Supernatural Syndicate: A Limited Edition Collection of Magical Mafia Stories

by Thea Atkinson

  Double Linked

  A DIB Novella

  Lexi Ostrow

  About Double Linked

  Cassie Lansky lost her parents to the DIB. She lost the love of her life to a rival pack. For a while, she lost her wolf as grief destroyed her ability to shift. Cassie lost her freedom when her grandfather forced her into a marriage that would strengthen the packs against DIB. A marriage to the only person who’d ever broken her heart.

  Lorenzo Turlino knew one thing – Cassie Lansky was his mate. Seven years ago his family threatened to kill her and her entire pack if he insisted on running with her. Now, they forced him to marry her. Being stuck with a woman who wanted him dead was not appealing with the lifespan shifters had.

  The wedding was over before it began and the pair will have to make their first decision as joint pack alphas. Two of Las Vegas’s packs are in danger if Cassie and Lorenzo can’t use their heads instead of their hearts.

  1

  The wolves ran the streets of Sin City.

  In the early days of Las Vegas, they controlled the vicious gangs that roamed unchecked in the City of Sin.

  By night, they clashed with fangs and fur for total control of the city. One pack left to rule them all.

  One hundred years later and nothing changed.

  Humans waltzed about the city, drinks in hand and wallets shelling out coins at every slot machine they passed. Humans didn’t understand the threat that lurked behind every smiling face in the casinos.

  Cassie Lanksy knew her history - her pack’s history.

  Twelve packs consistently fought for control of the city, until the DIB opened and began to hunt the wolves down.

  One by one, the Sin City lost crime family after the next.

  Three remained.

  Cassie held no disdain for blood or money under the necessary circumstances, but her grandfather’s demand was horrifying.

  “I will not do it.” She came just short of stamping her foot on the expensive Italian marble tile.

  “I did not ask,” Charles Lanksy took a drag of his cigar, letting out a puff of smoke he knew his granddaughter hated. “We are an endangered breed, not long for this world if the DIB gets what it wants.”

  “Have you ever tried talking to the DIB?” Anything besides what you’re asking.

  Her grandfather scoffed, nearly spitting the cigar from between his cracked lips. “Wolves do not ask. We take.”

  “No. We fight. We draw blood and we claim territory.”

  “Little girl, it is not wise to upset a man as powerful as I am.” Dark brown bushy brows knit together as the displeasure curved his lips downward. “Did I not raise you to be respectful to your elders?”

  Shoulders sagging, Cassie blew out a breath, not missing the way she countered a billow of cigar smoke in the process. “You raised me that a woman can do what she wants and to not let men control me.”

  “Which is precisely why you are taking on this mission for the family.”

  “This isn’t a mission! This is my life.” Her snarl echoed off the curtained windows and vaulted ceilings as intensely as the howl of her wolf might have.

  “That is enough,” the exclamation rang of the walls and shook the crystal ashtray sitting on his desk. “You are not alpha. You will not be alpha until I die - which will not be anytime soon. Or you stop fighting me on this.”

  “Not unless the DIB gets you.” she muttered.

  “Excuse me, bambina?” Charles leaned his palm on the desk as if meaning to intimidate her.

  “You are a great many things, Grandfather, but you would not harm me physically. Even if you seek to destroy me mentally.”

  “Cheer up, Cassandra. This is how the families like ours does things. This will help to eliminate the threat the DIB brings every time they spot a flash of a wolf’s tale in the desert where we do not belong.” He smashed the cigar tip into the spotless ashtray, snuffing it out as a metaphorical threat he would not make good on. Not on his granddaughter at least. “Your father was reckless, and he paid the price. I raised you to be smarter than your father.”

  It burned the tip of her tongue not to point out he’d raised her father, too. Cassie found herself with two options.

  Go with her grandfather’s plan or flee the city of sin once and for all.

  2

  “A wedding,” Lorenzo snarled, slamming his balled fist into the wall, ignoring the sensation of cracking plaster under his punch as the wall crumbled.

