Ruthless Princess
A Mafia Royals Romance
by Rachel Van Dyken
Copyright © 2020 RACHEL VAN DYKEN
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.
RUTHLESS PRINCESS
Copyright © 2020 RACHEL VAN DYKEN
ISBN: 978-1-946061-42-3
Cover Design by Jena Brignola
Editing by Kay Springsteen & Jill Sava
Formatting by Jill Sava, Love Affair With Fiction
Table of Contents
Front Matter
Dedication
Author Note
Who’s Who in the Cosa Nostra
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About The Author
Also By Rachel Van Dyken
Dedication
To all the readers who started with me back in 2010 and took a chance on mafia romance and to all the new readers who picked up this book. Welcome to the fold. Blood in, no out. Hugs, RVD
Author Note
This is a standalone and a brand new series; I know you probably already know that since you picked up this book, but hey, let’s just repeat it again! ;) If you recognize some of the names in this book, it’s because back in 2010, I wrote a series called Eagle Elite, and the parents in this series are the OG’s of Eagle Elite. That series got extremely long (as you can imagine), so I decided we needed fresh blood back at Eagle Elite University, and that starts with Ruthless Princess!
If you are an EE fan then this is the part where you may nerd out and want a family tree, I have that on the very next page, NEVER FEAR! If you’re new, just scroll on by, it won’t matter to you, haha, and you’ll be like yeah, I don’t care. And you don’t NEED to know any backstory, because again this is a new series (do you like how I keep repeating that), oh by the way it’s a new series.
Okay, I’m done, haha, grab a glass of wine (you’ll seriously need it), and might I suggest some vodka? It’s gonna be a rough ride, but it’s going to be soooo worth it.
This is actually the first book I’ve written in over a decade where I threw caution to the wind and went meh, no more censoring my characters, let them be them, so yes this book has sexy times (a lot), and yes this book does have cursing, but one thing remains true. This book is my soul, and I hope that when you read the very last page, you can’t stop thinking about these characters.
Blood in, no out. Let’s get Ruthless…
Who’s Who in the Cosa Nostra
Nixon and Trace Abandonato. Nixon is the boss of the Abandonato Family he's a bit psycho, has a lip ring, and in his mid-forties, looks like a freaking badass. Think if Jason Momoa and Channing Tatum had a baby. SURPRISE, Nixon! Trace is the love of his life. Nixon’s daughter, Serena, is his pride and joy, she's the heir to his throne. His adopted son Dom is ten years older than Serena. At thirty, he's ready to step in if he needs to, but he really doesn't want to, not that he's thinking about a family of his own. His youngest, Bella, was a most welcome surprise.
Phoenix and Bee Nicolasi (formerly De Lange) have one son, Junior, and he's everything. The same age as Serena, he only ever has one thing on his mind. Her. But pursuing her is like signing his own death sentence. The one rule that the bosses gave all the cousins, all the kids, no dating each other, it complicates things. They all took a blood oath. But he's willing to risk it all, for just one taste.
Which brings us to Chase and Luciana Abandonato, their love story is one for the ages. He had Violet first, gorgeous, Violet Emiliana Abandonato. And then he had twins, God help him. Asher (Marco) and Izzy. All are attending Eagle Elite University. Violet is more into books than people. And the twins, well they are polar opposites. While Izzy is quiet and reserved, taking after her uncle Sergio in the tech support part of the mafia, Asher was an assassin at age twelve. He takes care of everyone even though he's younger than Serena and Junior. He feels it's his job to make sure everyone is safe, including his girlfriend, Claire. She's his soul mate, and he'll do anything for her. And don’t forget the baby of the family, Ariel, who everyone dotes on.
Tex and Mo Campisi. He's the godfather of this joint, gorgeous, he's a gentle giant unless he' s pissed and his wife, Mo, is just as violent as he is. They have two sons, Breaker and King. Breaker is in his sophomore year at Eagle Elite and he can't wait to release his own flirtations onto the campus. He's a force to be reckoned with, just walks around with chicks and shrugs. King on the other hand is vying for top whore at his own high school, I mean they say high school is supposed to be memorable right? He just can't remember any of the girls’ names, so he calls them all Sarah. It's a thing.
Sergio and Valentina are also Abandonatos. While Val is quiet and reserved, Sergio is the resident doctor of the Families. He's also really into tech and loves spying on people. They have two gorgeous daughters. Kartini has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. He just hopes he survives her last year of high school without shooting one of her boyfriends. With Lydia, he knows she can take care of herself. She already beat up the class bully, making Sergio quite proud.
