Cheers rang out, and the priest told me I could kiss the bride. I leaned forward, taking in a deep lungful of air and letting her rose scent flow through me. It was delicate, not too overpowering, but not too subtle. It was there, enticing me, telling me to come closer.
“I can’t believe we just did that,” she whispered, her gaze capturing mine. I didn’t answer her as I placed a soft kiss on her lips, then grasped her hand in mine. Now wasn’t the time for words. It was time for putting on a show. Time to appear like this wasn’t one big fuckin’ lie.
Because that was what it was.
A lie.
A lie I was already beginning to regret, but a lie I couldn’t go back on—not now. Not now that I had all the power of the underground. I’d just been crowned the king, but I’d also been deemed a husband.
Fuck.
I veered Aida down the aisle, trying to keep the smile on my face and act like I was happy. And I was. I was happy that all the uncertainty in the business was now gone. Happy that I could finally have the final fuckin’ say.
“Lorenzo,” Aida gasped. “Slow down. My legs aren’t as long as yours.”
I grunted as I gripped her hand harder, trying to silently tell her to hurry up. We had a party to get to, and then my work would get started. Why the hell did people have parties after weddings? The ceremony should have been enough to satisfy, but Ma wasn’t hearing a single word about it.
So off we went, in the back of the SUV Christian drove, and to the mansion. The place I now called home. The place Aida would call home.
I slid over the back seat, trying to get as far from Aida as I could. If she noticed, she didn’t say anything, and the thought sent a thrill through me. I’d made the right choice with her. She’d be a good Italian wife and keep her mouth shut, so I could handle the business I’d been trained to take over.
The drive was only a few minutes, and then we were pulling into the sprawling driveway. She gasped beside me; her face nearly pressed against the closed window. She’d been here before, but with quick clarity, I realized she’d probably only ever come through the delivery entrance and into the kitchen.
“This is where you live?” she asked, her voice small.
“Yeah.” I typed off a quick message to one of the captains, then stowed my cell away. “You live here now too.”
“With you.”
“And Ma.” I pulled the handle on the door. “As well as Dante and Sofia.” I pushed out of the back of the SUV and made my way around the back, staring up at the mansion and trying to imagine it through new eyes, but it was impossible because it was all I was used to.
A throat cleared, so I snapped my head toward it. “You forgetting something?” Christian asked, raising his brows. When I didn’t answer, he pointed toward the back door of the SUV. “Your wife.”
Fuck.
I sneered and darted toward her side of the car, then opened the door. “Thank you,” she said, her gaze not quite meeting mine. I grunted in reply, not expecting anything else to come from her, so when she asked, “Who are Dante and Sofia?” I puffed out a breath.
“My brother and sister.” I signaled my hand toward the house. “Shall we go in?”
“Okay.” She stumbled a little on the stones lining the driveway, and Christian shot his hand out to help steady her. It was a move I should have done now that I was her husband, but I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea, not this soon into our arrangement.
The doors opened as soon as we walked toward them, the housekeeper holding a tray of drinks in greeting. She spoke to Aida, but I had no intention of standing around and chatting. I had work to do, deals to make, and people to take care of. If I had it my way, none of this would be happening. I vowed to myself that it would be the last time someone told me what I had to do.
It didn’t take long for the guests to spill inside the mansion, and I was forced to make small talk, to walk around introducing Aida to everyone. My practiced smile and good manners came in useful, that was until we made it to my family.
“Ma,” I said, placing my hand on her elbow. “You’ve met Aida.”
Ma gasped and spun around, her face lighting up in a way I hadn’t seen since before my dad had died. “Oh, Aida.” She kissed her cheeks. “You look so beautiful.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Beretta.”
“No.” She clasped her shoulders. “You call me Ma from now on. Got it?”
Aida smiled, and I hated it. I hated how sweet and innocent it was. She wasn’t like us. She was good, and I’d dragged her into this without a second thought.
