Knocked Up by the Beast: A Mafia Romance (Kingdoms Book 1)

by Aria R. Blue

  “I’ll get it,” I say, walking out of the kitchen.

  I swing the front door open. The smile on my face falls immediately. I almost slam the door back shut.

  And I would have if Kane Cavenagh himself hadn’t kept his foot in the doorway. The act is nonchalant and threatening at the same time.

  “Hey baby,” he purrs.

  I swallow the bile that rises. “What do you want.”

  “I’m just here to talk to you,” he says. “In private.”

  “Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of my sisters,” I say.

  “Can I come inside, then?”

  “No,” I say, shaking my head. “Why are you here, Kane? Haven’t you taken enough from us?”

  “I never meant to hurt you,” he says. “The creditors just wanted what they were owed.”

  “Right. Like our dining table and silverware.”

  “Let’s go out for a walk,” he says. “Get some fresh air. You look like you’re feeling very moody today.”

  I almost break his nose for saying that. It’s true, I am feeling moody, but I hate hearing it from a man’s lips.

  Leo would never say something like that.

  “Please, Belle. For old time’s sake,” he begs.

  What old time’s sake?

  The words burn my throat, but I keep them contained within me.

  Instead, I grab my grey coat and tell my sisters that I’ll be back in a few minutes. I have a few things I’d like to say to Kane too.

  I don’t want to carry hate and rage in my heart for the rest of my life. I want to let go of the pain. I want to unleash it all on the person who caused it in the first place.

  I walk down the small hill, and he follows behind me.

  When we’re under the orange streetlights, I speak. “I have some things I need to say to you.”

  “Okay?” he says, falling into step beside me. I notice that he’s slightly limping now.

  I move away from him, putting some distance between us. “Do you remember what you did to me in high school?”

  Surprise flickers in his eyes. He wasn’t expecting this.

  But he shrugs like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. This man seriously thought that I would never confront him about what he did.

  “You’ve ruined four years of my life, Kane. You took those naked pictures of me when I was passed out and then shared those with the entire football team. What you did was disgusting, you pig. And now you actually have the balls to follow me around and ask me for my hand in marriage. What the hell is wrong with you?”

  He’s quiet for a moment. And then he says, “Please. Your eyes were begging me for it. You couldn’t wait for me to get you alone.”

  “Did my unconscious body beg for it as well?” I screech, my chest rising and falling. “I can’t believe that men like you even exist. Burn in hell, Kane.”

  “Are you done?”

  “No, I’m not fucking done. I don’t want to hear another word from you ever again, you hear me? I thought my man made that pretty clear.”

  “Where is your man, by the way? I don’t see him around right now,” he says, scratching his chin.

  We have walked into a dimly-lit street. There are people and houses around, but I still feel threatened.

  That’s what Kane does. He uses fear as a way of getting what he wants.

  No more of that.

  I’m done being the pawn in his twisted game. The scared girl who let herself be walked all over is long dead.

  There’s something I always wanted to do to Kane Cavenagh.

  “If Leo didn’t shatter your balls the last time, then the pleasure will be mine,” I say, gripping his shoulders firmly, and thrusting my knee up to his groin.

  There’s a sick crunch before he doubles over, howling in pain.

  “You dumb bitch,” he screams, lunging for my throat.

  His hands never reach my throat.

  Two women dressed in black jump out of the night, placing themselves between Kane and me. They twist both of his wrists until his knees hit the ground.

  One of them pulls out a black staff and gives a blow to his head.

  I bring my hands up to my mouth.

  Should I thank them or should I run?

  Kane is unconscious on the ground. A dark part of me wonders how he would like it if I were to take some pictures of him now.

  The women turn to me.

  One of them is a pretty Asian woman with luminous skin. The other is a tall blonde with muscular arms.

  I say the first thing that comes to my mind. “Don’t hurt me. I don’t have any money.”

  Both of them glance at each other, and then burst out laughing.

  The blonde introduces herself. “I’m Amy. And this is Michelle. We’re your assigned bodyguards.”

  “My what now?”

  “We’re under Mr. Blackwood’s orders. There are four of us in total. Michelle and I are your night guards. Your day guards, Naomi and Clara, have left an hour ago.”

  “I-Leo-he-what?” I’m not my most articulate today, but the shock of it all feels surreal. I start over. “I’m sorry. This is all very overwhelming. I didn’t know that people were watching over me.”

  “We’ve been given orders to guard you with our lives,” the other woman says.

  “What does he think I need guarding from?”

  “You’re aware of Mr. Blackwood’s family situation, correct?”

  “Yeah, the mob stuff.”

  “There are other families that are not very…friendly with the Blackwood’s right now. And Leo is afraid that they could try to come after what he values most—you.”

  I blink. “Are you both part of the mob too?”

  They smile and shake their heads. “We’re not part of it, but we work for them. Usually in Chicago. It’s our first time being stationed in a charming old town such as this.”

  “Is charming code for boring?”

