Her Mafioso King (The Vitucci Mafiosos Book 4)

by Terri Anne Browning

  “Of course.” Vito Vitucci’s health was often mentioned in our many weekly phone conversations. After he’d suffered a massive heart attack, Scarlett had been filling in from time to time for her father. But it seemed Vito’s health was still declining even after open heart surgery had cleared his arteries of the many blockages he had.

  “Well… Scarlett recently found out she is pregnant again.” I widened my eyes at the news. “At her appointment this past week, they discovered she’s having twins. Again.”

  “How does she feel about that?” I thought, after her last pregnancy, Scarlett and her husband had said no more babies, so I was sure this was a surprise to her, much like her first pregnancy had been.

  “She’s happy. You know how much she enjoyed being pregnant. But this was out of left field for her, and Ciro is adamant that she’s not going to fill in for Papa anymore.” She pushed her hair back from her face, a sign that told me she was still very much aggravated. “And because Papa is getting weaker by the day”—tears filled her eyes, but she continued—“other arrangements had to be made.”

  “Understandable. I’m assuming Ciro will step in? Or Dante since I know Ciro has never wanted that position.” Victoria was shaking her head, and my pulse began to race. “Then who?”

  But I already knew the answer. My stomach clenched at what that meant, and my first instinct was to walk back into the airport and get on the first plane that would take me back to St. Petersburg. I didn’t want to be in the same state with him, let alone the same city. Fuck, I’d moved back to St. Petersburg, a place I detested in my youth, just because I couldn’t stand being in the same damn country as Cristiano Vitucci after he married Sheena O’Brion.

  And now, when I’d finally decided that it was time to come home for good, that I could make a future for myself once again in the city that always felt like home, it was only to be slapped in the face with the reality of the man who nearly destroyed me once again sharing the same zip code?

  I was sure fate was cackling right then, the cunt-face bitch.

  “Cristiano arrived at the compound just now,” Victoria confirmed, her face pinched in pain. “Please know I didn’t think he would arrive this soon. Scarlett and I both thought he wouldn’t come until next week because…” She broke off, biting her lip and groaning when my brows lifted in curiosity.

  “Because?” I urged quietly.

  “Because Ryan has a cold, and we didn’t think Cristiano would travel with his son while he was sick.”

  Not even by a flick of my lashes did I let my sister-in-law see how much pain hearing her speak of the child sliced through me. One of the rules I put into place after our breakup was that Cristiano’s name was never to be mentioned. Which meant that no topic was open to discussion where he was concerned, especially after I found out he ended things between us so he could marry someone else.

  That didn’t mean I didn’t know about the family my ex started with his wife. I still had sources, and when the need to know what was going on in Cristiano’s life became too much to bear, I would use them to get an update. Unfortunately for me, one of those times had coincided with the birth of his son. Seeing the picture on my phone of the dark-eyed little person who looked so much like his father nearly destroyed me, and I hadn’t allowed myself to get information on Cristiano since.

  “But he did?” I asked in a voice that was completely devoid of any emotion that might have given away the chaos of feelings mangling my insides.

  “It seems so. Scarlett wanted to make sure Ryan was settled in, so she had to cancel our plans.”

  I slipped my arm through Victoria’s just as she had mine earlier, guiding her once again toward the limo. “Didn’t the boy’s mother object to traveling with an ill child?”

  That had Victoria stopping in her tracks, forcing me to stop as well. Her brow was furrowed as she moved her head closer to my own. “You don’t know?” I shrugged and shook my head, unsure what I should know. “Sheena died last year. She…” She cut herself off again, pressing her lips closed. “Well, she died.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” I told her, unsure what else I should say in that moment. I was sorry if the death of her sister-in-law caused her pain. I was even sorry a small boy lost his mother. But that was as far as my feelings went on the subject.

