Chapter 21 Massimo
Massimo
My jaw locks tightly. In the world of crime and power, only one thing matters.
Showing the world that you have the power.
Then no one fucks with you or if they do, they learn their lesson just like they’re learning now.
No one fucks with a Roselli brother and their loved ones and gets away with their life.
Not as long as I’m in charge of our battles.
No matter that my father is still at the helm organizationally in name or that I’ll now deal with more of his wrath.
Sophia meets my gaze. “I’m so sorry, Massimo. I thought Anna was sick. I got a note. I didn’t realize until it was too late. Stupid! How did you find me?”
I draw her to me, cradling her side to mine and guiding her away from the fucking warehouse that could have moments later been her place of torture and early grave if I hadn’t called in a favor I never wanted to.
The minute Carlos Larussio answered his phone and agreed to help without pausing for a minute, our paths were sealed.
No longer do the Larussios owe us, now we owe the retired don of the entire East Coast, and the man whose family took over the Vegas territory not too long ago, more than I’ll ever be able to repay.
When he calls, I’m going to do whatever he or the Larussios ask me to do.
A favor for a favor, that’s how it is in the world we live in.
But we needed those fucking helicopters to find her fast, and to sweep that warehouse and send those fuckers into a panic.
There was no time to do anything else and he and his family and their bodyguards fucking came through.
For that, when they call, I’ll gladly repay a favor no matter what I have to do.
My kitten has far too much to worry about today though, and this is not something I want her worried about at all.
“Elsie, and some high-powered friends with a helicopter and badass bodyguards. Your sister is not sick. It was a lure to get you out of the estate, and it worked because you care about her, you love her. The bastards know it.”
She gazes up at me with wonder. “You are my knight in shining armor. Every time I turn around, whether I think I need one or not. I owe you my life tonight. I was lured into their trap. It won’t happen again.
But I was about two minutes from putting a round in the back of the neanderthal’s head.
” She pulls one of my guns from the waist of her pants and holds it up.
“He didn’t search me. You didn’t give him enough time. Thank you for coming so fast.”
I growl possessively at the thought of his or any man’s hands on Sophia. “He’s fucking lucky that he didn’t or I’d bring the asshole back to life and kill him again, this time nice and slow!”
I’m going to make old man Amorte pay for every single worry she’s had tonight, or every single mark that fucker left on her arm because even in the dim light of the car I can tell she’s going to be more than bruised with someone else’s mark tomorrow, and for that, Amorte will pay dearly, whether he knows it yet or not.
He should head underground right now, before I get to him.
The man is no longer a rival to deal with and put in his place, he’s far past that fucking point.
I want him dead, buried in the ground, or out to sea, but only the thought of his daughter’s tears causes me room for caution.
We may not have wanted intimacy, but caught in the same nightmare with our parents, we developed a friendship whether she was a pain in my ass or not.
Desiree, whether she feels stifled in the home or not, loves her father.
After so many dead, he’s one of the only Amortes left standing in this power game we play.
And for Desiree, out of respect for our friendship and memories of our childhood, I will consider the options and not kill him with my bare hands tonight.
But that is the only fucking reason I’m keeping him alive.
Jimmy pulls the car around the shore road, and it climbs to the estate.
The minute we reach the front door, I lift Sophia from the car, cradle her against me, and walk with her bridal fashion through the door of my home, carefully taking her upstairs.
I only place her on her feet once we’re in the bathroom.
The light is on and my jaw tightens taking in every little reddened area of skin, the shadow of her grief, and the smudges of makeup left by her tears.
I put every single one of them to memory, especially the ugly red fingerprint marks left by the asshole I shot.
The one our cleaner is already dealing with, and preparing to burn his body and send him out to sea in a floating pile of ashes.
I start the water, test the temperature before removing Sophia’s clothes, and put some of the fragrance she likes into the tub.
When it’s bubbly and warm, I help her step into the bath, and her eyes don’t leave mine the entire time.
She slides to the back, making room for me, inviting.
But I resist, staying dressed instead, leaning over the tub to wash every inch of her skin with a soft cloth.
There are no words right now, not while my dark thoughts swirl around us like a shroud.
I want to kill every fucking one of the men who took her from me, and there’s a part of me that thinks my feelings will scare her away.
No matter she was going to defend herself, what I want it’s different.
Revenge, plain and simple. The darkness, not like her light.
I thirst for it in the ugliest of ways. No one lays hands on Sophia, and in time, they will all learn that in a very hard way.
What would they have done to her if we hadn’t gotten to her?
She steps onto the mat, her gorgeous curves glistening with drops that I dry one after another before kissing her lips lightly.
I turn her towards the mirror and brush out her hair before drying it with the blow dryer, watching it glisten into a perfect shine.
“Come.” I take her hand and lead her to bed.
She climbs in, pushing the covers back to make room for me. “Rest while I shower, kitten.”
The heat of the water pounds against my skin, pelting it with the strength of the strongest spray setting I have, anything to wash this day away.
When I dry off and wrap a towel around my waist, I find my kitten lying right where I left her, fast asleep.
I crawl in next to her and wrap her in my arms. This perfect little kitten has managed to become such a part of me that I could barely breathe when I thought she was missing.
And if I ever thought I could give her up after a year, I know now that it’s not even in the cards. She’s become a part of my fucking soul.
No matter that the family in Italy have been told something different, or that my father demands it.
I’m not giving her up. She’s mine, and I dare anyone to say otherwise or touch what doesn’t belong to them or put hands on my kitten again because I will squeeze the life out of them with my bare hands.
Sophia wakes in the night, gently rolling in her sleep, wrapping her hand around my waist while sliding her thigh on top of mine, slinking a sexy ankle around my calf as though entwining me in her web.
I smile at my kitten, purring her content as she wraps herself around me, feeling safe in my arms. I watch as she stretches and nuzzles her face into my chest and her hand slides across my belly and down to the erection that’s always hard as fuck for Sophia. “Did you find what you want, kitten?”
She purrs softly, in the way between half awake and still half asleep but horny for my dick. My hand slides beneath her hair, silky and smooth between my fingers, as her fingers surround my cock, stroking it in the sexiest of ways. “It’s been misery keeping my hands off you tonight,” I growl.
Her eyes open and she looks at me with serious concern.
“I didn’t know if you would find me. I knew you would try, and obviously hoped that you would.
But there was a moment . . .” She pauses and her eyes get moist. “when that warehouse door closed that I thought I was on my own. I was prepared to fight, but I also knew that I may not come out alive. All I could think about was not seeing you again, not touching you, not feeling you. This thing we have it’s good, if only for a short while. ”