Chapter Two Leo
Asteady, sultry base thrummed through me as I walked out of the employee entrance and onto the main floor of the club. Multicolor strobe lights lit my way through the teeming crowd. Sweat-slickened couples gyrated on each other while others drained copious amounts of alcohol.
Others slunk away to the gilded elevators to take a trip down for less vanilla-shaded debauchery. One floor below in Sin you could get you a lap dance from high-end female or male strippers.
But my personal favorite was the last level, which required a hefty membership and private code to enter.
That was where you found Lust–an uninhibited sex club.
You chose between one side that took you to Heaven and the other that led you to Hell.
And of course, a self-respecting fuck-boy like myself spent ample time in Hell.
I was so fucking stoked to see the club so packed.
Inferno was my older brother’s baby. Raphael had spent the last eighteen months bleeding himself dry emotionally, physically, and financially to see it come to fruition.
It was the first thing he owned that didn’t have our father’s dirty fingers in it, and that made me so fucking proud of him.
In New York City, being the son of Alessio Neretti made me a god among men. But it also put a bullseye on my back, and not just from enemy families. Let’s just say Father’s Day wasn’t a favorite holiday for my family. What can I say? Being raised by a psychopathic jackass will do that to you.
It also meant that my brothers and I were always looking out for ourselves. It was cheesy as hell, but we were seriously the Three Musketeers–all for one and one for all. That mantra was one of the reasons Rafe had offered me and our younger brother, Gianni, a stake in Inferno, but I’d refused.
I had my heart set on opening a casino one day.
The fact that New York didn’t currently allow casinos made it complicated.
It wasn’t like I could just go to the nearest legalized state and open one.
As an heir to the Neretti capo, I had to stay within my own territory.
Unless I could form a business alliance with one of our allies.
At the feel of a hand on my shoulder, I went for the pistol in my jacket before whirling around. A stacked blonde with her tits falling out of her dress squeaked in alarm. “I–I’m s-so sorry, Mr. Neretti.”
I cocked my brows at her. “You know who I am, and you still snuck up on me?”
At my teasing, the fear in her eyes was replaced with desire. With a sultry smile, she said, “I couldn’t help myself. I had to touch you.”
After a quick glance at my watch, I realized I’d been inside the club less than ten minutes and already had a piece of ass for the evening. My timing had to be a personal best.
With a wink, I purred, “A woman as fucking hot as you are should never be desperate.”
Her pupils dilated as I went in for the kill. Or the kiss, I should say. After drawing her against me, she molded her body against mine. I’d just gotten an appreciative moan out of her when once again someone grabbed my shoulder.
“It’s not your night, Loverboy,” Rafe said with amusement.
With a frustrated grunt, I extricated myself from the luscious blonde. At her mewl of disappointment, I said, “Excuse me for just a moment while I talk to my brother.”
Her eyes lit up at the sight of Rafe. “I don’t mind if we all talked together somewhere private.”
While I was never one to say no to a threesome, I drew a line at sharing with my brothers. That included in the same bedroom and out.
Considering the disgust on Rafe’s face, I knew he sure as hell wasn’t down for the idea either. I held my finger up to her. “Just a second.”
After pulling Rafe away from her earshot, I said, “Way to be a cockblocker.”
“You were only at first base,” he countered with a grin.
Wagging my brows, I replied, “Oh, I planned to take her to the VIP section to slide into home.”
He shook his head. “You’re on for tonight.”
Even though I knew he was right, I countered, “Why is it my responsibility when I don’t even have a stake in this place?”
Rafe smacked my cheek playfully. “Because I pay you, remember? And that hefty paycheck I give you to make sure things run smoothly in my absence ensures you get your casino one day.”
“Come on, Rafe. I’m hard as a rock. You know I do a better job if I get to blow my load first.”
“The only Neretti blowing his load in a pussy tonight is me.”
“Bastardo.”
“Sorry. You’ll just have to ask your blonde for a raincheck.” With a wink, he replied, “Considering she was willing to bang us both, I’m sure she’ll still be up for it.”
With a roll of my eyes, I countered, “I don’t raincheck pussy, thank you very much.”
“Your loss.”
“And what are you going to do with your free time?”
“Oh, I plan on running all the bases with a hot piece of ass.”
