I was so grateful to hear him say that, but …
There was something that had always been on my mind. A name. A name I’d left out because I wasn’t sure. Christina had been with many guys, but thinking of this one guy I’d spotted her with just before she died always made my soul shiver. Just for what I saw him do.
When you were investigating a murder like hers you looked at everyone. Dante looked at everyone he could. Having an extra name could have opened up another path. It would, however, be a path he shouldn’t go down. Not when the name I had was just speculation in my mind.
Just speculation.
When you grew up the way I did, you knew if you weren’t certain about something you should shut up about it until you were. I grew up around the mafia and all manner of criminals. Bad people you didn’t want to fuck with just because you speculated.
The thing was if I could do more than speculate, I would go over that guy myself. Dante wouldn’t have to do it. I would, even now I’d do it, and that was saying a lot because I had Flynn to think about.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “It’s hard. It feels like every time I say it, makes it real. It really happened.” I didn’t like opening up to anyone. With him though it felt okay to do it a little bit. Not a lot to wear me down, just enough to ease the pain I’d carried around for years. “It means the years passed and my best friend really wasn’t in my life and she won’t be coming back to my house to see me and we can’t make fun of her overprotective brother on his old bike. Vintage bike.”
“I wasn’t protective enough. Or, maybe she’d still be here.”
I shook my head. “No Dante, you know that’s not true. Definitely not. You were a good brother. Still are.”
Better to stay focused and not dwell on it.
“I’m glad you think so.” He straightened up. “Means I at least fulfilled some sort of promise to her.”
“What kind of promise was that?” I asked.
“She made me promise to look after you.” He replied and stole my breath away.
“She did that?” It touched my heart to hear that.
“Yeah, you know her. She was thinking of going to Europe to study art at one point. I thought she was working to save up for that, even though I would have paid for it. She wanted to do it on her own though, because I took over everything after our father died. When she spoke to me about it, she made me promise I’d look out for you.”
Christina was definitely working to save for art school that was a fact. Then things changed, she changed. She changed and stopped talking about art.
“She always took care of me.” I nodded.
“She was. Always taking care of me too. She didn’t need to make me promise to look out for you though. I would have done it anyway.”
“Yes. I believe that you would have.”
“I did. Or as best as I could. I guess looks can be deceiving. You looked happy when last I saw you.”
I narrowed my eyes not sure what he meant. “I don’t know if I was happy. Things were always up and down here. You know what it’s like.”
“I know, but I wasn’t talking about here. I was talking about Florida.”
I fixed my gaze on him and looked at him long and hard.
Florida?
“What do you mean?”
“Remember that conversation we had once? You asked me if I’d follow you to make sure you were safe. I did.” The corners of his lips turned up into a smile.
“You went to Florida to see me?” I couldn’t believe it.
“I heard you got there safe, but I had to go make sure and see you for myself. I found you and saw you walking down the beach with a guy who looked like he was into you. You looked happy. You looked happy so I stayed away. You didn’t need the reminder of Chicago. It was bad for you, too many bad things happened here. I felt Florida would be good for you and give you a fresh start. You looked happy, so I left satisfied you were safe.”
I’d assumed no one bothered with me. Shame on me again. I should have known I’d have him.
He’d look for me.
That guy had been Franco. Our getting to know each other started out with taking walks in the afternoon.
If only Dante knew how that story had turned out.
My heart was so full. Filled with everything.
I stood up and walked around to him. He watched me with keen curiosity and I remembered that same conversation when I told him to impress me with stupid money.
Money wasn’t anything, and really he’d always impressed me the whole time. I was just too stupid and selfish to realize it.
I stepped closer, inches away from his lips. Him sitting down gave me an advantage. An advantage to fulfill my very own fantasy.
I closed my eyes and moved even closer, pressing my lips to his and God did my knees go weak.
The second our lips touched heat washed over me and all my years of curiosity over what it would be like to be with him rose to the surface.
I had to pull back, when I did I noticed the dark desire in his eyes and realized he wasn’t that boy anymore.
The boy I used to know.
He was Dante, one of the capos to the Chicago Mafia Boss.
And I was nobody.
“What was that for, doll?”
“You impress me. I’m just not anyone to impress. I never was.” I stepped back. “I should go. Flynn needs me.”
I backed away and turned to go.
“You owe me more than a kiss.” He said stopping me in my tracks. He stood and walked over to me. That lock of hair fell over his eye giving him a sexy edge. “The way I remember it was this, you said I could touch you wherever I wanted, anywhere I wanted and do whatever I wanted to you. All that if I made six figures a month. Well sometimes I make seven digits, so I’m taking more than just a kiss and the offer to do whatever I want to you.”
I didn’t realize I wasn’t breathing. Not until he reached for me and bunched my camisole top up so tight it pulled down revealing my bra and the huge swells of my breasts.
“More?” I was surprised he remembered that and surprised I could talk.
