The Scandal: Mafia Vows

by SR Jones

  Markos steps forward and hugs Star to him. The handsome one, the cool, less friendly one—his name escapes me—steps to me, and takes hold of my hand.

  “Listen, Rhea,” he says, voice serious. I look beyond him to see Maya, lovely Maya, looking at me with such pity on her face. Why is everyone so worried? Gosh, my head hurts. “Rhea?” Alesso … oh wow, that’s his name, snaps my attention back to him. “You were in an accident. You were hit by a taxi. You’ve got a concussion and a broken arm.”

  I look around the room again. Someone is missing. Where is the man … the one I want to be here? Why can’t I recall his damn name? “What’s the name of the man … your … boss. The man I’m…” I don’t know how to word it.

  Alesso frowns. “Stamatis?”

  “Yes, Stamatis. Where is he?” In this moment, when I feel more vulnerable than I have since I gave birth to Star, I want him here. There’s something nagging at my mind, though, telling me things aren’t good. “Did we break up?” I ask.

  “No, you didn’t,” Alesso says. “Or, at least, not so far as I’m aware.” He looks uncomfortable and glances at Maya as if for help.

  She smiles at me. “Take it easy, Rhea. You need to focus on yourself and getting well.”

  I sigh and fall back on the pillow. “I know it must be scary for him, and I presume he’s in the corridor with someone, but please can I see Gus?” I ask.

  Then the words from before, those vague, fog-filled words come to me. If I don’t find that boy, you’re in so much shit. “Where’s Gus?” I ask with severe trepidation.

  Alesso squeezes my hand. “Rhea, I’m sorry, but Papan has him. He came to the hospital before any of us knew you’d been hurt and took him. It seems because Gus recognized him and ran to him and hugged him, the staff believed him when he said he was his father and he was going to take him to stay with his grandparents and then come back to be with you. They thought you guys must still be together. They let him take Gus.”

  “No,” I say on a sob.

  “Listen to me,” Alesso says. “Stamatis and Damen are on this. Damen can hack into anything and anyone, and your ex has an android phone. Damen already has the number, and soon he’ll have all the information on that fucker.”

  Stamatis isn’t here because he’s getting my son back.

  I pray to any divinity willing to listen that he’s successful.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Stamatis

  All I want to do is be with Rhea. When I saw her laid in that hospital bed, her face bruised and her arm all at odd angles, I wanted to rip the room apart. I want to be there, holding her hand, the first person she sees when she comes around properly, but I’m not there. The reason being, I’m going to get her son back. Whatever it takes, I’m getting Gus back for her. Then I’m putting her pain-in-the-ass, sort-of-husband in the ground, where he can’t bother her, Star, or Gus again.

  It will be our secret, mine and Damen’s. A terrible act done for the greater good. So far as Rhea and Star are concerned, the guy will simply have disappeared. It’s all they’ll ever know. Damen and I will know the truth, and Alesso. That’s it. We’re not even telling Markos because he’s so soft on Star he might feel some sort of duty to be honest with her.

  Rhea. My beautiful Rhea, all bruised up and battered in that hospital bed. The thought makes me sick.

  She lost my guy, and he’s in the shit for that, but she must have known he was following her. It’s on me that I didn’t front up and tell her I was having her trailed, and that she simply had to put up with it. And then my decision to not tell her how I felt about her until our Saturday evening meal made things worse. I should have told her there and then that I loved her. Because I do.

  I fucking love that woman. Not in a hearts and flowers way, but in a primal, harsh, forged in fire way. I knew I’d burn the world to the ground for her when I first saw her, and now I’m about to.

  I don’t know how it happened, me falling for her so hard. She’s a fucking mess. Impenetrable on the surface, but when you crack her exterior it’s nothing but molten emotions churning in there. I’m sure that one day her composed outer shell will crack, and all that mess will come pouring out, and it worried me at first. I didn’t think I was the person to help her, what with being fucked up beyond recognition, but now I don’t care. I’ll be there for her in all my flawed glory.

