His Mafia Princess (Family First #1)

by April Zyon

  “Alessandra.” Her name came from his lips when he saw her slumped over in a chair sitting in shadows. He saw the blood running from her nose and shouted for his men to clear the way. Using the ax, he cut her bindings and pulled her into his arms. When she lifted one of her arms, he saw three large, ugly marks he knew too well. Cattle prod burn marks.

  He was shocked to find how well she fit into his arms and how right she felt. No, he had no time for that. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and started up the stairs with Alessandra held tightly in his arms.

  “There are no more guards,” his right-hand man said.

  “Shit, that’s not good. Did you find Vasily?”

  “No, he’s nowhere to be found. His sons aren’t here either. There were far too few of his men here. These men were just here to get killed.”

  “It was a declaration. A statement of war,” Gregorio said bluntly, voicing what they all knew to be the truth.

  “Taking the Boss’s daughter and hurting her, absolutely. Is she alive?” the man asked as they walked out surrounded by their men, chaos and dead bodies left in their wake.

  “Yes. Call Dr. Reeves and tell him we are bringing her into Mercy General.”

  “Yes, sir.” The man pulled out his phone to do just that.

  The men piled into SUVs that littered the grounds of the Russian Boss’s home. He sat in the backseat with Alessandra held tightly. He didn’t like the color of her face, and the fact that she hadn’t opened her eyes was another, oh shit, sort of feeling. He looked to his second, Tony, and said, “Does her father know we have her?”

  “Yes, sir. He is aware. Is it time?” Of course, Tony would know what Gregorio had planned. They had grown up together, fucked the same women, and drank the same booze. They were tighter than brothers.

  “Not yet. Not with her like this. I want her to be fully healed and accepting of her life when I do this. I want her to know I want her as mine, far more than anything else.”

  Tony nodded. “Good idea. That and I’m sure the Boss has ordered additional men from across the country to come in.”

  “He has. I know he has people coming from Nevada and Texas. The Devil's Own motorcycle club and Sinners of Hell are on their way.”

  “They are tough. Those bastards look for a fight everywhere they go.”

  “That they do, and they are also mine,” Gregorio murmured and looked down at Alessandra once more. “Why the cattle prod?” he asked aloud.

  “So she wasn’t harmed too badly. From what our guys found out before this, the eldest son of Vasily wants her. He wishes to marry her, to hell with her father and her blood. He lusts after her like a dog in heat.”

  Gregorio felt the growl rumbling in his chest and shook his head. “He’s a dead man. I will carve his eyes out first.”

  “Figured as much.”

  “She can never know how hard I am. That I want to marry her for position, power, and her body.”

  Tony let out a guffawing laugh and shook his head. “Boss, I think you are about to learn how to have other emotions inside of you. Either that or you’re going to kill the little birdie you hold right now. She’s soft, always has been. She’s sheltered and always has been. I don’t know if she will make a good wife for a Boss. For the head of this Family.”

  Gregorio turned his icy blue eyes Tony’s way. Through clenched teeth, he said, “You say another bad thing about her, and I will pull your fucking spine out through your mouth, blood brother or not.” Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck. Had he just said that to his oldest and dearest friend? To the man he trusted his life with? Fucking hell he had. He could see the shock on Tony’s face.

  “Alright, Boss. You just made my point,” Tony said and then looked up. “The hospital. We are here. Ready?”

  “Put men all around. I want no fewer than three men with eyes on her at once. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir.” Tony got out of the back of the SUV at the emergency entrance and held the door for Gregorio.

  Everything from there went faster than he cared for, including how fast her fucking father got there and ordered him to roam the halls for protection.

  Chapter Five

  When she opened her eyes, every inch of her body hurt. She heard a steady beeping sound and a slight whirring which had her utterly confused. She lifted a hand and frowned at it. On the back of her hand was an IV line. Why?

  “You’re awake.” She heard her father, Giovanni. “Thank God.” He was there in a moment, his face now in her vision.

  “Daddy? Why am I in the hospital?” She now realized where she was. The sounds and smells were the dead giveaways.

  “What do you remember, baby?” Her dad asked and then looked at someone who stood near the door, at least Les thought he was there. “Go get the doctor. She’s awake.”

  “Yes, sir.” The man was out the door in a second, so he had been at the door after all.

  Answering her father’s earlier question, she said, “I think I was losing at golf.” She rubbed her hand over her forehead and closed her eyes in confusion. “No, there was something else.” Pain. That was what she remembered. Overwhelming and instantaneous pain. She had to remember what that something was.

  The door opened once more. She heard someone other than her father move quickly and the soft snick of a sound that had her frowning. It sounded like a gun cocking, something she had been trying to learn to use at her father’s insistence. She attempted to lean up and look, but her father put his hand on her shoulder to keep her against the bed.

  She saw the doctor then. “Dr. Reeves?” He was their family physician, had been for as long as she could recall. Why was he here? She couldn’t remember him practicing anywhere other than in private practice.

  “Hello, Alessandra. How are you feeling?” he asked as he looked into her eyes with a small flashlight that had her wincing at first. “You are reacting well. I was worried.”

