Owned by the Mafia Bad Boy (Book Five)

by Raven Dark

  “So you found it.” He chuckled. “Now I see why you paid for her. She moans like a whore.”

  My anger flashed so hotly that black spots danced across my eyes. “Get up.”

  He did, wiping the blood from his nose and mouth with the back of his hand. I reached for him but didn’t get the chance to touch him.

  Before I knew what was happening, two men, who’d barreled into the room, grabbed me by my arms and yanked me backward. Then I was on my knees, one man at each side, pinning me in place. A large, meaty hand grabbed my head, pulling it back.

  “You didn’t hear all of what I said to her, did you?” He brushed himself off, straightening his blazer. “I meant what I said. I spent my life working to get you in the Family, grooming you to take the Rossi Empire. I’ll do what I have to see you take Rossi’s place if I have to force you and Gala down the aisle and kill that stupid whore to get your head back on straight. Rizotti, hold him.”

  I’d tried to thrash free, and the hand on my head—Rissotti’s—tightened its hold. The other goon who’d been gripping my shoulder seized my arms, pinning them behind my back.

  “You touch Anika, and I’ll gut you, I promise you.”

  “You can’t kill me, Kane.” He ambled toward me, chillingly casual. “See, a man like me doesn’t hold onto his crown as long as I have without planning for every contingency. Including patricide. I die, and the first place the authorities will go is to your door.”

  I was about to tell him he wasn’t as protected as he thought, that I’d find a way to make him pay when he took the last stride to me. Then his fist pulled back and flew at my face, full on.

  My head whipped back and pain blazed through my skull. I barely had a chance to shake the pain off when he struck again. This time, agony burst behind my left eye like fire. I grunted and slumped over. Rizzotti and the other thug held me up so that when his fist connected again, it sent my head flailing back.

  I stared at him through swollen lids. “You couldn’t kick my ass by yourself, old man. You need two guys to hold me still.” I forced a laugh through the pounding in my skull.

  He bent close to me. “Get rid of the girl by the end of the week, or I’ll do it for you. You marry Gala within the month and claim your place as Boss, or you lose everything, boy.”

  “You can’t—”

  “Boys, get him out of my sight. Do your damage, and then deliver him to her. I want her to see what their weakness has cost them.”

  Rizotti muttered something, and then both men were dragging me out.

  I must have passed in and out of consciousness, because the next thing I remember was lying in the back of a van while someone kicked me in the gut, then the head, then the gut again. Pain became my world. Then the van stopped, the back doors were flung open, and I was tossed out.

  My body slammed into the pavement, and my head rebounded with a nasty crack.

  Blackness took me under.

  I’d just come out of the shower when I got the call from Dr. Peters. My father was awake, but the doctor had no idea how long he would stay that way. Notably, this time it was him, not his assistant who called.

  Not letting Peters finish, I promised to be on my way and hung up. In what had to be record time, a little less than two hours, Gala rushed me to Lakewood in the back of her limo, and we practically ran from the elevator to my dad’s room. At the doors, I turned to Gala. I couldn’t believe how hard I was shaking. Or that my mind was racing with a question I knew I shouldn’t even care about now.

  “Are you all right?” She took my shoulders gently. “Do you want me to go in with you?”

  It left me in awe that I wanted to say yes. When had we become friends? I shook my head and squeezed her hands. “I’d better do this alone.”

  She nodded. “Look, whatever the answer is—whoever your real father is—we’ll handle it. And we’ll find him.”

  Somehow I knew she didn’t just mean her and I would handle it. She meant Kane, too. I had a circle of friends behind me, ready to help. Warmth and belonging spread through me. I hugged her. “Thank you, Gala. Thank you for being here.”

  “Anytime, sweetie.”

  With one big breath, I turned and went into the room.

  The doors closed behind me with a slight hiss. The guard sitting by my dad’s bed nodded and got up, ducking out to give me privacy.

  The breathing and life support equipment that my father had been surrounded by was still there, but none of it was hooked up anymore. The tube was gone from his mouth, and except for the soft light around his bed, the room was almost dark. I swallowed, emotions twisting through me in a numbing haze.

