Chapter 26
Anastasia
Anger.
The rage tearing through me was as all-consuming as the grief. I was wrung out, furious with the world, and hating everyone and everything.
I couldn’t stand being touched, spoken to, or even looked at. I didn’t want pity. I didn’t need support.
And I sure as shit didn’t need any advice.
From a single human being.
All those ideas as well as hatred had rushed through my mind.
Until Jaxon had pulled me into his arms.
I’d clung to him as a child would do after awakening from a horrible nightmare. I’d cried in his arms, reeling from having a gun pointed at my head.
For the second time when I’d fallen into despair, a panic attack forcing me into the corner of a room, he’d gathered me into his arms and refused to let me go.
For the second time, one man had come to my rescue, killing the person responsible for terrorizing me.
How many people had that story to tell their children in the future?
Your daddy is a true hero, saving Mommy from monstrous assassins.
Why? Well, you see… Both Mommy and Daddy come from very dangerous mafia families.
But don’t worry. When you turn ten years old, you’ll be taught how to shoot a weapon, escape a prison cell and how best to kill our enemies with a sharp knife.
“What’s so funny?”
Hearing Jaxon’s voice dared drag me out of the very twisted fantasy fueling the evilest parts of my mind.
When he grasped my fingers in his, pulling them to his lips, I shifted in my seat, more uncomfortable than I’d been in a long time.
But not because we’d arrived in Italy only a couple of hours before to attend my father’s funeral.
And not because of where we were headed and the strength I’d need to fake.
But because of the excitement and longing that came as a package deal with Jaxon. The Prince of Darkness. I was getting used to the family’s nickname. Very appropriate. I’d seen that in action more than once.
“Just thinking about what we’d tell our children about how and why we met.” And the kind of people we are.”
His chuckle sent another wave of electricity through me. As always. “How many children are we planning on having?”
Inhaling, I nuzzled even closer, thankful for being protected. Cherished. His lost angel. His little ballerina. I adored all the cutesy names he whispered in both moments of passion as well as danger.
Even now in sadness.
“Four. Maybe five, depending.”
“I like odd numbers. Five will do. Five little rugrats running around the house. Zorro would like that.”
Zorro. Also my protector. He’d saved my life by jumping in through the car window. “By the way,” I said, turning to him. “Don’t ever put our dog in harm’s way again. He’s not a superhero.”
“I beg to differ. You’re forgetting he’s a drug-sniffing dog. And he’s fabulous at picking out the bad guys.”
“No longer.” I pressed the tip of my finger against his chest. “He’s officially retired. He’ll do nothing but follow me around our house. Sometimes he’ll come to rehearsal with me, but just for fun. You got it?”
“Hold on here. You follow my rules. Remember?” When he tweaked my nose, I bristled, but not out of anger. Because of the gleam in his eyes, the seriousness of his tone. As if he was truly the one in charge.
“In quanto padrona di casa, mi ascolterai.”
As the woman of the house, you will listen to me.
His eyes twinkled more than before. “Not a chance. However…” As the driver of the SUV we were in made a turn, I noticed the other vehicles trailing behind as well as the one up front. It would seem even in Sicily that the Prince family had a reputation.
We’d arrived in a large private jet, one of two planes the family owned. Along with half the Prince family, several guards had come with us on the trip. We’d breezed through customs even though the group had arrived heavily armed. No one seemed to care.
“However what?” I pushed.
“Since you have us with a retired guard dog in our house alongside five children, don’t you think we need to discuss our wedding?”
His question caught me off guard as so many of them had with the man. I’d known him less than two weeks and my entire life had been turned upside down.
Again.
Two weeks of banter, anger, passion, danger, hatred, fights, abduction, gunfire.
And utter possession.
I could only imagine what an entire life would be filled with if I spent it with this man. Heat shifted across my cheeks, enough so I was floored into silence. “I’m a ballerina.”
He laughed, his eyebrows knitting together. “Yes, you are. A very talented ballerina. If you’re asking if I will force you to abandon your career, of course not. We don’t live in another century. I’m a modern man and all.”
I nodded, searching his eyes. Was he serious? A group of massive Italian homes came into view. They reminded me of my family’s estate, which wasn’t far from here.
