by KL Donn
His Jailbird
Mafia Made 3
KL Donn
Contents
Introduction
Prologue
1. Domino
2. Nicola
3. Nicola
4. Domino
5. Nicola
6. Domino
7. Domino
8. Domino
9. Domino
10. Domino
11. Nicola
12. Domino
Epilogue One
Epilogue Two
What’s next?
A look inside His Fight
About the Author
Also by KL Donn
Synopsis
Protecting and serving was his duty. But the mafia is in his blood.
Domino Cardarelli swore to protect the innocent, even if that meant crossing every drawn line to do so. But his loyalty now lies with the Morello family.
Until his father calls.
Asking the son he hasn’t seen in far too long for a favor: protect the girl his father saved years ago from a potentially heinous fate.
Nicola Salvatore was stolen, sold, then arrested. Her life a series of tragedies since the day she was conceived.
On her eighteenth birthday, she’s released from juvenile detention into the custody of the son of the man who bought her four years prior.
Mysterious and deadly, Nicola unexpectedly falls in love with her solemn protector.
Domino is so focused on keeping his charge safe, conquering her past demons that fuel his rage on her behalf after learning not only what she’s had to endure over the years, and still fights with in the present, that he doesn't even realize he's fallen in love with her until it's too late.
After revenge is taken and justice is served, is Domino all Nicola is going to want in the end?
He’s only ever had one job: Protect and Serve.
Until his little jailbird.
Introduction
Welcome to the Mafia Made world, created lovingly by KL Donn. She was excited to invite her best friend, E.M. Shue, to write alongside her with Her Empire, book 2 in the Mafia Made series.
You can find complete details of the series here: MAFIA MADE WORLD.
Dedication
For everyone fighting to move on.
A second chance is waiting for you.
Prologue
Nicola
14 Years Old.
“Kneel, Nicola,” my adoptive father barks his command at me.
Surveying my surroundings, I meet the eyes of each impeccably dressed man as I stand in the center of the room. They circle me like vultures, and I get the distinct feeling that I’m on display.
“What’s happening?” I mumble. A strike of fear nearly overtakes my body. I’m not stupid. I spend a lot of time getting into enough trouble to recognize it.
“I said kneel,” he snaps, and grips the perfect braid the maid wove in my hair only a few minutes ago and tugs until I fall to my knees.
Tears spring forward, but I refuse to allow them to fall. I won’t show weakness. Not here. Not for this man. Not ever.
“The bidding will start at 250,000 euros.” I stare in shock at the man who brought me to his home when I was four. The man I’ve called father since I was five. The man who taught me to ride a bike and kick high on the swings. The man who was supposed to protect me, and suddenly, a sick sort of sense is made as I watch these men raise their hands as the number climbs and climbs.
“Please don’t do this,” I beg. My sharp nails dig into the palm of my hand so I don’t cry. I refuse to show any weakness.
I’m ignored. Merely a pawn in this room of sick men looking for something I’m either too young to understand or don’t want to face.
“Sold!” he cheers, and I don’t hear the final amount because I’m trying not to vomit on the beautiful rug beneath my knees.
A rug that supported me as I played with Barbies and cars. Twirled in pretty dresses and danced until my legs felt like jelly. A carpet where I had playdates and drank tea with my mom.
Mom.
Where is she in this? Does she know he’s selling me?
As I’m gripped by the elbow and dragged out of the room, I see her, and she smiles. At first, I think it’s for me, but then Father comes out behind me and announces an astronomical number, and I’m suddenly reduced to nothing.
“Nicola, meet your new master, Santo Cardarelli.” I’m too stunned to speak as I stare at the man in front of me with his cold eyes and emotionless face.
They’ve just sold me to the devil.
Chapter 1
Domino
Present Day.
Staring off into the Ionian Sea after Natale took Posy inside, I expect peace and quiet for the rest of my evening. Since leaving the United States, I’ve been the security that the Morello family has needed for their return to Italy. I’ve done everything they’ve asked of me and more.
But I’m restless.
The more I watch Natale and Posy, the more I crave what they have. Posy has been my priority for months, and she’s the only one who matters to Natale, the sole son to Capo Morello. While the Morello family was in the USA, my own father kept their name feared and their organization running smoothly here in Sicily until they could return.
During this time, I went against the grain and became a cop. A damn good one too. But one whose buttons were pushed one too many times until I finally quit when Posy’s father and partner and a few other officers tried to silence the young girl’s suffering. Natale went to hell and back for Posy, and when I was forced to arrest him, I knew I was done.
Leaving the force and joining the Morello family in my home country was the best decision I’ve ever made. It’s uncomplicated here. I know the good from the bad, the right from wrong. And I know that Posy Morello is the only person I am responsible for.
