Dangerous Beauty: Part Four: Beautifully Broken

by Michelle Hardin

  It had been almost a year since Nathan had nearly beaten Don Bonaducci to death, and now that the man had fully healed, and was back to fighting shape … it seemed he was coming back for more.

  “Don Bonaducci hired the informant.” The ‘Informant’, also known as ‘the nameless man’. It was one of the newest rules at S.O. All informants were to remain nameless if they would be killed after all valuable information was taken from them. “He hired the informant to kill Ricci Marino—”

  Ricci Marino. A small time mob boss that Kyle remembered very well. About four years back, the man had begged Nathan, who’d only been the underboss at the time, for protection. Don Bonaducci had been coming for the man’s territory at the time, and he’d asked Nathan to help him scare them off, which he had done. Ricci had aligned with the Salerno family, bought and sold their products in his territory, and paid his taxes on time diligently. The guy had been a great asset … when he’d been alive.

  “Sadly, the hit was successful.”

  Flipping through the notes he’d taken during his meeting in the basement with the nameless man, Kyle paused for a moment, giving those in the conference room with him some time to process the small amount of information he had just given them.

  The long table in the conference room of the Salerno organization building consisted of some of the criminal underworld’s fiercest leaders. At the head sat, of course, Don Nathan “The Russian” Salerno, the fearless, ruthless leader of the Salerno Crime family, one of the most powerful Italian mafia families to ever grace this earth. To his left sat Lucca “Tick” Salerno, the Salerno organization’s vicious, ‘no-nonsense’ Underboss, and directly next to him Kyle sat, rightfully in his position as the third most powerful man in the organization, the highly respected consigliere. Across from them sat two of the few, highly feared, and respected women in the criminal underworld. At the right hand of the Don sat his wife, Corsican mafia boss, Carterina Salerno, and at her side sat the infamous ‘dark beauty’, Davina Delavigne; well-known DelACot assassin and right hand of Carterina Salerno.

  Five powerful individuals, seated in one conference room, silently staring at one another as Kyle informed them of the threat of an attack coming their way.

  “The Bonaducci clan has already moved in on the territory, killing a large amount of Ricci Marino’s men, and a few of ours in the process. Those left of Ricci’s men scattered, and those left of ours have already returned to Manhattan. There weren’t enough of them to fight back, so they left.”

  “They left …” Nathan repeated.

  Kyle sighed, looking up from his notes. “They were outnumbered, Nate—”

  “Continue, Kyle.”

  He’d given the command calmly, but the anger in his voice was both noted and taken very seriously.

  Nodding, Kyle did as he instructed. “Don Bonaducci has issued a threat,” he said, looking Nathan directly in his eyes. “He sent a message.”

  His head cocked slightly in question. “The message please …”

  Kyle’s eyes fell to the words written on his small notepad, and released a long breath, mentally preparing himself for whatever reaction Nathan would have to the message.

  “He said he’s coming for our territory, both here and in our other locations … and you. Word is a hit has already been made.” Setting his notepad down, Kyle looked up once again. “Basically, he’s declaring war.”

  “No,” Lucca remarked, “he is asking for his death. Begging for it,” he added. “Where the fuck does he get off making any threats? Has he lost his mind?”

  “He has someone,” Carter spoke up softly. “A new ally. That’s the only logical explanation for his sudden fearlessness.”

  Kyle lifted his eyes, locking them to hers. She sat back in her seat, seemingly at peace with a smile in her eyes. Had he not known her, he’d have thought she was unaffected by what was said, but Kyle knew better than that. Carter never gave herself away with a mere facial expression, her giveaway started in the straightening of her fingers, or tightening of her fists. The smile in her eyes indicated anger. And not just any anger—she wanted to kill someone.

  “He’s too confident,” she stated, shifting to cross her legs.

  Kyle gave himself a mental pat on the back for not looking. It was a simple movement, and she did it often, but there had been a time not too long ago when the small movement used to drive him crazy. The way she moved, the way her skirt would open and fall to the side and reveal the knives harnessed at her thigh.