  “Are you kidding? It’s lovely,” Amy, the blonde one, says. “It’s seriously making me think of retiring. Giving up the fast life, and slowing things down a little.”

  “Huh,” I say, tilting my head.

  “What?”

  “I had the opposite problem a few months ago. I wanted to leave the town where nothing ever happened and go someplace more exciting.”

  “And what do you want now?”

  “Not a place,” I whisper. “A person. Does Leo really think that his father’s enemies might try to hurt me?”

  They exchange glances and I catch the mutual hesitation in their eyes. They’re holding some piece of information back.

  “Tell me. I can take it, whatever it is,” I say.

  Amy clears her throat. “Mr. Blackwood, he…he doesn’t trust someone that lives inside your cottage.”

  “What?”

  “He doesn’t trust that your father has the best intentions.”

  They continue to tell me something that changes my world forever.

  The Earth beneath my feet tilts, and my head sways, but I manage to make it back home. I throw the front door open, and stomp down the stairs that lead to the basement.

  My Father is sitting slumped on a small stool, wearing eye protection as he welds a small piece of metal.

  His cloud of white hair lifts, and his big blue eyes meet mine.

  Be wary of the man with the blue eyes.

  The witch wasn’t talking about Leo’s dark blue eyes. She was referring to my father’s light blue ones.

  I’m not the kind of person to raise my voice. Violence is not an inherent part of my nature.

  But today seems to be a day of firsts.

  I scream as I ask, “How much did they pay you, Papa? How much did they pay you to steal that diamond?”

  32

  Belle

  “I can explain,” he says, holding his palms up and taking a step back.

  There’s the sound of thundering footsteps on the staircase behind me. Julie crashes into my
back. Hazel is right behind her.

  “What’s going on?” Julie asks.

  Hazel looks between Papa and me, already wary about whatever is about to unfold.

  “I just learned that our father is a thief,” I say, without taking my eyes off him. “And not a good one either.”

  “Belle, it’s not about the diamond.”

  “I just have one question for you—did you or did you not participate in organized crime?”

  He’s quiet before he answers. “I did.”

  Hearing him say that makes it all so much more real.

  He did it.

  He really did it.

  “I don’t want to believe it,” I say, dropping to the floor, and bringing my knees up to my chest.

  All my life, I believed in only two things.

  Love.

  And family.

  I didn’t have love, but I had my Papa and my two sisters.

  Now I find out that I didn’t have that either.

  He’s not who I thought he was.

  Warm hands squeeze my shoulders, embracing me in a hug. I turn my head slightly and find that it’s not Julie’s light hair, but dark hair like my own.

  Hazel’s hugging me from behind.

  She doesn’t say anything, but there’s hurt and rage painted all over her face as she stares at our father.

  It makes me cry even harder.

  He has betrayed not just me, but Hazel and Julie too.

  My heart shatters as I weep for the man I once thought of as my role model. Held safely in the arms of my older sister, I let myself become a mess.

  Julie advances towards him.

  She stops when she’s two inches away from his face.

  “I knew you were up to something. I despised you from the moment you left Belle in that estate.” She turns back to me, and I look at her through the tears blurring my eyes. “But for making her cry like this, I will personally burn all of your weird-ass hair off.”

  Even through the pain, laughter bubbles out of me. My shoulders are shaking as I laugh at her ridiculous threat.

  “You don’t have to burn his hair off, Julie,” I say, standing up. I turn around and ask Hazel, “Are you okay?”

  She dips her chin in a nod.

  I turn back to Papa.

  He might not be who I thought he was, but I still have both of my sister’s undying loyalty.

  “Why?” is all I ask.

  “I owed people money,” is his answer.

  “Why did you go out of your way to lie to Leo?” Somehow, Leo always knew that Papa was guilty.

  I was the idiot who kept trying to defend my father.

  “What other option did I have? Go to jail?” He doesn’t even try to look sorry for what he’s done. Instead, he talks like we’re discussing what we want to have for dinner.

  “You could have owned up to it, you pig,” says Julie, her lips quivering in anger. “Instead of letting your daughter pay the price for your mistake.”

  “Wait a second,” I whisper. “You did much more than just steal the diamond, didn’t you?”

  All of my thoughts start to spiral again.

  I got a call from Julie that evening of my date with Leo, right before we were about to have dinner. I told her that I was at the waterfalls.

  Papa must have heard her talking on the phone with me.

  That’s why Leo was freaking out about it, asking me if I had any enemies.

  Because he had taken over a dozen precautions to make sure nobody followed us from the estate. We took a different car, a secret underground exit, a longer route, everything.

  The only way somebody else could’ve found our location is if we had told them ourselves.

  And I told my family.

  “It was you who gave them the location,” I say slowly.

  “None of this is about you, Belle. The men that I work for make promises and stand by them. And they promised me that they only wanted to hurt the beast.”

  “And how do you think they would have hurt Leo?” I spit. “They planned on hurting Leo by harming me.”

  Papa’s face blanches. “Belle, I swear, I had no idea they would do that.”