  He was alive, but I still might lose him. For some reason, facing the one man I’d trusted and loved all my life had become almost terrifying. Which made no sense.

  Lance’s lips moved, but his voice was barely a rasp, raw and painful.

  Lance. Fuck, he was still my father. Nothing would change that.

  I lowered myself onto the bed beside him and closed my hand around his. He turned his head slowly until his eyes met mine. He looked so old, so tired. Thick whiskers covered his usually shaved face. Had he always been that wrinkled? But when he gave a strained smile, his eyes lit up, and it took years off his face.

  “Daddy.” My eyes stung, my throat so tight I could barely breathe.

  “Dan…iella.” He croaked the word out as if it hurt and reached one shaking, weak hand up to cup my face.

  I cupped his hand over my cheek. Oh, God, there was no way I could ask him now. No way I could destroy this moment.

  “Daddy, don’t try to talk. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” I wanted to pull him into my arms and hold him, never let him go. Unwilling to risk hurting him, I settled for smoothing the lines on his cheeks.

  His throat worked, and his dry, parched lips moved, but at first no sound came out. Then, “Ka…kane? Where…”

  “He’s not here. Don’t worry.” I knew seeing Kane would only upset him now.

  He nodded, but he didn’t look as relieved as I’d expected. “Has to. Has to take care.” Swallow. “Of you.”

  The words were like a spear to my heart. I knew exactly what he was telling me. The only way he would put my life in Kane’s hands, would think the son of his worst enemy should take care of me, was because he knew he wouldn’t be able to do it himself anymore.

  “No. No, Dad, don’t talk like that. You aren’t going to die. You’ll make it through this.” My heart seemed to be trying to come apart in my ribcage.

  He shook his head slowly. The graveness in his gaze froze me in place. “Listen. Listen…to me.”

  “No. I won’t listen to you talk about—“

  “Daniella.” The sudden urgency in his voice willed me to listen. Strength poured out of him, as though he were pulling forth every last ounce of it to say words that wouldn’t wait. He gave another hard swallow. “Kane has to. Has to protect you. He’s the only one who can.”

  “From the Gavinis. From the Mob, I know. He is.”

  “No. From your parents. Your father.”

  Now it was my turn to swallow. Everything in me felt suddenly unbalanced. I couldn’t seem to get my breathing under control. Part of me screamed to let him tell me, while another part tried to make me bolt for the doors. If Kane, with all his money and connections, was the only one who could protect me, exactly who was my father?

  I licked my lips and made myself speak. “Who is he? Who’s my father?”

  He closed his eyes. “Should have told you. Wanted…wanted to protect you. But you need to know.”

  I could barely hear him over the hammer of my heart. I leaned in, cradling his hand in mine. “It’s okay, Daddy. I understand. Tell me who he is.”

  “It’s Ga….Gavini. You’re Dominic Gavini’s daughter.”

  The words seemed to make time stop. The air froze in my lungs, and I stared at him, paralyzed.

  How could that even be? It didn’t make any sense. For a long moment, my
brain jammed.

  An eternity passed before I could speak, but before I could say anything, he gripped my hand, stopping me.

  “There…there’s more. Daniella, your mother was—ah!”

  Cutting off, he gasped for air, his fist clenched painfully hard around my hand, and then he passed out.

  “Daddy! Daddy!”

  But his hand in mine went slack.

  14

  They managed to get my father back on the ventilator just in time. Mind numb, thoughts a senseless jumble I could barely process, I waited out in the hall while the doctors worked on him.

  Gala held my hand and asked me what was wrong, but I couldn’t tell her. Not about Gavini. I couldn’t get the words out. Saying them made them real, and I wasn’t ready for that.

  It felt like hours later, though it was probably only minutes before Dr. Peters came out into the hall and told me my father was back in the medically induced coma. They had no idea if he’d wake up again, and I’d better get his affairs in order.