As the sun sets, I sit in the lush grass overlooking the sea and try to ignore the vibrations of my phone in my pocket. For ten minutes, it’s been going non-stop, but there comes a point in a man’s life where he just needs to shut the world away for a few minutes.
Tonight has been one of those times.
“What?” I bark into the device.
“Is that any way to greet your father?” Santo Cardarelli. My father. A stubborn son of a bitch.
“Sorry, Papa, how are you?” Stubborn or not, he is one of the best men I know. He is always sacrificing for his family and those he considers so.
“I have a rather large favor to ask of you, son.” He’s finally bringing my mother over from America. Now that her husband and all five of her children are here, she wants to come home too.
“How can I help?” I feel certain this is going to bite me in the ass.
His hesitation confirms it. “Do you remember a few years ago when I mentioned that auction and how I thought the man was going to sell his daughter?”
I have to think back. “I told you to let the police handle it.” He clears his throat. “You didn’t do that, did you?”
“I bought her.” He exhales loudly.
“That was…” I have to count backwards in my head. “Four years ago, at least. What on earth did you do with her?”
“I kept her.” Pride laces his words.
“She’s not a dog.” Rubbing my head with my other hand, I know he’s leading up to something. I wish he’d get to the point already.
“Then I lost her.” Maybe she is a dog after all. Don’t they run away a lot?
I know I’m going to regret asking this. “Then what happened?”
“Well, I found her again. After she tried to steal my car.” He’s amused now. “She’s a bit of a troublemaker.”
“Wh
y, Papa, would you do this to yourself?” I have a feeling I already know the answer.
“What the hell else was I supposed to do? Allow a child to be sold to men who would use her body until she was a shell and then toss her into the sea? Besides, I was bored. Do you know how quiet the island was after Natale went crazy? That boy silenced everyone.” That doesn’t shock me. Even for as young as he was, the “kid killer” contained a rage unlike anyone I’ve ever known.
“Break this down for me, Papa. What do you need?” I hope to hell he doesn’t need a babysitter.
“My flight to get your Mamma leaves in an hour. I need you to pick Nicola up tomorrow and stay with her until your mother and I return.” Babysitting.
“Does Mamma know you’ve collected a stray for all these years?” I already know the answer.
“Yes, and she loves the girl, and they chat weekly. They’ve been wonderful for each other. I need you to keep her out of trouble, Domino. When I return with your mother, Nicola had better be there to greet us.” There’s a warning in his tone.
“I’ll do what I can. Where am I picking her up?” I frown when he doesn’t immediately answer me. “Papa?”
“Palermo Detention.” Silence greets me.
Of fucking course she is. “What did she do?”
“A fight at her school. She broke another girl’s nose.” I don’t know whether to laugh or scold the man. “She’s had a tough life, Domino, much like Natale’s Posy. She needed me as much as I needed her. Be kind to the girl, son.” I hum my agreement. “One more thing,” Oh lord. “Tomorrow is also her eighteenth birthday. I don’t want you to take her out or anything, but ordering dinner, getting a cake, it wouldn’t hurt.”
Now I have to throw her a fucking birthday party? Christ, this just keeps getting better and better. “When do you return?”
“A couple of weeks. The Palermo house is where we’ve been staying since the Morello’s return. I’d like it if you stayed there until we arrive. Meeting your mother might overwhelm her.”
Already dreading his request, I still promise, “I’ll keep her safe until your arrival.”
Hanging up after wishing my father a safe flight, I dread the drive to Palermo. Not because it’s boring, nothing in Sicily is, but because this girl is trouble and not what I want or need right now.
Standing from my spot on the grass, I give one last look at the beautiful sea before heading inside to speak to my capo and make a call to the only person I trust to help me find a replacement to protect my current ward.
I don’t know why but I feel as though things in my life are about to change drastically.
Chapter 2
Nicola
Crushing the paper bag to my chest, I wait for the last door to slide open, and I gain my freedom again. For the past six months, Palermo Detention Centre has been my life. I screwed up, lost my temper, had another hissy fit, and broke a girl’s nose. It was my last straw. The law decided I was a problem that needed to be confined.
After Santo Cardarelli bought me four years ago, I ran away. I lived on the streets for a few months, stole to survive. When I tried to steal the wrong man’s car, it turns out it was Santo’s.
He wasn’t mad. Didn’t turn me into the police. I waited months for the punishment after that, but it never came. When I finally relaxed enough to listen when he spoke to me, I realized he wasn’t a terrible person. He was pleasant, kind of funny, and intense. I never understood what he did for a living, but I knew other men feared him.
The girl I hit? It was because she made a reference of the disgusting kind about Santo and me. I couldn’t let that go. She deserved so much more than what I gave her, but I’m the one who was punished.
I promised Santo that after this—I stare at the cold, grey walls of my prison—I was done being some badass. I don’t have anything to prove to anyone, and I need to start living for myself. His words, not mine. But I want to make him proud.
