Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
SERENITY
That fucking asshole. I walked away for a reason. The second I return to the U.S. he aims to get me back.
I only returned because my grandmother suggested I let Madden spend time with my family. And it’s time to kill Ettore and Aleksandr for what they’d done to my family.
He brought the red head who looks like a beauty queen to my welcome home party. Why would he do that?
Fuck! Why does he still get under my skin after all these years?
I’m not sure we can allow the other to be with someone else. At this point, it’s not that we like each other. We just want to make the other’s life miserable.
“Serenity, I get Newark back.”
My dad’s words snap me from my thoughts.
There’s a strange mix on his face—pain and pride, loss and hope.
Newark, Delaware, holds bittersweet memories. It’s my hometown.
The name alone is a wound. My father had an army, yet when the bastards craving our territory stormed our home, they slaughtered nearly all our soldiers to reach Mom, Krew, and me. Their intent was clear: to wipe us out completely. The nightmare of those days still twists my gut.
Dad still controls Talleyville and Claymont, but Newark was his pride. His hometown. His throne. Stolen.
Now, after all these years, he’s saying it’s ours again.
Dad rounds the desk, grips my arms. His eyes shine with something I haven’t seen in a long time—hope. “It’s our hometown, Serenity.”
My chest aches. I’d do anything for my family. Especially him. My hero.
“Yeah, I get it,” I whisper. Then my voice hardens. “But did you ask Nico how he obtained our city?”
“No. I didn’t.”
I exhale sharply. “Dad, it’s time for a sit-down with all the Delaware bosses. You need a united front. Like New Jersey has. Otherwise, this happens again.”
He runs a hand over his hair, the streaks of gray catching in the lamplight. “Nico and Cairo are giving up parts of their other territories too.”
The name alone makes my stomach knot. “I walked away from Nico, Dad. Because I didn’t want a family. Back then, I loved him. Too many years have passed now. The love we shared is dead.”
“I know.” His voice is low, almost guilty. “But you also need to—”
“Don’t.” My tone slices through his. “I came back home temporarily.”
I’ll kill those bastards and return to Italy.
He stares at me. “No, Serenity. You’re here for good. You’ll marry Nico Pitucco to help this family.”
The floor tilts. I laugh, bitter and sharp. “I won’t be married to him long. I’ll kill him to get out of the marriage.” I visibly swallow.
The thought makes me squeamish. I think about the time Nico and I spent together before I walked away. It was beautiful. I don’t want to be married to a mafia boss in this life.
Dad shakes his head slowly, grim. “He said you’ll have to get pregnant with his heir within the year.”
My laugh turns colder, darker. “Then I guess he’ll be dead before that can happen.”
“Hey, boss.” I peek to the left as I step out of my father’s office. She’s leaning against the wall dressed in a skimpy gold two-piece outfit. The gold short sleeve bustier doubles as a bullet-proof vest, I’m sure. The long, sparkly skirt is shielding a weapon, no doubt.
She points my phone at me. “You have a missed call.”
My brows rise. “Thank you, Angel,” I say as I take the phone.
We stroll down the hallway.
“Not going back to the party?” She asks.
“No. Is Nico still here?”
She taps her earpiece. “Is the pretty boy boss still here?”
I snort out a laugh. She giggles, too.
Angel is one of my bodyguards who came highly recommended by my friend Baylor.
She’s Cairo’s wife. Baylor and I met when I was twenty-two and she was seventeen.
My father told me Baylor’s dad had asked if I could offer his daughter some college advice.
She was so easy to talk to. For a couple of years, we’d talk briefly.
After I moved to Florence, I asked my dad to get her phone number again.
We’ve been secretly chatting ever since.
I asked Cairo not to mention my friendship with Baylor to Nico, his best friend, and Baylor promised to convince her husband to keep it quiet.
“He is still here,” Angel says.
“He wants to rub this stupid marriage arrangement in my face. Not happening. Tell Bets to escort Kobi to my office in five minutes.”
She relays the message. “And don’t let pretty boy upstairs.”
I chuckle as we stroll up the back staircase. Angel knows me so well.
Before I moved to Florence, I poured everything I had into managing investments for Cichello Investment Corporation.
I built a reputation for making smart decisions and turning strong portfolios into even stronger profits.
Moving to Italy never changed that. I continued overseeing investments from abroad with the same relentless work ethic.
My father didn’t like me living abroad. He preferred to have me in his presence. He’s overprotective to this day.
“Angel, I’ll be out in just a moment,” I tell her.
She smiles as she kicks her heels off outside my bedroom.
I close the door and sink onto the bed. We lived in Jersey until I went away to college.
Dad sold our Jersey home and moved the family to the home he had built in Claymont.
Being back in Delaware still doesn’t give me comfort.
Our bodyguards are on full alert at all times, especially since I returned.
I press the missed call on the screen. The phone rings once.
“Serenity?”
I smile. “Yes, Nana, is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure.”
My heart lurches in my chest. “What do you mean?”
“Someone said they don’t feel good.”
I laugh. “I see. Let me talk to a certain someone.”
There’s a beat of silence.
“Mommy?”
“What are you doing up so late?” I ask.
“I miss you.”
Tears pool in my eyes, and I choke back the tears. “I miss you, too.”
I had planned to move my son, who’s almost four years old, to Jersey with his nanny Kisha, who’s Angel’s sister, in the next week.
Now my situation has changed because of fucking Nico.
I prefer to live in Jersey under Dillon’s protection.
If it were up to me, I’d leave my son in Italy.
However, he’s spoiled and doesn’t like being away from me.
