The Bishop (The Holy Trinity Duet Book 1)

by M. E. Clayton

  She shook her head as we headed into the living room, the place crowded with everyone considered top-tier family. All the guards were either in position outside or walking the perimeter of the building.

  “Leo, I-”

  Whatever she’d been about to say was cut off when she finally noticed everyone. Scanning the faces in my living room, I just saw my family. However, to Sienna, I imagined the picture looked a lot different. Even without Luca and Sal here, Ciro’s presence and Phoenix’s presence were unmistakable. Not to mention Frankie being in the mix. She carried herself in a way that even Remy didn’t, and her command of a room was hard not to miss.

  Pushing Sienna to the end of the couch, I took a seat on the armrest and made the introductions. “Sienna, I’d like you to meet my family.” I glanced around the room. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Sienna Conti, my fiancé.”

  “Leo!” she cried out.

  “Oh, honey, take my advice and don’t bother,” Remy said. “Just say yes and call it a day.”

  I looked down at Sienna. “See, I told you.”

  Chapter 24

  Sienna~

  Have you ever been in a room full of incredibly beautiful people while your hair was tossed up in a bun, you had no makeup on, and you were wearing an over-sized t-shirt and sweats?

  No?

  Yeah, I didn’t recommend it. It does very little for your self-esteem in case you were wondering.

  The woman who had commented on Leo’s fiancé comment was so unbelievably pretty with her dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a face like a doll’s, she was simply lovely.

  Smiling at me, she introduced herself. “I’m Remy Benetti. It’s nice to meet you, Sienna.”

  I nodded at her like a tool. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

  She’d been seated in one of the armchairs closest to the fireplace and in between her chair and the one on the left, two children played quietly. The baby girl was kind of just laying there while the little guy watched over her, entertaining her.

  In the chair on the other side of the children sat another pretty brunette with a man standing behind her. Also, very lovely, she had brown hair and matching brown eyes that reminded me of Bambi. “I’m Roberta Mancini,” she said. “But everyone calls me Robbie.”

  I smiled at the warming vibe she gave off. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  She jerked her head behind her. “And the man behind me is my husband, Ciro Mancini.”

  He grinned and I almost fell off my wheelchair. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  I nodded like a simpleton because those yellow eyes of his were absolutely mesmerizing. Who in the hell had yellow eyes? And his dark brown hair only made them pop out more. He looked like a beautiful nightmare come to life. And then I remembered he was The Son.

  Holy shit.

  “I’m his sister, Francesca Fiore, but you can call me Frankie.”

  I turned my head towards the couch where another couple was sitting, and if Robbie Mancini and Remy Benetti were lovely, Francesca Fiore was absolutely stunning. She had the same dark brown hair and yellow eyes as her brother and the look made her as captivating as a firework.

  Behind her sat a man with brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes and I had to wonder if being gorgeous was part of the criteria for being recruited into this family, because, holy shit, he was good-looking.

  “I’m Phoenix Fiore,” he said, introducing himself. “I’m Frankie’s husband.” That made him The Holy Ghost, and when he smiled at me, all I could think of was that death should not come with flippin’ dimples.

  He had dimples, too.

  “It…it’s nice t…to meet you all,” I semi-lied because I wasn’t sure what I was feeling right now.

  “And those two cutie pies are Vincent and Mattia,” Remy said, drawing my attention back to her. “Vincent belongs to Frankie and Phoenix, and Mattia belongs to Ciro and Robbie.”

  “They’re adorable,” I said, because they really did look like sweet babies. “Hi, babies,” I cooed, and then holy freakin’ shit.

  Vincent looked over at me, his gap-tooth smile a thing of beauty, but it was the fact that he had his mother’s eyes that was slaying me. And I’d bet my other leg that if I got a good look at the little girl, she’d have those same yellow eyes her father and aunt had.

  Christ, those were going to be some stunning children.

  “So, when’s the wedding?” Frankie asked.

