Dangerous Beauty: Part Two: A Mafia Princess

by Hardin, Michelle

  “Fine! Fine. You jerk,” Carter said through a laugh. “You’re right, Nathan. There— I said it.”

  Nathan smiled and kissed her lips. “See how it just flows off your tongue easily, with no effort at all …”

  Carter giggled.

  “I’m always right, мое красивое Роуз. Remember that,” he said with a wink.

  Carter smiled and moved closer to his lips. “You are very funny, Mr. Salerno.”

  He smiled then kissed her passionately. Carter’s arms went around his neck, and Nathan palmed her behind. “Mmm … I love to see you smile, Mrs. Salerno,” he said against her lips. “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you too, Bubby … so much.”

  8

  Pleasant View

  Nathan left the market while Kyle waited for him on the phone. This was the call he’d been waiting to get for two months, and he’d better get some damn answers or there would be serious hell to pay. If they couldn’t find what Nathan wanted, he’d go to New York and get it himself, and they definitely didn’t want that. He was sick of waiting, and he could tell Carter was starting to get restless. The sooner he found the fuckers that had helped Mitchell nearly kill Carter and himself, the better.

  Nathan sighed. Even though he’d been looking for Mitchell’s accomplices, and this could be the call he’d been waiting for, Nathan still wasn’t sure if he was ready for Carter to go back to New York. Yes, she was incredible at her jobs, and Nathan loved that he and Carter worked together, but Mitchell had been a close call. Plus Anastacia said that Carter wasn’t safe, and Nathan still needed to know why. He wasn’t willing to live his life without Carter in it. He’d lock her up in that house before he let anything happen to her again. Of course, he still had to remember who he was talking about here. Carterina Anastacia Stone.

  She was every bit of the fighter and killer he was. She had come from the same lifestyle. Fathered by a notorious and highly-feared hit-man and mothered by the bad-ass Anastacia Stone. Not to mention, Carter could be just as crazy as her parents when she had to be. It was something she really couldn’t control.

  And Nathan loved that about her. He really did. It was just hard as all shit to see her half-dead in his arms. It had been way too close, and Nathan didn’t know if he’d survive if he lost her.

  As he exited the market, he spotted the men who had come to town with Carter and him. Nathan had made sure to have security here just in case he got this call and had to leave Carter’s side. From now on, she would have security with her at all times. He, his father, and Anastacia had made this decision together over the phone a few weeks ago.

  “Reno!” Nathan signaled for his men to come over to him. Reno was one of the men who covered security at the apartment in New York and one of the few, select men who knew she was still alive.

  Reno put out his cigarette and hurried over to Nathan. “She’s still shopping. Find her, but keep your distance,” Nathan ordered.

  “Got it, boss,” Reno said and ran off to get the rest of the men to head into the market.

  Nathan had wanted to correct him. He preferred when the men called him by his first name. Boss was what they called his father, and Nathan was not ready to be in his father’s position yet, no matter how much everyone thought he was. Nathan shrugged and continued walking to the car. Whatever. They could call him whatever they wanted as long as they did what he said when he said it.

  Nathan made it to the car and sat in the driver’s seat. He put the phone to his ear.

  “Kyle,” he said.

  “Are you ready?” Kyle asked in Italian.

  Deciding that speaking in Italian was best since there were people in the parking lot, Nathan replied, keeping up the language barrier. “I’ve been waiting for two months, Kyle. What the fuck do you think?” Nathan’s jaw clenched. Of course, he was ready. What kind of question was that?

  Kyle chuckled. “Looks like you are then, boss. Someone came forward. It was difficult for us to find Mitchell’s minions because not one of them ran after the bastard’s head was cut halfway off. According to the man who came forward, they all knew they’d be found if they skipped town, so they decided to stick around as if nothing had happened.”

  “Why would this guy come forward? Did you make sure this was legit information and not just bullshit?”

  “Come on, Nate. Who are you talking to here? You know I wouldn’t bring you anything unless I checked it out first.”

  Nathan nodded. “Keep talking.”

