His Killing Princess (Family First Book 2)

by April Zyon

  When the doors were closed behind them her suspicions were confirmed. “You said you would have proof?” Gregorio asked Tony.

  Tony looked to Emily and then nodded. “Emily was taken from me two years ago.” She took his hand when he reached out for her and squeezed it. “I didn’t know she had been taken, thought she had left me on her own, but I was wrong.” Both men were now laser focused on her.

  Emily took a deep breath and then with a nod she began to speak. “I was taken by force from Tony’s home. I was able to take out three of the men, but they overwhelmed me with sheer force and then knocked me out. When I woke, I was being held against my will. It took a while, but I was able to be rescued by a private force I work for.” She wasn’t going to tell everything. She refused to tell everything and hoped Gregorio understood that.

  “You took out three men, what does that mean?” Gregorio asked suspiciously.

  “I killed three of the men that attacked me.” She wasn’t apologetic about this because it was a fight for her life. She’d done whatever she could in order to keep herself safe and alive. She’d done it then, and she would do it now.

  “You did?” Again, there was that undertone of suspicion that had Emily bristling, but she ignored it.

  “Yes, I did. Now, moving on.” She pulled her tablet out of her purse and passed it to Gregorio. “The files my firm were able to pull are all there. We have footage of the man responsible for several missing shipments as well as wiretaps to his phone.” She watched Gregorio going through the files and then he turned his gaze to her. It was filled with mistrust and hate. She got that, but it still pissed her off.

  “How the fuck could you find this out when we couldn’t?” Gregorio demanded and slammed his fist to the table. “Who the fuck is he working for?” She then saw it, the hint of pain, the realization that someone he had thought of as a brother had been against him for years.

  “Likely because we were looking for him when you weren’t. My firm also has connections you don’t, and while I’m aware that you aren’t afraid to break the rules, we don’t follow the rulebook at all.” She told him this simply. “We don’t fucking care about rules when someone has been harmed and that’s what happened. I nearly died because of him and his friends. When my team rescued me they ensured that one of his henchmen lived so they could get a lead and from there all of that information,” she said bluntly, her anger rising slightly.

  “But I’ve known him for a dozen years or more,” Gregorio said as he rose and began to pace.

  Now she heard the pain in the man’s voice. She hated that she was causing that pain in him, but she wanted him to know the truth. “And for all of those years he’s been working for his relative who is a high-ranking member in the Russian Mafia. I’m sorry I’m the one to bring this to you. However, I think you would rather know now than not know and be stabbed in the back later.”

  “He went to war with us against them.” Gregorio was obviously still was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that Snake was their mole. Emily could see it on his face.

  “He did, but evidently he’s been at war against us this entire time.” Tony finally spoke up and looked over to his friend. “We won’t have answers as to why and how the fuck he was able to get away with this for so long until we have brought him in.” Emily wanted to reach out to Tony. This was the first he was hearing the name of the traitor as well, and she heard the pain in his voice. She loved her man even more because he was trying to be stronger than his anger for his friend knowing that Greg was hurting even more than he was.

  Gregorio stood in front of the large windows and looked out over the massive yard. “All this time, even under Alessandra’s father he was working for them.”

  “Yes, sadly, so it’s not just you he had fooled but everyone. Look at the riders that ride with him. He’s had all of them tricked for all this time. It’s not a coincidence he was able to pull this off.” Tony was trying to comfort his friend. Emily could see that and she understood, so she remained a passive witness as the two men spoke.

  “Fuck, how could I have been such a terrible judge of character?”

  “Man, look at all of the times he was there for us and pulling with us. It wasn’t just you and you damn well know it.” Tony’s voice took on a sharper command that Emily hadn’t heard him using with Gregorio before.

  “Damn.” The head of the Italian Family took a seat once more and looked at Emily. “So your team found you, why didn’t you come back to Tony sooner? He was fucking lost without you, woman.”

  Emily looked at Tony and then Gregorio. She wasn’t certain she wanted to answer that and was saved from doing so when Tony said, “It’s in the past, Greg. Leave it there. I fucked up big time with her and that’s on me. I’ve lost too much time with her to think about the past now. Can we move on?”