  “Yes, a wedding,” his mother held no tone of approval or disapproval.

  “To a Lanksy.”

  “To a Lanksy.”

  “Are you going to keep repeating me?” His wolf growled at the surface, clawing its way out despite myths about werewolves only being able to turn during a full moon and against their control. But, he wasn’t a werewolf, he was a shifter. Part human and part wolf. Neither under the other’s control.

  “You,” his mother stepped up to him, dark brown eyes narrowing as she got closer to him, “should be grateful your father didn’t throw you out with your behavior.”

  “I screwed a witch. It’s not like I impregnated one.”

  “Our blood is all that we have. She was a Skinwalker.”

  “And two thirds of the city under your control has pack members messing with witches, but who’s counting.”

  “Lorenzo,” her eyes flashed a golden honey brown. A tactic she’d used on him and his three brothers all their lives.

  “Look, I thought it would be good a idea to have a DIB agent on our side. It’s been four years. Dad can chill.”

  “The Demon Investigation Bureau in our home is nothing to chill over Lorezno Marcus Henry Turlino the third .”

  “Noel’s a Skinwalker. They likely hate her anyway.” Truth, she’d told him as much after the third time they wound up in bed together.

  Fingers snatched around his right ear, and nails punctured the soft cartilage. “If you do not watch your mouth it will be far worse than a wedding tomorrow evening.” She released him, swiping away at the small trail of blood coming off his ear. “You are marrying up. Your father will never admit the small stature of our pack is a hindrance. I will. Together, the packs will overthrow the Donovan’s and control the city. The DIB cannot hunt us all, and with combined numbers, perhaps we can overthrow them instead of sulk around them.”

  Lorenzo knew more about the DIB than his mother realized. The real reason his father sought to punish him with an arranged marriage was because Lorenzo had been inside the DIB. Noel knew what he was because the witch in her could sense it. There were no known rogue or lone wolves in Las Vegas, so she knew he was syndicate. She’d never minded. Lorenzo suspected she took him inside as a way to taunt her superiors that she controlled their safety more than they knew.

  Still, he’d been inside. The basement was hell.

  He heard a rumor the headquarters were breached a little over a year ago. No sign of it showed on the exterior of the building camouflaged as it were to appear as a world trade center. Marrying Cassie Lanksy was an over the top punishment. He had no need for prissy blondes who didn’t control their own fate.

  Kind of like how you aren’t controlling yours?

  His wolf snarled at the man’s thought. So many times, Lorenzo wondered what would occur if he let the furry beast take control of his mind. Unlike the myths, shifters were never in control when their animal side was showing. Lorenzo’s father told him to think of it like taking a voluntary nap to let the darker part of his soul do the dirty work.

  Dirty work. Who the hell decided the murder was dirty work? Must be all the damn blood.

  “Just what are you smirking at?” His mother’s fingers tapped the backside of his head. “You do not daydream when your mother is speaking to you.” The slight growl belonged to his petite mother, not her wolf. Often times growing up, Lorenzo couldn’t tell who spoke - woman or wolf. As an adult he understood that her wolf was much calmer than her human soul.

  “Sorry, Ma.
” He shrugged. “I have to wear a tux?”

  “Yes, and a boutonniere and a cumberbun. And a bowtie.” Hazel eyes narrowed, daring him to object.

  “And if I do this, my sins are forgiven? I’ll earn my seat at the family table?”

  “If you do this, your father stops wanting to kill you for nearly betraying the pack. You become Alpha instead Leon.”

  Blowing out a breath Lorenzo ran his fingers through the short black hair dusting his chin. “And you swear she willingly agreed?”

  “I swear to nothing of the sort. However, the Lanksy’s are old blood. Old money. If they’re looking to join packs to protect their own, the alpha’s granddaughter will swear she enters your marriage willingly even if she doesn’t.”

  He leaned his head to the side, ignoring the crack of his neck. “Fine. Two days. Give me two days to myself.”

  “You can have one,” his mother smirked. “The wedding is tomorrow. Enjoy your bachelor party, Son.”