“Vaffanculo,” I muttered.
“Oh, I won’t be fucking myself. But you might be in the bathroom.”
And with those parting words, Rafe left me standing at half mast. As I started making my way back to Nympho Barbie, her face fell at the expression on my face.
Although it fucking pained me, I forced a cocky smirk to my face, “Any chance you’d be willing to take a rain check?”
***
After quickly rubbing one out in the employee bathroom, I spent the next several hours showing my face throughout the club. It was common business knowledge that things ran better when the owner, or the owner’s family, was on the property.
And that included dance/strip/sex clubs.
At two am, I left out the back of Inferno and hopped into one of the blacked-out SUVs waiting in the alley. Guilio, my bodyguard, was behind the wheel. “Easy night, sir?”
“I had to rub one out in the bathroom,” I huffed miserably.
He winced. “That bad, huh?”
“Yep. That bad,” I chuckled.
I checked in on phone messages as we made our way to my building. Actually, it wasn’t just mine. Rafe owned the penthouse, and I was one floor below him, just like our birth order. Needing space, Gianni lived in the building across the street.
After we arrived, I exited the SUV. Nodding at the doorman, I then punched in the code to get inside. When I got to my apartment, I was too fucking tired to shower. Instead, I stripped off my clothes and face planted into the bed.
“Fuck,” I muttered into the mattress.
I seriously needed to cut back. This burning the candle at both ends, working for my father during the day and some nights for Rafe was killing me. But as soon as I'd fallen asleep, I woke up to the presence of someone in my room.
Before they could make their presence known, my hand slid under the pillow to grab my gun. My fingers curled around the cold steel when the light flicked on the nightstand. I whipped the gun out and pointed it at the figure beside the bed.
To my relief, it was only Guilio. After exhaling a ragged breath, I demanded, “Dude, what the fuck are you doing?”
“My apologies, sir. But your Father requests your presence at Rafe’s.” Before I could protest, he added, “Immediately.”
I flicked a glance at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s three am.”
“Yes, sir.”
With a groan, I ran my free hand over my face. “This can’t be good.”
“No sir. I’m sure it’s not.”
Cocking my brows at him, I asked, “Did he say anything about what happened?”
Guilo shook his head. “He only requested your immediate presence.”
With a grunt, I muttered, “Of course, he did.”
After pulling myself out of bed, I didn’t bother getting dressed. Instead, I made my way to the private elevator to Rafe’s penthouse in my black briefs. When the elevator doors slid open, Father and Rafe stood in the penthouse’s foyer. The thick tension in the air furthered my unease.
After glancing between the two of them, I demanded, “What the fuck is going on?”
“Raphael will fill you in,” Father replied before bypassing me into the elevator.
I dragged a hand through my hair as I stepped out of the elevator to join Rafe. When the doors closed on Father, I rolled my eyes. “Don’t hold me in suspense. What was so important that it had Guilio dragging my ass out of bed?”
“He didn’t say anything?” Rafe questioned.
I shook my head. “Just told me Father had requested I come up here.”
Jerking his chin at the liquor cart, Rafe grimly said, “You’re going to need a drink for this one.”
His words sent my heart shuddering to a stop. At that moment, I knew one of my siblings was in danger. “Gianni or Caterina?” I demanded in a hoarse whisper.
“Caterina.”
My eyes widened as I swayed on my feet. “Not Kitty Cat,” I murmured.
Agony twisted through my chest at the mention of our nickname for our younger sister. We loved to tease her by still calling her that. We’d even called her Kitty Cat earlier today when the three of us had face-timed her to wish her a happy twenty-first birthday.
As a range of terrifying scenarios played through my mind, I fought to catch my breath. Three years ago, Caterina had joined the Sacred Heart–a missionary order of nuns. Her decision wasn’t about being an overly devout Catholic girl.
It was her only way of escaping the impending arranged marriage sanctioned by our father to an abusive bastard twenty years older than her.
Those outside of our world would’ve thought her choice drastic, but when you’ve been raised as the daughter of a capo destined for an arranged marriage, it made sense. She couldn’t run away.
The only way you left the mafia life was in a body bag.
In Caterina’s case, her only way out came because of the one thing our father remotely feared.
God.