  “Excuse me?” I choked out. “We-”

  She waved a hand at me. “Don’t bother,” she said, echoing what Remy Benetti had said earlier. “Just give in gracefully.”

  Deciding not to argue, I said, “Well, I have a sister,” I told them. “I don’t necessarily want a big wedding, but I’d like her here for it.”

  “We’ll get married after her cast is off, then,” Leo announced. “It’ll give me more time to convince her that she really does love me and wants to be with me.”

  I blushed.

  I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when Leo had described his family, but a bunch of normal people hadn’t been it. Yeah, they were an extraordinary good-looking bunch, but they didn’t appear as if they were deadly assassins. Well, the men kind of did, but the women seemed normal.

  Except for Francesca Fiore.

  I knew Remy Benetti was the one married to Luca, but there was something about Frankie that you couldn’t help but notice. Like…if she had a gun strapped to her ankle, I wouldn’t be surprised.

  Reading my reaction correcting, Phoenix said, “Let’s get you ladies some drinks,” he suggested, and the men murmured their agreement.

  And then I watched the sweetest thing ever. Ciro Mancini, a reputed killer who put fear in the hearts of the underbelly of Morgan City, reached down and picked up his little girl while taking Vincent’s little hand in his, helping the toddler waddle is way through the living room.

  Holy ovaries.

  But as the men filed out of the room, leaving me alone with the women, it hit me that I was the only blonde in the group. And for some silly reason, that made me feel even more like I didn’t belong in this group of people. Instead of feeling like I stood out for a good reason, I felt a lot less confident than I had before and I hadn’t thought that possible. I was wearing sweats, for Pete’s sake.

  When they all exited the living room, Remy leaned forward in her chair. “Even though they can hear every word we say, we’re going to pretend they can’t.” I laughed. "Are you okay, honey?”

  The sincerity in her voice was a knock to my chest. “I…”

  “And we don’t just mean what happened to you,” Robbie added. “We mean…well, we know you didn’t know who Leo was when you first started dating.”

  “You do?”

  Remy grimaced a bit. “There aren’t many secrets among us, I’m afraid.”

  I exhaled a bit. “It’s all very…overwhelming,” I admitted.

  “I know,” Remy replied. “I really do.”

  “I can only imagine,” I winced. “Considering who you’re married to.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t I know it,” she replied dryly. “One day, I was an ordinary social worker, minding my own goddamn business, and the next, I was married to Luca Benetti. Talk about a one-eighty.”

  “You’re a social worker?”

  Remy shook her head. “No. I used to be,” she corrected. “Though I still work with children a lot, I work for Luca now.”

  “I was a waitress,” Robbie supplied. “Then Frankie and I got caught up in a bit of a mess, and then next thing I knew, I was married to Ciro. And let me tell you, the man’s a lunatic.”

  I laughed at that. “I think they all are, no?”

  “You make a valid point,” Remy teased.

  “Here’s the thing, Sienna,” Frankie said, finally contributing to the conversation. “We understand how this might still feel a bit surreal. We get that. But we’re here for you.”

  “You don’t even know me,” I pointed out.

/>   “True,” she agreed. “But we know Leo. And we know him well enough to know that you wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t completely in love with you. You’re his forever. And, well, quite frankly, that’s good enough for us.”

  “I think…I think I just need time to get used to this,” I told them. “I’m still not even sure if…I don’t know how I feel about all this.”

  “Totally understandable,” Robbie said.

  “Do you love him?” Frankie asked. “I mean, not to intrude on your personal feelings or anything, but at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Do you love him?”

  I thought about that and I knew that I did. I had probably fallen in love with him weeks ago, before I ever knew who he was. I fell in love with the way he made me feel and there was so much hope there for what I had wanted us to become.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I do,” I answered softly, whether or not the guys could hear us in the kitchen.

  And then Frankie said something that confirmed my earlier suspicions about her. “We’re all sisters here, Sienna,” she said. “And we’re going to treat you with the same love and respect you’ll deserve as part of this family and as Leo’s wife.” She leaned closer, her elbows on her knees, looking every bit as intimidating as the men in her family. “But I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that…well, if you ever hurt Leo, I will come after you.”