  Sometimes we don’t need the perfect person; we just need our person. The one who will stand side by side with us and be there when the bad times and the messy emotions hit.

  “Okay, so, we got Papan’s number from Rhea’s phone, and I’ve hacked into his phone, and boy is he fucked in the head.” Damen shakes his head and gestures for me to go to where he’s working on a laptop.

  “Why? Is it all cult shit?”

  He laughs. “Oh, it’s shit alright, but it’s weird as fuck. There’s all this religious stuff, but then loads of stuff about sexual freedom, and lots of things about modern day harems. Get this, he’s been reading a ton of stuff on effective leadership, and taken together, this all makes me think he’s positioning to be the next great leader.”

  “What a fucker.” I stare at the screen Damen is looking at. There’s lists and list of the websites Papan has been visiting, and they’re diverse, but together paint a worrying picture.

  There’s stuff about how humans should live like lions where the alpha males get six or seven or more women, to raise their many children, and the other males get one or none. There are things on leadership skills, how to build charisma, and most alarmingly lots of survivalist shit.

  “Fuck me, he’s going full on Jim Jones.” I shake my head. “You know, I did worry that I was doing the wrong thing taking this bastard out, but this has convinced me.”

  “Never doubted it was the right thing for a second,” Damen says.

  His words surprise me. He does what I ask, and will kill people when I ask, but he’s not as cold about it as Alesso, or someone like Andrius. “Really?”

  “Yeah, he’s a fucker. He won’t stay away, not so long as he wants Gus. I say the only thing to do is take him out of the equation.”

  It sounds good to hear I have his support on this because there’s a big part of me second guessing myself.

  “If Rhea ever finds out…”

  “She won’t. We’re not even telling Markos, right? This stays between me, you, and Alesso. None of the Russians will talk. They’re on our payroll, they work for you, and they come from Andrius. They know he’d fuck them up if they betrayed such an important confidence.”

  “Do you think we should tell him?” I ask.

  “Not sure. I mean, need to know, right? And he doesn’t need to know.”

  “Okay, so me, you, Alesso, and any men we use for this, and they are told they keep their mouths shut on pain of death.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I don’t like starting a relationship with such a big secret.” I feel like a weak fucker saying such a thing.

  “It’s a secret to protect her, Stamatis. I’m not telling Maya, and it’s not because I don’t trust her, but I don’t want to put her in the position where she has to lie to Star and Rhea every day. This way, we protect our women, and yeah that’s old fashioned but fuck it, it’s true. We’re protecting them.”

  “It’s not quite the same. I’m killing the father of her children and never telling her.”

  “To keep those children safe.” Damen sighs and regards me. “What’s going on, Stamatis? This isn’t you; you’re normally decisive. What gives?”

  I rub my jaw and stare past him for a moment, collecting my thoughts. “I screwed everything up,” I admit. “All of it. My son is dead, my son.” I hit my chest. “I had to let it happen, no choice by then, but I helped raise him, made him what he was. My marriage is in tatters. My daughter was harmed, and Maya’s mother lost her life in the most terrible way. It’s all on me. I fucked up, and now what? I think I get a chance at a second go round? I want Rhea. Want her for my own,
but I know I don’t deserve her. What if I fuck Gus up the way I did Costas? This life … it poisons you. Poisons those around you. It gets into your veins, seeps in and turns them dark and sludgy with fucking death and betrayal.”

  “Jesus fuck, man.” Damen shakes his head. “I had no idea you were feeling this bad. I mean, I knew you must be feeling bad after what happened, but no idea the levels of it. Listen the fuck to me.”

  Damen talks to me with such ferocity it takes me aback.

  “I was raised by a motherfucking piece of shit. You never laid a finger on your wife or kids. You didn’t let this life touch them. Not until they were old enough to decide if they wanted in or not. Costas went wrong in school. Got in with the wrong crowd, and funnily enough most of that wrong crowd weren’t our kind of wrong. They were the spoiled rich kids of politicians and CEOs. Helena was done wrong with the affair with Maya’s mother, but you spent years making it up to her, and you were loyal even though you didn’t love her.”

