Shaking my head, “I can’t; there are things I have to do,” I replied, keeping my voice just as low.
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” she said, finally giving up. I should have known that wouldn’t be the end.
“So, I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me where you’re going?” not waiting for a response. “Come on, you’ve got to tell me. I know it’s a guy; you do this all the time: disappear, then come back tired and sore,” giving a little humorous laugh. If she only knew. “Uh, I can’t believe you won’t give me something to fantasize about. You know I have no social life. This big lout”—gesturing a hand back at Sal—“follows my father’s every order. I don’t think a guy has ever been within ten feet of me without being in fear for his life. I’m going to go to marriage without ever having been kissed!”
Thank God for the parking lot. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” I said sharply as the dark thought of the only man to ever have kissed me rose in my mind before I could push it away. Realizing I had hurt her feelings with my tone, I tried to fix it. “Besides, you’re probably going to get kissed tonight, and it will be you telling me how great it was, leading to my epic jealousy of you,” I teased, knowing she was spending the night at home.
“You’re right. I’ll be kissed by the hottest guy there and you will be so jealous of his supremely juicy lips. It will be a kiss to end all kisses.” She laughed, ignoring my bad humor like she always did.
Reaching my car, I opened the door, throwing in my bags and books, allowing her to hug me. I whispered in her ear, “You’re not really going out, right?” needing to be sure she was just all talk.
“As if I could get away from my father’s goons.” She snorted, landing a big kiss on my cheek just to be an ass.
Shaking my head as she bounced away with Sal, I gave him a little wave, laughing when he bowed his head in defeat as she started talking to him. That poor guy should ask for a raise. Climbing into my car, I started the engine and sat there for a moment as I let the happiness she brought into my life fade away and allowed the darkness that lived inside me to rush to the front. Already I was leaving this place, her, the college, and my life there behind. Everything I would need for my trip was already bought and packed in the trunk. I lived two lives, one for my mother and one for my father. Right now I was leaving the one my father would have wished for me and continuing on with the one my mother demanded of me.
Dominic (The Family Book 2)
Sometime blood cannot be trusted
Sometimes family means nothing
Sometimes loyalty is tested
Dominic thought that nothing could come between him and the family until one woman did.
As war looms near Dominic must make a choice protect the woman that he was supposed to kill or save the family that he swore to protect.
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
As I walked into my father’s study I knew that I wasn’t going to like what he said. Life had been too good lately, and I knew that the bad had to be coming. I took in the room’s occupants with a glance. My father, Antonio, sat behind his desk. Vincent, his consigliere, sat to his right, and my older brother, Lucca, stood off to the left. I moved to the chair in front of the desk and sat, waiting to learn the reason for my summons.
My father stared at me for a long moment before speaking. “I have a job for you, Dominic,” he began, causing me to sit a little straighter. Fuck me, this is what I’d been waiting for—a way to prove my worth to the family. “Caterina Genovese, the sister of Enzo Genovese, will be attending college here, and I want you to befriend her,” he said, causing me to blink.
I knew damn well who Enzo Genovese was. If Lucca’s wife, Angie, hadn’t killed him I would have ripped the fucker to shreds myself. Enzo Genovese had been my sister Maria’s arranged marriage, but he hadn’t wanted Maria; he wanted Angie, Lucca’s then unknown betrothed. The fucker had then tried to have Maria murdered so he wouldn’t have to return the dowry and would be free to marry Angie. As sick as it was to say, thankfully he had used amateurs that had raped Maria first and gave her a chance to escape before finishing the job. The bastard had hunted and caught Angie multiple times over the years, torturing her since she was ten, but Angie was always able to escape him. I don’t think even Lucca knew the full extent of the things done to her. So why would my father want me to have anything to do with the Genovese family?
“Why?” I asked.
Instead of my father answering, Lucca did. “Some of our informants seem to believe that Enzo might have left her some tapes and damning information about Angie. Things that if found out would have a lot of families coming after her for revenge.”
I bet they would. Angie had made it her life’s mission to hunt down anyone involved with her parents’ deaths. Lucca looked at me hard, his voice turning to frost. “I won’t have my wife upset or worried about this. I don’t give a fuck what you have to do to the bitch or with her. Just find out what she knows and get the evidence.”
I nodded, not at all put off by Lucca’s tone because I knew how protective he was of his wife. Especially now that she was expecting their second child. The truth was I was just as protective. She was another sister and mother to me, wrapped up in one. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for the women of my family to make sure they were safe. So if this girl thought she was going to hurt my family, whatever happened to her she deserved. I reached out and accepted the file that Lucca passed to me. When I opened it the first thing I saw was a picture of the girl. She was pretty enough, with dark hair and eyes. But what struck me was the lack of life. Nothing looked back at me from the picture. She looked like a mannequin instead of a young girl. I looked up and held Lucca’s gaze, letting him know without words that I wouldn’t let him down. I nodded to the others and left the room, closing the door behind me.
***
After watching his brother Dominic walk out, Lucca turned to me, his father. “Do you think he’s ready for this?”
