“What’s going on?” he asked in a demanding voice.
Raising her head as if she only just realized that he was there, his mother looked at him blankly. “Nero?”
When she didn’t say anything else, the man behind the desk spoke. “Nero, my name is Christopher Abandonato, and this is my right-hand man, Thomas Caivano. Your grandmother asked us to come.”
“Come for what?” he asked suspiciously.
“Your mother is in a very precarious situation. Your father’s underboss, Anthony Franzese, has made threats against your mother if she does not comply with his wishes.” Christopher read the confusion in Nero’s eyes. “Everything is your mother’s—the houses, the businesses, and the money. Her parents placed a very powerful group of people in charge of her finances, even after marriage.”
Looking at his mother in shock, Nero realized that they could have escaped.
Everything belongs to her.
“Is that usual?” he asked numbly.
“No, it’s not,” Grandmother Rose said, speaking up. “Your mother’s mother had it done—with my help—because we didn’t trust your father. We, in a sense, tricked your grandfathers and your father so she could protect her daughter. It was the only thing we could do, since we couldn’t stop the marriage.”
Nero was shocked that Grandmother Rose had gone against her own family to protect his mother, but before he could pull the words back, he spit out, “You knew. You knew what he was.”
His words broke his mother’s trance. “Now is not the time for that, Nero,” she said before taking a deep breath and standing up. Head high, she walked slowly behind the desk and to the left side of the hard-eyed man. Placing a hand that trembled onto his shoulder, she kept her eyes locked with Nero’s. Her next words shocked him to the core. “Christopher has agreed to marry me. Even as we speak, your father’s underboss is gathering men to try and take me and the leadership of this family by force.”
“He’s threatening me and the twins, isn’t he?” Nero asked knowingly. After everything that his mother had suffered at the hands of his father, Nero could not think of any reason for her to agree to something as vile as getting married again other than to protect her children. Seeing the truth in her eyes, Nero turned to the man at the desk. “I’d like to speak with you—alone.”
Fear filled his mother’s face, but before she could voice her concerns, Abandonato answered. “We all need to rejoin the others anyway. Adriana and Rose, Thomas will escort you and the children out. Nero and I will join you in a moment.”
Before his mother could protest, Grandmother Rose stepped forward and took her arm, then led her to the twins, who latched onto her. Throwing worried looks over her shoulder, she allowed herself to be steered out. Enzo was the last to leave.
Whatever he’s truly thinking in his twisted fucking mind, he’s hiding it behind his easy, charming smile. He’s already welcomed Abandonato to the family.
“I understand the necessity of my mother’s decision, but there are some things that need to be agreed upon before the marriage takes place,” Nero said as soon as the door closed.
“And what would those be, Nero?” Abandonato asked.
Steeling his resolve, Nero kept his voice hard.
I have to say it. This is too important. I must never let my mother be hurt again.
“One, you are never to raise your hand against my mother or sisters.”
“What kind of piece of shit do you take me for?” Abandonato spat out, insulted.
Nero ignored his indignation. “Two, I want Enzo sent out of this house. I don’t care if it is to a boarding school or to work for another family, but I don’t want him under this roof. And third, if you want to keep a woman on the side that is your business, but my mother will be treated with respect. Your whore will not be paraded in front of her or live in her home,” he finished.
Slowly, Abandonato stood up and moved out from behind the desk. Anger darkened his face as he walked past Nero and to the door. Opening it, he gave a sharp order to one of the guards outside, then moved back into the room and stood in front of Nero. Not willing to be cowardly, Nero forced himself to raise his eyes to meet Abandonato’s.
If my piece-of-shit father couldn’t break me, then Abandonato doesn’t have a chance. They didn’t have long to wait before his man Caivano joined them. Keeping his eyes glued to Nero’s, Abandonato barked out, “Thomas, what do you know about Genovese?”
“Chris, I don’t think we should discuss that in front of the boy,” Thomas said uncomfortably.
“That’s not what I asked you.”