  “She almost got shot on her birthday because you owed people money?” Julie screeches. “Now I’m setting your stupid mustache on fire too.”

  She lunges at his work table, throwing things around, probably looking for a blowtorch.

  Hazel grabs her arm and pulls her away before she actually gets the chance to do any of the things she promised.

  “Hazel, let me go,” Julie hisses, thrashing in Hazel’s arms.

  There’s another crash from behind us. The sound of booted feet running down the stairs.

  I turn around, already knowing who it is.

  Amy emerges first, and right behind her is Michelle.

  Hazel lets go of Julie in shock. Julie doesn’t try to find the blowtorch. Both of them stare at my night bodyguards.

  I do the introductions. Amy grins widely, but Michelle is all business.

  She grabs my father’s head, and whips it back. A knife hovers right over his throat.

  “Say the word, and I’ll slice his throat,” she says.

  The only person who looks surprised is Papa.

  “You didn’t think it would come this far, did you?” I ask him. “It was one thing for you to steal from Leo and lie about it. But you crossed a line when you gave his location to his enemies. I think that deep inside you, a part of you knew that I could get killed.”

  “Never you,” he says, his eyes widening further.

  “Leo then?” I ask, disgusted with him all over again. He was going to get a stranger killed for his own benefit.

  The knife almost digs into the skin over his throat. I shake my head slightly, and Michelle drops the knife.

  Father stumbles forward, gasping for air even though nobody had choked him.

  His big blue eyes land on me, filled with gratitude.

  Zelda’s words play in my mind.

  Be wary of the man with the blue eyes. A time will come when you hold his fate in your hands. It will be up to you whether he lives or perishes.

  All of that was about my own father. Not about Leo.

  “Just go,” I say. “Pack your bags and leave.”

  Your world will change this December. And by spring, a difficult decision must be made. Make sure that you choose wisely.

  It’s December.

  My world has already changed so much. I don’t think I can make any more difficult decisions like these.

  “What are you waiting for? You heard her,” barks Julie. Hazel touches her arm lightly, but she rolls her shoulder.

  She’s furious now, but I know that she’s going to have tears in her eyes as she goes to bed tonight.

  That’s how it is with Julie. The snarkiness always comes first.

  “I…I don’t have any money,” Papa says pathetically.

  I pull out my purse, and grab a bunch of twenties. It’s from the money Leo gave me for the housekeeping.

  I thrust it into my father’s greedy hands.

  “You’re dead to me,” I say. “From this point onward, you’re dead to all of us.”

  “I don’t feel like brooding tonight,” says Julie. “Let’s celebrate.”

  “Celebrate a day full of disappointments?” I ask. The house is quiet now. The walls feel like they’re trying to press down on me.

  “No, we’ll be celebrating new beginnings. You guys drink, don’t you?” she asks, turning to my bodyguards.

  “We’re not supposed to drink on the job,” Amy says. “But we’ll keep you company.”

  Julie shrugs. “More booze for me then.”

  She pulls out a bottle of red.

  Papa had been saving it for a special occasion. With him gone, now might be as good time of a time as any.

  “Why don’t you guys have any furniture?” Amy asks, looking around the cottage.

  After the creditors took everything away, I replaced
some of the furniture. But only the essentials—a dining table, a wall clock, a few wooden chairs.

  “We were going for minimalistic,” I answer, holding back a smile. “Do you like it?”

  Amy is undoing her tight braid. “Yeah, it’s cute. Especially the vines and flowers on the walls.”

  “That was all her,” I say, pointing my chin at Julie. She’s swigging wine straight from the bottle.

  She stops when we all turn to look at her.

  Wiping her wine-stained lips with the back of her hand, she says, “I swear I don’t do this every day. Also, we need some snacks.”

  And just like that, the largest catastrophe of our lives turns into a fun night.

  33

  Leo

  Smoke rises from the buildings.

  War.

  I can taste it in the air.

  So much destruction and loss, and the Russians are just getting started.

  “They’re not getting away with this,” I say, turning to my father. “Right?”

  He seems unbothered. His eyes are on an elderly woman. It’s her bakery that has just been burnt to the ground.

  All the little bodegas and souvenir ships of our territory are boarding up, fearing that they might be next.

  It’s weird. The woman looks like she’s seen all of this before. Like this isn’t the first time she’s witnessing it.

  She almost looks…bored.

  When she catches me watching her, she blinks a couple of times, looking away.

  “My soldiers will take care of the repairs,” my Dad says, squeezing her arm. “You have nothing to worry about, okay?”

  Her chin wobbles as she looks up at him. “Thank you.”

  He pats her on the back, and hands her a thick roll of cash.

  I look away.

  I know he’s just trying to help her. Still, every time I see him bribe the city officials or leave money behind as an apology, I can’t help but take it personally.

  He asked me to forgive him.

  I told him that he would have to earn it.

  I’m still working on removing the past hurt and pain from my system.

  With every day that passes, he’s making it clear that he wants to mend our relationship. And trying to move forward is the very least I can do.