by B. B. Hamel
Across the street, a blue door burst open. Luca jumped off the stoop, came sprinting over. I screamed for my mom as more gunfire erupted around me. Bautista went down, a handgun in his hand, the barrel pointed at my head. He staggered back as his skull exploded in a blossom of blood, brain, and bone.
Leonel was next, bullets taking him as he began to run.
Luca slammed into one of the men holding my mom. He tackled the guy, slammed his shoulder into the big man’s chest, knocking him to the ground. Luca brought up his Glock, fired twice into the other guy’s chest, knocking him back, then put a bullet in his head. He turned and repeated the procedure on the guy he’d tackled, two in the chest, one in the head.
My mother stood there, her face white, her eyes wide.
“Come on,” Luca yelled. He grabbed me from the ground, pulled me up. I realized I was covered in Julian’s blood. He was sprawled on the ground, riddled with bullets, inches from where I was huddled.
Luca pulled me and my mom away from the parking lot. More gunfire erupted as we turned the corner. I saw two black cars parked on the curb, and people were shooting at them from third-floor windows. It hit me all of a sudden that the Leone people weren’t on the roofs at all, because they were inside the houses.
“Trapped them on the roofs,” he said. “We’ll kill those fuckers soon, but they’re dangerous, so we’ve got to run.”
Bullets slammed into the ground all around us as he sprinted across the street again. He pulled me along, and I pulled my mother. We barely kept up as more bullets sprayed the concrete, sending shards and shrapnel into the air.
We reached the blue door he’d come out of. He made sure I got in, made sure my mother got in, then slammed the door shut behind us.
The living room was empty, a single lamp in the corner lighting the place.
“Where are we?” I asked, breathing hard.
“Safe house,” he said. “This is all Russian territory, and we’re allied with the Russians.”
“What about the guys on the roof?”
“We’ll finish off the guys outside then move up and take them out. They’re trapped now.” He leaned up against the wall and took deep breaths. “Fucking hell, that was close.”
“Are we safe?” I asked.
He met my gaze and nodded once. “We’re safe.”
My mother collapsed onto her knees and began to sob.
I knelt down next to her, wrapped my arms around her, and pulled her tight.
Gunfire popped off for the next ten minutes, coming and going. I heard screams in the night as the Leone family finished off the Jalisco guys on the roofs.
But one by one, they killed them all. Every single man, finished.
“Is this the end of them?” I asked Luca.
He shook his head. “Diego thinks so. He thinks they brought everything to this. That guy out there? The one who said his name was Julian?”
“Yeah,” I said. “The dead one. I mean, the one that bled on me.”
“He was the acting leader,” Luca said. “The other two, I think those were his lieutenants. I recognize Bautista, but not the other one. Their network in this city is broken now, and it’ll take them months before they can get it up again, if they decide it’s worth the effort.”
I hugged my mom tight, kissed her, then stood. Luca stared at me, and I stared back.
I walked to him, let him wrap his arms around me, and I let out the sob I’d been holding deep inside for days.
“You’re okay, little darling,” he whispered, kissed my hair, and hugged me close.
26
Luca
Don Leone hobbled across his office toward the huge mahogany desk. There were scorch marks all over the front, the rug was ripped and torn, the bookshelves smashed, the books decimated. Most of the debris had been cleaned from the floors and the windows were boarded up and taped over, but the office would never be the same, no matter how much work they put into it.
He let out a grunt of pain as he sat in a chair behind his desk. His leg was still wrapped in bandages, and his limp was even worse. I hovered in front of his desk with Clair standing close, our shoulders touching.
Don Leone looked up and smiled.
“I have to say, Luca, you did well.”
I nodded my head. “I did what I could, sir,” I said.
“You did more than well. You came through for the family.”
“I had help.” I looked at Clair and touched her hand. “She stepped up.”
Don Leone looked at his niece and leaned forward. His eyes seemed to simmer with light, life, and anger.
“You did more than you should have,” he said. “It never should have come to this, and for that, I apologize.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I just want to sign the papers and be done with this.”
He grunted and leaned back. He watched us for a moment, eyes scanning over our faces, then reached into a drawer and produced some papers.
“That’s it?” she asked.
“That’s it,” Don Leone said. “It’s all there, and feel free to have a lawyer go through it. I get two properties, you keep all the rest. You can—”
She grabbed the papers and began to sign each page without reading a word. I let out a little laugh, and when she finished, she shoved the papers back toward the Don.
“There,” she said. “Your blood money.”
He looked at the pages and I could see the greedy joy in his eyes. He looked back at Clair and nodded his head.
“I can understand why you’d think that,” he said. “But I promise you, niece, this was for the best.”
“I don’t care,” she said. “Just don’t bother me again. Do you understand? We’re done, me and you.”
“We’re done,” he agreed. “I won’t bother you or your mother so long as I live.”
She turned on her heel and marched to the door.
I nodded to the Don. “Thank you, sir.”