  “He brought evidence. Video. I’ll bring it to Carter’s birthday dinner tonight. He had secretly recorded videos of all their meetings with Mitchell for his own protection, just in case they turned on him.”

  “They turned on him?”

  “He said they’re all turning on each other. They’re starting to squirm, Nate. They said we were getting too close. You won’t believe how many of them there are and how much Mitch was paying them.”

  Nathan took a deep, calming breath, knowing that it wouldn’t work, but also knowing that he couldn’t lose his temper in the middle of a public parking lot. “Tell me,” he growled.

  “Ten damn guys, Nate. Mitch was paying them all a million each, and get this. I watched the video— Mitch told them their pay was coming from Carter’s fucking money. Apparently, he had taken a big chunk of Spook’s money when they killed him. He said it was like Carter was paying them to kill the two of you.”

  There was long silence over the phone, and then Kyle spoke again. “Nate, are you still there? Did you hear me?” he asked.

  Yea, Nathan had heard him. He’d heard every single word. He just couldn’t speak. His body was shaking with rage. It took everything he had not to throw his phone across the parking lot, head to the airport, and take the first flight to New York.

  No, Nathan needed to be smart about this and calm down. He had control over himself. He wasn’t the type to make a public spectacle of himself anyway. Taking a deep breath, he spoke to Kyle. “Yes, Kyle, I heard you. Now tell me who.”

  “Who what?”

  “Who—” Nathan stopped talking and calmed himself. This wasn’t Kyle’s fault. There was no need to get unnecessarily loud. “I apologize for yelling,” Nathan said, lowering his volume. Kyle, Mickey, Dante, and Lucca were the only men that Nathan would ever apologize to for losing his temper. They never cared for the apologies because they knew him all too well— they knew he’d lose it again— so his apologies were basically for Nathan’s own peace of mind. The guys just ignored his temper and his apologies. “Who came forward, and what does he want?” Nathan asked. He knew the idiot wouldn’t give all this information without getting anything in return.

  “He wants immunity,” Kyle said “He wants forgiveness for what he’s done. He says he didn’t know what he was thinking. He doesn’t have anything against you or Carter. He doesn’t want anyone to know he was involved, either. He said he had always trusted you and Angelo. That you two were honorable men.”

  A dark, scathing laughter erupted from Nathan’s chest. Was this man crazy? “Is he out of his fucking mind? No one, not one fucking person I have ever come in contact with has ever accused me of being honorable! Tell me, Kyle. When he asked for this immunity, what did you say?”

  “What do you think I said? I gave it to him. How else were we supposed to get the information? I had no choice, Nathan.”

  “And were you serious, brother? You promised this to him, and you are my dearest friend. If you choose to honor the agreement you made with this man, I’ll support your decision,” Nathan said, already knowing what Kyle was going to say before he said it.

  “Fuck him!” Kyle said “And fuck honor, too! That bitch ended his own life the day he accepted that fucking money from Mitchell to kill you and Carter. I’m fighting myself not to go in there and rip the fucker’s head off right now! And it’s hard as hell for all of us, Nathan. We need to meet about this quick because the fact that he is who he is makes it that much harder to be in
the same room with him,” Kyle said in a serious tone.

  Nathan frowned. “Who the hell is it?”

  Kyle sighed. “Nate, I should probably tell you when we …”

  “No! Tell me now. Right now. No fucking waiting, Kyle. Who is it?” Nathan asked, beginning to get irritated. Was it too much to ask for some damn obedience?

  “Nate, you don’t understand.”

  Nathan’s jaw clenched. “Who. The. Fuck. Is it. Kyle?”

  “It’s one of the reasons why he came forward, Nate. That’s why I need to wa—”

  “Who is it?” Nathan shouted.

  “Giovanni, man! It’s fucking Gio!”

  “Gio? Giovanni tried to kill my wife? He killed his own goddamn brother?”

