ARIA When everyone left and Luca and I were alone with Marcella again, he came up to us and peered at Marcella in her crib. He looked at her as if he wanted to touch her, to hold her, but he did not allow himself to do so. I got up. “I’m going to the bathroom. Will you look at Marcella?”
Luca nodded slowly but his eyes flickered with worry.
Moving was still difficult, so it took a while before I went up the stairs to the bathroom. Everything took longer and I was washing my hands when I heard Marcella’s cries. I hurried out but stopped at the threshold of our bedroom, peeking through the crack at Luca, who was lurking beside the crib.
I wasn’t sure how to let him know he wasn’t going to hurt her.
“Aria?” he called, and I hid behind the door, waiting.
My insides contracted at Marcella’s cries. It took all my willpower not to run to her and cradle her in my arms.
“It’s okay,” Luca said softly.
I risked another look downstairs.
Luca was still standing on the cradle, staring at her as if she was about to kill him. I was about to go downstairs, to interfere and calm Marcella down, when he finally bent down . He had seen me lift her. He hesitated, then lifted her from the crib, supporting her tiny head with his strong fingers as I always did. She looked tiny against his strong hands. He cradled her in the crook of his arm, then stroked her cheek with his index finger. My heart burst with so much love, it was almost painful.
“Shhh, princess, shhh. It’s okay.” She fell silent, her big eyes trying to focus on him. “God, you’re so small,” she whispered , brushing her small hand and fingers against his.
“See,” I said, walking onto the landing. “You didn’t break it.”
He looked up and then frowned. “You set it up.”
“I didn’t arrange it. Marcella cries when she wants to. But I chose not to go to her as I usually do.”
I slowly descended the stairs and Luca moved toward me, holding out his free hand for support. My heart swelled as I placed my palm on Luca’s arm holding our baby girl.
“She likes being in your arms.” His gaze returned to rest on our daughter.
LUCA Marcella’s cries grew louder as she wiggled in her crib. Aria was still upstairs, but she needed to soothe our daughter.
“Aria?”
She did not answer and Marcella continued to cry, her face scrunched up, her arms and legs twitching. Fuck. My heart broke from her crying.
Holding my breath, I slipped my hand into the cradle, carefully slid my hand under Marcella, making sure my fingers supported her head, and lifted her up. She was so small in my palms.
I cradled her in the crook of my arm and stroked her soft cheek with my thumb. “Shhh, princess, it’s okay.”
She fell silent, blinking.
“See, you didn’t break her,” Aria said as she appeared at the top of the stairs.
I hadn’t and wouldn’t.
Aria joined us downstairs. I had never seen her happier than in that moment as she watched me with Marcella. I wrapped my free arm around her, pulling her against my side, and she turned that wonderful slow smile on me. “You see, your darkness didn’t rub off on me and it didn’t rub off on her either, Luca. Marcella will see you as I see you, as someone who holds her when she needs it, someone who loves and protects her.”
“You make me human, Aria,” I said softly.
Her eyebrows came together. “Don’t say that. You are human.”
I smiled darkly. “If anyone ever dared to hurt you or Marcella, they would not see my human side.”
Aria nodded, “No one will ever have the chance to hurt us, Luca.”
She was right. I would move heaven and earth to ensure her safety. Being at war with the Outfit would make things more difficult. I had to guard the Outfit and the Bratva, not to mention the local MCs who continued to give problems to my Sub-Chiefs in the Southeast. But my biggest concern was becoming the Camorra in Las Vegas.
I had to make sure that the Outfit did not start working with the Camorra, otherwise things would get complicated. Still, as long as Benedetto Falcone continued to kill his Underbosses, Dante would consider him too volatile, and without continuity in his ranks, Benedetto did not have the concentration to aim beyond his borders. But who could tell how long he would last? Remo Falcone was gone, but I knew he was out there, and one day he would make himself known in the West . He would not trouble me again, not until he had killed his father and become Chief, but then all bets would be off. He had evaluated me. He was still young and had nothing to lose, but he had forgotten that I had something worth fighting for.
Maybe his father would take it off my hands and get rid of his son before then.