Dante and El don't have things easier, they're one of the younger mafia families, he's the head of the Alfero Family. And he has two twin girls at age ten who are making him pull his hair out. Raven and Tempest are adorable, but they're feisty like their mom. He lets them have more screen time than he should, but they say he's their favorite in the world, sooooo… he lets it pass.
Andrei and Alice have been through a lot. Their name single-handedly brought the Russian Mafia into the Italian fold. Andrei is both Petrov and Sinacore, meaning that the oldest Italian mafia family is now part of the Cosa Nostra. Forever. Their son's name is Maksim, and weirdly enough he's a total flirt, he takes nothing seriously, but can flip a switch in a minute if someone he loves is threatened. Anya is his little sister, and he would do anything for her, she seems fragile but studies Krav Maga, so nobody messes with her.
These are the Families of the Cosa Nostra.
Welcome to the Family.
Blood in. No out.
A little king
dom I possess, where thoughts and feelings dwell;
And very hard the task I find of governing it well.
—Louisa May Alcott
Prologue
Serena
“Shhhh,” Junior clapped a hand over my mouth as voices sounded around the corner.
Our dads.
Both of them.
I grinned against his palm while he rolled his eyes and leaned in, pressing me against the wall, we were blanketed in darkness, just us. His scent wrapped around me in a way that felt like a fantasy. He tasted like cinnamon; the heat between our bodies would sear a normal person alive.
But we weren’t normal.
We were best friends.
Who just happened to be sleeping together.
At sixteen.
And he was a few months older—the dads would flip if they knew—all of them.
They wouldn’t approve. It was one of their many rules. And only they knew the real reason they didn’t want any of us together.
But telling me I couldn’t have what I want was basically like begging me to do it, I snuck into Junior’s bedroom when I was fifteen.
And the rest was history.
We’d been inseparable ever since.
“Mmmm…” Junior ran his hands down my sides, his fingers grazing skin as he tilted his head at a different angle. The hushed voices coming from the living room only made the moment hotter, more urgent. They’d kill us for being together.
I wasn’t even exaggerating.
That was the price we paid for being born into mafia royalty.
And yet, I didn’t care, maybe I would if I had a gun pointed at me, but right now? All I wanted was him.
With every kiss, I lied and said it was worth a life, life is fleeting anyway, why not spend it in someone’s arms? Better yet, why not spend it in his bed?
“We’re going to get caught.” Junior pulled away and sighed, then pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes were an ocean blue almost teal, I always had trouble focusing when he watched me like he wanted me to know he saw everything and what he saw, he wanted—desperately.
“Not today, we won’t.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Besides, we know how to fight.”
He gave me a dubious look. “You do realize that the body count of both of our dads’ rivals that of the Capo…”
I ignored the mention of the glorified Godfather of the Five Families and pressed against his rock-hard body and winked. “Worth it.”
“Fuck.” He kissed me, again and again, pressing me so hard against the wall that I could feel every inch of him burning into me, dying for me.
My hands tangled in his hair as I tried to hold on to him, wrapping my legs around him, holding him prisoner.
The voices got louder.
We broke apart at the exact minute my cousin Ash rounded the corner and stared at us in frustration. “You’re going to get caught, and I’m not gonna go down with the ship.”
I grinned. “Awww, you’re just pissed because you aren’t getting any.” I loved teasing Ash. It was too easy to get him to react, just like his dad Chase, like a bomb ready to go off.
“You shouldn’t be getting any at all!” He clenched his teeth. “Uncle Nixon’s gonna flip his shit if he finds out about you two.”
“Dad will be fine.” I sounded more confident than I felt. My dad was a killer and the boss of the Abandonato Family. I loved him more than life itself. He would understand this; he would side with me; he always did.
Right?
I mean, I was his princess, heir to the throne, and we were best friends, me and my dad, not that he didn’t love Bella. My little sister was spoiled rotten, but she was ten years younger than me, which meant all the responsibility of the Family would fall onto my very capable shoulders.
“It’s not just that…” Ash looked between us. “If it was anyone else…”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Junior shoved Ash’s chest, causing Ash to stumble backward. He looked more annoyed than anything; I expected knives to get pulled any minute.
It’s how we solved everything.
Violence.
“Phoenix Nicolasi, former De Lange—”
We both gaped while Junior shoved him again. “The hell, man! You can’t say that name… not here.”
Ash made the motion of the cross over his chest like it would somehow prevent the past from haunting our future and sighed. “Look, all I’m saying is, if it were anyone else, they’d probably look the other way, but precious Serena shacking up with dipshit—” he grinned at Junior “—that’s you, by the way.”
“Fuck. You.” Junior pulled out his dagger.