  He had trained himself to stop looking at her the way he used to. It had been necessary for his sanity. And though it had taken some time, and been one of the hardest tasks of his life, he had actually managed to get over Carter … at least he believed he was. He hadn’t really tested those waters in a while.

  These days his focus was on another woman anyway. Not only that, but it was yet another woman he could never have.

  He was beginning to think that wanting a woman from afar was just his thing.

  Shaking his head of the thought, he re-focused his mind on the meeting. Carterina had made a statement that was most likely true. Kyle had also suspected that Don Bonaducci had an ally feeding his confidence, but the problem there was … “If he does have an ally, I have no idea who it is. Neither did the informant.”

  “Then find out,” Nathan spoke up for the first time.

  Kyle’s eyes quickly shot to him as Nathan sat forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table. “I want answers and I want them as soon as possible. Who’s helping him, who’d he hire for the hit, et cetera.”

  “Why not just ask him?” Lucca suggested, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Why not let me?” He gave a shrug of his shoulder. “I can have my secretary set up a meeting.”

  Kyle immediately shook his head at the offer, knowing Lucca’s intentions. He was about to suggest another option, but Nathan responded.

  “I’ll think about it,” he answered. “That may be a good idea, cousin.”

  Kyle’s eyes widened when Nathan said the words, pretty much giving Lucca the green light to do something stupid. Everyone who was anyone in the criminal underworld knew that attending a meeting with Lucca Salerno was attending your own fucking funeral. Lucca barely met with anyone he wasn’t planning on murdering, and Nathan knew that. Now, though Kyle was a bit agitated by the Bonaducci’s antics, he knew that going for blood at this particular time was a bad idea.

  “I’m going to have to object, Nathan,” Kyle spoke boldly. “With all due respect, of course.”

  Nathan raised a brow in question. “You object?”

  A glare fell over his face, but Kyle remained unshaken. “This is not the time to retaliate.”

  “I disagree,” Lucca said. “I think it’s the perfect time.”

  Kyle’s jaw clenched in annoyance. “The perfect time it is not, Lucca. Now is the time to make peace—”

  Lucca’s fists hitting the table as he jumped up from his seat, made Kyle inhale a sharp breath of frustration, angrily raking his fingers through his hair. He fucking hated when Lucca did that shit!

  “Have you lost your fucking mind, Kyle?” he shouted.

  “Be calm, Lucca,” Nathan stated quietly. “Let him explain.”

  “I’m sick of this shit! Every fucking week it’s Bonaducci did this and that. They’re trying to kill my cousin, your fucking Don, our brother, and all you have to say is make peace?” He tossed his chair into the thick window behind him. “Fuck that shit, Kyle! Your job is to fucking advise—”

  “Then allow me to do my fucking job, Luke!” Kyle snapped, tired of the man’s abrupt outbursts. “Slaughtering them is not the best option at this time …”

  “And sitting around a fucking campfire, singing “Kumbaya” is?”

  “I didn’t say to surrender, I said to make peace.”

  “For what?” Lucca roared. “These fuckers will never stop! Let’s just kill them now and be done with it.”

  “Maybe that’s w
hat he wants, angry man.”

  As soon as Davina spoke, Lucca became silent as if surprised that she’d said a word. The woman didn’t talk much, and when she did, it was usually because she had something valuable to say.

  “Maybe Kyle doesn’t want them to stop. You must calm yourself and think rationally.” She said the words boldly, absolutely no fear when she looked him in the eyes.

  It was rare seeing someone other than close family talking to Lucca as directly as she was. Nearly everyone—man or woman—that knew of his barbaric nature kept their distance from him, and in his presence they kept their head down, but not Davina. She sort of … well, she sort of told him off.

  “If you would calm down, you would hear the man. You would understand what he’s saying. Your anger inhibits you from thinking, eh?”

  “Excuse me?” Lucca growled.