“He has to be. It’s time, Lucca. He has to make a choice. Either he’s in or out. You know this.” I had prayed that Dominic would be out. I could almost hear my wife yelling, Antonio, I can accept that Lucca followed you into this life. He’s his father’s son but the babies need another way. Didn’t we do this to give them a better life? A safe life. Pulling my gaze from the door and my thoughts from the past, I looked hard at my oldest son. One day Lucca would sit in this chair and be head of the family. I had always been worried that he would lose his wife the way I had lost his mother. I knew now that that would never be the case. Angie would destroy legions if she had to protect her family, and now I needed that protectiveness more than ever. “He needs to do this on his own, Lucca. Watch from a distance, but don’t interfere.” A hardness entered Lucca’s eyes at my words. Yeah, I knew that he wouldn’t like it. As underboss, Lucca had control of the soldiers, and Dominic was a soldier, brother or no brother.
“Anything else, boss?” Lucca asked flatly.
I watched him for a long moment to let him know that I meant business. “No, you can go.” As the door closed behind him, I turned to Vincent. “Well, consigliere, speak your peace.”
“I think I said everything that I had to earlier, Antonio,” my advisor and friend of the last thirty years said. “The boys need to make a decision, and I hope the three of them make the right one. I don’t want another son in this life but I will also accept his decision if it’s the one he makes.” Vincent finished talking about his own son, Marcus, one of Dominic’s crew.
Dominic, Marcus, and Christopher had grown up together. As kids of a made guy it wasn’t uncommon for them to band together at a young age and form a crew. I knew Christopher’s father thought the same, as he already had a kid serving a nickel because some dumb fuck couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He sure as hell didn’t want his youngest joining him. I took a long swallow of my drink and closed my eyes, hoping I was doing the right thing.
Chapter 2
I closed the door of my room and sat on the bed. When I opened the file I was again struck by the lifeless doll in the picture. What did it mean? Tossing the picture aside, I leafed through the info that had been gathered on the girl. I was a little taken aback with how little there was on her of substance. Yeah, the obvious was there—her charities, the places she frequented, etcetera, but nothing to really tell me who she was. Was there anything more to the girl than this, or was she just good at hiding who she really was? Not that it really mattered. This little plain Jane was going to be putty in my hands. I’d have everything I needed from her within a week.
Needing to inform my guys I grabbed the phone and dialed Marcus. It took about four rings before he finally answered. “Yeah.”
“Am I interrupting something?” I laughed, as a female whine sounded in the background.
“Two somethings, but who’s counting. What’s up?”
“Business. Go where you can talk,” I said, waiting as I heard him moving around. Once I heard the door click I knew that he was alone. “We got a job.”
“Christ, about time. When and where?”
“When is tomorrow, the where is you and Chris packing your bags and moving to an apartment near the college campus,” I said, enjoying myself.
“Why the hell do we have to move there?”
“The assignment goes there and so will we,” I said.
“What the fuck? Is this some trick of our fathers?”
I laughed. “No, no trick. You and Chris get packed. I’ll text you the address, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The sound of the knob on my door turning had me rushing to the bed. I grabbed the folder and put it under some books as the door crashed open and a tiny whirlwind attacked me. “Uncle Dom, Mommy says it’s dinner time,” Alexa, my little niece, said, throwing herself into my arms. “Horsey ride, horsey ride,” she yelled.
Christ, she was adorable. Spoiled to hell but absolutely adorable. “How about the princess gets a piggyback ride instead?”
She gave me a look that would do her mother proud. “All the way to the table?”
I threw her on the bed and sat down so she could climb up. “All the way to the table,” I laughed, trotting out the door. My niece, being the smart little girl that she was, made sure that we took the long way, making me lap the garden before heading to the dining room. Luckily we got there as the last plate hit the table. As I put her down I knew I was played by the first words out of her mother’s mouth.
“See, baby, I told you Uncle Dom would give you a piggyback ride if you went and got him.” Angie smirked, picking up the little princess. She set Alexa in her chair and took her place next to the little monster. “What are you all waiting for—an invitation?”
With permission given we dug in. I swear even after all these years I still savored the first bite. Thank God Angie could cook. Conversation moved easily around the table, and I let it flow as I enjoyed my meal. It was probably the last one that didn’t come out of a box that I was going to get for a while.
“Are you excited about college, Dom?”
I suppose if I had been paying better attention I might not have almost choked. “I’m sorry,” I said, trying to dislodge the chicken. I was saved from answering by my sister, Maria.
“He’s just mad because Dad’s making him babysit me,” Maria huffed, causing me to shoot my eyes to Lucca. I thought we were keeping this from Angie.
“Maria, you know that Angie can’t go back with you, so Dom, Marcus, and Chris enrolled to keep an eye on you,” Lucca said, saving me.
“Lucca, I’m a big girl. I need to start doing things on my own,” Maria said, clearly upset. Something that all of us beside Angie tried not to do since the incident where her ex-fiancé had her raped and almost murdered.