“Thanks, Ma.” She took Ma’s hand in hers. “Your house is so amazing.” Ma grinned, and I knew these two would make fast friends.
“Are you going to introduce me, nephew?” Uncle Paolo asked, and Ma froze, her gaze slipping to mine, a warning in her dark-brown eyes. She knew more than she let on, and I wondered how much Dad had confided in her. Did he confess everything to her each night? Or did he leave her in the dark, not wanting her to know what he did when his darkness took over?
“Yes.” I placed my hand at the small of Aida’s back and pulled her closer. “Uncle Paolo, this is Aida.” I looked down at Aida, the top of her head coming level with my shoulders. She was too short, and I was guessing she had heels on—just another reason why she wasn’t my type. “Aida, this is my uncle Paolo. He flew all the way from Italy to see us get married.” I tried to silently communicate with her, but I wasn’t sure if she got the message because she flashed him her innocent smile and held her hand out.
“Uncle Paolo.” He took her hand, bringing it to his lips and planting a kiss on her knuckles. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“You too, bella.” He winked, his gaze instantly meeting mine. “Could I interest you in a dance?”
“I…” Aida glanced up at me, asking permission, and I gave it to her with a tilt of my head.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Ma said, watching them move to the middle of the floor in the living room. “He’s trying to—”
“Boss,” a deep voice said from behind me, and I turned to it, seeing a stern-faced Christian. “There’s been a problem.”
I didn’t hesitate to step away from Ma. It was my excuse to escape, and I took it with both hands. I didn’t say a word to Ma as I moved away from her and toward Christian. “Not here,” I told him, doing up the button on my suit jacket and making my way out of the room.
As soon as we were near the front door, he pointed to it. “Out there.” I stepped outside, noting the two guards at the front doors and the SUV parked at an angle near the water feature. “We caught two soldiers in the warehouse.” I snapped my gaze to him, already feeling my anger building at his words. “Stealing.”
“Stealing what?” I asked, moving toward the SUV.
“The latest shipment of guns.”
“Get them out.” I signaled, halting a few feet from the SUV.
My blood thrummed through my veins, my heartbeat throbbing in my ears. I needed this. I needed to let out some of the frustration I felt at…everything. Nothing had been right since we’d buried Dad, and I wasn’t sure anything ever would be again. But this? This would give me the relief I needed—for now, at least.
The doors swung open, and two figures were hauled outside. I recognized them from the streets, but more than that, from the family. Our own family had tried to steal from us, and on my wedding day of all days. I tutted and pushed my hands into the pockets of my slacks.
“Well…” I paced in front of them, the stones crunching under my shiny dress shoes. “I hear you’ve been stealing.”
“No, please, sir,” one of them begged, holding his hands up in front of him. “It was a mistake. We just—"
“Shut up!” the other one shouted at him.
“No.” The beggar turned to the other one. “It was all your idea!”
“Snitch,” he sneered, trying to get closer to him, but Christian held him back. It was only then I realized that Dante, my bro
ther, was holding the other guy. His face was carefully neutral, not showing a single emotion.
I could hit two birds with one stone. I could get out my anger while also showing Dante what he would have to do now. He wasn’t the favorite child any longer. He wouldn’t be able to walk away from the violence, not when it would be him dishing it out. I’d been a kid the first time I’d watched my father torture a man, and now it was time for Dante to see a snippet of his future.
“Hands,” I said simply, crouching down and retrieving my knife strapped to my leg. I never went anywhere without it.
“No! Please!” The first guy begged again as I unsheathed my blade. “Please, Mr. Beretta, please. I have a family, and a—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Dante snapped. “Hold your hand out.”
I raised my brow at Dante, not having expected that.
“You committed a crime against the family,” I started, twirling the knife in my hand. “And on my wedding day of all days.” I tutted again, shaking my head like I was disappointed when, in reality, I was glad I had something else to do but stand next to Aida and act like we were happy as shit.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
The apology went right over my head. “Hand.” I waited, but when he wasn’t quick enough, I growled, “Your fuckin’ hand. Now.”