He nodded back and a smile spread across his face. “No, thank you,” he said. “Couldn’t have done this without you.”
“And unfortunately, it’s the last thing I’ll do.”
Don Leone narrowed his eyes, and I saw Clair pause at the door out of the corner of my eye, then slip into the hall and shut the door behind her.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I’m leaving the family.”
He rocked back in his chair and gaped at me. “You’re what?”
“Leaving,” I said. “I’m through with this.” I gestured around me. “Through with the family.”
“Luca,” Don Leone said. “You can’t just leave. You’re a made man. That’s for life.”
“It’s retirement then,” I said. “Just like Sergio. I made you a lot of money, Don, and now it’s time to let me go.”
Don Leone gripped the edge of his desk and slowly got to his feet. He struggled, grimaced in pain, but managed to stand on his own. He extended a thin, bony hand toward me.
I reached out and shook it.
“Go then,” he said. “And don’t ever say I was a bad Don.”
I nodded, released his hand and walked to the door.
“What was that about?” Clair asked when I came out.
I smiled and took her hand, pulling her from the room without answering. Roberto stood in the hallway, glaring at the two of us.
“Nice knowing you, Roberto,” I said. “You sour old fuck.”
Roberto flipped me off as I tugged Clair down the hall.
The place was a wreck. Lights were smashed and broken, walls were riddled with burn marks and bullet holes. Most of the paintings were ripped to shreds, though some survived the fighting. The carpet was stained with blood, ripped by glass and shrapnel, and otherwise ruined beyond repair.
Clair walked alongside me, back toward the main entry hall. The crystal chandelier made it through the fighting somehow, though it hung over a warzone.
“What did you do back there?” she asked, turning to f
ace me.
Her voice echoed off the chipped and wrecked marble floor.
“I left the family,” I said
“How? Why? What?”
“I told you that once this was over, we’d go to Chicago.”
“Luca,” she said, shaking her head. “I never thought… you couldn’t have…”
I reached out and pulled her to me. She stumbled, fell against my chest, stared up into my eyes.
I held her hips and kissed her.
I didn’t know how else to explain what I felt. I kissed her, deep and slow. When I pulled back, she chewed on her cheek.
“I meant it,” I said. “I want you, Clair. I want a life with you, beyond all this. I want that pizza place, or maybe a grocery store, or whatever the fuck you want. I don’t care what we do. I just want to do it with you.”
“You really left for me?” she asked, her voice a whisper.
“I love you,” I said. “Always have. Always will.”
“I love you, too.”
I pulled her tight and kissed her again, my heart beating fast, my head almost dizzy.
I thought I saw the chandelier sway, glinting naked light along the broken and shattered wealth all around us.
“Come on,” I said, pulling back. “Let’s go pack.”
“Forget packing,” she said. “Let’s get in a car and drive. It’s, what, twelve hours?”
“Probably longer.” I laughed and held her hand tight as we left through the front door, stepped out into the cool Philadelphia afternoon. “But who cares? Let’s get going.”
“We have to stop and say bye to my mom,” she said.
“Sure,” I said. “But then you’re all mine.”
She grinned up at me. “Then I’m all yours.”
We walked down the sidewalk, holding hands, and I didn’t look back at the ruin of the mafia house behind me.
27
Clair
Two Years Later
Sweat dripped off my forehead, down into my eyes. I blinked it away. “Order twenty-two!” I shouted.
“Order twenty-two,” Luca echoed, found the two medium pizza boxes on top of the oven, brought them over.
“That’ll be… $32.40,” I said to the pretty young mom with a toddler clinging to her hip.
She handed me a card, I ran it through, gave it back.
“Receipt?” I asked.
“No, thanks,” she said, grabbing the boxes. “Have a nice night.”
“You too.”
She walked out the door, the little bell ringing behind her.
“You ever think about one of those?” Luca asked, coming up to me from behind.
I laughed as he hugged me, kissed my neck. “What, two medium pizzas?”
“No,” he said. “Not the pizzas.”
“The yoga pants?” I asked. “She had nice yoga pants. Looked cool. Nice pattern.”
He grinned, bit my lip. “Come on, don’t play.”
I shrugged a little, kissed him. “I guess I can think about it.”
“We could start right here, right now.”
I glanced at the table of teenagers eating cheesesteaks and playing paper football. “I don’t think so,” I said.
“Ah, they won’t mind,” Luca teased. “They’d probably love the show.”
I turned and hit him in the chest. He laughed, kissed me again.
“Oh, gross,” Kelsey said, coming out from the back. She smelled like cigarettes, had thin blonde hair, but smiled a lot and customers loved her. “How long are you two going to be like this? I swear, it’s been two years, and you’re still hugging and kissing like teenagers.”
“Can’t help myself,” Luca said. “She does it for me.”
“He’s a pig,” I said. “But I love him anyway.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes and took over at the register. I went into the kitchen area with Luca, checked in on Ryan and Mike as they worked on orders, then ducked into the office to balance receipts.