  He swipes a hand across his jaw and shakes his head before continuing. “Costas fucked up big time, and he had everything going for him. He had a good home to grow up in, a mother who worshipped the ground he walked on, which come to think of it might have been part of the problem, and the best school money can buy. I had a fucker for a father, and I never behaved the way Costas did. Markos? He had shit growing up. He’s not going around kidnapping women, and letting his men sexually assault them.”

  I know he’s right, but his words are making me angry too. That’s my son he’s talking about, and I might be able to admit, deep down in my darkest moments that Costas didn’t turn out good, but to hear Damen talk about him in such a way, comparing him to others, is making me angry.

  “You look like you want to hit me,” Damen says. “Go ahead if it makes you feel better.”

  I’m not that man. I have control. Always have. “Not going to hit you, but watch your mouth when you talk about Costas.”

  “Not if it means you spiraling down into some sort of self-blame hole. You’re not in the wrong here, Stamatis. You did your best. Yeah, this life isn’t the greatest for bringing up kids. You don’t think I’m aware of that? That Maya’s not aware of that?”

  So that’s why they’ve not started the baby-making yet.

  “You could leave,” I say. “I’d not hold it against you, knowing you were doing it for Maya and your future children.”

  “That’s the thing, though. I don’t want to leave, and I know Maya doesn’t. She loves you, and she loves Stella and Alesso, and Star and Markos too. We’re like one big, weird family. I’m not saying it’s stopping us right now, we’re just enjoying being us, you know? But it is another thing to factor into any decisions.”

  “So it’s not off the table?” I say.

  “No, not off the table, but not on it for a while. She’s young, and she likes her life as it is right now. I don’t want to take that away from her and pressure her into something she’s not ready for.”

  “Makes sense.” And it does, and it makes me a little less down to know they might have kids one day. “Mikhalis is coming home,” I tell him with a smile, dragging myself out of my gloomy mood.

  “For a visit?” Damen’s attention is drawn to the screen.

  “No, for good. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong. It’s all good. I’ve got a lock on his location.”

  “Where is the fucker?”

  “He’s at a Holiday Inn just outside of Piraeus.”

  A longish drive then.

  “If he’s at a Holiday Inn, I doubt he’s with those he is trying to resurrect the cult with. He probably took Gus there for the night to rest and for some breathing space before he meets them somewhere at a later time. How about you and me go deal with him, less traumatizing for the kid, and we have the Russians trail us and go in after to do the wet work and clean up?”

  “I don’t see any reason why we can’t go check it out alone.” Damen shrugs. “And yes, let them do the clean up. If they’re trained by Andrius, they won’t leave a trace.”

  “Fuck it, let’s do it.”

  “Okay, great. Let’s go for it.”

  Damen pushes his chair back and takes his Glock from the table, putting it in his holster, then he shrugs a light jacket on over his t-shirt. He also will have a knife on him and a second gun in an ankle holster. I check my Sig-Sauer at my side and do as Damen has, put a jacket on over my t-shirt. I’m going to be fucking roasting, but that’s the least of my worries.

  We take two of the Spetsnaz soldiers with us. They’ve both personally worked with Andrius before, so I feel they’ll know their stuff. They follow close to us in their own vehicle.

  The journey is tense and silent. We talk briefly about how we’re going to get into the room and Gus out of it without traumatizing the poor kid for life. “The best way is if we bust the door down,” Damen says. “No warning, no time for him to react. You grab Gus and take him straight out of the room. I’ll deal with Papan.”

  “Okay, good plan.”

  I call the Russians and tell them to park nearby and wait for my call.

  When we arrive at the hotel, it’s quiet, which is damn good luck in this area, as it is seedy and run down. We enter the hotel, and I head to reception. I let Damen take the lead on this bit. He can appear oddly charming for such a big fucker when he wants to. And I think the young female receptionist is much more likely to be interested in him than me.

  “Hi there,” he says with an easy smile.