The beggar slowly held it out in front of him, and with one quick movement, I slammed the knife onto his wrist, chopping his hand clean off. Blood spurted out onto the stones, a spot landing on my shoe. He squealed in pain, collapsing to the ground as Dante let him go, but I didn’t pay attention to him anymore. I’d only done half of the job, and the vibrations working through me needed me to finish the other half.
“You no longer have the protection of the family,” I said, my voice sounding far away. I was in the zone, a zone I’d created when I was a kid. “This is your warning.” I pointed the bloody knife at the other soldier who stood taller as I halted in front of him. “You don’t get a second warning.” I raised the knife and held eye contact with the man who would soon lose his hand too. “You’ll simply be dead,” I said lightly, acting as if I was talking about the weather. It was a threat I always followed through with, and they both knew this.
Maybe they’d thought they could get away with it today.
They’d been wrong.
I lifted my arm, whooshed it through the air, and slashed right through his wrist. He’d done a good job so far of keeping quiet and showing a brave face, but even this low-level soldier couldn’t keep his screams of pain inside. He went limp, his body collapsing on the ground, his face as pale as a ghost.
“Clean this up,” I told Christian and Dante as I pulled my pocket square out of my top pocket. I dragged the expensive material over the sharp blade, sheathed it in its carrier, then attached it back to my calf.
“You got it, boss,” Christian replied, and with that, I spun around, making my way back toward the front doors of the mansion, but what I saw there had me pausing.
Aida stared at me, her off-white dress looking more like pure white in the dimming light. Her gaze veered behind me as her shaky hand pushed away some hair that had obscured her face. She opened her mouth, a small gasp of air escaping.
She didn’t know what to say, but at least she wasn’t running and screaming.
I stepped toward her, demanding her attention as I got closer. She involuntarily backed up a step, and I smirked at the move. She didn’t know what to think—what to feel.
She blinked several times as I stopped next to her. I grinned down at her, waiting to see if she would do or say something. I wasn’t sure how much she’d seen, but it was clear as day what I’d just done. When she stayed carefully silent, I winked.
“Welcome to the family.”
CHAPTER 5
AIDA
Welcome to the family.
I couldn’t get the four words out of my head. Not after I followed him back inside, and not after we mingled with more guests. A spot of blood stained his hand, and I wasn’t sure whether he wasn’t aware or just didn’t care. It was more likely the latter.
I’d known exactly who Lorenzo was. I’d heard the horror stories. I’d seen the papers and articles written about the Berettas. I’d listened to the gossip that always flowed in the city. But I’d never seen it firsthand. Not like that.
My gaze veered down to his leg as we walked Ma, Dad, Noemi, and Vida to the mansion doors. It had been a couple of hours since I’d witnessed the violence Lorenzo so easily displayed, and I was afraid the aftermath of what he’d done would still be there.
But as the doors opened, the driveway was clear, all of the evidence gone as if it never happened. I thought I’d known what I was getting myself in to, but the more time that ticked by, the more I understood I had no idea.
“Thank you for coming,” Lorenzo said smoothly with his hand on my back again. At first, I hadn’t minded it, but since I’d watched him outside, all I could think about was what that hand had done earlier tonight. Was that normal for him? Had he done worse? I inwardly rolled my eyes at myself. Of course, he had.
“It was a great day,” Ma said, her lips pulled into a smile, but only those who knew her most could see that it was fake. She was trying to put on a facade, but I could spot the worry in her eyes as she looked at me. “You’ll be okay, Aida?” She cleared her throat, probably realizing how her words could have come across to the most powerful man in the state. “I mean, you have everything you need?”
I nodded, too afraid to say any actual words. What if I blurted out what I’d seen? What if I begged them to take me with them? I couldn’t do either of those things, so I stayed silent.
“I’ll miss you tonight, Auntie Aida,” Vida said, her little arms wrapping around my legs as tightly as they could.