  That did it. Nathan had lost it. Finding out Giovanni was the rat who had given up Mitch’s guys wasn’t what he had expected. Gianni— the man who had lost his life in the elevator that day— was his twin brother, for God’s sake. The guy had killed his own brother! Nathan paced back and forth angrily. He was glad the parking lot was empty at the moment, and no one had witnessed his outburst. Even if he was shouting in Italian, he was still shouting, and that was not something he liked to do in public.

  After one good punch that left a large dent in the front of the car, Nathan was able to take a breath. He was still furious, but at least he could breathe now.

  “He said that he didn’t know that Gianni would be with Carter when she went up. It’s another reason why he wants the others involved to suffer. They never cared about his brother.”

  Nathan groaned and ran his hands through his hair. “Look, I have to go. I can’t do this right now. I’m about to take Carter to her damn birthday lunch, and she reads me like a book. She’ll know something’s wrong.”

  “How is she?” Kyle asked.

  “She’s fine. About to snap, but fine. I don’t know how much longer I can keep her away from her work in New York, Kyle.”

  “Do you want to keep her away?”

  “No. I just … I don’t know, man. You remember how it was when she almost …” Nathan sat in the car and ran his fingers through his hair again. He couldn’t even finish the statement.

  “I know, Nathan. But we have to remember who we’re dealing with here. I’d love nothing more than for Carter to be locked up somewhere safe, but that’s not Carter. She doesn’t like to be hidden, and trying to change who she is made her miserable in the past. I thought we had agreed that one of the perks of you being with a woman like her is that she is who she is,” Kyle said.

  Nathan groaned. “I know that, Kyle. I know what she’s capable of, and I know she’s good at her job back in New York. But every time I think about us going back, I remember how fragile and half fucking dead she was in my arms four months ago,” Nathan said. “You tell me, Kyle. What the hell would you have done if she didn’t make it?” Nathan already knew the answer. He knew Kyle loved Carter, and he knew that just like him, Kyle would have avoided New York for as long as possible … just until he got shit together.

  Silence was all Nathan got from Kyle for full minute. “But she did make it,” Kyle said.

  “But if she hadn’t, Kyle,” Nathan pushed.

  “She did.”

  “But if sh—”

  “But she lived! Carterina dying is not something I really like to think about, Nate! I’d be devastated, okay? Fuck! Now you’re making me yell at you! Dammit, Nathan!”

  “Now you see where I’m coming from, though. She tried to bring it up earlier.” Nathan ran his hand down his face in frustration.

  “Well, what did you say?”

  Nathan shrugged. “Nothing. I had to snap back into using my damn brain. She tried to catch me off guard and ask me about it during sex.”

  Nathan knew Kyle’s brows shot up when he said that. He didn’t even have to see Kyle’s face. “How the fuck was she thinking during sex, Nathan? I know I taught you better than that.”

  Nathan snorted. “Fuck you.” Kyle didn’t teach him shit. “I bought myself a little more time to get my shit together, though.”

  Kyle chuckled. “How?”

  By making her scream until she forgot New York existed, Nathan thought as he leaned lazily back in his seat. He definitely wasn’t going to tell Kyle that. Kyle already thought about his wife more than Nathan liked. The memories of Carter’s moans, cries, and screams of pleasure were Nathan’s. Carter belonged to Nathan.

  He couldn’t stop images of Carter coming beneath him from flashing through his mind on a daily basis. Nathan loved to watch her come. He loved how she tossed her head when an orgasm overtook her body. Her perfect breasts would rise and fall with each deep breath she took, and her tight body shuddered as her hands grasped at whatever she could find. She always screamed his name during an orgasm. Nathan loved that shit. He wanted to be acknowledged when he brought her pleasure. He wanted her to always remember exactly to whom she belonged.

  The sound of Kyle’s laughter brought him back to the present. Damn … He needed to stop thinking about his wife or else he’d be out here with a lack of space in his pants.

  “So I’m guessing from your silence that you’re not going to tell me. That just makes me want to know even more, Nathan. Now I know the story is inappropriate,” he said, and Nathan could almost hear the smile on his face.

  Nathan smirked. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t give a shit about what you want to know.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes, it is.” Nathan’s tone slipped smoothly back into that of a boss. His father had taught him how to do it years ago, and it never failed to get the men back on track. “Is everything still in order in New York? No talk?” Nathan asked.