It still had blood on the blade.
Awesome.
“You guys don’t know the history between them. Sure the bosses all look happy now, but Phoenix did some serious shit back in the day. Let’s just say there’s no way that this is gonna slide. One or both of you are going to end up dead, and then who would braid Izzy’s hair?”
“Low blow,” Junior grumbled while I laughed. He loved Izzy, Ash’s twin sister, more than anything, even resorting to helping braid her super thick hair when she broke her arm a few weeks ago.
“Look, this has been fun.” I slapped Ash on the shoulder. “But I have a guy to screw, so if you could just be anywhere but here… that would be great.”
Junior snickered then shoved Ash again and winked. “Maybe you should be our new lookout.”
“Fresh out of earplugs.”
“You’ll survive.” Junior grinned, then jerked me into his bedroom and shut the door.
We were a mixture of laughter, soft sighs, moans, hands, and all the touching in the world.
“He’s wrong, you know,” Junior said in between kisses. “You’re mine, and you will always be mine.”
“Yours.” I lifted my shirt over my head while he tugged my jeans down. “Always yours.”
“Damn right, you are.” His kiss was punishing.
And I took it. Again and again, never believing there would be a day where our love would start a war.
And our friendship would shatter into a million pieces.
Then again, the worst thing you could do in the mafia is hang on to hope that your life would be normal.
The second worst thing?
Fall in love with your best friend.
Enemy.
And heir to the Nicolasi throne.
“Shhhh…” Junior smiled against my mouth before he grabbed his black tank and pulled it over his body. Even at sixteen, he was gorgeous, muscular—we had our parents to thank for that.
We were a dynasty in the making.
We’d had no choice but to learn how to fight.
I raked my nails down his chest, already he had tattoos lining his right arm, the only reason Phoenix let it slide was because most of the bosses knew that the pain in getting a tattoo helped develop a tolerance for pain from a gunshot wound or blade.
Sick but true.
I yawned behind my hand, earning a quick smirk from Junior. “Really? You’re just going to lay there naked?”
I turned to my side. “See something else you like?”
He cursed. “I’m going to hell, aren’t I?”
“Probably.” I laughed, and then we heard more voices down the hall, mainly Asher yelling like a banshee.
“Quick!” Junior tossed me my jeans, I hurried and put them on, shoved my underwear under his bed then pulled over my sports bra and tank just as the voices grew louder.
It was my dad.
And Phoenix.
Chase.
It was all of them.
All of the bosses! I could hear each distinct voice and then an accented one meaning that Andrei the Sinacore-Petrov boss was also here.
“Why are they here?” I mouthed to Junior.
He just shrugged. “Family dinner?”
I burst out laughing just as the door opened. We looked as casual as ever, me on the bed texting, Junior at his desk w
orking on a nonexistent paper.
See? We knew how to not get caught.
Chase stepped into the room. His eyes narrowed in on me and then Junior. “You guys studying?”
“Failing, he’s failing.” I pointed to Junior and earned a middle finger and grunt in response.
“You look fancy today, Uncle Chase.” I grinned wide. “Good day saving the world?”
“He’s a U.S. senator, not the president,” Junior mumbled under his breath. “This is why you go to school, Serena, to learn shit.”
“And so eloquently spoken,” I said sarcastically.
Chase watched our exchange too closely. And then he sniffed the air like some freaking tracker!
My pulse picked up.
I could see Junior’s slow swallow as he kept typing. His body was completely rigid. Okay, so maybe we weren’t the best liars, but we were teenagers! What did they expect?
“Something wrong?” I stood and crossed my arms.
Chase’s icy stare returned to me, his eyes laser-focused, his hair was longer now, swept to the side, I could see tattoos swirling out from underneath his black button-down shirt. “I would cut the shit before your dad finds out, Serena.”
I scoffed. “Finds out that I let Junior do my homework?”
“The hell you do,” Junior yelled.
“It smells like sex,” Chase said through clenched teeth. “We’ll talk about it later, but for now, you’ve been summoned.”
I gulped. “Just me and Junior?”
Chase’s expression hardened. “All of you, everyone over the age of thirteen.”
I mentally did the math.
So that meant Junior and me, as well as Asher, Breaker, Violet, Izzy, Maksim, and—I wanted to vomit— my younger cousin King, but he was only thirteen. A sickness washed over me as I nodded once to my uncle and waited for Junior to walk with me.
I needed his strength.
Because I knew what a summoning meant.
It meant we had to choose.
But that word was even a lie, wasn’t it?
To live meant to bleed for the Family.
To die, meant to turn your back on blood.
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