  One night left in the City of Sin, wonder where I’ll go?

  3

  “This is it, the final touch.” Elena sniffed, setting the veil’s clip against Cassie’s thick curls. “You look like a real bride.” Her best friend fluffed the bottom of her hair, either playing with the curls or just trying to distract herself from crying.

  “I am not a real bride.” Cassie sighed as she eyed the blonde-haired woman in the mirror. You sure look like one.

  No expense had been spared. It didn’t matter that the wedding sprung up less than forty-eight hours ago. The syndicates had money, and money talked. Especially in the city. Owning the hotel was merely a happy convenience.

  Cassie’s usually stick-straight hair boasted curls voluptuous enough to rival the curves a wolf liked to hold on to. Gray smokey eye makeup seemed to make her typically dull blue eyes sparkle, and the fake lashes curled perfectly upward to enlarge her eyes just enough.

  It wasn’t just the makeup that would trick an outsider into thinking today was the happiest day of a woman’s life. The gown was stunning.

  Even if she didn’t appreciate wearing it, Cassie knew the wedding dress was the only one she’d ever wanted to wear.

  Her mother’s.

  Classically beautifully, the simple white silk gown with beaded flowers on the trim was the only thing Cassie had of her mother’s, and the one thing swore she’d only wear standing opposite the man of her dreams.

  Linda Lanksy died eleven minutes after giving birth to Cassie. She’d never known her daughter, and Cassie never had a mother. When her father was killed by the DIB, her grandfather quickly became her whole world. Cassie grew up hearing tales of her parent’s love. Of the way they fought side-by-side as wolves and humans. She wanted that for herself. Just not this way.

  She didn’t love Lorenzo - she’d swear that on a syndicate of holy objects - but if she was to wed, she’d keep one part of her fairytale with her. The dress.

  “You could grow to love him,” Elena dabbed at her eyes with a silk cloth trying not to smudge the mascara.

  “I will never grow to love a man I’m forced to be with.” Her words were sharp, too sharp for her best friend. “I’m sorry,” she sighed and watched as the sweetheart top of the gown rose and fell with her breasts. No one knew the truth, not even her closest friend.

  “I know you didn’t mean it. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be a Bridezilla by now or something?”

  “Or something.” Cassie dropped into the chair just behind where she stood. “I can’t believe he’s forcing me to do this.”

  “It’ll be good for us. We’re being hunted far too frequently. Ever since the DIB learned they could trade lives for money, the packs grew too small. Too few. Even now, you can’t tell me you aren’t the least bit frightened that one day the bullet will come for you?”

  Her eyes fluttered closed as Cassie tried to ignore the picture forming in her mind. She was young, but not a child, when the door flung inward, and a hail of silver bullets took down every member of the Lanksy pack’s council except for herself and her grandfather. She might hate Charles for forcing marriage, but when the wolves’ ears picked up on footsteps, he’d grabbed her and tossed them both down into the passage under the stairs without hesitation.

  They’d been celebrating her tenth birthday.

  Cassie’s throat quivered and her nose burned as the memory threatened to drown her. Squeezing her eyes shut brought no relief. Tears eked past her lashes, probably trailing a line of black as they went.

  “Oh. Oh, Cass, I’m sorry,” Elena muttered before she started dabbing at Cassie’s cheeks. “I can be so insensitive!”

  The Lansky Council was only made of family. Only her direct family died that day, so the pack continued on. The DIB had no intel to go on that the pack lived on, just the rumblings of the family’s crimes continuing. Paying to silence a stripper who saw too much. A bomb here and there as a warning. Never any names to go on. The packs hated each other, and in the beginning, they sold each other out to DIB. That’s how they destroyed her world at just ten years old.

  “Cass, come back to me.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, Cassie opened her eyes to see Elena’s frown.

  “You are about to get married,” Elena viciously wiped the cotton cloth under Cassie’s eyes. “You cannot marry the most eligible rival wolf looking like you spent the morning crying.”

