Chapter 2
2
RAFFAELE
“ I ’ll get you the money, I swear,” the greasy little man cowering in front of me whined. “Just give me a couple more days!”
Domenico, my bodyguard and best friend since we were children, dug the tip of his lethally sharp blade a little deeper into Jimmy’s neck, drawing a drop of blood. “Didn’t we already give this weasel an extension?”
Dario, my brother and lieutenant, sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Two weeks, as I recall. Pretty fucking generous.”
Giving people an extension wasn’t unheard of—we were the Mafia, but we weren’t complete monsters. However, the fact that Jimmy still had all his body parts, not even a broken bone or bullet wound, was definitely an exception to the rule. Jimmy was a Dominici, a distant relation to my cousin Nic, who was the boss of the DeLucas. Or the DeLuca Crime Family, as the media called us.
Nic’s great-grandfather had married a Dominici in the 1940s, not only making them relations by marriage but also bringing them into the Family—as we referred to ourselves.
The only names that held more weight in our organization were DeLuca and DeAngelis. Lorenzo DeLuca and Edoardo DeAngelis had been the beginning of our empire when they went into business together in the 1890s, running an underground gambling operation, then moving on to other interests like high-end brothels and gun running. During prohibition, the Family opened several speakeasies in New York, along with the illegal distribution of our own brand of whiskey—which we still produced and sold today. We had many other businesses, but the Dominici family were the ones who integrated the operation that was my specialty.
As a distant relation—not directly to me, though, because I was a product of our great-great-grandfather's second wife—I’d given him a little more leniency than usual. However, being blood by DNA or by oath didn’t mean a free pass if you fucked with the Family.
I’d been silent for most of this exchange, allowing my soldiers to take the lead. My presence alone was a sign that Jimmy should be very, very worried—something that he obviously understood since his eyes kept straying to me with a look of pure terror.
An appropriate reaction considering that when someone warranted a visit from the underboss, or “King of the South” as I was often dubbed, it was very likely that they wouldn’t be breathing for much longer.
It also spoke volumes that I was meeting with him behind a banquet hall where I was attending an event rather than a more private location. But we were on a clock, so meeting in such a public place was necessary.
“Jimmy.” I said his name like a statement, my tone even and without inflection.
At the sound of my voice, what little color was left in his face drained completely.
“While I have every intention of collecting on your debt, that is not the reason you’re here.”
“What else…?” He tried to look confused but withered under my stare and trailed off, his expression betraying his guilt. Then he stammered, “I-I-they-it wasn’t my fault!”
I raised a single eyebrow. “At this point, I don’t give a fuck how it happened, Jimmy. Your participation cut your ties to the Family.”
“I had no choice!”
He shook his head frantically but stopped and gulped hard when Domenico glided the tip of his knife from Jimmy’s throat to his groin.
“Keep lying, fucker,” he urged in a deadly voice. “The more you lie, the longer the boss will let me draw out your punishment.”
Dario and the other two men we’d brought chuckled, but my face remained impassive. My ability to remain unreadable was a huge asset as the head of the southern branches of the Family. I didn’t often have to make threats. I simply let my target’s imaginations run wild, drowning them in their worst fears. It also kept people on edge, making them easier to read.
“They’ll kill me,” Jimmy insisted. The flicker of his eyelids told me more than his words. Whoever “they” were, it was clear he wasn’t as afraid of them as he was of us. Perhaps he wasn’t as stupid as I’d assumed, which made me wonder if we’d underestimated him.
“We’ve already moved the shipment to another port, Jimmy,” Dario informed him. “You?—”
I held up my hand to silence Dario, and Domenico also took the hint, backing away from my prey. Then I took three steps forward, closing the distance between Jimmy and myself. Before he could take another breath, the silencer on my Beretta 92FS was pressed against his flesh, directly between his beady eyes.
“This was your operation.” It wasn’t a question. “You used the money you borrowed to finance a crew to rob the Family.”
“You know I ain’t good with that shit, boss.”
It was for moments like this that I carried my gun with “condition three.” Having a loaded magazine with an empty chamber added a layer of safety, but mostly, I enjoyed the target’s reaction to the menacing click-clack of the slide being racked. It was an unmistakable and chilling indication that my next action would be pulling the trigger.
Jimmy sucked in a breath at the sound, and a sour smell permeated the air. I’d literally scared the piss out of him.
“I wasn’t gonna take it all,” he whined. “Just a few pieces.”
“Your honesty is appreciated, Jimmy,” I murmured. After a few tense seconds, I flicked the safety lever on my gun down, decocking it, then lowered the weapon and tucked it into the holster on my hip. “Perhaps you’ll earn more goodwill by giving us the names and locations of your crew.”
“Fine!” he sobbed, making me want to roll my eyes.
This jackass didn’t deserve the name Dominici.
I was about to turn and speak with Dario when someone smacked into my back. Though it was a hard hit, the person was clearly much smaller than me because it hadn't even thrown me off-balance, while they’d clearly bounced off me. Whirling around, I caught their arms to keep them from being thrown to the ground.
