from the desk, allowing Arcangelo and Vincent to move closer as he turned up the volume, both of them wearing headphones and listening to the conversation of the day, forward to see how many people came in.

  "Can I get a paper and pen?" Arcangelo asked as he counted the people that came and went.

  Hastily one of them handed him a notebook with a pencil as Arcangelo rewound the footage, starting from when he woke after the procedure. They listened to the conversation as Salvatore stated the names of all the people while Arcangelo wrote them.

  "15 people," He sighed. "And how many are on duty today?"

  "No idea. We'll have to check with Marcello."

  "Alright," Arcangelo nodded as he stood from his place, followed by Salv as they made their way out the door.

  "We aren't done here," Salvatore informed the three men. "Major will come and talk to you three."

  Arcangelo couldn't help but snort at the threat as they knew that Major would give them a piece of his mind--given that he is the head of security.

  "Who is the first person on the list?" Salv asked, coming up beside him.

  "Luca Ricci." Arcangelo read the name on the list. "Get him into the room."

  When Luca was brought in, he seemed very confused and wondered why he was there. Then he was seated in a chair, and he wanted to ask if he had done something wrong. That's when the interrogation started. Arcangelo started off by offering him a cigarette, using the good cop bad cop method. He started chatting him up before finally coming to the crucial questions.

  "You came into the hospital room when I was shot."

  "Yes, sir,"

  "What did you hear?"

  "I'm sorry, sir?"

  "What did you hear in that room?"

  "Nothing. The doctor was telling you about the damage done when I had come in to retrieve some medications."

  "And that's it?" Arcangelo questioned with a drag of his cigarette.

  "Yes, sir," He nodded, finishing the cigarette he had been offered.

  "Alright,"

  "May I go, then?"

  "Yes, yes. Go." Arcangelo nodded, allowing him to leave.

  He needed the first one to tell everyone exactly what happened inside. This way, if any of his friends was called in for an interrogation, they'd all expect a few questioning and that would be it.

  Initially, it had started off like this, the first few people were merely asked about what they had heard, a few threats were given and no positive response was received.

  Ultimately, Arcangelo started to lose his patience, and that's when things got rough.

  "Stop making your interrogations so bloody." Salvatore sighed as another bloodied and bruised body was being dragged out of the room.

  "Then give me the traitor." Arcangelo retaliated as he wiped his bloodied knuckles.

  "You know I can't do that. I don't know who it is."

  "Thought so,"

  Rubbing a hand over his forehead, Salv let out a grunt of irritation before offering a preposition.

  "Let me deal with the next one." He offered. "Go have lunch, and I'll deal with this. How does that sound?"

  Pondering his words, Arcangelo glanced down at his watch, recalling it to be a Wednesday and noted it to be 4 in the afternoon.

  "Why did I do that?" He asked suddenly, realizing that he checked the time without actually having meant to. He knew the time, because he had seen how long the last interrogation lasted, and here he checked it again.

  "What?"

  "Nothing,"

  "So what do you say?" His acting-second-in-command prompted, patiently waiting for either an affirmation or rejection.

  "Yeah, I guess I'll go for lunch." Arcangelo nodded, seemingly realizing how hungry he felt. "Let me know if you come up with something."

  "Will do, sir,"

  With that said, Arcangelo pulled on his blazer before making his way out the front doors. Grabbing the keys to his BMW, he settled behind the wheel before driving off. As he drove, he pondered where he would go for lunch.

  There was a nice new restaurant, and Lorenzo had suggested it, claiming that they had very nice deserts. But he wasn't in the mood for deserts. Then there was another one suggested by Romeo, a place which had good service, but that doesn't say much about the food. Marcelo suggested a little shawarma joint around the corner, maybe he could give that a try.

  However, without consciously thinking, he had put his car into a parking spot. Blinking, he glanced at where he was, realizing he ended up at the Italian Diner.

  Well, if he's here, might as well have some lunch.

  Putting the car into parking, he took out the keys and made his way out.

  Pushing open the doors, he was greeted by the sound of chatter surrounding him, soft music playing in the background with various Italian fragrances wafting through the air. The waiters and waitresses ran around the place with smiles and treys, handing people their orders or bills.

  Catching sight of a waitress before him, Arcangelo cleared his throat, instantly grabbing her attention as she turned and regarded him with a surprised smile.

  "Good afternoon, sir." She smiled. "How may I help you?"

  "I would like a table for one," Arcangelo informed professionally as she nodded, leading the way to a roundtable right besi
de the window, overlooking the Italian streets.

  Giving a curt nod, he settled down as the waitress handed him a menu, excusing herself with a nod as she went to attend to another table. Flipping open the menu, he looked over the assortments of food before deciding on what he wanted. Placing it away, he waited for her to return. As he waited, he found the day's paper and skimmed through the contents, finally arriving at an interesting headline.

  "American stock going bankrupt..." Arcangelo mused silently as he read the article.

  "I'm so sorry for the wait." She apologized as she returned, a little breathless and flustered. "There's a bit of a rush today."

  "I'm aware." He agreed as he glanced at the people around them. "And it's quite alright."

  "What would you like to order, sir?" She finally exhaled as she seemed worn out.

  "I would like today's lunch special with limewater and a dish of breadsticks with your sour cream dip." Arcangelo rattled off as she nodded along, repeating the order as he nodded in confirmation. "Also, take a breath, Rosalie. You'll exhaust like this."

  "I'm fine." She waved dismissively. "Besides, its rush hour, what can you expect. Anyways, I'll come with your order in 15 minutes."

  With that, she left, allowing him to resume reading the paper. He had just gotten to an amusing part when Rosalie placed his food in front of him. Giving his thanks, he dug in and glanced at the paper, chuckling at the words and how much trouble his American counterparts were in.

  Their stocks were plummeting.

  Shaking his head, he placed away from the newspaper, focusing on his food. He was about to take a sip of the limewater when he heard dishes clatter and break behind him followed by the dragging of chairs. Turning around, he saw Rosalie and a livid customer standing soaked in a pile of broken dishes and food as another waitress stood beside them with one hand covering her mouth in shock while the other held an empty jug.

  "Fottuta puttana (Fucking bitch)!" The man yelled at the top of his lungs as Rosalie shrunk back, trying to profusely apologize while pushing the other girl away. "Ora lo hai fatto! (Now you did it!"