Fallen: A Dark Italian Mafia Romance (Men of Mayhem Book 4)

by Kristen Luciani

  He carries me down the narrow hallway, kicking open a door and dropping me onto the bed like a sack of potatoes. I roll around with a moan, my eyes drooping closed. I struggle to keep them open long enough to examine my surroundings. My gut clenches when I see I’m not alone in this room.

  There are three others, dressed in the exact same skimpy piece of material.

  Three others with glassy eyes staring vacantly up at the ceiling.

  Three others who will be subjected to some kind of vicious and barbaric act.

  I fling my good arm over my eyes, rolling over and trying not to hurl all over myself from the rough waves rocking the boat as if it was a puny little sailboat instead of a sleek yacht.

  I plant my hands on the mattress next to me, trying like hell to pull myself to a seated position. That’s step one. Then I’ll swing my legs over the side of the bed and make my move.

  My body gives out, betraying me like a devious bitch, and my head collapses to the mattress once again.

  I can’t fucking pass out now!

  I need to escape!

  I need to maim Nikola!

  I need to—

  Fuck.

  My head lolls to the side, my eyelids finally giving up the fight.

  I need to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Vincenzo

  I cling to the stainless steel ladder in a hidden corner of the yacht where I’ve been praying to God since it pulled away from the pier.

  Thankfully, all of my hasty prayers have been answered.

  Please don’t let us get caught.

  Please don’t let me fall into the water.

  Please don’t let there be any hungry sharks circling below us.

  Well, most of them, anyway.

  There’s just one remaining.

  Please let Aria be safe.

  And judging from all the gunfire that exploded into the night air, I’m more than a little panicked that the most important one went unanswered.

  “It’s time,” I say to Dante and Tommy in a low voice. “I’ll go up first.”

  They are hanging onto the lower rungs of the ladder.

  It was the only way we could sneak onboard without anyone seeing us. It was too risky to open fire with all of Nikola’s men staking out the pier. I have no clue how many men are on this boat but I’d rather take my chances with a surprise attack.

  My throat tightens as I climb stealthily to the expansive deck on the back of the ship. Without any light, I doubt anyone will see us, and that buys us time to find Aria.

  My feet land on the wood planking, and I immediately turn to pull Dante up and then Tommy after him. We’re all dressed in dark colors, easily mixing with Nikola’s crew.

  “Tommy, look for the life jackets and life rafts. It’s the only way we’re gonna make it back alive.”

  He rolls his eyes. “All because you couldn’t be bothered to take swimming lessons,” he grunts.

  “Listen, Chef,” I hiss. “You’re here to do a job. So do it and shut the fuck up!”

  Tommy’s lips quirk upward. “It’s nice to see you get your dick in a twist over a woman, Vince. She must have fucked you good.”

  “Yeah, I don’t need to hear that shit about my cousin,” Dante groans.

  Tommy ducks over to the other side of the deck and peeks his head over the side, counting something. He hurries back. “Okay, we’re good on vests and there’s one lifeboat. We’d better all fit.”

  “Well, since you took swimming lessons, I guess you could just follow us if we run out of room,” I quip.

  Tommy flips me off and I turn toward the interior of the ship. We have to go through a thin glass door, but there are multiple levels. I have no idea which one Aria is on, so I turn to Dante and Tommy. “We need to split up. If Aria is upstairs, I don’t want to alert anyone down below that we’re here. Tommy, you head up. Dante, stick with me.”

  “How come you get backup?” Tommy grumbles.

  “Because I’m the fucking boss, okay?” I nod toward the small staircase. “Now, go.”

  Tommy salutes me and darts up the stairs, two at a time, his gun in hand.

  “Let’s go,” I mutter, pulling the door and…

  Fucking nothing!

  “Shit,” I grumble. “It’s locked.”

  “Like that’s gonna stop us.” Dante turns away to grab a fire extinguisher, and then hurls it through the glass. Shards fly into the air and I turn to him, my jaw dropping to the floor.

  “Are you crazy? How is that flying under the radar?”