That’s my fault. I’d sometimes go away on business trips for a few days, and he’d give Kisha hell while I was away.
“Madden, you have to go back to sleep,” I whisper.
“No,” he cries.
I call on FaceTime. His handsome little face comes into view. That wide smile that lifts his cheeks makes it next to impossible to hold back the tears.
“I need you to be a good boy while I’m away. Behave for GG, okay.”
He fists his big curls. “Okay, Mommy.”
“Kisses, Madden.”
He blows me a kiss, and I press his little kiss to my cheek. “I love you.”
“Luve you too, mommy.”
“Nana, let Kisha know I’ll call her in regard to the flight times.”
“Okay, I will.”
“Love you, goodbye.”
“Love you too,” she replies disconnecting the line.
Can’t let Nico catch wind of Madden. He’s my child. The sooner I can kill him, the better.
I’ll have to work fast and off him before this whole heir possibility. I swallow the bitter pill of reality—marry him or Dad doesn’t get Newark.
I sit on the edge of the bed and ponder on the difficult decision. The man I’d loved since I was sixteen has to die at my hands. I’m not sure there’s a day I hadn’t thought about him. It’s sad, really. Our life in the mafia has brought us to this point. I’ll do anything to protect Madden.
I hop up, open the door, and place my phone in Angel’s hand. “Do we have any issues?”
She flashes a fake smile. “No.”
I know that smile means she and the other bodyguards have a problem. I’d let them work it out.
I saunter into my office, and Angel closes the door behind me. My mom designed this office for me years ago. A smile lifts my lips as I scan the beautiful romance books lining the shelves. The books bring me comfort.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Kobi. The meeting with my dad ran long.”
He left the window, stalking toward me. “It’s okay.”
His large hands clutch my waist and his lips crush mine. My hands splay his chest as I push away from him.
“I’m sorry, Kobi, I shouldn’t have started dating you. I knew once I returned to America, a certain someone would find a way to make my life a living hell.”
Kobi and I had been seeing each other for months.
Yes, I called him my boyfriend earlier, but that was just to get under Nico’s skin.
Kobi wants to put an official label on what we are.
We’re two people dating each other. Nothing more.
Before I got pregnant, I considered working things out with Nico.
Then I ran. I didn’t plan to date anyone.
Kobi and I met at a market in Florence. We’d sit for hours, talking about everything over espressos and pastries. It was refreshing.
Truthfully, I find it difficult to be with any man who isn’t Nico. I’m all kinds of fucked up.
No one kisses like him, sees me like him, worships me like him. Correction used to worship me.
Nico doesn’t love me anymore. When I look into his eyes, all I see is hate.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’m engaged to be married.”
Kobi’s eyebrows shoot up, looking incredulous. “Since when?”
“Twenty minutes ago. The asshole made a deal with my father. I am to marry Nico Pitucco. Even though it is an arranged marriage. He has no plans to share me. There will be no hooking up with men outside our marriage. He’ll kill them.”
“Does he love you?”
He used to.
I burst into laughter. “God no. He enjoys putting me through hell. I’ll be his show pony.”
He pulls me against his muscled chest and presses his erection into my tummy. “I want you, Serenity. We’ve waited a long time to be together. Don’t let that asshole fuck up what we’re building.”
I sigh, “Kobi, I’m sorry. I’ll have my men drive you to the private airport. They’ll see to it you get on your jet.”
A cocky grin curls his lips. “I don’t need your men to drive me. I have my own soldiers.”
This is what happens when you date an Italian mobster. Cocky. Very cocky.
“I don’t think you understand. Nico is feral when it comes to other men getting close to me.”
“He sounds like he’s obsessed with you.”
“Not obsessed. Just angry and possessive. I walked away from him five years ago. He wanted to build a life with me. But I couldn’t,” I whisper.
“How did you date other men before?”
I shudder at the thought.
“It was difficult.”
My mind flashes to Alvin, the one Nico killed.
I blink up at Kobi.
“Like I said, my men will make sure you get on the plane.”
He cups my face and kisses me again.
“I’m not leaving. I’ll tell that crazy motherfucker you’re mine now.”
“Listen to me. You don’t understand.” My voice shakes with frustration. “I know what he’s capable of. Just walk away.”
Murder.
That single word echoes through my mind.
He takes my lips in a bruising kiss, reaches under my dress, and strokes me through my panties.
I shove him back. My chest rises and falls as anger replaces confusion.
“Fucking leave, Kobi,” I roar.
A knot forms in my stomach.
Something feels wrong.
Maybe it’s because tonight changed everything.
The realization crashes over me.
I belong to Nico now.
Whether I wanted this arranged marriage or not, a line has been drawn, and I refuse to cross it. I won’t sleep with another man.
After Nico is dead...
Maybe things will be different.
But not tonight.
Not with Kobi.
The attraction I’d once felt has vanished, replaced by a strange sense of unease.
I see the hungry need in Kobi’s eyes. It’s as if he’s already decided I belong to him and my opinion no longer matters.
And he wants to fuck me, right here, right now.
He doesn’t care that I’ve told him I’m promised to another man.
All he sees is what he wants.
And that scares me more than I care to admit.
I strut to the door and place my hand on the knob.
“Return to Italy with me, Serenity.”
“I told you, good night,” I bite out.
The door opens, forcing us to take a step back. Angel comes into view. “There are guests asking for you, boss.”
I nod. I don’t have my phone, nor a Glock on me. Even though there are several weapons around my office. I don’t want to kill him. If he ever crosses the line again, I will.