  “Why?” she asked in confusion.

  “I was worried because of the electrical shock used on you through the cattle prods.” The doctor spoke as he adjusted the bed so she was semi-sitting. Then he moved to the foot of the bed.

  That fast, it hit her, what happened. She recalled every single word the man had said to her and bit back a sob of pain. She looked at her father and then around the room. Seeing several men there with dress suits on had her realizing the truth.

  “You have burns on your side. They will heal. I’m afraid you will have scars, however. Your father can get you in with a plastic surgeon, but I advise against it,” Dr. Reeves said.

  She didn’t care about the scars. She looked back at her father, the physical pain nowhere near the emotional pain she was feeling right then. It wasn’t possible. Her father, the man she had grown up with, couldn’t be a Mafia boss. “Daddy?” She whispered that singular word with pain.

  Her father looked up at the doctor and then the men. He nodded. “Give us a few minutes please.” She heard the quiet objection from one of the men, but her father shook his head and said, “Now.”

  She heard the door closing and when she looked at her father, she saw the sadness in his eyes. When he spoke, however, it was horrifying and heartbreaking to her. “Please tell me that man was lying?”

  “I wish I could.” She could see the strain in her father’s eyes now. “I never wanted you to know about this life. I’ve done all I could to keep you safe and out of this life. I want you to know that I love you, Alessandra. You are my world since your mother died.” She saw the sorrow on her father’s face. “I loved your mom more than life itself. I would have traded my life for hers if I could have.” She heard the sincerity in his voice as he spoke. “The man that took you, he and I have been fighting since before you were born.”

  “He said you stole mom from him?”

  “He did meet your mother first. His family had a cattle ranch, which is why I think he used the prod on you. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. She was given a choice, and she made it. She
chose me. He was too much of a man-whore for her to accept. He wanted lovers after they were married, and your mother deserved so much more than that.”

  She could remember her father doting on her mother. He would have done anything for her, and he loved her greatly.

  “He and I have been at odds since then,” her father said.

  “He said you were a mafia boss. Is that correct?” Cut to the chase, she had to.

  “He is right.” Her father had zero apologies in his voice when he made that confirmation. “I am the head of the Italian Mafia. It’s a title I’ve held for many years, since my father before me.”

  “Grandpa?” She needed to shift how she saw her life as she looked back on it, because she never believed her grandfather was anything but a loving old man.

  “And you are my heir. There are any number of men that would want you because of who you are, which is why you have always had guards. I never believed, however, that anyone could harm you. You see we live by a code. The women and children are off limits. The Irish would never have harmed you, just Vasily and that’s only because you are my daughter. He’s grown bold and for that, I will destroy him.”

  “You are talking about killing a man, and you have no remorse whatsoever.” She was horrified. The kind, gentle, and loving man she had grown up with—the man who had cried along with her at her mother’s funeral—was now discussing the death of another man. What was worse was that he was talking like he was discussing what they would eat that night.

  “I’m talking about wiping all of them out. Taking you dictated a War Call. The Irish are with us on this. We are going to band together to wipe out the Russians. The Irish Boss sent his twin daughters into hiding so they can be protected. They are as innocent as you are in this.”

  “And after?” She was shocked those words came from her mouth.

  “After, the Irish will again be our enemy. They have their parts of the world, and we have ours.”

  “The world?” No, that wasn’t possible, was it?

  “Yes, the world. This is bigger than the United States. This is why I have to travel as much as I do. This is why I have phone calls at all hours of the night. I have people I trust heading up the families outside of where we live, but the one I’m grooming to take over for me is here, my right-hand man.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Gregorio Bosco.” He told her without pause. “He’s the one who saved you.”

  Gregorio, the man she had been obsessing over for some years, was her father’s number one? How? “And now that I know?”

  “Now you are to be protected even closer. I will not allow you to be hurt again.”

  “And if I asked you not to go to war? If I asked you to keep innocents from dying?”

  “Not happening. I love you, Alessandra. However, they messed up when they took you.” She heard the anger in her father’s voice and winced.

  “People are going to die because of me?” She was crying. Who wouldn’t?

  “No, sweetheart, not because of you, but because of this bastard who broke the rules.”

  Rules. She snorted. It was a laugh to her that he was talking about rules when everything about his business was a lie. He was talking about rules when he likely had every law enforcement agency in the world looking to take him down and lock him up. “What about the police?”

  “We do what we have to in order to stay out of their crosshairs. No one has anything on us that could bring us down.”

  “And when that happens?”

  “It won’t.” Her father said this with absolute confidence.

  “I need time.” She pulled her hand from her father’s and shook her head. “I want to be alone. Can I go home?”

  “I will ask Dr. Reeves if he will release you. I’m sorry you had to find out the way you did. I never, ever wanted that, baby,” he said before walking out of her hospital room.

  Alessandra began to cry harder. She couldn’t believe her whole life had been a lie. Her father hurt people for a living. How could she even think to stay with him?

