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Cruel And Complicated
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Taken by the Mafia King PB
KillianThe bottle of whiskey sitting across the room on the bar called to me, but I fought the urge, remembering what I’d told Tommaso about sobering up. We needed to have our heads on straight to deal with this. Mindlessly, I drummed my fingers on my desk, staring at the piece of paper we’d found in the warehouse, the one that indicated my worst fear as a mob boss—other than death itself—had become a reality.We had a fucking rat in our family.Adrian had been able to work through the encryptions, finding a massive amount of information about not only me, but other bosses, and this particular paper was proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that none of the troubles we’d been experiencing lately were bad luck or coincidence. They were the very intentional attempts at sabotage orchestrated by the lowest scum on the face of the earth, the man who dared to call me his friend, his boss, and then shove a knife in my back.Cursing under my breath, I lifted the paper to go over it all again, eve
Taken by the Mafia King The Godmother
SeraI woke up again at ten in the morning, cursing under my breath. I hadn’t meant to sleep so late. As if aware that I’d finally decided to be useful in some capacity today, Olivia bustled through the door with breakfast and a silver carafe of coffee, her hair sticking up on end and dark circles lining her eyes.“Olivia? Are you all right?”“No, I’m exhausted!” She set the tray down on the little table by the window and poured herself a cup of coffee. “I haven’t slept in days.” She downed what I knew to be ridiculously hot coffee in one swallow, grimaced, choked, and then threw herself beside me on the bed.I had to roll out of the way to stop her from landing on me.“Tommaso and Killian have been having me run errands all night. Fetching coffee, fetching food, fetching documents. Fetching, fetching, fetching!” She yawned so widely I heard her jaw crack. “Tommaso just got home again, too. He went to get Pen and the baby.”“They’re here?” Excitement bubbled up inside of me at the tho
Taken by the Mafia King One Day I'll Let You Loose on the World
KillianMikey’d had a knack for arranging funerals. He always remembered everyone’s mother’s name, and their Nonna, and their favorite school teachers and neighbors. He always knew what restaurants to order catering from and who to talk to about suits to bury our dead in.Now, without him here to do it, I didn’t even know where to begin. Sitting at my desk, I tried to remember who he’d called last time for the flowers. My gaze shifted to the office door and I half expected to see him walk through it in his white sleeveless shirt, carrying on about something Tommaso said, or what Francesco did, or how there was nothing to eat in the kitchen.In a lot of ways, Mikey had been like the annoying little brother I hadn’t realized I’d wanted until he was gone.Grief hung heavy in the house as I pulled myself up and straightened my shirt. I hadn’t slept at all, and my head throbbed from the stitches Enstrom had laced across my forehead the night before.The night before.It felt like a fucking
Taken by the Mafia King His Favorite Color was Blue
SeraSnow blanketed the ground as I stood in a sea of black with hints of blue, my arms wrapped protectively around baby Michael. Penelope had been adamant that Michael not wear black today. I’d sent Olivia to the mall and had her find a warm navy blue outfit to dress Michael in and wrapped him up in the same shade to protect him against the cold. He slept snuggled against my chest, his cheeks a soft, rosy pink. His mother quietly cried in a chair directly in front of me. Killian sat next to her, his fingers knitted in hers, his eyes downcast. Before us, the casket demanded our attention. Covered in white and red roses, the rich wood had a masculine look that reminded me of Mikey in a way I couldn’t describe.Blue had been Mikey’s favorite color. Penelope’d had her father fetch a ridiculous, practically neon blue suit from their apartment yesterday which he’d brought to the funeral home. Mikey had worn it the day he got married. Penelope laughed when she told me that he’d rented it fr
Taken by the Mafia King Lady of the House
KillianThree days passed. There was a notable shift in Sera after Mikey’s funeral and what I’d said to her on the front steps. My words had been harsh, but she needed to hear them. None of this was ever a stupid, fruitless game despite her opinions on the mafia as a whole. Maybe Mikey’s death had brought that truth out into the light for her. Maybe she saw things as they were and not as a veiled game of divide and conquer.This lifestyle was a constant game of life and death. If we wanted to live, if I wanted my men and their families to live, I had to continue to protect them by any and all means necessary.This had nothing to do with ego or my moniker. I was the Hand of the Death because I had to be.Sera understood that now.Finally.So, I let it rest and gave Sera space to take care of Penelope. I hung back as she catered to the comfort of the young widow and her baby and oversaw the comings and goings of Penelope and Mikey’s parents to visit and grieve together. Sera probably ha
Taken by the Mafia King In the Gym with Tommaso
SeraHow long had I been here? How many months? I’d lost track. But I knew my way around the mansion now to the point the winding, seemingly unending hallways no longer felt like a maze of shadows and black marble.I also spent a great deal of time watching the nurses who tended to Killian’s mother. I found where her rooms were and avoided the area. I never traveled to that wing of the house or put myself in the position to run into the maids and nurses whose loyalties lie with Mrs. Ricci.It had been weeks since I’d had an encounter with that witch of a woman. I only went into the atrium if Mrs. Ricci wasn’t home, or if I was with Killian, Tommaso, or Adrian, who’d been hanging around the mansion a lot more. I didn’t mind Adrian’s company, even if he was quiet and somewhat skeptical of me still.I missed Mikey.My routine since that awful night was simple. I woke up, ate breakfast with Olivia, and spent a few hours with Penelope every morning. I took Michael on walks around the mansi
Taken by the Mafia King Riccardo's Son
KillianThe atrium was quiet as I sat on a bench near the indoor pool. Outside, freshly falling snow blanketed the ground, gathering on the tree limbs. The wet snow hung from the glass ceiling outside, sliding down the panes as I toyed with the phone in my hand.I’d needed a change of scenery. I’d spent the last week holed up in my office making calls, making plans, and making deals.I half expected Sera to be here and felt slightly disappointed she wasn’t. She’d gotten into the habit of bringing books and magazines down from the library and reading on the lounge chair near the wall of tropical plants that snaked up the stone façade of the house. I got the impression that was her chosen spot because the plants kept her hidden from my mother’s view.I glanced up at the rooms my mother occupied, finding them dark and the curtains drawn on the windows overlooking the atrium. She wasn’t here today. Mother wasn’t in good health right now. I felt a pang of guilt at the fact that I never re
Taken by the Mafia King It was a Trap
Sera“Where are you taking me?” My voice cracked as I asked the question yet again. “Where are we going?” It felt like we’d been driving for hours, but maybe it was just my total exhaustion heightened by the gentle hum of the engine lulling me to sleep that made everything about this very abrupt, middle of the night trip feel hazy.“You’ll see.” That was all he ever said in response to my inquiries, and it was getting old. Why couldn’t he give me any indication as to what was going on? If I wasn’t so sleepy, I’d be more demanding, but I’d been preparing for bed when my presence had been requested, and I hadn’t had much of a choice but to put my shoes on and go.Blinking several times to clear my vision, I stared out the window and gazed out over the bleak, empty landscape. Philadelphia was a bright speck on the horizon, but I had no idea where I was—or why. We were on some kind of long, winding back road that never ended.I shifted in my seat, doing my best to stay awake. “Ouch, Tomma
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