Alive and Kicking (Runaway Mafia Princess #2)

1. Viviana

Viviana

I stand there staring at my father as he takes his weapons from his person, setting them on the table by the door in the hall.

He doesn’t say anything, but I know he can feel my eyes on him and the unanswered questions hanging in the air.

Most of all, I just want to know why. Why Luca?

I probably would have just shrugged and gone along with it if he had named any other man.

Why would he pick such a horrible man to force me into marriage with?

His recently deceased underboss had committed many assaults, there wasn’t any proof but the rumors made him infamous so there’s no way my dad didn’t know.

“Who was at the door?” Nox calls from the kitchen.

I bite my lip, not knowing how to answer that. My dad looks over at me with a quirked brow but doesn’t say anything about Nox shouting from the other room.

I watch as he toes his dress shoes off before approaching me. But I look away as he gets closer, not wanting to look into his eyes anymore. When Enzo told me that he had up and decided to go on a trip, this had never even crossed my mind as a possibility. “Hey, Bambolotta? 1 . I’ve missed you.”

There are so many things I should be doing right now.

I should yell for the guys, scream at him for everything that has happened and the emotional whiplash I went through when I ran from my home in the middle of the night.

I should demand answers from him. Maybe yell at him for continuing to call me a little doll, even though he knows I hate that nickname.

What I end up doing is running right into his arms. He chuckles warmly like nothing has changed.

“I’m so mad at you right now,” I finally manage, holding him tightly.

My father is taller than my five-foot-three-and-a-half inches at just over five-foot-eight so my head lays comfortably against his shoulder, just like it has since I stopped growing in seventh grade.

Hugging this asshole shouldn’t feel as comforting as it does.

Then again, hugging my father has always made me feel safe, even when I became aware of what his business dealings entailed.

A noise alerts me that we’re no longer alone, metal grinding against metal.

The cocking of a gun is such a distinctive sound that it would be impossible to mistake.

The hair at the nape of my neck rises and I spin around with my arms open as I stand between my father and Cain, who has a gun pointed in our direction.

My jaw clenches and I shake my head at him.

But Cain doesn’t lower his weapon, he raises his brow, gesturing for me to move with a jerk of his chin. “Move, princess.”

My eyes narrow and I don’t move a muscle. “He’s my dad.”

Cain looks at me like I’m stupid, his arm steady as he continues to aim his gun at my father. “You think I don’t recognize Donatello Rossi?”

“You’re not shooting my dad!” I snap.

Strong, familiar hands land on my shoulders. “Don’t worry, Bambolotta? 2 . He’s not going to shoot me.”

Cain scoffs, “You think so?”

I can imagine the patronizing look my father gives him in response to that, even if I can’t see it. “She would never forgive you, so you’re not going to shoot. Put the gun down, piccolo poliziotto? 3 .”

I groan at the instant reaction Cain has to that nickname. “Seriously Dad? You're supposed to be making him not want to shoot you. If you push him, I won’t feel bad for you if you lose a kneecap.”

A laugh leaves him at that. “You spend too much time with Enzo.”

I just shrug my shoulders, because that’s his fault for putting Enzo in charge of my security.

Shaking his hands off my shoulders, I approach Cain.

Now that I know he’s not going to shoot my dad at this current moment, I can reason with him.

“Put the gun away. You’re not allowed to use it in the house anyway. ”

Cain rolls his eyes, letting the gun fall to his side. “What are you even talking about?”

“Nox said no shooting in the house. You can stab him if you have to, just make sure it’s not anywhere fatal.”

A choked sound leaves my dad. I glare at him over my shoulder, and his head falls as he drops his eyes to the ground.

At least he recognizes that he deserves to be stabbed.

Cain carefully maneuvers his way between me and my father.

“If you try to make her leave with you, I will shoot you. I don’t care if she hates me forever.

Her safety is more important than her feelings. ”

My glare turns on Cain at that. “You do realize I will stab you again, right?”

“What’s going on?” Nox asks carefully from the doorway into the kitchen, a dish towel hanging from one hand.

He looks between Cain, with the gun still in his hand, and my father. “This is my Dad,” I tell him softly.

Nox just blinks for a moment before nodding slowly. “I thought that might be the case. Why don’t we all sit down in the kitchen to talk? I’ll text the others to come down.”

I nod, following him into the kitchen. Cain follows behind me, staying between my dad and I as I walk in and pull myself up onto the edge of the island.

We sit there silently for what feels like a long time before the thunderous sound of Sloane’s feet on the rickety stairs reaches us.

He and Zane round the corner together, but they have completely different expressions on their faces.

Sloane looks like he’s ready for war to break out, while Zane has a big smile.

Zane is the first one to make it to us, and I just know he’s about to say something psychologically divergent when he opens his mouth with his hand stretched out to my father. “I’m Viv’s fiancé, Zane. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

My dad’s brows raise to his hairline. “Fiancé.” He says the word slowly, like it will change definition just from him stretching it out.

“Seriously Z? You can’t just decide shit like that on your own,” Sloane snaps at him.

When my dad’s eyes turn to me, I just shrug. I’m still too pissed about the whole Luca thing to be guilted into giving him any reassurances. He promised my hand to a rapist, so he doesn’t get to be hurt that I could have gone off and gotten engaged.