  He squares his shoulders, his eyes narrowed to slits. “Sorry, was that the plan? Because I thought the plan was to save Aria, not stroke each other’s cocks while we lament about a locked door.”

  Dante’s eyes drop to my sides where my hands are balled into tight fists.

  “I’d put those things away,” he says. “I like you, Vince, but I’m not afraid to fuck you up if you make a bad call.” He leans closer, eyebrow lifted. “Like punching me.”

  I glare at him before jumping through the broken glass and tearing down the hallway. By now, men are darting from room to room with guns, pelting the place with bullets. I duck left and right, firing off as many shots as I can while making my way farther onto the ship.

  “Aria!” I shout.

  Maybe she’ll hear me.

  Maybe she’ll yell back.

  A shiver assaults my skin.

  Or maybe I just signed her death sentence.

  I pop a few more shots off, taking down a couple of guys.

  Dante is behind me, kicking in doors, lunatic that he is.

  It was supposed to be a quiet ambush.

  It turned into fucking mayhem.

  But I guess it’s apropos since that’s what we Marcones are known for.

  Mayhem to the nth degree.

  Shots ring out on the upper deck, and bodies sail to the sea below as Tommy clips them two at a time.

  “Vince!” he yells. “Someone needs to get up here!”

  I motion for Dante to back him up. There are only a couple of more doors down here to check, and then I’ll be right behind him.

  An uneasy feeling in my gut smolders.

  Only a couple of more rooms.

  Only a couple of more chances to find Aria down here.

  She didn’t answer me.

  What if she couldn’t?

  The sickening question without an answer snakes around my heart, squeezing until a sharp pang makes me wince.

  I crouch low and slide around a wall as the shots cease for a few seconds. All yelling has ceased. The silence is eerie and disorienting, but turns out to be short-lived. Footsteps thunder along the floor above me, and bullets pepper the air once again.

  One of the nearby doors is open a crack, and I slither through it, jumping to my feet when I see Aria on the bed.

  And all of the blood soaking into the bedding around her.

  “Aria!” I scream, running toward her. There are other girls scattered around her, drugged by the looks of it. Practically naked. And young. So young, it makes my gut knot.

  I gather her into my arms, scouting the room for hostiles.

  But none appear.

  I’d like to think that’s good for us, but if you live this life, you know better.

  I hoist her off the bed, carrying her to the door. Sounds from above tell me the party has switched locations, which is good for us, bad for Tommy and Dante. Right now, I need to get Aria to the lifeboat. I run down the hallway, not even seeing the long pipe jut out of another room until it connects with my head, sending me and my gun hurtling to the floor. Aria crashes to the ground next to me with a loud moan. I clutch my head, blood drizzling from the side of my temple from the gash.

  “Aria…” I mutter, my eyes open a crack.

  She drags herself to her knees before crawling over to me. “Vince,” she says, her eyes heavy but somewhat alert. “Are you okay?”

  A loud crash comes down to the floor on my right
side and Aria screams, flying backward.

  I roll onto my back, squinting at the figure in black hovering above me. “Nikola Lovrić,” I rasp.

  “In the flesh, Vincenzo. I’m disappointed to see that you didn’t go up in flames along with the rest of your brother’s nightclub,” he says.

  “You fucked up,” I say. “How’s it feel? Seems like every time you try to do something, someone outsmarts you. Maybe business isn’t your thing, you know? Maybe you wanna try something easier, like breaking kneecaps.” I struggle to my feet. “Let’s try you out and see if you’ve got it in you. Or are you just one of those guys who delegates shit to even bigger idiots who can’t get the job done?” I spit blood, staggering toward him. “That’s what it looks like to me.”

  He swings a fist into my gut, a sucker punch that damn-near knocks me to my knees. I crumple over, still moving closer. “Is that the best you’ve got, cocksucker? Because it’s gonna take a lot more that those pathetic attempts to keep me down.” I muster all of my energy and hurl a punch into his throat as hard as I can.

  It’s a kill shot.