  I couldn’t help but balk at that. “I’d never,” I insisted. “Not when I love him the way I do.”

  Francesca Fiore smiled. “Welcome to the family, then.”

  Chapter 25

  Leonardo~

  We’ve done each other a lot of favors over the years. Hell, Luca, Sal, Ciro, Phoenix, and I have known each other since goddamn grade school, so it goes without saying that we’ve done a lot for each other.

  But this was a first.

  After we’d gotten the girls their drinks-which really had just been code for giving them some privacy-I had gotten the feeling that things could work out better than I’d hoped. With the babies playing and everyone talking like we were everyday-people, I could feel Sienna relax and fall into the conversation around us and actually enjoy herself, even after being threatened by Frankie.

  Talk about a surprise.

  I’ve always believed that Frankie didn’t care for me or Sal that much, so I had been shocked to hear her threatened Sienna on my behalf. While I hadn’t appreciated the woman I loved being threatened, I couldn’t put Frankie in the wrong. Fully immersed in her place in the family, she had made her position known, very much like Luca had when he had threatened to hand Sienna over to Sal should she ever betray us.

  I got it.

  I really did.

  I’d just been surprised the threat had come from Frankie. I couldn’t see Robbie openly threatening anyone unless it was absolutely necessary, but Remy was married to Luca for a reason, and I knew she could be vicious if the occasion called for it. Frankie was the one groomed for this life, so she was always going to be the one to go into a situation head-first, no fear.

  Vincent Fiore was going to be a beast when he got older.

  And now, satisfied that everything was going in my favor, I was at The Funhouse, a naked Ryan Trent strapped to a table in the middle of the room. And if you’re wondering why the bastard was still alive after two days, well the first day was yesterday with Sienna meeting everyone and today had been pushed off as a favor to Ciro. He’d had a couple of things he needed to take care of, so he had asked me to hold off on my quality time with Ryan, hence the favor.

  When he finally descended down the stairs to the ground floor, Phoenix said, “It’s about fucking time.” Ciro flipped him off. “You act like we don’t have shit to do.”

  “Eat a dick, Nix,” Ciro replied easily.

  “What is this about, Ciro?” Luca asked, just as impatient as Phoenix.

  Ciro grinned and it really was disturbing how happy he was in this godforsaken place. “I got a new toy I wanted to show you guys,” he said, joy in every single one of those words.

  “You had us holding off just to show us a new toy?” Sal asked. “Christ, Ciro, some of us really do have shit to do.”

  “Shut it, Benetti,” Ciro flung back. “You guys are going to love this.”

  And that’s when it hit me. “The damn Scold’s Bridle.”

  Ciro’s grin morphed into a full-blown smile. “Yep.”

  “What’s a Scold’s Bridle,” Phoenix asked, all five of us ignoring Ryan’s muffled screams around the cloth I had stuffed in his mouth. Luca would have cut his tongue out by now had I not taken care of his pleas for mercy.

  Ciro walked over to his closet of torture instruments and pulled the bridle out, presenting it to us like a Lion King reenactment. “Ta da!”

  “What are we looking at?” Sal asked.

  “A Christmas present for Luca,” Ciro answered with a thumbs up Luca’s way.

  Luca showered us with one of his rare grins. “You shouldn’t haven’t.”

  “What’s it used for?” Phoenix asked.

  Ciro looked my way. “Would you like to do the honors, Leo?”

  Chuckling, I shook my head as I walked over to where Ryan was strapped down. Ciro followed me, and after yanking the cloth from his mouth, his cries were quickly muffled again as Ciro secured the bridle in place. A little bit of blood dripped from the side of Ryan’s mouth before he understood the point of the bridle.

  “Niiiiiiiiiiiice,” Sal drawled out. “I like it.”

  Ciro’s face lit up. “Right?” He looked over at Luca. “This way, there’s no threat of them choking on their own blood when we cut their tongues out.”