Zane rolls his eyes at Sloane like he’s the one not making sense. “Look, I don’t care if you like her too. I’m going to marry her. I asked first and she said we could elope in Vegas.”

“Elope?” my dad chokes out, making me smirk.

Of course that’s the part he would really struggle with.

Italians generally have big families, and a lot of that has to do with most of them being raised catholic.

He has so many brothers and sisters, I’m sure the idea of me eloping without them all and not telling him beforehand is giving him hives.

Gasp! What will the family think?

I don’t bother putting him out of his misery, because I would totally marry Zane in an Elvis chapel. “You don’t get to be upset when you were trying to marry me off to that il mostro? 4 .”

Dad smiles at me like it’s all sunshine and rainbows. “Luca is a non-issue now,” he says, adding a shrug like it was no big deal.

“A non-issue! Do you expect me to just let it go that easily? He was a disgusting excuse for a man, and you thought he was worthy of me? I’m honestly still furious with you.”

“Well, it’s not like I would have actually let you marry him.” He shrugs again.

My mouth falls open and I just stare at him. But thankfully, Nox doesn’t freeze at that wrench my dad just threw into the conversation. “What do you mean? Luca was under the impression that Viv would be marrying him. And she heard you two talking about it.”

Dad huffs and gives me a look like I’m a dense pre-teen taking too long to figure out how to properly break someone’s kneecaps. “If I wanted to keep something a secret from you, then it would have been a secret.”

My teeth grit before I turn a thunderous glare on him. “Are you saying that it was all some kind of fucked up test?” I demand.

“Calm down Bambolotta? 5 .” Nox and Cain both wince at that, taking a step back.

“I’m horrible in social situations, and I even know not to tell a girl to calm down when she’s upset,” Zane adds in, unhelpfully.

“Calm down? You want me to calm down? I ran away from home and everything I know because you wanted to test me?! Are you fucking kidding me?!” I snap, hopping down from my perch on the counter to stalk toward my dad.

I’m beyond the point of caring how much I love him and so close to stabbing him myself.

But a hand grips my wrist as I go to pull a knife from my waistband.

Glaring over, I find Cain holding my wrist in a tight grip.

“Look princess, I want nothing more than to let you put more holes in him than swiss cheese, but if you hurt your dad you’ll feel guilty afterward. ”

My chest deflates at that, and I want to curse the world because I know he’s right.

I would hate that I’d hurt him. But it doesn’t change the fact that he deserves it.

I settle for just glaring in his direction and cutting him with my words if Cain won’t let me use a blade.

“Six of your men are dead because of you. Six men who trusted you with their lives died for your stupid test,” I tell him, rage dripping from my voice.

At that, my dad looks away. “It was for the best. If they were willing to aid in your capture and forced marriage, then they deserved it. Enzo and his men were the only ones that said no. They refused to go after you even if it meant their death. I was ashamed that Ethan and his guys were so willing to assist in your capture. They were willing to kidnap you by any means necessary after they helped raise you. You need strong allies when you take over, so I just helped you cull the herd.”

My brain stops working for a moment. “Wait, what? What do you mean when I take over?”

He grins at me. “I’m getting too old for this shit. I needed to make sure you could stand up for yourself and what you believe in. I couldn’t hand over the reins to you if you were just going to buckle under the pressure.”

Hand over the reins.

He wants me to be the next family head? He’s insane. There has never been a female Don in the existence of our family. While I know that others have done it, our family has always been more of a patriarchy. I never even considered that my dad would pick me as the next head.

I’m so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I don’t even realize he’s talking again until something catches my ear.

“…So you’ve got ‘till you graduate to marry and take over the family.”

I splutter, “Hold up,” as I hold my hand out. “You want me to marry? I’m eighteen for fuck’s sake. You expect me to marry someone in the next three years?”

Dad chuckles and gestures around at the four men in the kitchen. “Well it seems you’ve got some options. I expect you to attend the summer Sit Down where I’ll announce that you are my successor.”

Of course he wants to announce it as soon as possible. The target that will be on my back is probably not even a concern for him at all. No, that’s not true. He’s too smart to not realize I would become a target. This is another test. He wants to see how I’ll handle the stress.

“I’ll be there,” I growl out, unhappy with being backed into a corner.

He grins. “Well since I’m here anyway, why don't I take you all out to dinner? It’ll be nice to get to know the men living with my daughter,” he says, his voice going deep and dangerous at the end.

“Save the overprotective dad act for someone who believes it. You literally sent a serial killer and a maniac after your daughter. One who tried to pluck the teeth out of her head, and the other who attempted to rape her. You’re not winning any ‘Father of the Year’ awards,” Sloane snaps, surprising me.

Sloane is usually pretty laid-back, so it feels nice to have him stand up for me this way.

Dad eyes him contemplatively before a slow smile spreads across his face.

“Let’s get something to eat. We can talk about the logistics of everything going forward while we have a meal,” he says while straightening his jacket like it has somehow gotten wrinkled while he’s been standing in the kitchen.

Sloane’s palm lands on the small of my back. “I’m going to go change into some jeans.”

I look over his body, having not really paid much attention before now, and see that he’s just wearing shorts and a tight exercise shirt. While he does look hot, I have to admit it might not be the best outfit for a sit-down dinner with your maybe girlfriend and her father.

How the hell am I going to explain my relationships to him?