  Victoria rolled her eyes at that. “Please. Sheena was a heinous bitch. There wasn’t a single person in the universe who loved that woman, my idiot brother included. If anything, many people breathed a sigh of relief once she was six feet under. I’m just glad Ryan doesn’t have to grow up with her as his maternal influence. She had no business having children. Her pregnancy came as a surprise to us all, especially Cristiano.”

  “Mama!” Sofia was the one now sticking her head from the car. “Please hurry.”

  Victoria’s eyes twinkled with love and patience as she glanced at her daughter. “Mama is talking, Sofia.”

  “Can’t you talk inside the car?” the little girl asked in exasperation. “Theo is very hungry.”

  Victoria and I both laughed at the logic, and I walked around my sister-in-law to reach the car. “Very good idea, Sofia. Why didn’t we think of that?” I climbed in beside my niece, leaving room for her mother beside her brother. “Actually, I’m very hungry too. My stomach has been growling since before my plane landed. What shall we eat once we get home?”

  Animatedly, both children began suggesting their favorite foods. With a smile, I half listened to them, making the appropriate noises when I knew it was expected. But on the inside, I was fighting a losing battle not to think about Cristiano Vitucci. I hadn’t seen him in five years, and now it was inevitable that we would meet. My heart was racing with the idea of seeing him once again, while my brain was screaming at me to run.

  Chapter 2

  Cristiano

  Pop’s gray face was set in hard lines as he stood weakly, giving me his chair. With a hand on his arm, I urged him back into the seat. “Pop, this isn’t necessary.”

  He straightened to his full height, but I could see—everyone in the room could see—that it cost him what little strength he had left for the moment. “This is your right. That chair belongs to you now, son. Don’t let anyone else ever sit there. Understand?”

  Jaw clenching, I gave a single nod and then let Adrian and Ciro help him around the desk and into the most comfortable guest chair in the room. My heart hurt watching Pop lean on others just to walk. He was fading more with each passing day. Scarlett had told me plenty of times over the last few months just how sick he was, but I hadn’t believed her until I saw it was my own eyes.

  I always thought Pop was invincible. Nothing could touch him, especially not illness. Yet there he sat, a weak, sick old man who was merely a shell of the force who once seemed to rule the world from the chair that was now mine.

  Once Pop had his breath back somewhat, he looked up at me with pride as he observed me in the chair I never actually thought I would sit in. Pop was supposed to live forever. Even though I was his heir, I’d never pictured the day when he would hand over the reins completely. If anything, I always expected things would carry on much as they had the previous five years. With me in control in Chicago and Pop or Scarlett running things from New York.

  But Scarlett’s surprise third pregnancy had blown all of those ideas out of the water. Ciro was freaking out that she was pregnant again, making me wonder if my little sister was having a difficult time with this pregnancy. I knew she was having twins, but she’d done that before with Zayne and Zariah while still filling in for Pop, so this should have been a cakewalk to her.

  Yet Ciro was putting his foot down about her no longer helping, and for once, my sister wasn’t putting up a fight.

  Yeah, something was very off with that.

  But I didn’t have time to figure out what could be going on with my sister. I knew she would tell us all what was happening eventually, and there was no use trying to force her to talk until she was ready.
<
br />   “You look good in that chair, son. I always knew you would.” Pop coughed roughly, and Adrian was there with a glass of water, helping Pop hold it when his fingers were too shaky to do it himself.

  Once he was calm again, he sat heavily in the chair, looking completely out of energy. “I have to return to bed soon. Scarlett will come looking for me any minute now with that damn oxygen tank.” From the looks of it, he needed it now, though, but I didn’t speak the thought aloud. “So, let’s get this over with, yeah?”

  “Yeah, Pop.”

  “I always hoped Benito would be here to help guide you once you took over. But he and Mary are enjoying the sunshine down in Florida for the cold months these days. Ciro stepped in as my adviser after his retirement. Trust him, son. You will need him and the others at your side during this transition.”

  “Yeah, Pop. I will,” I promised. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got this.”

