by Reilly, Cora
“I won’t betray the Outfit.”
I’d expected that answer. Fabiano had been brought up in the Outfit, brought up with the knowledge that one day he would follow in his father’s footsteps. “Then you’ll have to stop us from leaving. And we won’t let you. There will be blood, and you will die.”
Fabiano met my gaze. “I’m a good shot.”
He was also terrified. “I believe you. But are you better than all three of us? Do you really want your sister Lily to be punished? If you force her to stay, you sign her death warrant.”
Conflict showed on his face. “If I let you leave, and someone finds out, they will kill me too. I could die an honest death if I tried to stop you.”
“You could, and they would sing your praise, but you’d be dead all the same. Do you want to die today?” He was still young. Death held more terror for him than it did for us. He hadn’t faced it often enough yet.
Fabiano lowered his gun a couple of inches. I doubted he noticed.
“Nobody has to find out that you let us leave. You could have tried to stop us but we were too many,” Romero said.
“They will think I was scared and ran away, and that’s why you escaped.”
I gave Romero a sign. I could tell that we had Fabiano. “Not if you got wounded. We could shoot you in the arm. This was meant as an easy first job—nobody expects you to be capable of stopping the best fighters of New York. They won’t hold it against you if you got shot.”
Aria stared. “You want to shoot my brother?”
“What if you injure him seriously?” Lily asked.
“I could hit the zit on his chin if I wanted to; I think I can manage to hit an unproblematic spot on his arm,” Matteo said. “And we’re taking a risk by not killing him, so an arm wound is really nothing.”
I ignored them and focused my attention on the boy. “So what do you say, Fabiano?”
There was conflict in his eyes but then he lowered his gun. “Okay. But I will have to call for help. I can’t wait more than a few minutes or they’ll get suspicious.”
I kept my gun pointed at Fabiano, as did Romero and Matteo. “A few minutes should be enough for us to drive away. They will follow us once they figure out what’s going on, but five minutes will bring enough distance between us and them. Dante isn’t someone who likes fighting in the open, so I doubt he’ll send his men on a wild car chase. He’ll attack us later, once he’s figured out the best way to hurt us.”
After we faked a shooting and Matteo shot Fabiano’s arm, we sped off in our rental cars. Romero and Lily made up the front in their car, and the rest of us got into the other car. Matteo was behind the wheel, Gianna beside him, while Aria and I sat in the backseat. I glanced through the window and after a few minutes, three black Outfit cars began chasing us.
“Down,” I ordered, and Aria complied at once, curling up on the seat, worry and fear on her face. I let down the window, preparing to shoot. So far Dante’s men hadn’t fired a single shot, probably because we were still in a residential area. Neither he nor I needed additional attention from the press or the police. The moment we passed into an industrial area, I held my gun out and began firing. Our window shattered and Aria let out a scream. I fired again and hit the shooter in the head. My next bullet tore through their tire, and the car spun out of control. The two other cars kept up their pursuit but eventually they slowed. Dante must have given the order for them to pull back. He would attack soon, after he’d made a plan where he could hurt us the most. Fuck.
When I was sure we wouldn’t be attacked again, I lowered my gaze to where Aria was pressed against the seat. I brushed shards off her hair and shoulder, and she opened her eyes, peering up at me with trust. Trust that I would protect her, but damn it, doing that had become more difficult today.
“You can never return to Chicago,” I said quietly as she sat up. “You will never see your brother again.”
Her expression crumpled, and she pressed against me and buried her face in my neck. I held her as she cried. Matteo met my gaze through the rearview mirror. We both knew shit would hit the fan soon, and we’d have our hands full controlling our uncles and keeping the Outfit out of our territory.
Love. The root of weakness.
Fuck.
Aria raised her head again, those fucking baby blues drawing me in as they always did.
chapter 14
ARIA
Luca was still tense around me, had been since he’d found out I’d known about Lily and Romero, and not told him. Since Dante Cavallaro had declared war on us because of it, Luca’s mood hadn’t improved.