  Emily shifted in her seat. She hated it when she was scrutinized the way Greg was doing now and when he finally blew out a breath she released hers. “Fine. I will leave it, but don’t fucking hurt him again. I can’t do without my right hand, especially now,” Gregorio said bluntly.

  “As long as I have breath and I am able, I will always come back to Tony.” Emily promised without even hesitating. She loved him that much.

  “There is a bit more news,” Tony said and took Emily’s hand in his. “She’s going to marry me so our son can carry my name. I’m damn pissed off that I’ve already lost so much time with him to the men that she calls brothers in this firm she works for.” Tony sneered his words when he spoke about her brothers and the firm, but she wasn’t offended by that, at all. She knew it was because he was jealous. It made her a little wet just thinking of him jealous. She was a twisted woman and knew it, but she had the man she adored back in her life so she was going to go with it.

  “Son?” Gregorio asked with wide eyes. “That’s a development.”

  Tony just laughed, shrugged, and then said, “As soon as we have dealt with the dissention in our ranks, I want to go with her to get him and bring them home where they should be.”

  It would have been nice if he asked, but in a way Emily supposed he had asked her when they recommitted themselves to each other repeatedly the previous night. She snickered and squeezed Tony’s hand again. “Well since you asked me ever so nicely.” She teased him.

  “I did ask you nicely.” Tony beamed. “Now, can we get this fucker in here?” he asked his boss. He then turned to Emily and added, “And you can’t kill him. This is Family business now, Em.”

  Emily saw the confusion on Gregorio’s face and decided to give him a small pass. “I kill people for a living.” She knew it was blunt, but it was accurate. “I’m very, very good at what I do as well.” She wasn’t being snide, but she was being honest.

  “Fuck, you don’t look like you could kill anyone,” Gregorio said with complete disbelief showing on his face. “That’s why I doubted the three you claimed you took out.”

  “Timmons, Brewer, and Clayton. Do those names ring any bells?” Emily asked with as much sweetness in her tone as she could. “One had a hole in his neck where I was able to tear in and pull out his carotid artery. Another had his nose shoved into his brain, and the third was choked to death. Do those injuries match the three names? Things I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t been the one to kill them, since the bodies were destroyed after they were found. I’m assuming somewhere on your property.”

  “God damn.”

  Emily watched Gregorio now like anyone would a predator, because that was what this man was. He was every inch as much as Tony.

  “We only know the names because of the man my firm took. I might look as if I am Molly Sunshine on a cool morning day, but I am far from it. I’ve found in my line of work that no one ever looks a second time at a woman, or an old lady. I can get in and out of places most people can’t, which is why my firm was desperate to get me back.”

  “Bullshit,” Tony said and snorted when she looked over at him. “That’s fucking
bullshit. Those men saved you because he, the big bald fucker, is in love with you. I’m sure that the others have some sort of feelings for you as well.”

  “They are my family,” Emily said simply. “That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.” She shrugged. “Wouldn’t you do the same thing for Alessandra or Gregorio?”

  “Yes, but I’m not in love with either of them, and he is definitely in love with you. You are delusional if you think otherwise.”

  “Well that’s too bad because I’m in love with you, Tony.” Emily wanted to put this conversation to bed, wanted to let Gregorio and his men take care of Snake since Tony had ordered her down. She wanted to go home and get their son. He was right about that. It was time for them to become a family, dammit.

  “Okay, enough of this.” Gregorio finally was putting his foot down it seemed. Well, she could deal with that. “Tony, I’m making the call to Snake. I’m going to have him meet us in the rec room.”

  “Sounds good, boss. Are you going to make an example?” They all knew that if you fucked with The Family, then you were dead. This man had been playing fast and loose behind their backs for far too god damn long, and Emily knew that whatever was going to happen to Snake was something she wouldn’t wish upon her worst enemy. The man deserved it however. She knew that far more than either of the two men in the room ever could. While Snake had destroyed their trust in him, he had Emily abducted and beaten. He’d nearly killed her son and that was something she could never forgive or forget.