He lowered to my ear and whispered. “I want you. I’m having you, claiming you and making you my girl. I’m taking everything, and if your mine, your son is mine too.”
My heart squeezed and in this purely heated moment I felt the deepest gratitude. I turned my head to face him and the second I did he reclaimed my lips, crushing his lips to mine. Kissing me properly. Kissing me with so much more of everything that was missing from the nervous, chaste kiss I gave him.
The kiss turned hungry and truly erotic when he swept his hot, slick tongue into my mouth. My knees buckled and he caught me, moving with me over to the wall where he pressed me right up against it and deepened the kiss, sizzling and scorching me clean.
When he moved back, I thought I would die from the loss of contact.
He gave me a cruel smile and rested his hand on the wall beside me.
“Flynn,” he said. “He’s the only reason why I’m stopping. I’ll take my own sweet time with you, to fuck you properly next time. Be ready next time. Capisce?”
My damn cheeks burned and I swallowed hard. “Capisce?”
He moved his hand away and I had to will myself to move.
Flynn. He was the only thing that could make me move right now.
On shaky legs I walked away, looking back over my shoulder to see he was watching me.
Watching me the way a predator would when it’s prey was exactly where it wanted it and I felt it.
Unlike the prey, I wanted the predator to take me.
Chapter 12
Dante
Maria had always been a difficult woman to get out of my head.
I couldn’t count the amount of times she popped into my head and the amount of times I struggled to get her out.
I couldn’t wait to see her tonight.
It really was the factor of her getting back to Flynn that stopped me from rippi
ng her clothes off and devouring her fine body right there against the wall last night.
It was that part I couldn’t get out of my head. The anticipation of what was coming next. I’d done the chase all these long years, watching her with one guy after another. Never my girl, when she was always supposed to be mine. Now it was my time to collect and it was all I could think about despite all the shit that was happening with what Gibbs had brought to light. And … the fact that I knew something was going on with Maria.
I couldn’t be like Claudius and Luc, barging in on her demanding she tell me what was up. With women like her, you had to give them time to open up.
Give her time and she’d be completely yours. That kiss was something I couldn’t forget.
Not the one I gave her, that one was a long time coming. I meant the one she gave me.
I saw her soul. She held it before me trusting me with her heart. If only for those few seconds she truly felt like she belonged to me.
So much to think about, I had to push it right out of my mind and refocus as we sat in Claudius’ office downtown—ready for business.
I switched my focus as Claudius laid out what was discussed back at the garage with Marcus.
We hadn’t met like this until now, because we were waiting for Gibbs to check out the files the feds had on Stephen. We also wouldn’t be meeting like this on a Saturday if it wasn’t important.
Marcus must have been quiet for all of five minutes before he templed his fingers and cleared his throat. He reminded me of Raphael when he did that.
Both of them used to scare me to be honest. You knew in an instant that you should never try to fuck with them.
The minute Claudius mentioned the name Antonella, Marcus tensed.
“Pa, you gonna say something, anytime soon?” Claudius asked.
Marcus shot him a sharp glance and straightened up.
Alex tensed next to me, of all of us he was always the first to get agitated.
He was the youngest and not quite able to hold his own just yet. He was still a bad ass, but he showed too much emotion sometimes. It was different to me and Gio who just sat still and waited out a situation with patience until it was time to act.
“You know what, this is fucking serious shit. You people can’t just expect me to cough up my opinion and be on board just like that without thinking. You know what this means? Sniffing around.” Marcus looked at all of us, but his gaze landed on me. “You.” He pointed at me and I instantly straightened.
“Sir,” I said staring at him.
“Your father was a good friend to me, as was yours Gio. Alex, I know you and I consider you all my sons. This is no mere decision. Last year when shit was going down, I prayed we could contain the situation, but it all said to me that with people like the Antonellas, Manellos, and other big fish resurfacing change was coming.”
I was listening, listening big time.
“Pa, they know not to fuck with us, that’s why things have been under wraps for as long as it has.” Claudius cut in.
“Boy, they know not to fuck with us, but that doesn’t mean they’re scared of us. We turn a blind eye and allow them to do what they’re doing. But knowing they’re definitely involved with Christina’s death means we can’t do that any longer.”
“What are we going to do?” I had to ask because I was ready to plan, had been ready since we last saw Gibbs. I still didn’t know what plans to make that didn’t involve doing something I’d done already.
Marcus now looked more uneasy. “Trade. That was how we did it back in the old days. A secret for a secret, a name, for a name. Something of value for information.”
Something of value …
Jesus. I didn’t expect Claudius or anyone for that matter to have to give up anything for me.
“Pa, this is gonna be you. I don’t know how to get to these people. Last year we had to sniff them out like the rats they were. Then when all was said and done they scampered away. To where we don’t know.”