  Or else, it would be if I had any degree of power behind it.

  But it knocks him off balance, and that’s all I need.

  I drag myself over to where my gun lays on the carpet, and lean over to grab it just as the boat jerks and sends me flying against the far wall.

  Aria weeps as she approaches. “I’m so sorry I dragged you into this. I’m so sorry for hurting you and your family. I’m so sorry for everything!”

  Nikola grabs my gun and holds it in his outstretched hand, smirking at us. My throat tightens with the knowledge that unless Tommy or Dante come barreling down the stairs at this second, we’re dead.

  “You thought you could come onto my ship and throw my entire organization into upheaval? You greasy guinea bastard!” he roars. “You killed my brother! An eye for an eye, Vincenzo! Remember? The code?”

  “If that’s the case, you should be dipped in acid and carved up and skinned like a goddamn turkey for all of the blood staining your hands!” I blink fast, trying to clear my vision, my head throbbing from the pipe assault. I then look at the carpet near Nikola’s feet.

  The final prayer was answered in that second.

  Aria catches my eye, her back toward Nikola as she palms a switchblade that must have fallen out of someone’s pocket. She grazes my hand with one finger, concealing it in her hand.

  My beautifully vicious girl.

  “Yes, well, it’s much easier to dole out punishments when you’re the one holding the weapon. But I’m not going to kill you,” he says in a threatening voice. “I’m going to take you and the other invaders you brought along and shoot you in the stomachs. Then I’m going to toss you overboard and let the sharks feed on you, tearing the flesh from your bones as you scream and cry in agony. And as the life drains from your shredded body, you can rest assured that Aria will live out the rest of her days taking my cock in every possible orifice, sucking it dry and draining it of my hot cum. And while she may be thinking about you, she’ll still be fucking me. Let that be the last conscious thought that goes through your brain right before it’s lights out.” Nikola smirks and pulls the trigger.

  And again.

  And again.

  His face is ashen as he holds the gun up to his face, understanding exactly why no shots blasted me to shreds.

  Aria lets out a loud roar and charges Nikola, jamming the blade right into his cock. The scream he lets out may have just shattered some windows around us. She twists it, slowly, as he cries like the bitch he is. He grabs her hair and tugs it, trying to push her off of him, but she’s persistent, if nothing else. She pulls out the blade and jabs him right in the carotid artery. Blood spurts from the gash as he clutches his neck, sputtering like a fish, his guttural yells thick. His body writhes on the ground for a grand total of ten seconds before he bleeds out and hell comes to collect its next demon.

  Aria sinks to the floor as I crawl toward her, seeing the bullet wound in her arm for the first time. I pull her close, her body wracked with sobs and stained with Nikola’s blood.

  “It’s over,” I whisper against her ear. “You’re safe. You did it, even with that bum arm. He’s gone, baby.”

  “I did it,” she echoes, her shoulders quaking. “I did it for Mama. And for all of those women. And for me.”

  Thumping footsteps crash through the broken door, and Tommy and Dante appear in front of us.

  Dante peers down at Nikola and turns a critical eye at us. “Looks like you guys went kinda easy on him. No decapitation, no severed cock, eyeballs still in the sockets, tongue still in his mouth. I mean, come on. This is a half-ass job, at best.” He tries to keep a straight face, but his lips can’t hack it. He lets out a snicker, punching Tommy in the arm.

  It’s no wonder why he and Tommy got along so well up there. They’re both fucking lunatics. I struggle to stand, my head still fuzzy from the shot I took and the knife wound in my side stinging like a hive full of wasps.

  Tommy looks at Aria, one eyebrow lifted. “You know, this is just a day in the life of the Marcone family. You sure you wanna be part of this shit show?”

  She looks at me, her eyes shining with tears. “Oh yeah. In fact, I want to star in it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Vincenzo

  “They used an IED at the club,” Diego says once we’re all gathered in Ant’s hospital room. “And they put nails in it, which is why Ant’s body is peppered with holes.” He smirks at Ant. “Looks like you were used for target practice and the aim was very fucking bad.”