Santo is the father I never got to have. He’s treated me like the daughter he was never blessed with, and it took me a long time to realize that. I know that he’s leaving to get his wife from the States soon, but I don’t remember when exactly, and frankly, I’m nervous about meeting Evelina. She’s the nicest woman I’ve ever spoken to in my life, and I’m terrified she’ll see in me what everyone but Santo does.
Trouble.
It’s what I’m always called. What everyone predicts, and I don’t help myself very much by proving them right.
The door opens, and the light from outside filters in. The first thing to hit me is the smell of rain and a clap of thunder. I both weep with joy and jump from fright. The worst night of my life happened during one of the most horrifying thunderstorms I’ve ever experienced. I’ll have nightmares tonight, I’m sure, and I’m already dreading it.
Stepping through the exit, I hold the bag over my head and search the parking lot for Santo, but I don’t see him. Only a sleek white SUV and a man standing beside it with an umbrella covering his head. Panicked, I turn back around to run inside, but the door is already closed.
He wouldn’t have forgotten me. He never does. No matter how many times I expect him to, Santo has not once ever forgotten about me. A new thread of fear takes over my heart. What if something happened to him? What if he’s hurt? What if he didn’t mean what he said, and because I’m eighteen now, I’m no longer the kind of trouble he wants?
Soaked to the bone and shivering, I jump as another clap of thunder rumbles the ground under my feet. I can’t stay here, and as I look around again, just in case I missed something, my eyes stray to the stranger.
Seeing a bus stop beyond him, I begin a slow trek forward, hating every step I take, which only makes me walk slower.
“Nicola!” I hear my name, and foolish hope has me spinning in a circle, searching for the source, stopping as the stranger waves me over. I look again, to be sure.
Slowly striding towards the man, I’m hesitant to get too close. “Nicola?” I nod. “Santo sent me to pick you up.”
“W–wh–who are yo–u?” My teeth won’t stop chattering. The man reaches forward to cover me with the umbrella as he removes his jacket with one hand.
“Domino, I’m Santo’s son. He sends his apologies, but he’s gone to get my mother.” Heaviness assaults my chest. I don’t know why. Of course, she’s more important. He’s shared some things about his family, and being separated for so long has been hard on them all.
“Sh–show me.” His head cocks to the side, and an amused smirk creases his face before he places his coat around my shoulders and lifts the front of his t-shirt.
There on his chest, covering his heart, is the tattoo Santo told me that all the men in his family wear. Some kind of bird that represents their loyalty to the Cardarelli name and Sicily.
“We good now?” I nod my head, but I’m so cold I can hardly move. My fingers ache, my jaw feels like ice, and I think my feet are too numb to move. Sensing my hesitation, he scoops me up in his arms and frowns. “You’re small,” he mutters. “Too small.”
As he walks around the front of the vehicle, I don’t know what to say, so I keep my mouth shut as he opens the door and places me in the passenger seat. After buckling my belt, he closes the umbrella and tosses it in the backseat.
Sliding behind the wheel, Domino plays with the buttons on the panel between us, and heat blasts the vehicle as my teeth continue to chatter, and my body can’t stop shaking.
“Better?” he asks, looking down at me, and I’m stunned at how beautiful he is. It almost hurts to look at him. With his masculine jaw, slightly crooked nose, deep-set yet soulful blue eyes, and the beard growth on his face, I’m awestruck. “Nicola?” I love the gravelly tone to his voice too. Especially when he says my name. Closing my eyes, I forget that he asked me a question as I rest my head on the seat and curl my legs up, trying to use his jacket for warmth as the heat blasts me.
I can hear Domino cursing as the vehicle begins to move, but I just don’t have t
he energy to open my eyes. I hadn’t realized I was so tired until the heat hit me. If only my body would stop shaking, I could relax. It’s been so long since I’ve literally had any rest.
“We’ll be at the house in a few minutes,” he says, and I think I nod my head, but I’m not sure.
It isn’t until I’m in his arms again and he’s carrying me somewhere inside and up a set of stairs that I open my eyes again. I know this house; we lived here for a few months before I was arrested, so I’m familiar with the layout, and when Domino takes a right at the top of the stairs instead of left in the direction of my room, I want to protest, but I’m just too exhausted.
The sound of a door opening registers, and when I’m placed on a soft bed, I want to lay down, but Domino won’t allow me to. “Sit up so I can take your clothes off.”
Doing as he asks, I feel like I’m in a trance. His fingers are soft as they remove my shoes first, and then my shirt and bra. Laying me on the warm sheets, he goes for my pants and panties next. Completely nude before him, I watch his eyes, and they never leave mine. Not when I curl into a ball or when he places the blanket over my body and bunches it up around me.
“You’re a good man, Domino,” I murmur into my comfy cocoon, where my body finally eases up and stops shaking.
Domino