  “Lorenzo is not eligible.” Cassie snatched the cloth and blotted at her cheeks. “You know what, screw the makeup. This isn’t my dream wedding.” She pressed the silken fabric to her forehead and dragged it down past her lips. “He can take me as I am or not at all.” Silver mingled with black and red before she repeated the action on the other side of her face.

  “He’s handsome.” was all Elena said.

  “Lorenzo Turlino is drop dead perfect and if he weren’t a Turlino, I would have married him myself a decade ago.”

  “Oh, you mean when you snuck around behind the pack’s back screwing him for two years?”

  Cassie’s eyes widened as she looked at Elena through the mirror. “You knew?”

  “Of course I knew. I’m not an idiot.”

  Cassie smirked. “Well, then, Exactly. I’m not opposed to marriage, just marriage to Lorenzo. I didn’t have a thing for him. It was adrenaline.”

  “Mhm,” Elena’s hands fell to her hip even as she sat.

  “There’s something … seductive in sneaky behind Grandpa’s back. Dangerous.”

  “Well, consider this one long game of hide and seek.”

  Despite her efforts, Cassie smirked and gave a small laugh. “I know you didn’t mean it that way, but that was Lorenzo’s best attribute.”

  “See, it won’t be all bad after all.”

  “It will. I don’t want to be a peace treaty. I want to be a wife, and one day, a mother.”

  “I love you, you know that?” Elena didn’t wait for her to answer. “You are a human, but you’re also pack. Pack out here means syndicate. You were never going to marry for love - but at least this way you get some variety.”

  An organ’s desolate tones erupted, nearly sending Cassie jumping into the air.

  She wasn’t ready.

  Her heart thumped in her chest as the room began to spin. She had to get up. If she didn’t show, the Turlino pack would most certainly attack her family thinking she’d snubbed them.

  “Come on,” Elena squeezed her shoulder. “Let’s go make them howl.”

  Nodding, Cassie swallowed back the urge to run.

  Happily ever after was dead and gone, all she had was a man who would see her as property and two clans to rule when the time came calling.

  Grabbing the bottom of her dress, Cassie stood, following closely behind Elena, and watched as the door opened to let her maid of honor walk out. Too many eyes seemed turned in her direction. Too many judgements and hopes.

  The Lanksy’s and the Turlino’s were putting the hopes of surviving on the backs of mere children. Two separate packs wi
th enough bad blood to fill a history book now would become one and protect each other, not war with one another when the humans did look their way.

  The pitch in the organ changed, swinging up-tempo as the doors were pulled open once again by her protectors on the other side.

  She’d wanted her grandfather to walk her down the aisle. Instead, she tried to smile as Marco, the man she assumed she would have married, stepped out and offered her his arm.

  Vegas wasn’t known for opulent churches, but the outdoor ceremony space at the Mirage in the Secret Garden was breathtaking. Lush leaves hung from the canopy above. The exotic birds chirped from elsewhere, and if she listened hard enough, Cassie could hear the footsteps of the large cats kept on premise. So many wondered why the pack would own a cat sanctuary, but it was so none would come looking for them. The cats were shifters, enemies from a forgotten war trapped in their beast form.

  Pure white roses hung with dark green ribbons on the ends of the aisles of white chairs. Matching rose petals dawned the walkway, covering the white carpet in a flurry of innocence. So many eyes stared at her as she took step after step down the aisle. Cassie kept her head up, her eyes straight ahead, and her gaze on the minister. She did not glance to see Lorenzo. There was no need to look for him, she could feel him. Fell the heavy, heated gaze as if he shot lasers her direction as she approached.

  Cassie lied to Elena. The pleasure of being with Lorenzo might have started as a way to disobey her grandfather, but she’d loved every second with him. He was carefree in a way wolves of their stature should not have been. He ran under the full moon out in the desert, he made love there, too. Her skin began to burn as she let her mind drift back to the darkened desert night when Lorenzo took her virginity. He’d been gentle and forgiving. Lorenzo Turlino made love to her the way a man did when he cherished a woman, and then they never saw one another again.