CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
KAGE
I get out of my bedroom, and Pedro is standing there waiting for me, which only pisses me off more.
“Where’s the fucking fire?”
He points down the hall.
“She’s dead, sir.”
“What? Who’s dead?”
He raises his eyebrows and says, “The mother, Boss.”
I quickly walk down the hallway, with Pedro moving beside me.
“How?”
Maybe she had a heart attack. She wasn’t being mistreated, and none of my men would’ve hurt her unless instructed to do so, and I sure as fuck didn’t order it.
“She was shot. I don’t know what happened, but a bullet came through the bathroom on the other side.”
Jesus fucking Christ. When I threw the goddamn piece of shit gun, it fired.
“Are you sure she’s dead?” I ask before entering the room.
“One clean shot right to the head. She’s gone.”
I stare down at her mother’s dead body, and run a hand through my hair. This is something Raina will never get over. If she didn’t already hate me, she will now. Forcing her to kill her father, no big deal, because she knew what a piece of shit he was. But her mother? It will take a goddamn miracle for her to get past this.
“Refrigerate the body.”
The least I can do is let her decide what she wants done with her mother’s corpse.
Jesus fucking Christ. How did my life get so out of control? I’m the guy that does what he wants when he wants, and answers to no one. The same man that doesn’t give a shit about anybody’s feelings. Yet here I am.
Fuck. I’m going to have to tell her I killed her mother, but not yet. She just saw her, so I’m hoping she doesn’t ask to see her again for at least a few days. I’m not ready for the shitstorm this is sure to bring, especially because I haven’t figured out how to handle my brothers quite yet. My life has gone from very controlled to complete chaos in an instant.
Funny thing is, I’m far more worried about her stabbing me than Psycho, but also kind of hope for it. I deserve it, even though killing her mother wasn’t intentional. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out, glancing at the message I received.
Bones: Checking in to make sure you aren’t getting attached.
Me: Not attached.
Bones: Is she dead yet?
Me: No.
Bones: Get it done, Kage. For Reaper, if not for the rest of our family.
Me: Yes, Master.
It’s almost guaranteed, within the next forty-eight hours, I’ll be summoned to his office for a conversation about this. I will have no choice but to give him an honest response, as to why she’s alive, and whether or not I plan to kill her. I don’t. I tried. Her mother’s dead. Surely that has to count for something. I’ll gladly kill every Abruzzo left walking the earth but her. Not her.
Another chime on my phone has me rolling my eyes.
Bones: I want you at my house tomorrow night. If she’s still alive by then, bring her with you.
Me: I said I’d handle it.
Bones: Not a request, brother.
Me: Alright. I’ll see you and Athena tomorrow.
Bones: Just me. She won’t be here.
Fuck. There’s only one reason she wouldn’t be there. He’s going to kill her, if I don’t before then. Not showing up is not an option, because he’ll just show up at my house. There is no avoiding this unless I run with her, and I’m not fucking running.
I take a deep breath, and head back to the woman I’m risking everything for. I’m not in love with her, so I have no idea if this is going to be worth it, but for some reason, I just can’t take her life. It almost killed me when I had the gun to her head. I’m not a religious man, but if I were, I’d say a higher power stopped her from dying on that bed.
I walk back to my bedroom and find her curled up, in a deep sleep. She’s breathtaking. Her bright red hair surrounds her, her lashes flutter slightly as she sleeps, and her lips are slightly parted as she breathes. The robe she’s wearing has shifted in her sleep, and shows off her pale thighs. Fucking gorgeous.
Moving to the bed, I sit down gently as I continue to watch her. I could stare at her for days and never get bored. My reign as a decent human being ended with sparing her life, which, if I’m honest, may have been a selfish choice.
Standing up, I move her to her back, careful to not wake her. Undoing the tie on her robe, I open it and instantly harden. Fuck.
I stare at her and don’t know where I want to taste first. Every inch is fucking perfection. My eyes stay on her as I remove my pants. After spreading her legs, I stare at her beautiful pussy. Bare and waiting for me. Climbing onto the bed, I slide inside her slowly, still trying not to wake her. She moans lightly, but doesn’t wake up as I rock back and forth. Raina is instantly wet for me and feels like heaven.
Positioning myself over her, I place a hand on the mattress on either side of her head, and watch her pretty little mouth open slightly as she moans.
“No, Leo. Please, no,” she whimpers.
Her eyes pop open as tears slide down her cheeks. She appears frozen, and I know from her words that she thinks I’m her disgusting uncle, so I stop, unsure of what to do.
Placing my hand on the side of her face, she finally blinks like she’s transported back to the here and now.
“Firecracker,” I say, my voice coming out as pained as my chest feels, as it threatens to squeeze the life out of me.
She lifts her hand up, I think to push me off of her, or at least try, but instead she places it on the back of my head, and pulls me closer for a kiss.
Her lips are soft, inviting, and perfect, but no more than her whimper that escapes into my mouth, as I slide my tongue against hers. Raina lifts her hips, as she grabs onto my hair with her small fingers, and pulls at the strands.
Pulling my hips back, I push forward, hitting her clit with my pelvis, and she moves her fingers to the base of my neck, digging her nails into my flesh, as she opens her mouth to cry out.
“Lorenzo,” she nearly screams.
I don’t know what I’m going to do about my brothers, but I’m not going to let them kill her. There’s no chance of it. This beautiful woman is mine. We all have choices to make, and this is mine. If Bones makes the decision to push me out of the family, that’s his. I’ll respect it, as much as it might destroy me. Whatever this is with Raina may not be what Bones has with Athena, but it’s something, and I’m not letting this go.
Her back arches off the bed as she continues to cry out my name. It sounds like a chant, a prayer, and my name has never sounded so beautiful as it does falling from her lips.