  “You are damn straight I’m making an example. Once Snake is here call a meeting. I want everyone here.” Gregorio was done playing it seemed. The gloves were off and he was going to do this in front of all of his men. Damn, that was a surprise.

  “Might I suggest you go through the file and double check all of the names. He was working with two others inside of your organization. However, the names didn’t come back with anything. I think whoever he was working with are related however, closely,” Emily said softly.

  “What makes you say that, baby?” Tony asked.

  She could see the fire in his eyes that he hadn’t been told first, but she hadn’t thought they would bring the man out before all of The Family. “The patterns of speech on the texts and emails are too alike for them to be simply friends. I think they are somehow related to each other, not Snake.”

  Gregorio had her tablet in hand and was now going over the list with a frown. “The names don’t look familiar at all. Do you have any footage or images of them?”

  “No, whoever they are they wanted to keep their involvement as much on the DL as possible.” The down low was where everyone wanted to be when they worked in the shadows, but these two unknowns seemed to have made it their permanent residence if neither man recognized the names on the list.

  “Make the calls. We will deal with the two unknowns when we can discover more about them. Will your firm be able to assist?” Gregorio asked Emily.

  “As much as your pockets are willing.” Emily wasn’t about to sell The Guild out for free. She was surprised however when the man laughed and nodded.

  “I like your sass and your style. I see why Tony is in love with you. You are perfect for him.” Gregorio moved to stand in front of them now and held his hand out to her. “Welcome to the family, Emily.”

  “Maximillian. That’s my real last name,” Emily said quietly and accepted the handshake from the massive Italian before her.

  “Soon to be Bruno.” Tony piped up and glared at his boss when Gregorio held Emily’s hand for just a hair too long. “You can let her go now, Boss. You have your own wife.”

  “Whom I love very much.” Gregorio agreed with a blissful smile. “It’s been two marvelous years with that woman.” He then grew serious once more. “I’m sure that later she will want to have dinner with you and Emily. However, for now, make the calls and get the traitor in here.” With that Gregorio left Emily and Tony sitting in the office at the mansion he shared with his wife.

  Emily looked at Tony and smiled. “Make your calls. Do what you need to do. I will be here for you.” She wasn’t leaving him, not again. Never again. “And then after, did you mean it? We will go get our boy and come home?”

  “You’re damn straight woman.” Tony tugged her hand and pulled her into his lap after she realized he wanted her to stand. “For now, I’m going to kiss my woman, and then I’m going to bring hell to this parade.”

  “Good, make him pay.” Emily knew how bloodthirsty that sounded and typically she was never like that with a job, but this was personal. This was the man that tried to take everything away from her, so she wanted him to pay and pay dearly.

  “I plan on it,” Tony said simply before kissing her deeply.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Several hours later, Tony and Gregorio shared a look when Snake strode into the mansion as if he owned the place. He looked every bit as cocky as he had sounded on the phone when Tony called him to arrange a meeting, which had Tony’s blood boiling. The man had no idea his cover was blown and that was good because it would be another twenty or so minutes before the others got there. “Snake, glad you could make it. Have a seat.” Tony was the one speaking, because Gregorio was so angry he likely would have just put a bullet in Snake’s fucking head.

  “Boss, Tony.” Snake bowed and appeared to give both men respect, but the truth was both men knew he was only playing them. Now that Tony was looking at Snake with the truth in his heart and mind, he knew that Snake’s façade was simply that. It was a sham. The respect didn’t flicker in his eyes like it did other men’s. Instead there was hate and greed.

  Tony bowed his head to Snake but didn’t speak, because he knew that if he did he would likely say the wrong thing and they wouldn’t get the answers they needed. Greg and Tony had gone over this already, and they knew that they had to find out who else was working with Snake, so that meant he couldn’t kill him, not yet anyway.

  “Please, take a seat,” Gregorio said to Snake after a moment in time. Tony knew Greg, and he could see how this was affecting him. He might seem calm, cool, and collected, but Tony knew better. Greg was barely holding onto his shit and he knew it.