My lungs froze when frightened, big blue eyes stared up at me. Blond wisps of hair floated around a pale, angelic face filled with terror. In an instant, I was filled with the need to protect this woman and obliterate whatever, or whomever, she was running from.
“Whoa, cara ,” I murmured. “Careful.”
“I’m so sorry!” She glanced frantically over her shoulder and tried to wiggle out of my hands, but I held her firmly, though I was careful not to hurt her.
“Don’t apologize. Are you alright?”
“Um, I just…I have to go.”
Frowning, I released an arm and cupped one side of her face, forcing her to look at me. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, cara . I—” My words broke off when the light illuminated her face, and I saw her rapidly swelling red cheek. “ Cazzo! ” I cursed through clenched teeth. “Who did this?”
She blinked up at me, her eyes filled with confusion. I nearly smiled when I realized there was no fear when she looked at me, which was probably the reason for her mystified expression.
Honestly, I was experiencing some of that as well. I’d never felt so possessive of another person. Nor had I ever felt the level of chemistry that sizzled between us.
My eyes flicked to Dario, and I jerked my head back toward Jimmy. He nodded and disappeared out of my peripheral vision. A second later, I heard the whisper of several feet and the faint sound of a muffled cry. Luckily, my angel hadn’t noticed.
“My, um…” She tried to look behind her again, but I kept her facing me by delving my fingers into her hair, dislodging the bun thing it was twisted into.
“Focus on me, cara .”
“My fiancé,” she admitted with a flinch.
Briefly, I was filled with a blinding rage, but her reaction when she said it quickly washed the feeling away. While I hated hearing her use that term for another man, I was soothed by the obvious disdain in her tone. Clearly, she was unhappy in the relationship, although it wasn’t surprising if he’d hit her.
I was stunned at how any man would treat this angel with anything but reverence. It was easy to get lost in her striking blue eyes, but the rest of her body certainly hadn’t escaped my notice. Her cheeks were adorably plump despite the slender shape of her face, and her rose-painted lips were round. She was above average height, but at six foot four, I was still easily a half foot taller than her. It put her delicate curves in all the right places so she would fit perfectly against me.
“He will come for you?” I asked. I couldn't imagine anyone letting her go without a fight.
She nodded, but her brow crinkled. “I thought he’d be right behind me, but maybe I hurt him more than I thought when I slammed my heel into his foot. It was too bad that I didn’t have my purse with me, or I could’ve whacked him upside the head with it, too. I always have a book in there in case I get the chance to sneak in a few pages, so it really would’ve hurt him.”
My lips almost tipped up into a smile. It seemed her former fiancé hadn’t snuffed out all the fire inside her.
Amused, I clarified, “You stomped on his foot?”
Pink bloomed on her cheeks, and she stared at my chest. “I had to slow him down, so I?—”
“You don’t need to justify your actions to me, cara . Any man who would hit a woman, especially one he is contracted to love and care for, deserves much worse than what you did.” And he would pay for hurting her. I’d see to it personally.
She raised her gaze and searched my face for a few moments before she relaxed, obviously having seen what she’d been hoping for. “Thank you.”
A large black SUV suddenly rolled to a silent stop beside us.
“Come with me, cara . I’ll take care of you.” I released her hair but kept a hold of her hand.
“Um, I couldn’t ask that,” she mumbled.
I opened the door to the car and gently tugged her closer. “I wasn’t asking.”
Her eyes widened a little, but she didn’t appear put off by my statement.
When I gestured for her to get in, she looked hesitant for barely a moment, but then her shoulders sagged in relief and she climbed into the back of the vehicle. Domenico appeared at my side and held out his hand, looking pointedly at my hip.
I nodded, grateful for his clear thinking, and surreptitiously passed him my gun. Just as I followed my angel into the car, a movement at the corner of the building drew my attention. A man limped around it, his furious eyes scanning his surroundings wildly. He looked vaguely familiar, but whoever he was, I had the feeling this was the man who had abused my angel.
I put my hand on Domenico’s arm and waited for the stranger's eyes to land on me. His gaze strayed to the open car door, then back to my face, his brow furrowing. At my simple nod, his face contorted with rage, and he began to move toward us.
“Tell Alec to give my angel’s attacker a message,” I ordered Domenico. “She is under my protection, and he should forget she ever existed. Then tell Marco to find out who the fuck he is and everything about him. If he took a shit an hour ago, it better be in the report. And I want a man on him at all times. Don’t bother to be subtle about it.” My brother, Marcello, could find just about anything or anyone as long as they had a digital trail.
“ Fatto ,” Domenico confirmed.
Turning back to the car, I put the asshole out of my mind to focus on my angel. She glanced at me with a small smile when I took the seat beside her and didn’t shy away. I was pleased that she instinctively felt safe with me. It would help her accept her new future when I told her that she now belonged to me.