AIR Luca was tense when he returned late one night, six months after Marcella’s birth. I watched him undress, his movements jerky, his eyes worried.
“Luca?” I asked softly, but he shook his head and lay down beside me completely naked. His need was clearly reflected in his eyes. I climbed on top of him, my lips found his as his hands roamed my back and then plunged between my legs.
I shivered on top of him, but I wanted to feel him inside me. I reached down and lowered myself onto his erection. With my hands against his chest, I began to move my hips as I looked into his eyes. I knew Luca had a lot on his mind at that moment, but he was trying to keep his problems away from Marcella and me. It often seemed the only way I could give him comfort.
Later, when I lay down in his arms, he became tense again.
“Luca, please tell me what’s bothering you.”
“My Aunt Flavia contacted me.”
I frowned. I couldn’t remember that name. “Flavia?”
“She was my father’s younger sister, but she ran away with a camorrist when I was a child.”
I arched my eyebrows. He had never mentioned her, but given her betrayal I was not surprised.
“She lives in Las Vegas and recently her husband was executed by Falcone because he betrayed the Camorra.”
“And now she wants to go back to New York?”
Luca shook his head. “No. Benedetto Falcone is using her to contact me and convince me to work with him.”
I raised my head. “Working with the Camorra. Didn’t you say Falcone was completely unpredictable and sadistic?”
“He’s probably the only one who makes my father look like a halfway decent human being,” Luca muttered. “And I won’t work with the Camorra. Not as long as it’s under Benedetto Falcone’s government. But I don’t want him working with the Outfit.”
“Do you think that’s a possibility?”
“I doubt that Dante will consider Falcone a reliable ally.”
“So you will reject him? What will happen to your aunt?”
Luca grimaced, and I realized he hadn’t told me everything. “She and her daughters will probably be punished.”
I scanned his face. “The Camorra does not spare women in any way.”
“They don’t,” Luca said. “Falcone will probably have the girls raped. It’s an effective punishment against women.”
I stiffened, unable to help myself.
Luca stroked my cheek. “I’m stating the facts, love. There’s a reason it’s been a war strategy in the past.”
“How old are the girls, your cousins?”
“Nineteen.” Pause. “And fifteen.”
I freed myself from his grip and slipped out from under the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, my heart pounding in my chest. Fifteen. That was the age I was when my father had consented to my engagement to Luca. I had been a girl, and Luca’s cousin was also a girl. I swallowed.
Someone’s daughter. The idea that such a thing could happen to Marcella froze my stomach.
Luca sat up and kissed my shoulder before turning me toward him. His gray eyes sought mine. “Aria, I can’t work with Falcone. I don’t want anything to do with him. He is not sane, even by our standards.”
“Can you promise me that Marcella will never have to fear such a thing?” I could not even utter the word.
Tears were burning my eyes.
Luke grabbed my arms and pulled me into his lap, his eyes fierce and dark with emotion. “Neither you nor Marcella will ever be hurt, Aria. Never. I will do everything to make sure our territory is a safe place. As long as I am Chief, you will be protected, and I don’t care if I have to go there and kill him myself, but right now they are weak.”
I nodded. “If there is a chance to help your aunt and cousins without working with Falcone, will you do it?”
Luca thought about it. “Maybe. They are women. But even that poses a problem. I don’t like torturing women, so I have no way to question them about their motives.”
LUCA I was looking forward to meeting, but Aria wanted me to help my aunt and her daughters, so I had agreed to meet with them. At least, that was one of the reasons.
The other was that the Camorra Executor had contacted me and offered to kill Falcone and many high-ranking Camorristi in exchange for taking in the women.
Apparently, Falcone had given him my older cousin Cara , as a reward, and now he wanted her safe. I did not trust the man, but he had kept his promise and killed Benedetto Falcone and was currently killing other men.
Maybe soon the Camorra would no longer be one of my concerns . Remo Falcone was still in hiding with his brothers.
I had again chosen the parking lot in front of the Yonkers power plant for the meeting. Matteo cast me a glance. “I still have a bad feeling about this.”
I nodded somberly when a car finally headed toward us.
