The High Priestess (Mafia Empire #2)

Chapter 1

CASSIA

Lincoln Knight; 37. Cassia Dimitrou; 28.

Sitting at the kitchen table, I watch my mother while she makes lunch for the family. Even though we have servants, she insists on preparing all our meals.

Mom just turned fifty, but she can pass for my older sister. Not only is she beautiful, she has an inner strength that’s kept this family standing during the most difficult of times.

Sometimes, I feel like I’m nothing but a disappointment to her. She raised us all to be strong, but since I started working alongside my father, I’ve only felt weak and scared.

While she stirs the tzatziki dip, she glances at me. Her eyes flick over my face, then she frowns. “Why do you look so worried?”

I shake my head, forcing a smile to my face. “I’m not worried.”

I’m getting really good at lying, but I have to work harder on masking my true feelings.

A smile curves around her mouth, and as she plates the pita bread, she says, “You’ve done so well up until now, and you will continue to do just fine.”

Nodding, my gaze lowers to the bottle of water in front of me.

For the past year, I’ve been training with my father to take over the Greek mafia.

God, has it already been a year?

A drop of condensation starts to trickle down the side of the bottle, and I catch it with the pad of my finger.

Almost a year ago, my father formed an alliance with Leo Toscano, Santiago Castro, Dominik Varga, and Enzo Oliveira.

I’ve managed to convince the men I’m a force to be reckoned with, but nothing could be further from the truth.

When I first met them, I had my father by my side, and I didn’t have to interact with them much. But my father has been losing his temper more and more at the most inappropriate times. It was starting to annoy everyone, so I was forced to take over everything regarding the alliance.

Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing, and I’m scared out of my mind.

Every day, I work with killers and criminals, and I know if they get a whiff of the ungodly fear filling every inch of my being, they’ll tear me to shreds.

Fake it until you make it.

After I repeat the words that have become my mantra, I lift my eyes to my mother and confess, “It’s difficult working with Mpampà . His quick temper and ridiculous demands will get us all killed.”

Her gaze locks with mine for a few seconds before she says, “You’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Keep him under control until he steps down.”

Shaking my head, I let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t think he wants to hand the reins over to me.”

“He doesn’t have a choice,” Mom mutters.

She’s right. We’ve crossed too much ground to call it off. The alliance has already accepted me, and they’ve been very vocal about their dislike for my father.

My thoughts turn back to the day I won the respect of the four men. A factory that belonged to Dominik was under attack, and it was the first time we took a stand together against an enemy.

God, my heart was beating out of my chest, and I wasn’t sure we’d get out alive.

Creeping through the factory with my father, my gun is drawn, and my eyes dart all over the place. I swallow hard on the unholy terror gripping my chest while Dad walks with too much confidence as if someone wouldn’t dare shoot at him.

“Stick closer to the pallets,” I hiss at him. “You’re too exposed.”

“Stop cowering,” he snaps at me. “Dimitrous aren’t afraid of anything.”

Suddenly, something explodes somewhere behind us, and it has Dad scurrying into a space between two big crates to take cover while I let out a startled shriek.

Glancing behind me, I see Santiago helping Dominik up from the floor. My eyes dart over them, but luckily, they didn’t get hurt by the blast.

When Enzo and Leo catch up to Dad and me, I feel a trickle of relief ease some of the tension in my body.

Enzo gestures toward an office that’s situated near the front entrance. “Pavlov is probably in there.”

“We don’t have the element of –” Leo’s words are cut short as my father storms closer to the office, shouting, “Pavlov! Get out here so I can kill you.”

“Jesus,” I whisper while shaking my head.

“It’s a fucking miracle someone hasn’t killed your father yet,” Enzo growls.

I know.

Letting out a sigh, my fingers clench around the handle of my gun as I take a step forward so I can try to talk some sense into my father.

Suddenly, bullets slam into Dad’s bulletproof vest, sending his body falling backward. I can’t even manage a scream while I dart forward, intense worry gripping my heart.

Gunfire erupts as I drop down to my knees beside Dad, and as I press my fingers to his neck to feel for his pulse, Leo stops beside me, saying, “The bullets hit his vest. He’s just out cold.”

Because I’m inexperienced, I’m unable to find Dad’s pulse, but I do notice his chest rising and falling. I let out another sigh as I slowly push myself up on my feet.

At this rate, Dad will get himself killed in no time.

I glance between Enzo and Leo, who are walking toward the office where the gunfire has stopped, and realizing I have to avenge my father being shot at, my stomach fills with lead.

I’ve never killed anyone before.

Seems my luck has run out.

My legs feel heavy, and my palms are sweaty as I head toward the office. I hear Pavlov say, “You can’t beat the bratva. We’ll just keep coming.”

As Santiago, Leo, and Enzo enter the office, Santiago mutters, “And we’ll keep beating your asses.”

My stomach is a tight ball of anxiety and fear, and my heart hammers against my ribs.

If I don’t kill the Russian, everyone will think I’m weak. I have to do it.

Stepping into the office, I notice a body to my right as I train my gun on Pavlov who’s missing fingers. The bloody sight makes my stomach roll.

God. Don’t puke in front of the men.

Mustering all my courage, I focus on Pavlov, but before I have to force myself to take the shot, Dominik growls, “This kill isn’t yours.”

Oh, thank God!

Intense relief pours through me, but having to keep up the act, I hiss, “He shot at my father.”

“Who’s just out cold,” Leo reminds me. “You need to fucking calm him down, or he’ll get us all killed.”

Moving closer to Dominik, Santiago asks, “Mind if we play a quick game?” Still gripping my gun tightly, I watch as Santiago pulls a stack of black cards from his pocket. “Whichever card I pull is the way we kill the fucker.”

Seriously?