“I’ll miss you too.” I knelt down, trying to stay on balance with the heels I was wearing, and took her face in my hands. “Don’t frown. Your face will get stuck like it.” She giggled, a failsafe to have me forget about everything else around me. “I’ll always be here.” I moved my hand to her chest, placing my palm over her heart. “And here.” I tapped the side of her head. “And if that fails, you can steal Mama’s cell and call me.”
Her bottom lip popped out. “But what about morning cuddles?”
I blinked, not sure what to say to that. Every morning I held my arms open when she woke up, and we spent at least twenty minutes talking about nothing and everything all at the same time.
“Auntie will have morning cuddles from Uncle Lorenzo now,” Noemi said, her voice sickly sweet.
“You will?” Vida stared up at me, her eyes wide and innocent, and I had no idea what to say to her. “Uncle Lorenzo?” Her attention moved higher; her brows raised. “Will you make sure Auntie Aida gets her morning cuddles?”
“I…” He cleared his throat, his hand landing on my shoulder. “I’ll make sure.” His fingers squeezed, and I didn’t think he was aware he was doing it, not consciously anyway.
“Okay, then.” Vida stepped back and lifted her hand in a wave. “Love you, Auntie Aida.” She paused and grinned wide, showcasing her missing front tooth. “Love you, Uncle Lorenzo.”
“Love you too, sweetie,” I whispered. I felt a lump build in my throat as I stood, watching my family get into a car that would take them home. The tears burned the back of my eyes, and all I wanted was to get into the car with them, to go home where I knew what would happen in the morning. I didn’t even know where I was sleeping tonight, and if I didn’t get this damn dress off soon, I was going to go out of my mind.
“Shall we?” Lorenzo said, but I didn’t look up at him as we both turned around. The doors shut behind us thanks to the house staff, and it was now too quiet. Only Lorenzo and I were left in the grand foyer of the mansion. “I can show you upstairs,” Lorenzo continued. He made it sound like a question, but he was already walking toward the staircase, so I followed. At least it would mean I could get out of this dress.
The d
ouble-sided staircase was grand, just like everything else in the house, and I wondered if it had been built the same time as the mansion or whether it had been added later. Elaborate Bs were carved into the wood, gilded with gold just like in the mansion’s front doors.
“This side is where everyone else sleeps,” Lorenzo said as we got to the top of the stairs, pointing toward the left. He turned right and started to walk down the wide hallway. My heels sunk into the plush burgundy carpet, and my eyes widened. Should I have taken my shoes off up here? Crap.
“This is our wing.” We had a wing? He halted in front of the first door on the right. “This is an extra bathroom.” He pointed to the door opposite. “Guest room,” he continued, pointing to the next two doors. “Guest rooms.” Then he stopped in front of the next set of doors. “This is us.” He pushed open the door on the right and waved me inside.
“Wow,” I whispered. In the middle of the room sat the largest bed I’d ever seen. The crisp white bedsheets begged me to get inside them. “This is…amazing.” It was just as elaborate as the rest of the mansion. A doorway to the left led into a dressing room and a closet as big as my bedroom and Ma and Dad’s bedroom put together. Then, through that, was a bathroom with a shower, a single sink, and a toilet.
“You have everything you need?” I heard Lorenzo ask, and it was only then that I realized he hadn’t followed me inside.
I frowned as I moved back into the main part of the bedroom, swiping my fingers across a dresser that had my toiletry bag on top of it. “Are you not coming inside?”
“No.” Lorenzo’s stern gaze met mine. “I’m across the hall if you need anything.” He took another step backward. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
I blinked, not sure what to say, but before I got anything out, he disappeared through the door opposite my room. My room. I had my own room. I didn’t know why I was surprised by it. I didn’t know why I couldn’t hold back the tears that had been burning the back of my eyes from the moment my family had left.
My family. They weren’t my family now, though. He was my family. And I already hated him.
Lorenzo Beretta Page 6