  She glances up, and her eyes widen at his height and bulk. He leans on the reception desk. “My brother and nephew are staying here. I wonder if you’ve seen them or know what room they are in? Cute kid, you can’t miss him.”

  Damen takes his phone out and swipes through it before holding up a picture of him and Gus, with Gus hanging all over Damen, grinning like the crazy kid he is.

  “Aw, yeah, he is cute, and I remember him. He obviously loves his uncle.” She bats her eyelashes at Damen. “You’re good with kids. I bet your wife appreciates that.”

  She lets it hang there, and I notice Damen put his ring hand in his pocket as he leans on the counter and grins.

  “Oh, I’m sure my future wife would appreciate it.” He’s looking at her like he wants to eat her up, but I know it’s all show, to gain the information he needs.

  She flushes and glances down before looking up again, her mouth twitching in and out of a smile. “I’ll just call up to their room and let Mr. Nicosi know you’re here.”

  Fucker used a fake name; no surprise.

  Damen reaches for the receptionist and puts his hand over hers as she goes for the phone.

  “It’s a surprise. It’s my brother’s birthday. He’s had a tough time, and we’re here to take them out. Can we just go on up?”

  His thumb brushes over the back of her hand, and I’d forgotten just how much charisma Damen can turn on if he wants to. Most of the time he’s too busy guarding those around him and being stern and closed off, unlike Alesso who is a one-man panty shredder, but Damen’s got moves; got to give him that.

  The receptionist pauses, and I can see the battle raging in her. It’s going against policy for her to give us their room.

  “Maybe one evening I can swing on by and take you out for a drink?” Damen asks. “I mean, if you’re not with anyone, which you probably are; someone as pretty as you.”

  She giggles. “I’m not with anyone. I’m not that pretty.”

  She is actually pretty, and she’s fishing for compliments pretty badly right now.

  “Come on, you know you are.” Damen grins at her. “How about I come by one night, and we grab a coffee or a drink?”

  “Okay.” She smiles at him.

  “Give me your number?” he asks, and she does. She writes it down on a notepad, and then she scrawls something else, almost as an afterthought.

  “That’s my number, and that’s the room your brother is in.” She pushes the paper at him.

>   Damen leans over the counter, takes her hand, and kisses the back of it. “You’re a doll,” he says.

  We stroll casually to the bank of elevators as if we’ve got all the time in the world.

  We punch the button for the floor we need and ride up in silence as we don our gloves.

  I’m imagining throttling that piece of shit we’re going for with my bare hands, but I won’t. I’ll take Gus and make sure he’s okay and not traumatized. Damen can deal with Papan once and for all.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Stamatis

  The room is halfway along the corridor, which sucks. An end room would have been much better. It is what it is, though. I nod at Damen and on me counting three with my fingers, he shoulders the door, breaking it in with ease.

  The sound is loud, and I hope no fuckers come out of their rooms because then we’ll have a drama on our hands.

  Damen busts into the room, me right behind him. Gus and Papan are on the bed, an open pizza box in front of them.

  Papan, being the piece of shit he is, goes for Gus as if to use him as a human shield, but I have my gun out and on him before he can do so.

  “Ah, ah,” I say. “Touch him and you’re in a world of trouble.”

  Gus is staring at my gun with wide eyes.

  Damen walks around the bed to Papan and grabs his arm. “Let’s have a chat,” he says convivially. “Gus, why don’t you go play soldiers with Uncle Stamatis?”

  Gus looks from me to Papan and shakes his head. “Want to stay with Dad,” he says.

  “I’ll be out in a moment, son,” Papan says, shooting daggers my way.

  “Yeah, your dad will join us in a minute. He just wants a quick chat with Uncle Damen; they’re good friends.”

  “The best,” Damen says with a grin to Gus.

  Reluctantly, the kid climbs off the bed, and I put my gun away, reaching for him with my hand.

  Damen has his hand on his holster, and he’s staring at Papan with an intensity that would make any man quake.

  “Come on, Gus. We can wait for them downstairs,” I say as I close the door behind me as best I can.