The Pact (The Beautiful Monster #2)

Chapter 1

Enzo

I took off the boxing gloves, tossing them aside to answer my ringing phone.

Unfamiliar number. So, it wasn’t my fiancée Valentina calling to let me know that she was on her way.

Or at least, not her calling from her number.

Much as I hated answering strange numbers, if she was in trouble and using a different cell, I needed to answer.

Like I always did with an unfamiliar number, I answered the phone without saying a word.

“This is Berto Romano,” a gravelly voice on the other end stated bluntly after a pause. “I take it this is Enzo De Luca.”

Holy shit. It was Don Romano, Valentina's father. Without thinking I sank down onto a nearby bench, my boxing session in my apartment building’s gym entirely forgotten.

Before tonight, Don Romano and I had only spoken to each other directly once.

All other communications between our rival mafia families had been dealt with through layers of intermediaries—lawyers, loyal henchmen, whichever politician we had in our pocket, and so on.

That was how we had set up this marriage alliance between the Romano and De Luca families. Through high-ranking family members and a small army of lawyers. Tonight’s engagement party had been only the second time I had spoken to Don Romano face-to-face. Now he was calling me.

That set me on edge and I immediately wanted to know if Valentina was safe.

“That’s correct. This is Enzo,” I finally said to my future father-in-law. “What can I do for you, Mr. Romano?”

Despite my phone being encrypted, I wasn’t going to just start running my mouth. One could never be too careful, considering how zealous law enforcement could get at unpredictable moments.

“We need to talk,” Don Romano said cryptically. “In person. Without an audience.”

“Is this about Valentina?” I asked him. “Is she okay?”

Though she’d been fine at tonight’s engagement party, she had also been nicer to me than usual.

Typically, we went at each other, never hiding our hatred for one another.

But tonight, we had managed to be civil.

More than civil. Valentina had responded to me in a way that made me think that my seduction was finally paying off.

Her loathing had been minimal, replaced by a blatant desire that intrigued us both enough to make us forget our mutual hatred.

That desire had been reciprocated because I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off her all night. Which had prompted me to invite her over to my place. To my pleasant surprise, instead of blowing me off, Valentina had accepted, promising to stop by later tonight.

I glanced down at the watch on my wrist. She was supposed to be here in about forty-five minutes, making the timing of her father’s call especially inconvenient. At least, I hoped that was all it was. An inconvenience instead of bad news.

While I’d left Valentina in one piece at her family’s restaurant, in our line of work, there were no guarantees.

“She’s fine,” her father responded.

Relief made me exhale some of the tension that had been building. As long as she was safe, I could handle anything else.

“So, what’s this about?” I asked. “What’s so important that you’re calling me in the middle of the night?”

“Not over the phone,” Don Romano cautioned.

“Right. We can meet later this week to discuss—”

“We’re meeting tonight,” Valentina’s father said, cutting me off.

I shook my head. I’d already set up a meeting with Valentina for a post-engagement party meeting at my place. I wasn’t going to break my word to her. “Mr. Romano, I’ve already got plans with—”

“I’m on my way up to your apartment right now,” Don Romano said, interrupting me again. “Meet me in ten minutes.”

His tone let me know that he wasn’t going to indulge a disagreement. Before I could attempt to refuse again, Don Romano hung up on me.

Son of a bitch, he was already in my apartment building.

The man was relentless. And the security out front undoubtedly let him in because I’d instructed them to let in a handful of Romano family members.

All the high-ranking Romanos had been pre-cleared.

But I’d done that for safety and comfort.

Not to have members of the Romano clan show up whenever they wanted in the middle of the damned night.

Fucking hell. Whatever it was Valentina’s father wanted to talk about, he clearly didn’t think it could wait. Shaking my head again, I got up and stashed my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants.

I looked down at my shirt, which was now drenched in sweat after tonight’s workout.

I’d come down to the building’s gym to let off some steam before my planned meeting with Valentina.

Though I had invited her to my place so I could find out her true feelings for me, I’d also invited her because another chance at seduction had been too good to pass up.