Giving a long sigh, Caivano said what Nero already knew. “From what I’ve gathered, Genovese liked to abuse anyone weaker than himself. Adriana was one on his favorite targets.”
The man in front of him became even angrier, which surprised Nero. “What else? Did his goomah live in this house?” Abandonato demanded.
“Yeah, she did. It seems the boy here threw her ass out just five minutes ago. Her name is Juliet. She’s Franzese’s cousin.”
“Anything on the older boy, Enzo?” Abandonato asked. Disgust now heavy in his voice.
“If there is, no one’s talking—but that kid is too perfect, if you know what I mean.”
“Thanks, Thomas. We’ll be right out,” Abandonato said, breaking eye contact with Nero. Tensely, Nero watched Abandonato walk to the sideboard and pour himself a drink. Turning back to him, Abandonato shook his head. Then he spoke. “I’m not some piece of shit that needs to beat up on someone smaller than myself to feel like a man, nor would I insult my wife by bringing another woman into our home. I’ll let you get away with what you said because I can understand wanting to protect your family—but don’t ever insult me like that again.”
He seemed to be waiting for something, so Nero gave a nod to indicate that he had heard him.
“I’ll speak to your mother about Enzo. If she agrees, I’ll send him to boarding school.” Setting down his glass, Abandonato moved toward the door. “Now come on—let’s get this farce of a funeral done with. If you behave yourself, I’ll let you go with me and piss on the grave of that piece-of-shit father of yours.”
Watching Abandonato open the door and walk out, Nero smiled to himself.
That will save me the trouble of having to sneak out tonight and do it.
…
“That fucking bastard brother of yours had me thrown from the house with nothing but the clothes on my back,” Juliet screamed at Enzo. As she paced the hotel room, her rage kept growing. Enzo just sat there, looking bored, so she picked up a lamp and threw it at the wall next to him. Fear and need filled her when he turned his cold eyes her way. Enzo was just like his father. He had the same darkness and need to inflict pain—she craved it.
“Feel lucky that it was Nero who threw you out. If I had beat him to it, you would have gone naked.”
“What do you mean?”
“My grandmother has done something unexpected. She found a new husband for my mother—and a new leader for the Genovese family.”
“What about my cousin? I thought we agreed that you would use him as the figurehead until you could claim control,” she demanded.
“Your cousin doesn’t have long left on this earth. Abandonato will make sure of that. What we need to do now is wait.”
“Wait? I can’t wait! I have nothing. Everything is in that house. My money. My jewels. Everything!” Juliet screeched as she saw her years of hard work being taken from her.
“Oh, stop your melodramatics. Look in the bag over there,” Enzo said, pointing to a bag he had brought in and dropped by the door.
Greedily, she grabbed the bag and opened it. Glittering jewels—the reward for her years of labor—gleamed back at her. With both hands she dove in, pulling out certain pieces while ignoring the cash at the bottom. Frowning, she turned to Enzo. “This isn’t everything. Some of my favorite pieces are missing.”
Rolling his eyes, Enzo looked at her like she was st
upid. “Of course they are. If I took everything, they’d know.”
“But it’s mine,” she whined.
“No, Juliet, it’s mine. Everything is mine now that my father is gone,” he said sharply.
“I worked for that.”
“You fucked for that, spread your legs like the good whore you are. Now, because you’re such a good whore, I still have a use for you. A business that I’m sure you’ll excel at—and that bag right there is going to buy it. Now, come here,” he said darkly.
She knew that tone. She tensed. Knowing that it would be worse if she didn’t hurry, she went over to him. Dropping to her knees in front of him, she ran her hands up his legs. He struck hard and fast, sinking his fingers deep into her hair. He gripped hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
“Now Juliet, I think it’s time to remind you of your place.”
Chapter 3
Nero, age sixteen
“Nero, can you watch the girls tonight so Chris and I can go out?” his mother asked, almost clapping her hands like a child.