  Ant’s wife, Julia, clutches his hand and winks at him. “Are you going to spring a leak every time you take a drink?”

  Ant groans and shifts on the bed. “You guys are the worst. I’m the one who lost his club, who got shot up with nails, who got a damn concussion. Everyone else walked away without a scratch.”

  “That’s what you get for shooting me twice and denying it,” Tommy quips from the other side of the bed.

  Ant glowers at him. “You’re making me want to do it for real.”

  I squeeze Aria’s fingers tight, bringing them to my lips when I catch her staring at me from the corner of my eye. “We won this battle, guys. It might not have been the battle we were planning to fight—”

  “Oh, it definitely was not,” Diego says in a sarcastic tone. “But screw it, at the end of the day, it’s a better world without those sadistic bastards. For all the shit we’ve pulled in the past, I feel like maybe we redeemed ourselves by killing them off.” He holds up his two fingers, almost pressed together. “Maybe a little tiny bit?”

  “Yeah, you keep trying to convince yourself of that,” Ant cracks.

  I hold my hand over my bandaged knife wound as I pull Aria close with the other, careful not to hurt her and her own matching wound. “You guys didn’t just come together to save the family. You saved a hell of a lot more than that. You saved a lot of faceless, nameless women whom you didn’t know needed rescuing. You saved our daughters and nieces and sisters,” I say with a pointed look at Gianna standing next to Alek. “Those trafficking rings know no boundaries. They have no loyalty to anything but money. And I’m not stupid. I know we’ll always be a target because let’s face it, if you’re not with them, you’re against them.” My lips curl upward. “But we have a strong army. And I have complete faith that we can defeat any enemy. Our track record is pretty damn impressive.”

  “That was very inspirational, bro,” Tommy says. “Are you planning a second career as a motivational speaker?”

  “Maybe, after I kick your ass.” I grin at him. We’ve had a rocky relationship over the past few years, but since he got engaged to Gemma, he’s mellowed a little bit.

  A little bit.

  But it’s enough where we’re not constantly at each other’s throats, and if I need anyone’s help, he’s the first to show up.

  With some calorie-laden dish.

  I may n
ot be able to fit into my pants soon, but I’ll always be grateful we got this family back on track.

  Together.

  All of us.

  Being the boss may mean you get to call all of the shots, but if you can’t trust the ones who need to carry out the orders, you’re screwed.

  “Thank God those women were rescued,” Gianna murmurs. “What will happen to them?”

  “They’ll be taken care of here at the hospital. They were brought here after we tipped off the authorities and anchored the yacht after shooting it up. Some of the girls were so young and they’d been addicted to drugs. Some were abused.” I shake my head. “They’ll have a long road ahead of them, but they’ll be okay. Much better than the alternative,” I say.

  “So what’s next?” Cristian asks. “Vegas?”

  I nod. “That’s the plan. New resort and casino. New opportunities. New stomping grounds.” I smirk at Alek. “Think you can handle the competition?”

  “The word competition indicates that there is more than one formidable player in the game. Maybe you need to choose another one.” Alek snickers and Gianna gives him a poke.

  “Ouch,” I say. “Game on, then. I guess we’re gonna find out soon enough, huh?”

  “It’s time for a change,” Tommy says, hugging Gemma tight. “Time for a new chapter.”

  “Maybe for a whole new book,” Diego’s wife, Serena, pipes in. “The next generation.”

  We all exchange a look, and Diego and Serena share a secret smile before shouting out the news. “We’re having a baby!”

  I look around at all of the happy faces, knowing how lucky I am to have them all — here and in one piece.

  We’ve been lucky.

  And Lady Luck needs to continue shining her streak on us.

  Maybe it’s not just the lady, though. We do have some pretty powerful people upstairs rooting for us.

  I bet they have more than a little to do with that streak, too.

  Later that night, Aria and I walk out of the hospital together, our arms snaked around one another. “So many weddings and babies in your family,” she muses. “It’s really cute, like one big happy gangster family.”