Athena"It was a fucking mistake!" I snapped, feeling irritated at his tone of voice. Luciano's eyes narrowed in an icy glare. "Do not talk to me in that tone, Raven."Hilarious. He had ignored my presence, walked into his room, and locked himself up like some self-condemned prisoner. And now he thought he could tell me what to do?! I scoffed and rolled my eyes, clearing the mess I had made. I was tired. I had a damned headache looming in my head, hanging over me like a fucking guillotine. The last thing I needed was a half-tempered man yelling at me. Luciano watched from the kitchen doors. I could feel his hard gaze on me as I tossed what was supposed to be our dinner- my dinner- into the trash can. My stomach grumbled, but hell it was just a little hunger and I had survived worse. No thanks to the brute behind me. I marched past him, tired of his looks. He could go to hell for I cared. I was so damn tired of it all. "Raven," he called when I was a few steps away. I stilled, ref
Athena "You!" I screamed, losing my mind for a second. The words flew out of my mouth in a loud shrill that rang and bounced off the walls of the living room, reverberating back to my ears and making my eyes wide in realization. "Shit!"What the hell had I just said? That I wanted him? Ah fuck! It had slipped! I hadn't been thinking, I'd just wanted to yell something back at him, there was no way I meant it at all. Yeah right, my mind taunted me. Luciano's eyes receded from the glare it had been a few seconds ago. Dark coffee eyes slowly took another turn and instead of a harsh angry breathing, he breathed slowly, as if coming down from a long long slope. For a minute we stood there, staring at each other, panting heavily like we'd both been in a wrestling match. The cords in his neck relaxed and he sighed, taking steps towards me. "Stay back!" I snapped, stepping away from him. "Fuck Raven!" He whispered, cradling my neck in his hands. He tilted my head up, cupping it, and lean
AthenaI woke up to the comforting warmth of the bed, realizing that Luciano must have just left not long ago. His side of the bed still had a huge ass dent. The sound of running water from the nearby bathroom indicated that he was taking a shower. As I blinked away the remnants of sleep, a wave of confusion washed over me. Why was I in his bed? What had transpired last night to lead me to this moment?As I lay there in the bed, the memories of the previous night flooded my mind, causing my face to burn with a mix of embarrassment and desire. Luciano and I had shared an intimate and passionate night, exploring each other's bodies and indulging in pleasures that were both thrilling and forbidden.A memory of a furious Luciano stomping towards me like some crazy man flashed in my head and I sat up quickly, clutching the bedsheet to my chest, a frown on my face. The hell?! I groaned, shook my head, and forced myself to go over what happened the night before. Pants and moans rang in my
When I stepped out of the bathroom, Luciano was gone. My brows knitted in a frown and I looked back at the bathroom door behind me. I hadn’t even taken that long in the freaking bathroom! How had I not noticed him leaving? “Hold your horses, he’s most likely in the kitchen or something,” I told myself, clutching the towel tight around me. That had to be it right? A piece of paper on the bedside drawer where his phone used to be told me I was being delusional. I hurried towards it quickly, snatched it off the bedside drawer, and read the note scribbled on it. “I have business to attend to. Take care, Cara…Bah! Who’s this bastard kidding?” I scoffed, laughing dryly to myself. If he had gone to the office, there was no need for him to act like some sort of ghost and disappear like that. Pressing my lips into a fine line, I stormed out of the bedroom, my feet hurriedly taking me to the land phone in the living room. There was one way to confirm if he had truly gone to the office. I sw
Luciano My head shot up in surprise. There! I had heard it. A fucking gasp. Someone had seen us and before shit could hit the fan, that person would have to be taken care of. I glanced at Ripper, one of the men with me. They had all heard that sound. Giving them a nod, I dropped the branding iron back in the coal stove and watched Ripper lift the dead man on the floor. Was I brutal? Fuck yes, I was. To remain in power, to remain at the top, I needed to be as brutal as possible. The mafia world was a lion-eat-dog society. And I was that Lion. The bastard had thought he could sell out my location to the Castello and feel fucking good about it. I made sure he understood the shit he had caused before he died. It was that simple. If I wasn't always prepared, fuck, if I was anything like previous mafia Lords, I would be six feet under by now. Peeling off my gloves, I dragged a hand through my hair and glanced in the direction of the sound we had heard. There was no movement which m
Dead. I was dead. My hands trembled as I leaned against my bedroom door, holding my breath. I wasn’t sure if I had been followed. But I had been caught. I was certain of that, Luciano must have sent someone after me. “Fuck!” I whispered harshly trying to get my breathing under control. Breathe, Athena. He definitely didn’t see your face. But it was only a matter of time! He had remained in power for over five years due to his meticulousness and ruthlessness. Luciano Moretti was the devil personified. My head replayed the scene I had witnessed moments ago. He had murdered that man in cold blood. Without remorse. Not even an ounce of it! I wasn’t a saint, but killing people was so fucking far off. “He killed Dad that way!” I gasped, swallowing mouthfuls of air as it became increasingly hard to breathe. He had killed my father in the same way. I could imagine the agony on my father’s face as the molten hot iron burned deep into his skin. I could imagine him struggling, to breathe,