  Davina smirked. “Your bark will not intimidate me, angry man. Nor will your growl.” She pointed at Kyle. “Listen to him, he speaks the truth. Blood is the wrong way to go right now. It is too soon …”

  After standing in silence for a moment, Lucca grabbed his chair from behind him on the floor, and took his seat. He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together, and locked eyes with Davina.

  “With all due respect, Mrs. Delavigne—”

  “Miss,” she corrected.

  “Miss Delavigne,” Lucca said impatiently, “you haven’t been here very long, so you are not aware of the amount of shit this family has been through with the Bonaducci clan.”

  “Well, with all due respect, Underboss, I know much more than you think.” She smiled. “I’m not sitting at this table because I’m pretty; I’m here because I know what I’m talking about. Your consigliere is right.”

  The extra emphasis she put on the word ‘right’ brought a satisfied smile to Kyle’s face.

  “If Salerno fires back now, you’re basically asking to be thrown out of the mafia community. You are still the aggressor. Your Don assaulted another Don, for a good reason, but that isn’t what the other families will see. You must make peace and—”

  “And allow Eric Bonaducci to become the aggressor,” Carter finished with a nod, showing her agreement. “This way you ensure the remaining three families in this city will be on our side.”

  “We don’t need them on our side,” Nathan said, his tone taking an edge.

  “We need them on our side, bubby.” Carter nodded, looking over in Nathan’s direction. “Not for the man power, just for support. The other families will view you as an enemy if you just go about wiping out entire clans, Nathan. You’re upset—”

  “Upset … is an understatement, honey.” He gritted the words out through clenched teeth as his hands formed fists in front of him. “If I want them dead, they will be dead, Carterina. The approval of any motherfucking Don that doesn’t agree be damned!”

  Silence immediately fell over the room.

  Kyle had been wondering when Nathan would reveal the rage that was ever so obvious in his eyes. It always took him longer to react. While Lucca was the exploding type, Nathan’s temper was like his father’s; a slow, simmering anger that built over time. Kyle sat back now, knowing his time to argue his point was over. Whatever Nathan decided from this point on would be … unless his wife convinced him otherwise.

  Standing from his seat, Nathan walked slowly to the window, slipping his hand into his pocket. “They killed my associate. Took over my territory. Stole a large sum of my money, my product. Sent my men running scared.” He shook his head as he gazed at the New York sky. “All of this they’ve done and you want me to,” he chuckled softly, “make peace?” He waved a tired, dismissive hand in the air. “Sweetheart, would you—”

  Carter began speaking before he even finished his sentence. “This is your responsibility, Kyle …”

  Her words shocked him a little, causing a confused frown to fall over his face.

  She quickly elaborated. “You will set up a meeting with the Don and you will extend our one and only olive branch. Tell them there will be no retaliation for what they’ve done, but if they cross us again we will have no choice. Because we are holding back now, the war that they will bring upon themselves with another senseless attack will be merciless if they so choose to refuse our peace offering. Stress to them that no ally they could possibly acquire will ever be enough to take down an empire such as S.O.”

  And her statement was very, very true. A lot had changed in just a few short years. Once just a family that men and women in the criminal underworld thought twice about coming against, the Salerno Organized Crime family had quickly gained an insurmountable amount of power and influence under the leadership of Nathan Salerno—especially after becoming close, personal friends with the Corsican Mafia. Under Nathan’s rule, the Salerno Empire had thus far entered heights unreachable for any other Italian mafia clan in the world. No one could touch them. The contemplation alone was highly dangerous.

  “Do not fuck this up, Kyle,” Carter warned.

  Kyle shook his head. “I’ve got it, Carterina. Trust me.”

  “I do.” She smiled softly. “That’s the only reason why we are putting this in your hands.”

  It was an honor to say the least. The most significant assignment ever given to Kyle. He wanted to do well, and he didn’t want to disappoint his brother. So silently, he decided that it may be time for him to go seek counsel from his father.

  “As for everyone else … Lucca, you will gather the men that fled the attack for a meeting.”