He would never raise a hand to me or insult me, but he was colder than usual. He sought me out at night, still made love to me, but there was a barrier between us. I wasn’t sure how to tear it down again.
After we returned to our penthouse after Lily and Romero’s wedding, I pressed my hand against his chest over his heart, looking up into his guarded gray eyes. “Luca, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Romero and Lily. Please don’t be angry. I can’t bear it. I need you. I love you. I only meant to protect Lily, not betray you.”
His eyes softened marginally. “And I need to protect the Famiglia and you, but that will be more difficult now that we are at war with the Outfit. We have the Russians and the Outfit against us, and then there’s the Camorra in Las Vegas. If they decide to attack us too, or heaven forbid cooperate with the Outfit, we’ll be in trouble.”
I shivered. “Is it a real possibility that will happen?”
“The Camorra isn’t very strong at the moment, but that can change.”
Since I started working the books for the Famiglia, I was more involved in the business, but Luca still made sure I only got to experience a very small part of the bad.
“But most of your men don’t blame you for breaking truce with the Outfit, right? They are loyal to you because you are strong and capable.”
Luca smiled darkly. “They want war, but they don’t like why Dante declared war on us. And that I made Romero Captain hasn’t been received well either. It’s mostly still only my uncles stirring up shit, but if my other Underbosses decide to side with them, I will have to go on a killing spree I’m really not looking forward to.”
I shivered. “Be careful.”
Six weeks since war had been declared; six weeks of nothing but silence from Chicago, from Fabi.
I worried about him, couldn’t stop myself from worrying. My mind was whirring as I decorated the Christmas tree in the huge living area of our mansion with Lily and Gianna. This year we’d spend most of the Christmas time in the Hamptons. Luca wanted us out of New York. Things were tense there right now because everyone feared retaliation from Dante and the Outfit.
It was still only the beginning of December, but I hoped the Christmas decorations would lift our spirits.
Gianna slanted a look at me. “You are very quiet.”
I sighed. “I’m worried about Fabi. Now that I can’t talk to Val anymore, we have no way of finding out how he’s doing.”
“Val said they believed his story and won’t punish him. He’ll be fine,” Gianna said firmly. I wondered if she really believed what she said.
“We don’t know that. That was more than a month ago. I hate that he’ll have to celebrate Christmas without us. In the past we could at least visit him in Chicago, but this year he’ll be all alone with Father and his new wife.”
Father had never been kind to Fabi and now that he had a new wife, a young wife that could give birth to more heirs, I worried he’d be even less inclined to go gentle on my little brother.
“Fabi is on the verge of becoming inducted into the Outfit; celebrating Christmas without us is the least of his problems,” Gianna said. She sounded so…blasé about the entire thing. Perhaps because Fabi was a boy. She thought men in our world were born with blood on their hands.
“He’s still only a boy. And we couldn’t even congratulate him on his birthday.” He had turned thirteen a co
uple of weeks ago, and I hadn’t been allowed to talk to him or send him a present. My heart ached just thinking about it.
Lily didn’t say anything. She still blamed herself for everything. I knew she was happy as Romero’s wife. It became obvious whenever she looked at him, but sometimes she tried to hide her happiness from us as if that would make our situation better.
Gianna shook her head. “Aria, you have to accept what you can’t change. You have to stop—and I can’t believe I’m actually saying it—you have to stop going against Luca’s orders.”
I blinked at her. “You say that? You ran, and I helped you.”
“I know. But now I’m here married to Matteo, part of the Vitiello clan, and unlike you, I know exactly what kind of man my husband is. But you keep forgetting what Luca is.”
“What is he?” I challenged, turning to face her with narrowed eyes. It had been a while since Gianna and I had had a fight, but we’d all been on edge these last few weeks.
“A Capo. A monster. A killer.”