I stare at Santiago, not sure if he’s insane or just playful by nature.

“Really?” Looking annoyed, Dominik mutters. “You want to do this now?”

Santiago shrugs, a grin tugging at his mouth. “I’m a believer in letting fate decide what happens.”

Oh. I actually like the sound of that.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Dominik agrees with a nod. “Get it over with.”

Santiago shuffles the cards and grins at Pavlov. “Do you feel lucky?”

Pavlov only glares at the men, not even sparing me a second of his attention.

Santiago pulls one of the cards from the stack then chuckles. “Oooh, good one.” I catch a glimpse of the black and gold tarot card and read the words ‘The Devil’ engraved at the bottom. “I get to decide. I choose…” Santiago pulls a knife from the holster on his hip, “for you to slit his throat. I feel it’s only right that he dies by his own signature move.”

“I’m going to take a walk through the factory to make sure we didn’t miss anyone,” Enzo mutters.

“I’ll have your back,” Leo tells him.

As they leave, Dominik grabs the knife from Santiago and shoves his gun back into the holster.

My fingers tighten around my weapon as I keep the barrel trained on Pavlov to show Dominik I have his back while praying I won’t have to kill anyone today.

Pavlov lifts his chin and looks Dominik dead in the eyes. “I’ll see you in hell, Varga.”

Dominik’s hand moves fast, and when he slits Pavlov’s throat open, my eyes widen and my body jerks from the gruesome sight.

Pavlov coughs and drops of his blood spray over Dominik’s neck and bulletproof vest.

Oh God.

My stomach rolls at the sight, and I can’t stop my hands from trembling.

Suck it up!

Pavlov sinks down to the floor and it has Dominik grinning. “That’s right, kneel.”

I take in everything about the gruesome situation, thinking I’ll have to become tough and brutal like these men to survive as the head of the Greek mafia.

I have to be merciless.

I lower my arm that’s holding the gun and lift my chin. Walking closer to the man who shot at my father, I will a ruthless expression to my face before I spit at the dying man.

Pavlov lets out a sickening gargle that has my stomach rolling with queasy waves, and I quickly spin around and hurry out of the office.

Seeing my father climbing to his feet, I walk toward him. Just as I’m about to let him have a piece of my mind about the reckless stunt he pulled earlier, Enzo shouts, “Run! Fucking hell! Everyone out!”

Without sparing a second to think, I only react and grab hold of Dad’s arm, hauling him toward the front entrance.

The next second, an explosion makes the ground shudder beneath our feet and a shock wave slams into us, pushing us through the open factory doors.

Holy shit!

My ears ring from the blast, and I feel disorientated as I glance around me. It takes a moment to realize the factory is engulfed in flames. To my left, Enzo and Leo are regaining consciousness, but there’s no sign of Dominik and Santiago.

Jesus.

Not thinking twice, I run through the torn-up entrance and dart to the left. My eyes instantly sting, and tears start to spill from them. The heat is intense, and the air is filled with smoke.

As I start to cough, my gaze falls on Santiago. I hurry closer, and grabbing hold of his bulletproof vest, I begin to yank him toward the entrance.

Once I have Santiago close enough to the entrance for him to get fresh air, I let go of him and make my way back to the office. The air is dark with smoke, and I pull my shirt up over my mouth and nose. It doesn’t help much. My sight is blurry from tears, but I manage to find Dominik, where he’s slumped against a wall that’s been partially blown away.

I can’t tell if he’s dead or alive, and not wasting time to check, I hook my hands beneath his arms and start to drag his heavy body across the floor.

God.

My lungs burn for air and I’m exhausted, but I can’t bring myself to abandon Dominik. If one of us dies today, the alliance will be the laughingstock of the world.

I need these men more than they need me.

Suddenly, pops fill the air as a crate of ammunition goes up in flames.

A panicked scream tears from me, and the terror filling every inch of my soul gives me the extra strength needed to haul Dominik faster toward the entrance.

With every pop, my body jerks and my fear doubles.

Just as I’m about to drag Dominik out of the factory, the building groans loudly. I glance up, and seeing that it’s starting to collapse, I try to move even faster.

Suddenly an arm comes around my waist, and I’m yanked off my feet while Enzo and Leo grab hold of Dominik. A second later, I’m slammed hard into the ground, and someone covers me as the entrance of the factory collapses near us with a deafening crash.

Gasping for air, I struggle to process everything that’s happened.

The weight lifts off me, and I’m pushed onto my back. It’s only then I see the man who protected me is one of Santiago’s.

I think his name is Knight.

I stare into his dark green eyes and see nothing but anger before he gets up while hauling me onto my feet.

“Thanks,” I whisper. Glancing around at all the destruction, I can’t believe I made it out of the fight alive.

“Let’s get Santiago and Dominik onto the back of the truck,” Leo orders, drawing my attention away from Knight.

“Dominik is hurt,” Enzo mentions as he inspects Dominik’s side.

“But he’s alive?” I ask as I walk closer to Santiago’s truck that’s rigged for war.

“Yes,” Enzo replies.

When Leo, Enzo, and the remaining soldiers load Dominik and Santiago onto the back of the vehicle, I open the door to the driver’s side and climb into the cab.

I’ve never driven a truck before, but come hell or high water, I’ll manage. We need to get away from the destroyed factory.

Honestly, I’m surprised the first responders aren’t on the scene yet.

When everyone is ready, I start the engine. The truck rumbles and shakes as I steer it down the road.

As I drive away from the chaos, I glance in the rearview mirror and see my father sitting with a shell-shocked look on his face.

That day was the scariest of my life, but somehow, I survived and managed to earn the respect of the other alliance members.

Now, I just have to keep up the act so I don’t jeopardize my position as the soon-to-be head of the Greek mafia.