Matteo, Romero, and I were in this car, and Orpheus, as well as two of my cousins were in the car behind us.
The car was parked about three car lengths away from us. I could see a man behind the wheel and three women in the car with him.
“What the fuck are they waiting for?” muttered Matthew.
One of the car doors opened and a young woman with long dark hair stepped out. She lifted her arms and stepped away from the car. A moment later an older woman and a girl got out and raised their hands as well.
“Those must be our dear aunt and cousins,” Matteo said softly. “But that bastard behind the wheel seems intent on pissing us off. I’m not sure he’s thought this through.”
“Oh, he’ll get out of that car, don’t worry,” I said, then pushed open the car door and got out, drawing my gun.
The older girl, Cara, looked at me as if I had risen from hell, and her younger sister was cowering next to her mother.
Matteo and Romero approached me.
“Let’s go to them,” I ordered.
“Do you think they are reliable?” asked Matteo doubtfully.
“No,” I muttered. “But they are not a danger to us.”
Turning to Romero, I added. “Stay back and cover our backs.” He nodded, his eyes focused on the car. Then I signaled to the other men in the other car.
Matthew and I approached the three women, but stopped a good distance away.
“Your driver needs to get out,” I ordered, nodding toward the coward who was still hiding in the car. What kind of man lets women and girls get out in the line of fire while he stays behind?
My cousin Cara turned toward the coward and waved at him. He did not move.
“If he doesn’t come out soon, I’ll bring him out myself and he won’t like it,” Matteo muttered.
Finally, the man came down with his hands raised above his head and Orpheus was immediately on him, twisting his arms behind his back. Pussy actually cried out in pain. If Orpheus’ manipulation had already gotten him that reaction, he would not like the conversation Matthew and I would have with him later. Orpheus silenced him with a hard blow to the back of the head and dragged the coward away.
The younger girl started to cry and Cara took her hand, but that only made the girl cry more.
Cara straightened her shoulders and looked at me. “I’m Cara. I’m your cousin.”
“We know exactly who you are,” Matteo said abruptly.
I signaled for them to come closer. After a moment’s hesitation, Cara went first, then her mother and sister followed. “Wait,” I told them as we stopped in front of the car. “We will check you for weapons.”
Matthew approached our aunt, and I turned to the smaller girl and reached out my hand toward her, but she drew back, her eyes wide and full of terror. “T alia,” her sister chanted. ” It won’t hurt you.”
“I will feel your legs and back for weapons. If you prefer not to have my hands on your front, you can lift your shirt, but I have to make sure you don’t carry weapons,” I told her firmly.
I touched her shoulders and felt her trembling under my touch. Matteo threw me a look. I quickly palpated her back, then moved on to her calves and thighs. I decided not to palpate her upper thighs. “Would you rather lift your shirt?”
I was a heartless bastard, but even I didn’t like forcing a girl who had clearly been through a lot of shit to lift her shirt. However, I had to make sure it wasn’t a trap and that even innocent girls could be manipulated into becoming weapons. With trembling fingers, she lifted the T-shirt, revealing bare skin and a simple black bra, but no weapon. I nodded and she quickly lowered it back down. “You can get in the car. You, Cara, will sit in the front with me and Matteo will sit with your mother and sister in the back.”
For now we would take them into the Sphere while Orpheus extorted information from the man.
Of course, Aria insisted that we take them for a few days until we found a safe place to live. I did not mention that the main reason I was helping them was because I needed Growl, the former Camorra Executor by my side, in case one day it came to war with the Camorra.
I thought I would meet the protests of my aunts Egidia and Criminella, but they were surprisingly happy to have their sister back. Since I had gotten rid of my scheming uncle, things had definitely gone smoother.
While Talia and Cara lived in the mansion, Marcella stayed in New York and the few times Aria visited my cousins while they were in the Hamptons, she left our daughter with Romero and Lily. Hiding Marcella’s existence was crucial. I had seen how Dante had used Aria against me. I didn’t want to think about what my enemies would do if they knew about Marcella.