  Pop’s smile was weak but full of confidence. In me. “I know you do, son. I know you do.”

  A quick tap on the door was all the warning we had before Scarlett walked into the room with a portable oxygen tank in her hands. She didn’t have the normal glowing skin that I remembered from her previous two pregnancies, further amplifying my earlier concern that she wasn’t having an easy pregnancy so far.

  Maybe it was the stress of Pop’s illness. I saw how her eyes darkened with a sorrow she couldn’t quite hide as she marched across the office and placed the oxygen tubes in Pop’s nose. He instantly began to breathe easier, his skin looking slightly less gray. “Papa, you should rest. Cristiano is here now, and you don’t have to stress yourself any longer. Please return to your room. For me?”

  His eyes washed over her lovingly, as if memorizing every one of her features, although he must have already known them by heart. “Of course, passerotta. Anything for you.”

  Scarlett moved as if to help him up, then stepped back at the last moment. Ciro moved seamlessly into her place, helping Pop to his feet and half carrying his weight as the three of them left the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, I scrubbed my hands over my face in frustration.

  Seeing Pop so sick and helpless was killing me, and I’d just gotten here. And as close as Scarlett and he were, I knew this was destroying my sister.

  “How long?” I muttered, turning my gaze to my brother-in-law and the only remaining person in the room.

  “Until it’s over?” Adrian asked, and I nodded. His face twisted for a moment with his own pain at the thought of losing his father-in-law. Whether it was the pain he imagined Victoria being in, or if it was his own, I didn’t know. But the agony was there nonetheless. “The doctors say three months, max.”

  “Do you believe them?”

  Adrian shrugged. “Only God knows that. But if I had to take a guess, I don’t think he will reach the three-month mark. I’m sorry.”

  “Me too,” I muttered, scrubbing my hands over my face once again. Blowing out a frustrated breath, I pushed back the idea of losing Pop for good and focused on the present. “So, tell me, how are my niece and nephew? Is Sofia still ruling supreme over your house?”

  “That’s a mild understatement,” he said with a grin. “My daughter knows who is in charge, and most times, it is definitely not Victoria or me. That girl has everyone wrapped tightly around her finger, and she’s very much aware of it.”

  “As she should. She reminds me so much of…” I trailed off without finishing the sentence, clenching my jaw and my hands into fists.

  That quickly, I could think of her. From one second to the next, Anya could enter my mind and take over every sane thought. It had been five years since I’d seen her, touched her, felt her heartbeat. Yet it could have been only yesterday. I gave up everything when I walked away from her, thinking it would give me something else entirely. But the cost of losing Anya had been too high a price to pay for the life I bought with that heartache.

  Adrian’s smile disappeared, and he leaned forward in his chair. “Speaking of my sister, she’s home.”

  “What?”

  He nodded. “She visits every few months to make sure everything is running smoothly at the club. Victoria convinced her that she needed to come home for good, and surprisingly, Anya agreed. That’s where Victoria is right now. She and the kids are picking up Anya from the airport as we speak.”

  Before I could completely wrap my head around the realization that Anya was back, that for the first time in five long years we were both in the same city at the same time, Ciro walked into the room with Dante, forcing me to put those thoughts on hold.

  --

  After spending the night before up with my son trying to coax him to sleep and knowing, even if he did, he would wake from the usual night terrors he suffered with, and an afternoon trying to get caught up on everything that needed my immediate attention, I should have fallen asleep as soon as my head touched my pillow.

  Instead, I lay there, unable to close my eyes or turn off my brain.

  All I could think about was that somewhere in the city was Anya. My legs felt restless, as if they wanted to do nothing but run. To her. I knew what would ease the feeling, this desperate need to get out of the house and find her. I needed to see Anya with my own eyes. Needed to just look at her, fuck, for a little while. To soak up the reality of the woman.