  Gala wrapped me up in her arms, and I let her, hardly able to stand. I wanted Kane. Oh, never in my life had I ever wanted to be in his arms so badly. I wanted Fran, wanted to tell her everything. Wanted my father. Instead, I clung to the fiancé of the man I loved.

  My thoughts alternated between what my father had told me, and what was happening to him. Dominic Gavini was my father. I couldn’t understand it, I didn’t want to know it, couldn’t accept it. The notion seemed too big, too horrible to fit in my head, but was nothing compared to what was happening to my dad.

  Fuck, I would never think of that sick monster as my father. The man who’d caused so much pain, so much grief, and who, if not for the threat we had over him, would gut us both. The mob boss who’d, more than once, implied he wanted me.

  That thought alone made my stomach want to empty itself. God, did he know? Did he have any idea we were related? No, I couldn’t even.

  With my heart breaking every moment, Gala and I made our way back toward Las Angeles. We’d planned to go back to Gala’s, but shortly after leaving Big Bear, David called to tell me Kane’s house was clear. Gala was at my side, a reassuring presence, and once more, it hit me how she and Kane could be so close. I loved her a little right then, too.

  “You’re sure it’s safe?” I held the phone to my ear, talking to David as Gala told her driver to head to Kane’s.

  “Positive, Miss Anika.”

  “How did whoever bugged the room managed to get past your sweeps?”

  “It looks like they used a bug that can be turned on and off by remote, so it doesn’t transmit when it’s off. They put it in the light switch above the bed. It took forever to find the damn thing.”

  “Holy shit. Who was it? Do you know?”

  “Not yet. I’m looking into it. All it takes is someone who had access to Mr. Davros’s bedroom. Maids and some of the other staff.”

  My mind buzzed with the thought that someone on Kane’s staff could have turned traitor. Everyone who worked for him seemed so loyal. I thanked David and hung up.

  As the limo made its way down the mountain, my thoughts turned to what my father had told me. Gavini was my father, but who was my mother? I shuddered, no longer sure I wanted to know.

  At my silence, Gala looked across the seat at me. “If you need to talk, I won’t interrupt, or judge. It might help to get it out.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t. I just…I can’t.”

  Her pale brow furrowed. I could see the worry in her eyes, but she nodded and didn’t press.

  “Where the hell is Kane?” It had been four hours since he’d left me at Gala’s and I hadn’t heard anything from him. I pulled out my phone, checking for a message I knew wouldn’t be there. I bounced my knee.

  “He’ll be fine. You’ll see him soon. He’s gotten into it with his dad before, and he’s always come out fine.”

  But images filled my mind of the way his father put a knife right through his brother’s hand. I stiffened. How much worse would he do to Kane for spoiling the plans he’d had for his son over me? For lying to him about our relationship?

  We turned into the long, winding path that led up to Kane’s mansion. A large black van pulled up behind us. We stopped, and so did the van.

  “Who the hell is that?” Gala.

  I looked behind us. “I have no idea.” I was pretty sure Kane didn’t have any visitors who drove vehicles like that. It unsettled me, the lingering feeling that whoever was driving that van had been sitting at the end of the drive, waiting for us to pull up.

  Leaning out to call to the driver, I stopped, scrunching my brows as he got out and went around to the back.

  “Can I help you with something?” Gala called to him.

  Ignoring us, the driver opened the doors. He climbed into the back, pulled someone out, and tossed him to the ground. Whoever it was hit the pavement with a thud and a grunt.

  “What the hell?” Gala’s driver got out just as we did the same. We hurried to the back of the car, while the van was already peeling back out onto the road. My heart migrated into my throat.

  Kane lay on his back, sprawled across the asphalt. His face was bloody, his eyes swollen shut, one cheek black and blue. His knuckles were cut and bleeding, and crimson covered the front of his white silk shirt in splatters.

  “Oh my God, Kane.” I hardly remember going to his side; next instant I was already kneeling with him in my arms. Gala swore and knelt at his other side. He lay without moving, heavy in my lap, head back.