We’d kissed at the engagement party. For the cameras of course, but that kiss had felt real to me no matter how much my fiancée tried to pretend otherwise.

If that kiss turned out to be as genuine on her side as I thought it was—my seduction of Valentina was going according to plan.

But I had to confront her. Had to look her in the eyes in private to truly know what her feelings for me were.

I’d figured a workout in the gym would take some of the edge off before tonight’s ultimate showdown.

A way to remind me that I was the one in control of this situation, not Valentina.

Unfortunately, her father’s unexpected phone call had ratcheted up the anxiety to eleven.

Because as much as I hated to admit it, Don Roman was the most powerful man in New York City.

No politician who claimed legitimate power wanted to accept it, but it was undeniable.

Anyone with the slightest connection to the city’s underworld knew that it was the mafia that ran things.

And not only did the Romanos control both the city and the state of New York, they ran most of the East Coast. Their power was unmatched.

Not even my family had managed to equal it.

And the Romanos weren’t merely powerful.

They were cutthroat and vicious as well.

Capable of torching my family’s businesses and chopping off my uncle’s hand without a single qualm.

That included the daughter, Valentina. She was no shrinking violet, Don Romano’s daughter.

No, my fiancée was a blood-red rose, thorns and all.

So, while she guarded her secrets carefully, I was almost certain that Valentina had been the one to authorize my uncle losing his hand.

Still, as powerful and merciless as Valentina’s family was, they weren’t invincible.

My family had managed to take New Jersey, ruthlessly keeping the Romanos out of the state while we profited.

Now we had our sights on taking over New York, which I had the chance to control once I made Valentina my wife.

With the marriage alliance, we’d combine our territory, making the Romanos and the De Lucas the most powerful force in the country.

But getting to the altar was easier said than done.

Until we made things official, Valentina and I were still technically on opposite sides of a turf war.

Which signaled that her father’s sudden appearance was cause for concern.

Despite the engagement party going well earlier tonight, Valentina’s father was still a man to be feared.

I had ten minutes to meet up with him and get him out of here before Valentina’s arrival. While we weren’t exactly sneaking behind anyone’s back with an impromptu meeting, we’d be avoiding a lot of awkwardness if father and daughter didn’t bump into each other tonight at my place.

Fast as I could, I got into one of the gym showers and lathered up in record time. Then I quickly rinsed off and got back into the suit I’d been wearing earlier tonight. At least now I’d look presentable.

I headed back upstairs to the top floor, finding Don Romano standing outside my apartment door.

Clearing my throat, I thrust out my hand. Don Romano shook it firmly. Firmly enough to remind me that even though he was an older man, he could still get the better of me. I opened the apartment door and gestured for him to enter.

With a curt nod, Don stepped inside, and I followed after him.

As I entered my apartment, I flicked on the light switch and shut the door behind me.

“Do you want a drink?” I asked. Although he’d been the one to push his way into my home, I still had to be a halfway decent host. I sure as hell wasn’t going to give my future father-in-law any doubts about marrying his only child off to me.

“Water is fine,” he said. “No more alcohol for me after the engagement party.”

Nodding, I headed over to the kitchen across from the open-concept living room and got him a glass of ice-cold water.

When I returned to hand the chilled glass over to him, Don suddenly said, “Our cell phones...”

I raised an eyebrow. “What about them?”

“I’d like to get them out of earshot. Can’t blame me for being concerned about somebody recording our conversation,” he explained, pulling his phone out.

That was his way of saying that he still didn’t trust me.

Not that I trusted him either. Still, as ill-timed as this inconvenient meeting was, Don Romano had a point.

It was all too easy for a conversation between enemies to end up getting recorded.

Putting our phones out of reach was a security measure, no matter how much it bruised the ego that old man Romano didn’t consider me trustworthy.

I gestured toward the safe I had permanently installed into the wall on the far side of the living room. “We can stash them in there.”

Don Romano gave a single nod of agreement and followed me to the safe, where I placed both of our phones before securely locking everything inside using a passcode and several deadbolt locks.

“Secure enough for you?” I asked, heading back to the leather sofas in the center of the living room.