Athena "Are you sure about that?" Frederick asked and I hummed. "Definitely. They were responsible for the shoot-out. And the attack that was made on me. I'm certain they have a tiff with Luciano." Frederick sighed. "That doesn't mean they have incriminating evidence on him." "If they don't have it," I muttered. "They'll get it soon. We need to reach them at the right time or all this shit would go to waste. From the patterns I've picked up, from their attacks in Las Vegas, to the ones here, they have a smart leader, but one who makes brash decisions under impulse. If we can find him and strike a deal with him-" "Don't be absurd Athena. Strike a deal with a gangster? He'd most likely hack off our heads. " Frederick cautioned. "Not if we hack him off first. Whatever evidence he gives us will incriminate him as well. That way we can get rid of two menaces to society and move on to the next," I explained. The landline on my desk buzzed and I paused my call with Frederick to
Athena "Nice to see you too, jackass. Just flew ten hours in to see you only to be welcomed like this?" The man whose name I still did not know commented with a wolfish grin. He had beautiful features and looked... Different. All the men who worked for Luciano and were part of the mafia had a rough and hard look to them. They looked like they had seen shit and had been through shit. The man before me looked like some prince. His brown hair was almost blonde-like, and it was gelled back just like Luciano's. Well just like how Luciano's hair was before we kissed. Now it looked like it had been yanked in several places and the gel made it stick out in different directions. His eyes were hazel. They shifted with the light from green to gray. Damn, he was a pretty boy. There was no way he was in the mafia. Luciano cleared his throat and folded his arms, narrowing his eyes in a glare. "I told you to give me a call when you get to New York, Luca." Hold up? Luca?! I closed my eyes tryi
LucianoThe police man standing guard at the gate didn't even bother to check my face, I took it that the warden had done his job and informed them I was on my way, I drove quietly into the compound, packing in front of the administrative building and walking in slowly."Good Evening Signori Luciano" The officer standing at the table greeted as soon as he saw me, tipping his hat. His English was broken and heavily accented, but I could understand him enough."Good evening," I reached into my coat, fishing out my cigarette and lighting it. "How is it going?"He smiled appreciatively, apparently pleased I took any interest in his day to day activities. "It haz been quiet Signore." He smiled, revealing a row of tobacco stained brown teeth.I nodded, "Good, I am here for inmate 474.""Oh," he opened up the computer in front of him, "Would you be going out with him?" He asked, peeking at me from over the desktop, "Do you need an escort?"The look on his face told me he thought I was going
AthenaWe were on a plane back to Sicily the next morning. No need for disguises, we took of from a private airfield in New Jersey.As soon as we touched down, ten hours later, I saw a black limo by the tarmac. Luciano smiled as he saw it, "Our welcoming party is here."I raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean welcoming party?""Don't get your hopes up," he said, "It's just Giuseppe."The old man was standing by the car, smiling widely as we walked towards him. He first greeted Luciano, pulling him into a giant hug, like he was his father, patting his back, pride in his eyes.He then turned to me, "Welcome back to Sicily, Raven," he said, extending his hand. "How was your flight? Was it good? Are you too tired?""I am good." I said as I shook his hand, feeling a surge of pride at the way he addressed me. It was clear that Luciano had already told him about me, and that I was already considered a member of the mafia."Thank you, Giuseppe," I said. "It's good to be back."Giuseppe smiled,
AthenaI was confused, totally. And for the second time that night, I had no idea how to react, "Luca? What? How?"Luciano hobbled over to the table at a dark corner in the room, pulling out a knuckle ring and putting it on his left hand. "I figured he would need a little bit more time." He said casually, like the man he was trying to beat up wasn't an assassin sent by his worst enemy and had damn near succeeded too.I turned to look at him, understanding dawning on me, why he wasn't panicked at all, why he was so calm. There was only one reasonable explanation. "You knew this was going to happen." I said quietly.He stopped his rummaging, turning to look at me, "Raven-""Did you?"He let out a deep breath, "Yeah, well, kinda. I only sus-""You did!" I said, my voice getting louder. The man had shot from my back, he had to be facing Luciano, and given how close the two buildings were, it was impossible Luciano hadn't seen him walk in and set up his little nest. "That's why you aren't