“So is Matteo,” I interrupted her. “And you keep ignoring his orders. You keep provoking him.”
“It’s a game between us, Aria. But Luca doesn’t play games. He is the Capo of the East. And because of you his territory is threatened. He will do anything to stay Capo. It’s in his blood. Ultimately if he has to choose between you and power, he will choose power.”
The air left my lungs. Angry tears gathered in my eyes. Lily stepped between us. “Hey, stop it.”
I sidestepped Lily and moved closer to Gianna, meeting her gaze straight on.
I heard the men enter, but I didn’t pay them any attention.
LUCA
“Dante will take his time before he’ll attack. He is a man of plans,” Matteo said again, as if I didn’t know that. The problem was I didn’t know when he’d attack. I could only hope Orazio as Dante’s brother-in-law would be involved in any plans from the very start and warn us soon enough.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, don’t look at me like that!” Gianna screamed.
My eyes found Aria and Gianna facing each other as if they were about to attack any moment.
“We can’t all be as selfish as you, Gianna,” Aria hissed.
Matteo shot me a look as if I knew what was going on. Usually they were inseparable. And I had never heard Aria talk to her sister like that.
Gianna laughed. “At least I’m not being stupid or suicidal.”
“No, suicidal—that’s not you. You always make sure to have your back covered even if it means others get hurt.”
Gianna paled. I wasn’t sure if Aria was referring to Matteo’s car crash or something else but whatever it was, she hit home. “At least I fought against this lifestyle, while you were happy being sold off to Luca like a fucking whore.”
Silence.
Aria stormed off and I followed after her. Matteo would take care of his own wife. I found Aria in our bedroom, looking out of the window, body shaking. I put my hands down on her shoulders. “What’s the matter with you and Gianna?”
“She’s being a bitch,” Aria said in a trembling voice.
“That’s her natural disposition.”
Aria let out a choked laugh and turned around to me. I ran my hands through her hair and she leaned in to the touch. “If anyone’s a whore, it’s her.”
Aria pursed her lips. “She didn’t mean it.”
I chuckled. “Already back to defending her?”
Aria’s eyes flickered with need and her hands slid down my chest to my belt. Her gaze locked on mine, she began unbuckling my belt. “I need you,” she whispered. I didn’t have to be told twice. I pulled her dress over her head as Aria fumbled with my pants. When my cock finally sprang free, I wrapped one arm around her back and gripped her thigh with the other, then hoisted her up. She gasped as I lowered her on my dick, her muscles tight around me. Propping her back up against the wall, I kissed her hard until she loosened around me before I began slamming into her.
I’d tried to stay angry at her for keeping Romero’s affair with Lily from me, but I couldn’t. The moment I saw her eyes so full of fucking love my own heart softened. Fuck, my dark, cruel heart always softened for that woman.
I lowered my mouth to her throat and bit down lightly, sucking the skin into my mouth, marking her. Mine. Always fucking mine.
Aria cried out as I hit her G-spot and my balls tightened at the sound. “Yes,” I growled before I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth. Aria arched up and I slammed even harder into her. Her fingers dug into my shoulders, as I fucked her against the wall.
“Luca!” she cried as her walls clamped down hard, her elegant neck bared to me again. I marked another spot and her spasm intensified, fingernails scratching my skin, and I came with a violent shudder. I pressed my forehead against the cool wall as Aria buried her face in the crook of my neck. Without pulling out of her, I carried her over to our bed and lowered us to the bed, me on top of her. She wrapped her arms tightly around me as if she was worried I’d disappear.
I kissed her, brows furrowing at the melancholy on her face, but then she opened her eyes and gave me a small smile. “Are we okay?”
I nodded, wondering why she was asking again. “I’m not angry at you, Aria. You can’t help who you are like I can’t help who I am.” She needed to help others, mostly her siblings. I got it. If she could accept my darkness, I could try to accept that occasionally she acted out of worry for her siblings. I didn’t like it though.