Luca joined me, perched on the edge of the desk.
I looked up at him and frowned. “Can I help you?”
“I was serious,” he said. “About the baby.”
I leaned back in my old cloth chair and it squeaked horribly. The office was tight, cramped, books and papers everywhere, a little security monitor perched on a side table.
Everything in the restaurant was new, everything except my desk and my chair. I cut costs where I could, since it wasn’t easy running a pizza shop in a major city, but we made it work, and besides, we didn’t need the money.
I was rich as all hell, after all.
“You really think it’s a good time?” I asked. “We’re just starting to make Clair’s work, and—”
“It’ll never be a good time,” he said. “A baby’s going to fuck our life up.”
I laughed a little. “You’re really selling me on it.”
He reached down, took my hand, kissed my fingers. “It’ll fuck our life up, but it’ll also make it better. Come on, I want a kid, and I know you do, too. You keep looking at all these young moms like you want to jump over the counter and steal their life away.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Yes, you do.”
I looked at him, chewed my lip. He was right, of course. I’d been thinking about a baby for over a year now. Once the restaurant was open and we settled into a routine, I kept thinking about expanding our little family.
We had a beautiful condo a block away from the shop with two spare rooms and two full bathrooms. There was plenty of space for a baby and a freaking nanny if we wanted to hire one. It wasn’t like money was a problem. The pizza shop broke even, made a little profit, and anyway, we could live off the money Fazio left me for the rest of our lives.
But it scared me. Having a baby terrified me. I didn’t want to bring a baby into this world and have it lose its parents like I lost my father.
“I want to ask you something first,” I said, squeezing his hand.
“Anything,” he said.
“You’re not going anywhere, right?”
He looked surprised and held my hand tighter. “Where’s that coming from?”
“My father, he died when I was young,” I said. “You know that, but I mean, it ruined my mom, ruined me in a lot of ways, and I just—”
“Clair,” he said, his voice gentle. “I left the family. That life’s behind me.”
“But they’re in the city now. You could still have enemies.”
“I don’t,” he said. “I’m here for the long run. You know that.”
“I know, it’s just—”
He pulled his hands away. For a second, I thought he was angry.
But instead, he reached into his pocket, and took something out. He held it in both hands, hiding it from view.
“I was going to save this for the right time,” he said. “You know, the perfect moment. But there’s no perfect moment in life, there’s no perfect anything. The only perfect moments are the ones we make for ourselves.”
“What are you doing?” I asked as he dropped to one knee.
“I love you,” he said, and opened his hands.
A diamond ring sat in his palm, glittering and huge. One fat diamond on white gold, surrounded by a constellation of smaller diamonds, each of them multifaceted, catching the light, magnifying it into shining shards.
“Where the hell did you get that?” I asked, my voice jumping two octaves.
He grinned at me. “I’ve got my own money still,” he said. “I didn’t spend it all when I was in the family, you know.”
“Luca,” I said.
“Marry me, Clair. Marry me, then let’s have a fucking baby.”
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, holy shit, yes.”
He took my hand, slipped the ring on my finger, and he was right, he was so right, it was a perfect moment.
We kissed, I don’t know how long. It didn’t matter. We kissed in the back room of our pizza place, of the business we built together, and we w
ere going to build a life, build a family, build a world.
That was him, my man, my future.
Read more steamy mafia romance! The Volkov Crime Family story begins with Bend For Him. Bend for me, little bird. When I execute Robin Volkov’s cousin, she’s next on the chopping block. But she’s too beautiful and valuable to kill. So I go against my crew and save her life. Now she owes me everything. >> Click Here to start reading!
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Knocked Up by the Killer
1
Tanner
I’m supposed to murder this girl. But first I’m going to take her out to dinner.
The front door was painted black with red trim. I pressed the apartment buzzer and let it ring. A few seconds later, her voice crackled in over the white plastic intercom with faded gray apartment numbers. 2A glowed a faint orange as she spoke.
“Hey, I’ll be right down!”
She sounded cute. I still had to kill her.
“No rush,” I said and leaned up against the black metal railing.
I adjusted the sleeves of my dark custom suit and pulled my phone from my pocket. I unlocked it and found a new text waiting for me.
Dante: Do it tonight. Don doesn’t want to wait and let shit get worse.
I grunted, deleted the text, and slipped my phone into my pocket. Damn Leone family was always pushing me to move faster than I wanted to. But it wasn’t their ass on the line if I got caught murdering someone. I’d go down without a word and rot the rest of my life away in prison, and they’d get to stay out in the real world.
I heard footsteps inside the building and looked up as the door pushed open. I stepped back and let my eyes roam up and down my date.
Elise Borghi was a petite girl, maybe a touch over five foot four, with thick dark hair and round brown eyes. Her pink lips were covered in Chapstick and her eyelashes were long and dark. She wore a dark blue dress cut low to show off her surprisingly gorgeous chest and cut short to show off her long, lean legs.