Lucca rubbed his hand over his face. I could see he was trying to hold onto his patience and was failing miserably. “Maria, if you want to go back to college Dom and the boys are going with you,” Lucca told her sternly, causing fire to rise in Maria’s eyes.
She opened her mouth in what I was sure was going to be the start of an argument that would have Maria running from the table in tears. But it was stopped before she could utter a word. “Enough, Maria. It’s been settled,” Angie said firmly.
“What’s next? You’re going to send my baby brother Nico to watch out for me? Maybe Sal—”
“It’s finished,” Angie decreed, effectively ending the disaster. As tough and as scary as the men in our family could be, Angie was ten times scarier when she lost her patience. So Maria accepted defeat and shut her mouth before it could happen.
She turned her head to glare at me. “Fine, but they had better not hover,” Maria grumbled.
“I’m sure they won’t dear,” Angie replied, in the same even voice as before. “Though it may look like you are. Have you thought about the fact that this will be new to the three of them and you’ll have to keep an eye on them and make sure they know where their classes are?” Angie said, giving me a sly smile.
If I didn’t love her I would probably have risked Lucca’s wrath and drowned her. At Angie’s words I saw Maria’s face light up. There was no shutting her up after that. For the next forty-five minutes Maria talked about school, classes, and places to go. When dinner was finally finished I wanted to race out the door to escape. Only the fact that I hadn’t seen Maria this alive other that when it involved Alexa made me stay. This was my old sister. My sister before her innocence was brutally ripped from her. Keeping a forced smile on my face I dutifully listened and asked questions while helping to clear the table. Halfway through doing the dishes the woman that set me up saved me. “Maria, would you mind getting Alexa ready for bed,” Angie said, her eyes twinkling as she looked at me.
“Yeah, no problem.” Maria dried her hands and turned to leave. Then, in an impulsive moment, she turned back to me and gave me a bear hug. “This is going to be fun. I’m glad you’re coming, Dom,” she said. She let me go just as quickly and hurried away. I stood there in shock, staring at the door.
“She’s getting much better,” Angie said as she sat down at the table. “But she still gets nervous at times.” She motioned for me to join her. “Make sure that you or one of you boys are with her at all times.”
I was still in shock over the hug. “It’s almost like she’s her old self.”
Angie leaned back in her chair and placed a hand over her belly. “She still has panic attacks in large crowds. I’m not sure that she’s ready for this.”
I gave Angie a hard look. “Then why is she going back to school? Why didn’t you tell her no?” I asked, pissed. If Lucca was using Maria as an excuse for me to be at the school we were going to have words. Underboss or no, he was still her brother and should put her welfare over his own needs.
“She wants to go, and I told your father to let her,” Angie replied, making me more pissed. She raised her hand before I could say anything. “Dominic, I know that you want to protect your sister but she has to make her own choices. What she went through destroys most women. You should be proud of the fact that she is willing to go out there and try instead of cowering in her room, afraid to face the world. Besides, I have already spoken with her and told her that if she feels that she can’t handle it yet that it was fine, and we’d try again next semester. If that happens I’ll go with her after I’ve had the baby.” She smiled ruefully. “Hell, I would have gone with her now, big belly and all, if your big brother hadn’t had a conniption and threatened to lock me in the basement.”
I had to chuckle at this. My brother would kill a man that looked at her the wrong way, so it was just laughable any threats he made. They were as solid as water.
“Seriously, she needs to do it without me,” Angie said. “She needs to remember that she can depend on the rest of you just as much as me.” Standing up she leaned over and kissed me on the forehead before waddling out to the kitchen.
Sitting there I began to form a plan on how to do my job an
d keep my sister safe at the same time. Yeah, like I didn’t have enough to worry about.
Nero (The Family Book 3)
Sometimes blood means nothing.
Sometimes family is the enemy.
Sometimes the truth is more complicated than a lie.
After surviving the darkness of his youth Nero thought that the worst was over but he was wrong. In the wake of tragedy and betrayal Nero is forced to fight his own blood to save what is left of his family. As each battle brings Nero closer to ensuring his place as the head of the family can he live with the price that must be paid?
Excerpt:
Nero, age five
“Mommy, Mommy, get up. Mommy, please get up,” Nero whispered urgently, pushing at the blood-covered body on the floor. As he stared at her, he wanted to cry, but he knew that if his father came back in and saw tears in his eyes, he’d beat her again for making him soft. His father would beat her again—before starting on him. As the babies’ cries grew louder from the crib a few feet away, Nero got up and rushed over, begging them to be quiet. He raced over to a fridge his mother kept in the room, grabbed two bottles, and hurried back. There was no time to heat them—if the babies didn’t quiet down soon, his father would come back and kill them. Pressing the bottles to their mouths, he could tell that they weren’t happy with the cold milk, but they took them. Turning back to his mother, Nero heard a little moan. He shuddered in relief. She wasn’t dead.
Falling to his knees next to her, he pushed back the blood-matted hair that covered her face. “Mommy, you have to get up.”
“I’m here, little man. Mommy’s here,” she hoarsely croaked out. Each word racked her broken body with pain.
Maria (The Family Book 4) Page 13