  Her mind was in utter chaos and as soon as Dr. Reeves walked back in, she was thankful a nurse was with him with some clothes for her. She didn’t speak. She simply got dressed and then with help got into the wheelchair that would take her down to the car.

  Chapter Six

  He was thankful when told Alessandra was okay and healing. Gregorio didn’t get frustrated. He didn’t get upset either, but he was feeling both in the last many hours because she wasn’t waking like they said she should.

  Gregorio looked to his oldest friend, his second, and nodded. When her father asked him to bring the SUV around, he sent Tony instead. “I won’t leave you two open to attack. I’m the best, and I’m remaining with you, sir.”

  Giovanni gave Gregorio a look that would make any lesser man quiver but not him. “She knows everything,” the older man said. “That fucking bastard told her everything, and now she’s afraid of me. Me, her father.” The man shook his head.

  “I wish she could have been kept in the dark.” Gregorio himself had wanted to keep Alessandra from finding out what the family business was. He had wanted to keep her pure so he would be able to have that light in his life, but perhaps it was better that she did know. Perhaps it was good that she knew because now he didn’t have to hide from her. Now he would be able to share everything with her. Maybe he would thank the Russian Boss when he cut his head off.

  Gregorio saw Alessandra being rolled out of her room and winced. She looked pale, exhausted, and her eyes were red and swollen from her tears. It tore him up inside to know she had been crying. He was soft when it came to her, he realized. His friend was right. He did have far more emotions than what he felt when it came to Alessandra.

  “Hello, Alessandra.” Gregorio wanted to reach out and touch her, but he didn’t. He felt something deep inside of her clench when she gave him a watery smile. Her dark, forest green gaze turned to him. When she nodded and gave him a whispered hello he knew he would do anything to get that look off of her face.

  Taking position in front of her, he walked them out of the hospital and knew that Tony was bringing up the rear. It went against everything in him to give his back to anyone, but this was Alessandra. He wanted to be out in front so he could see any danger that might come her way. He refused to let her be hurt again.

  Seeing the SUV parked in front, he nodded for the men to fan out for the protection of Alessandra. Once that was seen to, he went to her side. Holding his hand out for her, he nodded. “Alessandra, let me help you?” When she nodded, he reached down and scooped her out of the wheelchair. With her side being wrapped, he had to take care of how he held her. He was sure she would be up and mobile by tomorrow, just maybe not as fast as typical.

  “Thank you, Gregorio,” Alessandra whispered in his ear so no one but him could hear. Her breathy thanks went straight to his cock. He wanted her, and he would have her one day soon.

  “My pleasure.” He put her in the backseat and buckled her up. And it was his pleasure, very fucking much so. When he pulled back, he took a lock of her hair and stroked it. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. Shaking out of the feelings he was having, Gregorio stepped back and moved so her father could get into the vehicle as well.

  He closed the door behind the Boss and moved around to the front so he could drive. He refused to let anyone else get her home, not after he had almost lost her.

  ****

  Her heart was still racing after Gregorio picked her up and transferred her to the SUV. He always had a way of making her all but melt into a puddle. However, when he picked her up as if she didn’t weigh an ounce, it had her realizing Greg was even more dangerous than she had already believed. She knew what Vasily had said about Gregorio and how he wanted to marry her to take over her father’s empire, business, whatever it was called. She also knew he had looked at her the same way she felt about for him for the last two years. She wasn’t sure what had changed it for him, but she had al
ways felt deeply for him.

  She felt safe with him, however. She felt safer with Greg then she had ever felt with anyone. She was behind him in the SUV and watched him. She ached to reach out and touch his hair as he had touched hers. It was a dark blond color and styled in a crew cut. It wasn’t long, but it wasn’t so short that a woman couldn’t grab his hair and pull him close either.

  He had the looks of an all-American boy next door with his blond hair and ice blue eyes. However, the tattoos covering his arms had her wondering where else he had them hidden. She had only glimpsed the ones on his arms because he had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt one day when her mother was alive. He did it so he could help her with the roses she was trying to wrangle into place.

  He might act as if he didn’t have any kindness in him, but she had caught glimpses of it from time to time. When she looked toward the front window, she caught his gaze in the rear view mirror and blushed. She had been caught ogling him. Great. She was sure she was just a child in his eyes, one so naïve she didn’t even know what her father truly did for a living.

  However, instead of seeing a look of laughter, she saw something else. She saw in his eyes a heated hunger that couldn’t be masked. She was shocked by that look and couldn’t turn away from him. When he pulled his eyes from hers, she had to shift slightly in her seat because of how wet that singular look made her. She was so screwed when it came to this man, but she couldn’t seem to find it in her to care. She liked him, a great deal no matter what he had done in his life.

  When they got home, he once more was at her side and lifted her easily from the seat. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and laid her head on her own arm. She inhaled scents that were all Gregorio, the smell of leather and Drakkar Noir. He smelled so good.

  Her thumb lightly stroked against the side of his neck without conscious thought as to what she was doing. She was surprised when he mounted the steps and headed up toward the bedrooms. “Do you know which one is mine?” Holy crap, had she really just say that to him?