  Kyle frowned when she said that. “Why would Lucca—”

  “They will all be punished, Kyle,” Nathan interjected in a low voice, never taking his eyes from the sky. “There will be no argument on that.” He turned to look at Kyle, an angry fire filling his eyes. “My soldiers do not run.”

  Knowing better than to argue when told not to, Kyle kept his opinion to himself.

  Nathan turned back to the window, and Carter continued. “Davina, you will get us the answers we need. Who is their ally? And find out who’s doing the hit. Call my father if you need help …”

  “Which one?” she asked.

  Carter shot her a glare. “The one I call ‘Daddy’.”

  Davina raised a hand in surrender, chuckling softly. “Just asking.”

  “That’s all,” Nathan said. “Carterina, stay please. The rest of you are done for the day. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Kyle’s brows shot up in surprise of the abrupt dismissal. Well, that was unexpected. He’d come into the meeting, of course, hoping that it wouldn’t take all night because he had plans, but he’d never expected things to actually go so quickly. He may actually have time to go home and change first.

  Kyle stood from his seat the same time Lucca and Davina did. He gathered his things while everyone said their good-byes; Lucca heading over to Nathan, and Davina to Carter. Once Davina went over to Nathan, shaking his hand, and Lucca finished his normal hug and kiss to Carter, Kyle made his way over to her.

  She smiled brightly as she met him halfway and jumped into his arms.

  Kyle chuckled softly. “La mia bella, you missed me today, huh?”

  After meetings were over, business demeanors were always shed. Kyle enjoyed this part of his family more than the darker part of his life, especially now. He hadn’t appreciated it much in the past, but he was a changed man. A better man.

  “Of course I did,” Carter whispered, kissing his cheek softly. “We missed you at dinner Wednesday night. Sofia said you went dancing.”

  When he placed her back on the floor, she reached up, attempting to wipe her lipstick from his cheek.

  Kyle smiled, taking her hand in his. “You know you just rub it in when you do that, right?”

  She shrugged. “Well you always freak out when I lick my finger first.”

  “Because it’s fucking nasty, Carter,” he laughed.

  “What can I say, Kyle. I’m a mother.” She laughed softly. “That’s
how I get shit off of my kids’ faces.”

  “I’m sure they’re more used to it than I, then.” For a moment, he gazed at her smiling face before reaching forward to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry about Wednesday. Getting a sitter for Sofia is hard, and Aniyah was feeling a little neglected, so I kind of had to capitalize on Sofi being with her grandparents.” It was all a part of his new trying thing. Trying to treat a woman well, with respect, care about her feelings and shit. So far he was doing okay. He could be doing better of course, admittedly he was still a bit detached, but all in all, he was light years better than he was before he became a single father to a beautiful little girl. And Aniyah seemed … happy with him when they weren’t fighting about dumb shit.

  Carter’s face twitched a little. “Hmm …” was all she said in response.

  Kyle frowned. “What?” he asked, confused by the look on her face.

  Lifting her hand, she just patted his chest. “I love you, Kyle,” she sighed, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek once more. “Happy anniversary.”

  His whole body stilled at her words as he gazed down at her with wide eyes. How the hell did she know that tonight was his and Aniyah’s anniversary? The two women barely spoke anymore. “How—”

  “Your babysitter called me earlier.” She crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing him suspiciously.

  Oh shit … What in the hell had his beloved babysitter told her now?

  “And speaking of your babysitter,” she said, that signature Carterina attitude taking over her demeanor as she glared at him. “You sure do call on her quite often, Kyle Valente—”

  “Carterina.”

  Nathan’s sudden call made her close her mouth immediately, but the glare remained firmly on her face.

  “Be quiet, woman,” Nathan commanded, looking over at her in warning.

  Carter huffed and Kyle had no choice, he had to smile at her. She was reminding him of her son, Aleksandr, at the moment. The toddler had the exact same glare every time he got in trouble with one of the adults, which happened to be quite often. It made him realize how much he missed his little nephews’ and niece. He’d been so busy, he hadn’t been out to Nathan and Carter’s place in weeks.