  Kyle sighed. “Rumor says Carter’s dead, and you’ve gone off somewhere … to grieve.”

  “Good. Continue this charade with Giovanni until I’m ready to deal with him. Find Mitchell’s office and bring me his books.”

  “Got it.”

  “Good. Do that and get here as soon as you can. Carter misses everyone. We want you all here for her birthday.”

  “I miss her too. But what about you, though?” Kyle asked.

  Nathan frowned in confusion. “What are talking about?”

  “Do you miss me, too?”

  Nathan laughed. “Do what I said, dumbass. I’ll talk to you later.”

  He hung up the phone and slouched back in his seat. He had to figure out how to handle this before he told his father. He knew he couldn’t present what he’d found without a plan for how to fix it. Those were his father’s rules. Nathan wasn’t just going to handle this particular situation— he was going to make sure this whole betrayal shit never happened in the Salerno family again.

  9

  The Call

  Nathan left the market while Kyle waited for him on the phone. This was the call he’d been waiting to get for two months, and he’d better get some damn answers or there would be serious hell to pay. If they couldn’t find what Nathan wanted, he’d go to New York and get it himself, and they definitely didn’t want that. He was sick of waiting, and he could tell Carter was starting to get restless. The sooner he found the fuckers that had helped Mitchell nearly kill Carter and himself, the better.

  Nathan sighed. Even though he’d been looking for Mitchell’s accomplices, and this could be the call he’d been waiting for, Nathan still wasn’t sure if he was ready for Carter to go back to New York. Yes, she was incredible at her jobs, and Nathan loved that he and Carter worked together, but Mitchell had been a close call. Plus Anastacia said that Carter wasn’t safe, and Nathan still needed to know why. He wasn’t willing to live his life without Carter in it. He’d lock her up in that house before he let anything happen to her again. Of course, he still had to remember who he was talking about here. Carterina Anastacia Stone.

  She was every bit of the fighter and killer he was. She had come from the same lifestyle. Fathered by a notorious and highly-feared hit-man and mothered by the bad-
ass Anastacia Stone. Not to mention, Carter could be just as crazy as her parents when she had to be. It was something she really couldn’t control.

  And Nathan loved that about her. He really did. It was just hard as all shit to see her half-dead in his arms. It had been way too close, and Nathan didn’t know if he’d survive if he lost her.

  As he exited the market, he spotted the men who had come to town with Carter and him. Nathan had made sure to have security here just in case he got this call and had to leave Carter’s side. From now on, she would have security with her at all times. He, his father, and Anastacia had made this decision together over the phone a few weeks ago.

  “Reno!” Nathan signaled for his men to come over to him. Reno was one of the men who covered security at the apartment in New York and one of the few, select men who knew she was still alive.

  Reno put out his cigarette and hurried over to Nathan. “She’s still shopping. Find her, but keep your distance,” Nathan ordered.

  “Got it, boss,” Reno said and ran off to get the rest of the men to head into the market.

  Nathan had wanted to correct him. He preferred when the men called him by his first name. Boss was what they called his father, and Nathan was not ready to be in his father’s position yet, no matter how much everyone thought he was. Nathan shrugged and continued walking to the car. Whatever. They could call him whatever they wanted as long as they did what he said when he said it.

  Nathan made it to the car and sat in the driver’s seat. He put the phone to his ear.

  “Kyle,” he said.

  “Are you ready?” Kyle asked in Italian.

  Deciding that speaking in Italian was best since there were people in the parking lot, Nathan replied, keeping up the language barrier. “I’ve been waiting for two months, Kyle. What the fuck do you think?” Nathan’s jaw clenched. Of course, he was ready. What kind of question was that?

  Kyle chuckled. “Looks like you are then, boss. Someone came forward. It was difficult for us to find Mitchell’s minions because not one of them ran after the bastard’s head was cut halfway off. According to the man who came forward, they all knew they’d be found if they skipped town, so they decided to stick around as if nothing had happened.”