  A scream had me tossing back my covers and moving swiftly from my room and into the one adjoining it. Before I could reach my son’s bed, the scream came again, and I hit the light switch before sprinting the last few feet as he began to thrash from side to side.

  “No! No, Mommy. Please. P-Please!”

  I scooped Ryan into my arms and dropped down onto the edge of the bed, rocking the little boy. “It’s okay, figlio. You’re safe.” I pressed my lips to his temple. “Papa’s here, little man.”

  He jerked in my hold, coming out of the nightmare. He sucked in a shuddery breath and wrapped his arms around my neck, holding on as if I was his lifeline. I rocked him, easing him back to sleep as his little body finally gave up the fight and fell into a restless sleep.

  My eyes skimmed over what little of his face I could see as he pressed his head into my chest. Ryan was my spitting image; there was no denying he was my son, even if I had time and again during Sheena’s pregnancy. Sexual encounters with my wife had been few and far between, something both of us had been perfectly fine with. But every time we did fuck, I’d used protection, regardless of how many times she’d assured me she was on birth control. Sheena had been cunning, though. When she wanted something, she made her own decisions. She’d sabotaged my condoms, ensuring she would get pregnant.

  I still couldn’t understand how she could want a baby so much and then turn around and abuse the beautiful life we created.

  Thinking of all my son had gone through in his short life only pissed me off. His own mother had left him both physically and emotionally afraid of every person who came into his life. He only trusted me, but I’d had to work damn hard to earn that trust. Ignoring Sheena meant I’d ignored my responsibilities as a father, and I’d failed my son in a way that would haunt him for his entire life.

  Once he was asleep again and I was sure he wasn’t going to wake from another nightmare anytime soon, I quietly left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar so I could hear him better if he started screaming again. As I turned from the door, tiredly headed for my own bed, I found Scarlett standing in the hall, her face pale as death as she looked at my son’s bedroom door.

  “Does that happen often?” she asked softly.

  “Every night since Sheena died,” I informed her. “I’m hoping that being around family will help him. His therapist agreed it would be a good change for him.”

  “She really was a fucking monster, wasn’t she?” Scarlett shook her head sadly. “I could never imagine doing to any of my children what was done to Ryan.”

  That old rage when I thought about my dead wife filled me. “Yeah. She’s rotting in hell n
ow, Scarlett. And I can’t wait to join her so I can break that bitch’s neck again and again.”

  My sister put her hand on my shoulder, calming me somewhat. “You did the right thing, Cristiano. Here, Ryan will have his cousins to play with, and Tor and I will do everything we can to make things easier for him.”

  “I know. Thanks, Scarlett.” I hugged her then stepped back quickly. “You should head back to bed. You need rest just as much as Pop does right now.”

  She sighed tiredly, pushing her tangled hair back from her face. “I just came from checking on him. The night nurse was having to give him some meds.” Her voice cracked, and she swallowed hard. “We’re losing him.”

  I hugged her again, holding her close and tight for a long moment. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll do whatever I have to in order to make that possible.”

  She pushed her face into my chest for a few seconds. “I’m just glad you’re home. That we will all be together when… when…” She broke off, and both of us were quiet for a few minutes before she stepped back and, with a pained smile, said a weak “Goodnight.”

  I waited until she closed her bedroom door before even moving toward my own, but as I started to turn the knob, I heard Ryan scream again. Cursing under my breath, I headed back to his room and climbed into bed beside him. No use in trying to sleep in my own bed tonight. My son was more important than sleep anyway.

  Chapter 3

  Anya

  After spending the day before with Theo and Sofia, I had to dedicate the next day to work. It was why I came back from St. Petersburg throughout the year. Despite having left Iron Hand in the hands of a management team, it didn’t mean I wasn’t still hands-on when it came to the one place that felt like my sanctuary.

  I got weekly reports on everything, but reports could easily be faked. So I came in and did my own audits just to keep everyone on their toes and to put a little fear in their hearts so they knew better than to fuck me over.