Looking at her now, you would never think that she was the same woman who, just two years ago, had cowered at the thought of being alone with a man. Chris was the best thing that had ever happened to their family. At first it had been rough. They were all so used to violence that they had no experience with how to behave toward kindness. Chris was a hard but good man, and he had patience with them. Chris interrogated Julius’s men and threw out the ones who he realized were just as sick as he had been, then replaced them with his own men. Enzo was sent off to school, and was only allowed home on school breaks. For the first time in Nero’s life, his home was actually a safe place.
“Nero, can you?” she asked again, pulling him out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll have Jenny come over and hang out with us,” Nero said, earning a huge smile from his mother. She loved his girl, Jenny, like she was her own daughter.
“I really appreciate it, baby. Chris is taking me out for our anniversary.” Wringing her hands, she looked at him for a minute before asking her next question. “You didn’t have plans with Jenny tonight, did you?”
“No, Mom. It’s good. Jenny loves the girls anyway.”
“Good, because I really like her. I don’t want to mess anything up.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. Now, go get dressed. I don’t need Chris complaining that you’re taking too long,” he teased. He laughed when her eyes grew wide and she hurried from the room.
As if Chris ever complained about anything she did. He treated Adriana like she was a princess. He never got mad, no matter what she did—unless it concerned her safety. Nero knew that was why it had been so easy to accept him. The man did anything he could to make his mother happy. It wasn’t just his mother that Chris went out of his way for either, but Nero and the twins also. His little sisters had been terrified of Chris and his men at the beginning. They had fought to hold back tears whenever he came near them. The disgust that had filled the men’s faces when they realized why the girls hid behind Nero was something Nero would never forget. The shame that always filled him when that happened, though, was a reminder that he couldn’t always protect them.
Thomas, Chris’s right-hand man, took it as a personal affront. He had gathered the other guards and spoken to them, and the next day the house was filled with their own children, nieces, nephews, and cousins. They also brought their wives, so the girls could see that there was nothing to be afraid of. At first the twins had just stared at all the other children in fascination as they climbed on their fathers like they were jungle gyms. In truth, that behavior was new to Nero too. He had never been allowed to interact at other people’s houses. They went to school, but knew better than to make friends. Nero had taught the girls that friends could be used against them. So they had never seen what normal people were like around their children. His mother, seeing how the other children and their mothers interacted with the men, had quietly gotten up and gone to her room. Tears and shame filled her face as she rushed away. Nero had moved to follow her, but Chris stopped him. Putting his hand on Nero’s shoulder, he shook his head, then went to join her himself.
Suspicious, Nero had followed Chris. He wasn’t risking his mother’s safety.
What he found when he looked into his mother’s room almost broke him in a way that none of the beating that his father had belted into him ever had. His mother had been curled into a ball in the corner of the room, cowering, while Chris sat on the floor in front of her. He stayed just far enough away to give her a feeling of safety. In broken whispers, she was confessing what she believed was her sin: not protecting her babies. She begged Chris not to hurt them. Nero was about to go in, but stopped when he saw Chris slowly approach her and gather her into his arms. Chris pulled Adriana into his lap and held her sobbing form while resting his back against the wall. Helplessness showed naked on his face before he pressed it into her hair. Unable to look on anymore, Nero left. He knew in that one, raw moment that Chris would never hurt his mother like his father had.
After that day, the girls and his mother seemed to blossom. Like the most innocent of babes, they looked on the world with new eyes—curious about everything. So used to being careful, Nero knew that he would never be able to truly trust anyone, or be able to forget the past. Though it did help him to feel like he could embrace the future and to not look at it by gauging the risk in every action. Chris, realizing that any chance Nero had of being a child had long since been taken from him, had instead directed his energies into teaching him about running the family. Taking him aside one day, Chris explained that though he was acting as don, it was just until Nero was ready to take his place. One day a Genovese would sit at the head of their family again, but it would never be one like his father or grandfather. He explained that their world was cruel and hard, but that there were lines that no one should cross. With those words, Nero understood that Chris recognized that Enzo was just like their father—and he had no intention of ever giving Enzo a chance to have power over them again.