“Crowthorne Society was a place all the Antonellas gathered with their allied families. So, the Manellos were always there, and so were the Salvatores. Pissing on their territory means instant war. We got a taste of that last year. There was one guy however who we could reach. We called him the observer. The Salvatores called him a traitor. His name is Vinny Salvatore. He’ll help us if we give him something.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Why would a Salvatore help us even with a trade?” The Salvatores were as much as an enemy as the rest of them. They hated us.
Marcus pressed his lips together. “You’ll see why when you see him. Try if you can to set something up today. Then we know where we stand for the upcoming week. He’ll want the old mill house by the lake.”
“A whole house?” I asked.
Marcus nodded. “His family built that and Raphael seized it when he bought the land. They didn’t have ownership over the land itself so Raphael took it from them, and because he hated the Salvatores he didn’t give any leeway for them to have the chance to buy it from him. He threw them all outside on the same day of the purchase. The whole family.”
Damn, I’d heard Raphael was a cold-hearted son of a bitch. I just never really dived in deep to hear the horror stories. I knew what he was capable of though. I wouldn’t pretend I thought he was some saint.
“Okay, let’s do this.” Claudius clapped his hands and glanced over at me. “You ready?”
“I’m ready.” I nodded.
* * *
Marcus was right.
When I saw Vinny Salvatore I knew why he would help us, even without the trade.
We got to a beautiful manor home around lunch time. A butler answered the door and led us into a study where we found an elderly man sitting behind his desk with no eyes.
No, fucking eyes.
No eyes, one ear cut off, and one arm. The arm he had, just had three fingers but they were stumps of the fingers that used to be there. Then down the side of his neck was a burn mark that spelled out the word traitor like someone had branded him.
“You looking at me boy?” he seemed to be looking straight at me.
Fuck, it was creepy. Most people with no eyes wore a patch or dark glasses.
This guy just sat there, gray hair adorning his head and beard, the rest of him looking frail.
His family had done that to him. There was no need for an explanation.
“Mr. Salvatore,” Claudius began. “I believe my father spoke with you earlier.”
“Yes boss, he sure did,” Vinny replied with a wide smile. “It’s amazing when you lose your sense of sight, you have to make use of your other senses. Emotion I can feel it coming from this one in waves.” He pointed at me.
Gio and Alex looked at me, as did Claudius.
“Someone killed my sister, ten years ago. Someone killed her and I want to find them,” I replied.
He stopped smiling. “Terrible thing that. Terrible thing. I know all too well what the sting of death can do to a person. I saw it too many times. In my case, they thought death was too good for me. So, they made an example out of me instead.”
“I’m sorry.” I thought I should offer up.
“Don’t be. For it was a reminder that I can keep a secret if I need to and shows others that I can be trusted. It’s like social proofing. This is what happened to me, because I wouldn’t talk. Like a review of a good book it serves as testament to others the kind of man I am.” He smiled and looked at Claudius. I didn’t know how he could tell us apart like that. “Boss, helping you could be a bad idea, you know that right?”
“I know. But we want the help.” Claudius returned his smile.
Vinny returned his focus to me. “I suppose it comes down to a few things really. One, what you do with the information, and two, if you can figure the rest out for yourselves. Come on spill it. I want to hear it from you?” He pointed at me.
“I think the man my sister was seeing killed her. I found her dead in a penthous
e suite. She’d been seen with Donny Manello at the Crowthorne Society and we have intel that suggests she was in with someone important at Crowthorne hall.”
“Hmmmm.” Was all he said.
We all looked at him waiting with expectancy for him to elaborate or do something more than the nothing he was doing.
“Well?” I prodded. “Any of that mean anything to you?”
“Of course, it does. I’m just thinking.”
Jesus, my damn nerves. I didn’t know how much more I could actually take.
“Tell me more about what happened when you found her,” he stated.
“She was surrounded by roses, stabbed multiple times and had a note on her. it said …” I had to stop, because it was hard to continue. Every time I thought of the words that motherfucker had put on my sister I felt like killing. “It said: whore this is what you get.”
Vinny stared at me. “That sounds like she had dirt on him, serious dirt,”
“She was pregnant.” I offered.
“Wow, that’s heavy stuff, but not heavy enough. That kind of thing happens on the regular in those circles. Often times they just pay the women off to keep their secrets. I’m thinking it had to be more serious than that. Also … that there must have been two of them. Two guys.”
I straightened up. “What do you mean? Why two?” I glanced at Claudius and then to Gio and Alex.
“Doesn’t fit the M.O. one killed out of anger, the other maybe lured her there. He’s the crazy. He scattered the roses. That’s the work of a psychopath who gets off on watching evil at work. The killer though he flipped out, that’s your multiple stabbings. He was enraged with your sister, that part is the note. She had dirt on him.”
Fucking hell. This was hard. “What kind of dirt do you think it was?”
“The guy you’re looking for would have been a government official. That’s the kind of guys we worked with. The secret was. If they belonged to the Crowthorne, they were in our protected circle. If she was there, then this guy was getting protection from the Antonella’s and still is. It’s protection for life. That’s the pact made.”
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