Aria pressed her face into my chest and sucked in a deep breath. She was being emotional, even by her standards. Maybe she’d picked up on my own worries. And things would only get worse. In three days I had a meeting with my Captains and Underbosses, and I had a feeling Uncle Gottardo would fire against me again. I wasn’t sure how much to share with Aria, and decided to keep information at a minimum for now, until she was back to her old self.
ARIA
Regret weighed heavily on my shoulders. Regret over having broken down in front of Luca at such a crucial time. He needed me to be strong for him. And regret over my fight with Gianna this morning. We hadn’t spoken since then, not even during dinner and it was starting to bother me, but I was too proud to make the first move.
Maybe I would try tomorrow after a night of sleep had calmed us down. Luca was in the shower. He would have to leave for New York early the next morning and probably wouldn’t be back for several days. He had a meeting with the Famiglia, that was all he’d share—because he worried about my emotionality.
Sighing, I reached for my anti-baby pill in the drawer, cringing when I realized I’d forgotten to take my pill yesterday—again. Over the last months I’d missed a few pills as well. I stilled with the packet in my hands, counting the days since my last period, but I couldn’t remember. I’d gone without my period before, in the months before my wedding to Luca, because my body didn’t tolerate stress and fear very well. Maybe it was the same this time.
My cell vibrated on my nightstand, and I lunged for it when I recognized the number. Bringing the phone to my ear, I quietly moved out of the bedroom and down the corridor to one of the empty guest bedrooms, where I locked myself in. “Fabi?”
“Aria,” Fabi said in a raspy voice. He sounded as if he was having trouble breathing and my heart clenched with fear.
“What’s wrong?”
Pause. “Nothing,” he got out. “Wanted to hear your voice.”
“Are you okay? You don’t sound good.”
“Father was mad today. He’s always mad since you all left,” Fabi said simply, and I could imagine what that meant.
I swallowed. “I can talk to Luca again and ask him to take you in.”
“No!” Fabi gasped. “That’s betrayal. I’m part of the Outfit. I shouldn’t be talking to you. We are enemies.”
I sucked in a breath. “We’re not.”
“I need to go.”
“Fabi?” There was silence on the other end. I stared down at the screen. Fabi had
ended the call. I started trembling, opened the door and made my way back to our bedroom in a trance.
Luca was still in the bathroom when I stretched out on the bed. What could I do? Talking to Luca wouldn’t change anything. Luca had enough to deal with, especially with the upcoming meeting of the Famiglia. But could I keep this from him?
When Luca stepped out of the bathroom, looking exhausted and tense, I made my decision. I’d handle this on my own.
Luca gave me a lingering kiss before he left in the morning. The moment he was gone, I sat up and grabbed my laptop, checking flights to Chicago. I considered my options. I couldn’t be gone for long before someone noticed my disappearance. I would have to take the earliest available flight and return on a late plane the same day. Biting my lip, I hesitated. I couldn’t use Luca’s and my bank account. If he checked it, he would notice something was wrong.
My fingers shook as I made my decision. I had been the Famiglia’s accountant for close to a year now, and I handled several of the bank accounts. Betrayal.
I only borrowed the money and would put it back as soon as possible. I quickly booked my flights with the account we used for the Sphere, then logged out. In two days I’d leave for Chicago and hopefully return with Fabi.
Now I only needed to figure out a way to get out of the premises of our mansion without anyone noticing. I went over to my walk-in closet and rummaged in the upper drawers until I found my brown wig. I’d need that to stay undetected in Chicago.
My pulse raced in my veins at what I was about to do. I’d found a way to bring Lily and Gianna to New York with me. Now I needed to save Fabi from our father before he managed to break my little brother.
I went downstairs and found Gianna and Lily sitting at the dining table. I didn’t see Sandro anywhere, nor the new guards Luca had put in place on the premises in the last few weeks. Romero was thankfully in New York with Luca and Matteo, since this was his first official meeting as Captain.