Athena"Raven!"Somewhere, far away, someone was calling my name."Raven!!!"The room blurred into a burst of moving colors around me, a ringing in my ear as in the distance, I could only barely hear the sounds around the room, the people screaming, glasses shattering, tables and chairs toppling."RAVEN! GET DOWN!"A second loud bang, hitting the table and shattering it jerked me out of my trance, sending splinters of wood flying across my face, narrowly missing it.I threw myself to the ground immediately, taking cover and toppling the table to provide extra cover for me and Luciano.The shooter was obviously targeting us, for some reason I was not entirely sure of, and he had shit from behind me, hitting Luciano.I crawled over him, not caring about the broken glass tearing at my clothes or the floor, wet with wine and soggy pasta. He lay they, clutching his bleeding shoulder and grimacing."Luciano! Are you okay?"He nodded, "Yeah, I am fine," but as soon as I reached out to touch
AthenaThe meeting went without much of a hitch. I sat at one end, quietly watching the proceedings as they argued over everything. It was mind of amusing, seeing these grown, powerful men squabble like children.Curses flew across the table like missiles, mothers were cursed, fathers were cursed, wives were cursed, calling it a mad house would be a massive understatement. Luciano for the most part, looked like he was tired of their shit, as at some point he just leaned back on his chair and let them threaten all they wanted without trying to interfere or even mediate."Everything in Queens and the North of Brooklyn is mine, don't be a fool." Antonio spat, crossing his arms like a child who had just been refused candy and was planning to throw the biggest fit anyone had ever seen."Damn right it is," Francesco countered, slamming his fat, heavily ringed fingers on the table, "All of the best markets for our good stuff all go to you yeah? And what is there for the rest of us yeah? What
LucianoI didn't want to admit it to her, mostly because making her even more nervous than she was already was, wasn't exactly in my best interest, like throwing a gasoline soaked rag into an inferno.But I was a but nervous too.The Italian Mafia, wasn't very used to having a woman in it's ranks, no matter the level. There was this, almost patriarchal approach to treating our women. Usually seen, not heard, taking care of the kids at home while the husband did the dirty business and fucked his pretty mistresses. Nobody thought of it too much, it was just the way things were done.But not with Raven, never with Raven.I almost laughed out loud, thinking about her being a nice, quiet housewife who just kept my clothes clean and my belly full while I went after young girls half her age. It was so ridiculous, it didn't even come close to making sense to me, which of course meant the idea was going nowhere.The only other option was of course to try to convince them that she was worth it,
AthenaI sat up from the bed, still a bit groggy, but quite certain I heard him properly."My new associates?" I asked, surely he wasn't serious right?I followed him into the living room of the suite, dimly lit room, decorated with ornate furniture and dimly lit candles. Luciano sat on a velvet armchair, while I stared at him, unsure if he was serious or not. nervously paces the room.Luciano leaned back, observing me, "Raven, my dear," he started, "I don't see any reason why we don't go check it out today, okay? It's time for you to understand who we are and what we do."I appreciate your interest in making me feel at home," I couldn't help but lace my voice with some sarcasm, it was getting ridiculous, "But getting involved with your Mafia is not something I was comfortable with, I only just agreed with it, cam you let me digest it at the very least before plunging me head deep and showing me off like a trophy."He looked up at me, raising an eyebrow, "Do you think that is what I a
LucianoFunnily enough, I had never thought about that question until I heard it from her mouth. You'd think a mafia boss would be a little bit more suspicious of an undercover FBI agent who was sent to specifically bring him down and who had up till very recently, bad a specific agenda against him and was determined to destroy him by any means necessary.But I didn't. I consider myself a logical man, and logically I should be moving as far away from this wam as I possibly could, if not immediately killing her. But whenever I was around Raven Gonzalez, all logic flew out the window, and I wanted nothing more than to have her around me, to keep her by my side, to keep her happy so she would never leave me, matter how illogical that sounded."Oh, Luciano." She said quietly, tears brimming in her eyes. "You don't mean that, do you?""Every single word of it." I said calmly. It was true, there was no point hiding from it anymore."That's not enough Luciano, and you know it.""Raven, I jus
AthenaYou had to give it to Luciano, he had the entire "shock value" thing down well enough.To say I felt like I had been hit by a bus moving a thousand miles per hour would have been a massive understatement. I had spent all day thinking about escaping the world he offered, the world I had been forced to grow in, the world I had forcibly participated in for all my life, that had nearly killed me multiple times and had scarred me so much it was probably best not to even think about it.I had confided in him, hoping he would help me find a solution to my problem, to have something akin to normalcy in my life, even if it was for a little while.And instead, he had completely blindsided me with the offer to accept it all as my new reality.Like I said, he really knew what got a woman going."What?" I managed to drop, my only intelligible word yet.His lips twitched as he fought to not smile, "You look pretty surprised Raven.""I wonder fucking why Luciano," I spat, frustration rising in