When I first saw Growl, my instinct told me to kill him despite our pact. He had been the Executor of the Camorra for many years. He was Benedetto Falcone’s son, Remo’s half-brother, all the things that spoke against him. He was destined to be as twisted as they were, but I was a man of ‘honor and I had given him my word. He had stood his ground, he had weakened the Camorra. He would have to prove himself in the following months.
In April, three months after Growl’s arrival, Matthew and I were sitting in the living room area of the penthouse, discussing the latest developments in Las Vegas.
“They will spend years fighting for power. The Camorra is in ruins, if and when Remo Falcone ever reaches power, if he ever becomes Capo, he will rule over the ruins,” he said.
I hoped he was right. I had done everything in my power to weaken the Camorra, but I still remembered our meeting with Remo Falcone and the look in his eyes.
Sooner or later he would take over.
My phone vibrated in my pants and I pulled it out and answered it. “Horace?”
His reports had become less frequent. Dante kept all his soldiers under tight control.
“Did Fabiano Scuderi show up in New York?”
I sat down. “Fabiano? Why? What happened?”
Matteo raised his eyebrows.
“Rocco Scuderi said his son deserted, ran away, and there is no sign of him. Dante is looking for him.”
Dante would have killed him for deserting. “He hasn’t shown up .”
“He has been missing for two weeks now.”
“Are you sure he ran away and Scuderi didn’t get rid of him?
After all, he had a new heir with his child bride.”
Horace was silent. “I don’t know. Scuderi is an asshole.
Dante should have removed him long ago, but as long as Fiore Cavallaro lives, Dante will not. He respects his father too much and wouldn’t get rid of the Councilor he chose.”
The disapproval was clear in his voice. Horace did not like the way things were handled in the Outfit, but that was not why he was working with us. It was personal, something to do with his father.
“Dante suspects that there is a mole in the Outfit,” he said.
“When we interfered in the delivery of his gun to the fucking MC in Pittsburgh, he probably got suspicious.” Dante was using guerrilla tactics to weaken me by supporting MCs in my territory so that they would meddle in my affairs.
“Maybe. I don’t know how much longer I will be safe.”
I feared his spy work would end.
“Come to New York. I will officially install you, and when my soldiers have worked with you for a while, you will become Sub-Chief in Boston.”
Stunned silence. “You will make me Sub-Chief.”
“Yes,” I said. The Boston Sub-Chief was about to retire and had only daughters, and Dante would have been pissed off to death if I had appointed his brother-in-law as Sub-Chief. We discussed other details of his admission into the Family before I hung up and sighed. “Fabiano is missing.”
Matteo grimaced. “That boy was loyal. I doubt he defected from the Outfit.”
“Agreed.” That left only one conclusion. Scuderi had gotten rid of him. “Fuck.”
“We can’t tell our wives. They’ll lose their minds.”
“They won’t find out. They have no way to contact their brother and no way to find out what’s going on in Chicago.”
Aria and I had agreed to keep no more secrets from each other, but it was a promise I could not keep. Aria would blame herself if she found out her brother was dead.
She would have been destroyed and never forgiven herself. It was a secret I had to keep to protect her.
Matthew and I remained silent as Aria came down the stairs with Marcella in her arms, Gianna a few steps behind her.
Marcella wiggled wildly, thick black hair scattered everywhere .
Aria laughed and put Marcella on the floor. Her eager blue eyes fixed themselves on me and Marcella crawled toward me, her diaper-wrapped bottom bobbing up and down. I leaned forward and stretched her palms. She crawled faster, making high-pitched, giggling sounds. As soon as she reached me, I grabbed her and stood up, launching her over my head like a rocket. She squealed happily and I whirled her toward Matthew’s outstretched arms, who threw her into the air and caught her.
Aria laughed, a happy, relaxed sound. I couldn’t tell her about Fabiano. Now we had our own family. Matteo blew a fart against Marcella’s belly and her laughter became even wilder. I never thought I could love someone’s laughter as much as Aria’s, but Marcella’s gave me the same sense of fulfillment. I grabbed Marcella again and held her close to my chest. Her small hand pressed against my mouth and she smiled a huge toothless smile as I kissed her palm.
For most of my life I thought there was no better sound than the screams of agony from my enemies. What a fucking idiot I had been.