  “His father did this.” Gala’s voice was hollow with shock.

  “Or had it done. Those thugs tossed him here like garbage. Kane. Kane.” I tapped his cheek, but he didn’t wake.

  “Jesus, is that Mr. Davros?” Gala’s driver bent over us to look close at him. “I’ll call the hospital.”

  “No,” Gala grabbed his arm. “Charlie, don’t.”

  “No. No hospitals.” I shook my head, instinctively falling back on Kane’s rule about doctors. When that accident happened in Big Bear, I hadn’t had a choice. “Gala, call David, get him here now.”

  She took out her phone while I checked Kane over, assessing the damage. Although his concussion had likely mostly healed by now, there was no telling how much more damage this beating had done to him. He didn’t appear to have any skull fractures or outside bleeding, only a lot of bruising.

  In minutes, David pulled up alongside Gala’s limo. When he got out of the car, he put Kane in the back of the vehicle without a word, but I’d never seen him look so worried.

  Up at the house, David and another man carried Kane’s much bigger frame to his bedroom. As soon as he was laid out, David moved aside to let me treat him.

  He laid a hand on my shoulder, and I jerked my head up, caught off guard by the strength of his grip. “You can help him?” David’s eyes were hollow. “Can you…can you save him?”

  Looking at Kane, his huge form motionless on the bed, swollen eyes closed, I don’t know if my heart hurt more for David, or for me. Nurse’s training kicked in, refusing to let me commit one way or the other.

  “I won’t know for sure until I get him looked at. We have to take him to get a CT scan. He could have a brain bleed.”

  “Miss Anika, you know how he is. He’ll never allow you—”

  “Well, he’s suffering from a slight case of unconsciousness at the moment, so he can’t tell me what to do, can he? If I don’t get his head looked at, by someone well above my skill set, he could die.”

  “Don’t... Don’t even think about it.” Kane’s voice was barely audible, but the power in it was the same as if he’d shouted. I spun.

  “Kane!” I sat beside him and gripped his hand.

  His lips pulled into a painful smile. He looked like he couldn’t see me properly, and not because his eyes were all but swollen shut. He reached up and pushed my hair back.

  “What did I tell you about doctors?”

  “Kane, don’t be a bonehead. I’m not
going to lose you, too. I need you to tell me everything that happened, and then we’ll decide how to treat you.”

  “Forget it, girl.” He opened his mouth to speak but stopped. An emotion I couldn’t place filled his eyes, and then his hand dropped from my cheek.

  Just like that, the distance I’d grown so used to enshrouded him like a heavy cloak. “David, get her out of here. Now.”

  “What? Kane—” I started, as baffled as David looked.

  “Mr. Davros, let her help you. You need her to—”

  “Do as I say. Now, David.” Kane wouldn’t look at either of us, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. I’d never seen him look so removed, or heard him sound so cold.

  David sighed. “Yes, Sir.” He took my arm gently.

  Confusion and alarm battled for supremacy in my head. Somehow, I knew he wasn’t booting me out because I insisted on involving a doctor, even if it did violate his rules. “Kane, why are you doing this? Don’t shut me out, not now.”

  He said nothing, only kept looking upward, his jaw tight.

  “Kane, what’s wrong?” Gala came to his side.

  “Nothing. I said go.”

  “But—”

  “Go!”

  Gala huffed. No wonder. He was always so warm, so open with her, in some ways much more so than he was with me.

  David led us both out, talking softly. “Wait here, both of you. I’ll find out what’s up.” He gave us both reassuring looks, then vanished into the room and shut the door.

  I pushed my hand through my hair. “This is such a cluster fuck.” It felt like someone, some cruel and unseen God, had decided to pile as many things on me as it could today, just to see how much I could take. First my father—how the hell could Gavini be my real father!—and now this?

  “Is this normal?” I sat in a chair outside the room and looked at Gala. “Why did he get like that?”

  “Well, you know Kane and that stupid pride of his. He probably just doesn’t want you to see him looking like that.”

  Except she didn’t sound very sure.