  “So, what can I do for you gentlemen today?”

  Tony took up a spot right behind Snake and waited for Greg to speak next. When he did, Tony placed a restraining hand on Snake’s shoulder.

  “We want to know how long you have been working for the Russians, but more than that, we want to know who the fuck has been working with you on this shit,” Greg said simply.

  “Fuck what?” Snake stood quickly and Tony’s hand was there to sit his ass back into the chair.

  “I think you heard him just fine,” Tony growled out and tightened his hand on Snake’s shoulder. Thank fuck they had taken this man’s weapons from him when he came in or Tony would have an even harder time stopping from killing the bastard.

  “I don’t know what the fuck the two of you are talking about. If this is a sick and twisted joke, it’s not fucking funny.” Snake’s voice wavered just a bit when he spoke, but then he was back to being a cocky son of a bitch when he glared at them. “So what the fuck are your issues?”

  “We have proof, you lying son of a bitch,” Tony said now. “We fucking know what you have been doing for years. It must have felt like god damn Christmas when you were brought in, you lying piece of shit.”

  Greg’s hands twisted into fists and Tony knew he was barely holding onto his temper. It was only by the grace of God the boss was keeping his temper in check and for that Tony was grateful, because he was barely keeping his shit in check as well.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Snake asked with a bit of a hitch in his voice this time. “I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about.”

  Tony grabbed the file Emily’s firm had put together and tossed it into Snake’s lap. “This.” He watched the look on Snake’s face and smiled when the realization hit the man. “Exactly. So tell us, how the fuck did you thi
nk you would get away with it?” Tony gripped the back of Snake’s neck and squeezed hard. Leaning in, he whispered in the man’s ear. “I’m going to kill you slowly for what you did to my woman. Greg promised that to me.”

  Snake sputtered and Greg leaned back, watching everything and everyone. “He’s right. You have wronged me. You have wronged the entire Family for years, but what you did to Emily… I won’t stand in the way of his need for vengeance.”

  “What the fuck do you mean? That god damn tart left you on her own.”

  Tony squeezed Snake’s neck. “No, she didn’t leave on her own. Why would she when she was carrying my kid? I bet that was a big fucking surprise for you, wasn’t it? For your men it was. They didn’t want to kill her when they realized she was pregnant. That was what kept her alive and ensured she was able to be saved. Thank fuck.”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.” There was that lying stutter Tony and Greg knew so well from Snake. They’d both known him for years and therefore they knew when the man was lying. Right now, he was lying through his teeth.

  “The fuck you don’t. We have enforcers going through your house, your storage shed, your cars, and your whores’ places now.” Greg leaned forward and with his hands steepled, he watched Snake carefully as he spoke. “I fucking trusted you.” He was shaking now. That was how Tony knew just how pissed off Greg was. He was so angry he was shaking to keep his shit together.

  “Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.” Snake finally spoke. He glared from Greg to Tony and then back again. “You and all of your mightier than thou fucking shit when you ain’t nobody. You fucking married into the head of this shit. If not for the piece of ass you are fucking you wouldn’t be sitting across from me right now, so fuck you, Greg.”

  Tony knew that was the wrong thing to say to Gregorio. The man had lived and breathed for the Family, just like Tony did. They had given up so much for this fucking Family, and the fact that Greg finally found a bit of happiness that Snake was now tainting, oh hell no. Tony realized why the man was doing it just a moment before Greg came across the room after the slimy little bastard. He wanted to be killed. He wanted for the Boss to kill him so he didn’t reveal all of his dirty little secrets. As much as Tony didn’t want to, he stepped in between Greg and Snake and held up his hand. “No, Boss. Think about it. He’s trying to rile you. God damn do I want to kill this little fuck, but he wants that. He’s being way too cocky because he knows that if we question him he’s gonna break. Look at him. You know him as well as I do. Look at the sweat on his upper lip and how red the tops of his ears are. The fucker is scared and that’s because he knows we will make him talk. Believe me, I want to tear his fucking ass out through his neck, but we can’t, not until we know who the players are. We know a lot, but we need to know everything.”