“Nero, when’s Jenny getting here?” asked Victoria—Tori for short. The question made him wonder how long he had been sitting there, lost in his own thought. At almost eleven, Tori was the shyer of the twins—Caterina was the total opposite. Usually her dark hair hid her face, except when she was around family. When she was around them she was like any other little girl. Her dark eyes would shine with mischief. Nero knew why she was really wondering when Jenny would arrive. It was because Jenny’s sister Josie, Victoria’s first and best friend, would be coming with her.
Trying not to smile at the annoyed expression on her little face, he said, “I’m going to call her now.”
“You mean you haven’t even called her yet?” she demanded, stomping her foot in agitation.
Rolling his eyes at her theatrics, he replied, “You know she’s my girlfriend, right?”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she threw Nero a beady-eyed look before putting her nose up in the air and telling him in an imperialistic tone, “You know she only puts up with you because she likes me, right?”
Before he could retort back, a voice called out.
“You’re right about that! Your mom called since your brother seemed to have forgotten about me.”
Squealing sounded as Tori ran toward Jenny, then veered around her at the last second and latched onto Josie, who was just as excited.
Without another glance at them, Tori took her friend by the hand and the two raced away. Watching Jenny smile at their retreating forms, Nero was struck again by her beauty. Wheat-colored hair fell down her back and swayed gently, drawing his attention to a perfect ass that was cupped lovingly by her jeans. A golden glow kissed her skin from hours spent in the sun, which caused her hazel eyes to stand out and sparkle in her delicate face. Everything about her drew Nero to her. Silently, he stalked toward her. He felt a need to touch something that was perfect and pure, untouched by the brutality of his past. Sensing him,
Jenny turned to step into his arms. Her lush lips turned up, holding the sun in the smile she bestowed upon him and chasing away the demons that haunted him—as it always did. Questions that she knew not to ask because he would never answer them filled her beautiful eyes. Leaning forward to escape the darkness that filled his soul, Nero buried his face in her neck. He allowed the scent of her pureness to fill him. Her small hands clutched at him. As fragile as a fairy’s wings, they held him to her, unwilling to let the darkness of his past have what she had claimed as hers. Pulling away, Nero took her lips in the softest of kisses to hide his needs from her. For her he was soft and gently unwilling to let his baser needs for dominance control him—or to soil her pureness.
Taking his lips away, Nero gently touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I could never forget you,” he said softly as the comfort of her closeness filled him.
Sparkling mischief filled her gentle eyes as she teased him. “I suppose that Tori isn’t the only reason I put up with you.”
“I hope not,” Nero tried to say lightheartedly, but knew he failed by the dimming in her eyes. He couldn’t even joke about the possibility of not having her in his life. “Come on, let’s put a movie on. I promise to suffer graciously through whatever girly thing you pick,” he said, wanting the sadness that filled her because of his own fears to leave her.
Stepping from his arms, she kept hold of his hand and pulled him with her toward the couch. “Just for that I’m going to make it especially girly. Sob-fest city!”
“I can see who wears the pants in your relationship, little brother. Tell me—does she hold your balls in her hand and give a squeeze whenever you’re a bad boy?” a snide voice called out, causing Nero to whip around.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Enzo?” he snarled as he moved to put Jenny behind him.
The snarky smile that instantly formed on Enzo’s face pissed him off. Nero would have lunged at Enzo if it hadn’t been for Jenny’s hand on his arm. Enzo’s smile grew as he looked Jenny up and down. “Just home for a visit. Missed the family. I see that you got yourself a little girlfriend. Look how pretty she is when she blushes. Tell me, Nero, is she as pink on the inside?” Enzo crudely ran his tongue over his lips. “Doubt you’d know—you always were squeamish around the women. Father and I used to laugh when you couldn’t get it up no matter how much the whores sucked. So since you can’t do the deed, why don’t you give her to me? I’ll show her how a real man takes care of business. She’ll be screaming my name,” he laughed.
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