  “Where do you find this shit?” Phoenix asked. “I mean, seriously.”

  “Shut it, Nix. Don’t ruin my surprise for Luca.”

  “It’s beautiful, Ciro,” Luca chuckled. “A real gem.”

  “I thought so,” Ciro agreed. “I got one for each spot and even two extra for you, Sal.”

  “Look at that, it is Christmas after all,” Sal remarked.

  Christ, if Sienna could see us now, she’d run for the hills and never look back. Hell, the girl would run all the way to the FBI’s doorstep and beg for witness protection.

  And I wouldn’t blame her.

  “Who wants to go first?” Ciro asked.

  “Me, asshole,” Phoenix answered. “I promised Frankie I’d be home an hour ago.” With that, Phoenix went for quick and simple. Something that would make an impact but keep Ryan alive for the rest of what was to come. Phoenix shattered his kneecaps with a sledgehammer, then left just as quickly.

  “I’ll go next,” Sal said. “I’ve got a body I need to check on.” And with that, Sal grabbed the pickaxe and hit it precisely where he needed to in order to break one entire side of Ryan’s ribs and then he was gone after that.

  “Since I know you guys want to spend some quality brother time together, I’ll go next,” Ciro said, winking at us like a nutjob. I glanced at Luca and he just smirked as Ciro went for the eyes. “I’m going to blind you, Ryan, that way you go a little crazy not being able to see what’s coming next,” he told him conversationally, and then proceeded to blind the man.

  And the Scold’s Bridle?

  An absolute gem.

  After Ciro left Ryan Trent blind and bloody, he took off to go do whatever it was he did when he wasn’t on the job, and then that left me and Luca.

  My brother looked at me and said, “You don’t have to do this, Leo. I can finish up here.”

  I looked at him and knew what he was doing. I was the soft Benetti. I only killed out of necessity. I was the baby of the family, the one who’d gone to college, and the most protected. Luca was trying to save my soul the best he could. He knew it was too late for Sal, and he, Ciro, and Phoenix were of a different breed. But me? I could still be saved.

  But could I?

  I didn’t think I could be. Not anymore. When Ryan Trent went after Sienna, something very significant was altered and there
was no going back. As long as Sienna was in my life, I’d deal with any threat to her the same way I was about to deal with Ryan Trent.

  “But I do have to do this,” I told him. “The man touched what’s mine, Luca. I’d rather my soul rot in hell than become a man who cannot protect or avenge his woman. I might not be you or Sal, but I’m still a Benetti.”

  Luca gave me an understanding nod. “Well, then, I suppose I’ll go next.” And with that, Luca began to carve out random patches of his skin, letting the cool air pierce the exposed flesh painfully. As far as Luca was concerned, Ryan Trent had gone after a Benetti, but because this was personally connected to me, I got him instead of Sal. However, Luca had still gone about making his point regarding people who attacked his family.

  After Luca was done, I walked up to the table and removed the Scold’s bridle from a semi-conscious Ryan Trent. I glanced back at Luca. “Sorry,” I told him. “But I want to hear his screams.”

  Luca raised a raven brow. “You’ve been hanging around Sal too much.”

  “Maybe,” I joked. “But I need this to stay with me. I need to feel like I took care of her the way she needs me to take care of her.”

  Luca nodded. “Not a problem.”

  I leaned down until my voice was the only thing in Ryan Trent’s ear. “Congratulations on your new job in Florida. The acceptance letter that’s going to be found in your work locker is going to shock everyone. Too bad you’ll get into a horrible wreck, crashing into a ravine on the way there. So many people are going to miss you, Trent.”

  I straightened to my full height before taking a scalpel to his dick and balls, his screams piercing the room, blood squirting everywhere, before shoving his family jewels down his throat.

  “I’m pretty sure all the women you’ve used, hurt, and blackmailed would love me for that,” I remarked before spending the next half hour torturing Ryan Trent before finally putting him out of his misery.

  As for my soul?

  That belonged to Sienna.

  Epilogue

  Leonardo – (One Month Later)~