Had the cat been let out of the bag? Did the members of the Five Families know about our arrival or had it been kept a secret as hoped?
I’d talked with Sophia again after the horrible news had settled in. She’d told me how my brother along with Luciano, the man I’d once had a crush on, had lured my papa to one of the family’s warehouses, Marco shooting him before setting the building on fire.
I was still completely ravaged by the knowledge Marco could do something so horrible. In turn, learning my mother was sleeping with Luciano was…
What did the Americans call it? The icing on the cake.
“I’d need to make changes to the house. I mean it looks like a guy lives there,” I offered.
“Fine. You can hire a decorator. I don’t care.”
“I’d want a pool.”
“Fine with me.” Jaxon’s face was filled with amusement. “Now that we have that settled. Are you going to agree to marrying me?”
“Like a contract. Right? An arrangement. Two of the most powerful families forming the perfect alliance.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Like two lovers who can’t keep their hands off each other.” As if to prove a point, he dragged me onto his lap and against his rock-hard, throbbing cock.
Dear God. My mouth watered.
“You are insatiable and I might not be an expert in the love department, but when two people are supposedly so madly in love, the man usually proposes by getting down on one knee and begging for her hand in marriage.”
“That’s so old-fashioned.”
“I come from one of the most old-fashioned families in the world. So do you.”
The driver of the SUV ahead of us pulled in through a set of ornate iron gates, heading toward a building that reminded me of an old Italian church.
My father had taken me to this place once before as a child.
The meeting ground of the most powerful men in all of Italy.
Owned by a consortium. No one was allowed access but the members of the prestigious families who’d run the underground of the mafia world for generations.
The very world I’d tried so desperately to break free of, but fate had other things in mind.
Because I’d fallen madly in love with a man with as much brutal power as my father.
How was that even possible?
Because once a mafia princess, always a mafia princess.
My thoughts briefly shifted to Irina. In the two days following learning of my father’s murder, I’d had almost no time to talk with her.
The woman I thought was my mother had experienced difficulty when giving birth to Marco, which had prevented her from having another child.
As with every Italian family in Italy, the larger the better, which was why a surrogate was hired, a young woman desperate to leave Russia.
I’d seen the love for my father in her eyes, a relationship that could never have been allowed.
Maybe that’s why she’d gotten very close to Jaxon’s father over the years.
At least I knew why the woman I’d believed to be my real mother hated me.
She’d always known the egg fertilized hadn’t belonged to her.
I would never know if my father knew Irina was my birth mother.
Did it really matter any longer?
Everything in my life had changed. Everything. But there was no looking back. I had a future to consider and one I would control.
Well, with the assistance of the sexy man determined to be in my life.
“Hmmm… My lost angel has demands,” he whispered in my ear before nipping my earlobe.
“You should keep that in mind. I might be required to obey your rules, but I will be in charge.”
He laughed wholeheartedly as the driver pulled to a stop. At that moment, the frivolity ended and the business at hand resumed.
After brushing his lips across mine, he pulled away. “You need to follow my directions, my sweet Anna. This is highly dangerous and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I know. But it needs to be done.”
“Are you certain you want to face your brother? No one will fault you for being unable.”
“I am my father’s daughter. Marco killed my papa. He must pay for his sins.”
A slow and steady smile crossed his face. “I guess my angel isn’t so lost any longer.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for a very long time.”
The driver opened the door and Jaxon stepped out first. His hand was presented, easing me from the backseat. My lover and evidently soon to be my husband had purchased me a red suit to wear.
The color of blood.
The color of legacy and karma.
“You were right, boss,” Donatello said as he approached, nodding to me out of respect.
“Marco’s men?” Jaxon asked, his grin widening.
“Yeah, a baker’s dozen. I think the man was hedging his bet about becoming Capo dei Capi.”
“That sounds like Marco,” I told them.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Scavullo,” Jaxon’s Capo told me. “They won’t inconvenience you.”
Jaxon half laughed as he clapped his man on the shoulder. “Keep watch. We don’t want any interruptions.” He nodded to Alexander and Sinclair, who both held amused expressions while I was shaking like a leaf.
But I refused to show it.
Now I walked with the grace of a ballerina toward the old church, gathering every ounce of courage I had.