He might’ve been torturing late into the night or fucking one of his mistresses, but you could bet his ass would be at mass in the morning. Fucking hypocrite that he was.
“What happened?” I demanded.
“A group of men broke into the Sacred Heart and kidnapped her.”
As the world around me shuddered to a stop, my chest clenched in an agonizing vise. No, this couldn’t be happening. Caterina couldn’t be in danger. She was too young, too pure….too beautiful.
Sure, we’d taught her self-defense and how to shoot when she was just a kid, but I didn’t see her getting out of this without our help.
“This is about business, isn’t it?”
“Father thinks so.”
“If it’s a rival with a beef with us, why the fuck would they take Kitty Cat? She’s a civilian!”
“It’s clearly an enemy family with their sights set on gaining power through us with a marital alliance.”
With a shake of my head, I countered, “No. It can’t be. Not after she worked so hard to escape a fucking arranged marriage.”
“I know.”
“Do we have any leads?”
“The Mother Superior says the assailants had Irish accents.”
I tugged a hand through my hair. It was one thing for Caterina to have been abducted by Italians or Sicilians. But the Irish? They were some of our worst enemies. Jesus, I couldn’t bear it.
As I paced around the penthouse, I asked, “When do we leave for Sicily?”
With a grimace, Rafe replied, “We don’t.”
“Excuse me?”
“Father’s only taking Gianni with him.”
While it made sense to take our younger brother who was a hacking genius, I wasn’t going to sit this one out.
Starting to the elevator, I snarled, “Fuck that and fuck him. I’m going.”
Rafe grabbed my arm. “You’re to accompany me to Philadelphia to sign my engagement papers.”
My mouth gaped open. “Since when have you been promised to someone?”
“For a while.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
There was nothing I didn’t tell my brothers. They were everything to me. It hurt like hell to think Rafe had kept something this big from me.
“I just found out. Father was waiting for her to come of age first to make the engagement official, but now Caterina’s kidnapping has accelerated matters.
With a disgusted snort, I asked, “Just how young is she?”
While mafia girls used to be married off as early as eighteen, modern times had stretched the coming of age to twenty-one. Closeted pedos in our world might’ve liked the idea of a child bride, but I sure as hell didn’t and neither did Rafe.
“She’s about to turn twenty.”
I whistled. “That’s quite an age gap.”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “It’s only eight years.
“She’s a teenager right now.”
“Whatever. You’re acting like I’m some lecher.”
“Just calling it as I see it.”
“Ass.”
“Hey now, don’t leave me in suspense. Who is the lucky female who will become the future Mrs. Neretti?”
“Andrea Caruso, or Drea as they call her.”
Although I didn’t know Drea, I instantly recognized her last name.
The Carusos were a strong Italian family with roots in Philadelphia.
We’d done business with them over the years.
It was a wise choice to align ourselves with them.
It would unite two of the largest Sicilian/Italian families on the Eastern seaboard.
As Rafe poured himself a Disaronno, I mused, “Father is such a stronzo to send us as glorified errand boys for this alliance.”
“Until we know who has taken Caterina, we’ll be kissing a lot of ass,” Rafe replied resignedly.
“What do you know about your future wife?”
“Does it really matter?” he grumbled.
I snorted. “I would say yes considering you’re going to have to fuck her for heirs.”
Rolling his eyes, Rafe argued, “There’s more important things at stake than my future wife’s appearance.”
His words sobered me immediately. “Right. I’ll go downstairs and pack.”
Nodding, Rafe replied, “The Caruso’s jet is coming for us at nine.”
“I’ll be ready.”
As I started defeatedly to the elevator, Rafe grabbed my arm. “We will get her back.”
Although he sounded confident, his expression betrayed him. I felt sorry for him. As the future capo, he had to show leadership. He had to believe in our father’s and family’s ability to find Caterina.
Cocking my brows at him, I countered, “Cut the bullshit. This is me you’re talking to.”
A welcomed laugh burst from Rafe’s lips. “You know me too well.”
“I sure as hell do.” I clapped my hand on his back. “You don’t have to be strong for me. We’ll get through this together.”
“Don’t go soft on me now,” he replied with a grin.
“Never when it counts.” With a wink, I added, “Or where it counts.”
“Fucker,” he muttered with a laugh.