Chapter 5.

Antonio POV.

Waking up, I blink and rub my eyes. I rip the quilt back and walk naked to my bathroom. I don’t need to look at the mess to tell me we had a good night.

Carmella was ready and waiting for me and Gianni. As soon as it was over, she got dressed and left with Gianni, no doubt to continue their own session. Carmella has always had a soft spot for Gianni, but she wanted me. She thought I would wife her up.

I scoff at that. Carmella is an ambitious whore and only wanted me so she could be seen. Once a whore, always a whore, there are no two ways about it. Besides, I know she would continue to fuck my brother and men any chance she got. Carlotta is not wife material, but Bobbi-Jane is.

A smile lines my face at remembering the little tiger who has been at the front of my mind since I laid eyes on her last night.

Even when I had Carmella on her knees as I pounded into her as she sucked off my brother. All I could do was compare her with Bobbi-Jane. Even going as far as imagining it was her instead of Carmella and it was just us two in the room.

She is a temptress, and it’s ironic that my club is named that and she works there. I chuckle to myself as I enter the shower and get to work, washing away the events of last night. Her green eyes and red lips flash in my mind.

Oh, how I want to see her on her knees begging me and I would gladly give into her every desire. To bring her pleasure like no-one ever has. To have her screaming my name like a prayer as I take her to heaven before crashing to the pits of hell.

She is sin reincarnated, wrapped up in an innocent shell. I did notice the piercings and tattoos last night, so it would seem my little tiger likes pain and I will push her to her limits. She will know pain given in the right way can bring pleasure and I will be the one to sate that appetite.

I leave the shower and head into my walk-in to get dressed for the day. I have work to do. There is a shipment coming in from our allies in Mexico. Guns and drugs. The businesses are used to launder the money and to make our deals. I also own a casino and other businesses.

The feds have tried for years to take us down, but only one got close. My grandfather started the family business, and it took off. It was meant to go to Gianni with him being the oldest, but he fucked up when he was seventeen; he killed someone he shouldn’t have. So he was taken out of the running. That left me. I had my test at twenty-one. I passed the test. So here we are, the biggest crime family in the entire country. We are untouchable.

We have a few senators in our pocket, some law enforcement, and other people on our payroll. That is how we have always stayed ten steps ahead of the FBI and RICO.

Once I’m dressed in my bespoke Tom Ford suit, I grab my phone and gun from the bedside table and leave the room and make my way through the mansion to the kitchen.

The maids go about their business, stopping to greet me, and I smile at them and return their greeting. A coffee and breakfast is placed in front of me as my phone dings with a new message.

I open the message and read the contents. It’s the information I requested on my little tiger. I read through it and smile.

She is twenty-five years old, lives alone with her dog. She moved from Troy, Alabama after a bad breakup and lives in a house that she bought. She had a run in with the cops when she was fifteen. She was with a group of high schoolers who were doing drugs, but she was clean.

Apart from that, she is as clean as a whistle. But it does beg the question why is she working in my club? The only thing I can think of is that she is curious and needs the cash. I tap my fingers on the dining table.

“Morning bro.” I pocket my phone and look at him. I raise an eyebrow as he leans over me and grabs some of my breakfast. He moves his hand quickly as I stab the fork down and embed it into the table.

“Easy, God. You never liked to share your things, did you, you selfish mother fucker.” He says as he sits opposite me and his own coffee and breakfast is placed in front of him.

“You’re damn right I don’t. Did she leave?” I ask. He knows I hate having them overstay their welcome, and he nods as he shovels his scrambled eggs into his mouth.

“Yeah, she did, walking bow legged I must say.” He wiggles his eyebrows and I chuckle as I cut into my breakfast and eat it.

“Well, I have let her go. She is all yours. But you take her to your place. I don’t want to see her around here. Got it.” I say to him as I point my knife at him and he nods his head.

“Of course, so you going to find out about that new girl or are you going to have her taken care of?” he asks and I think back to what I have briefly read and I still can’t put my finger on it.

“She is clean. Run in with the cops for drugs when she was a teenager, but that’s it. She moved here a week ago with her dog after she had a bad breakup. She won’t be a problem.” I tell him and smile slightly as I see her strutting in next to nothing in my club.

“Uh-huh. If you say so. Want me to dig deeper? We can’t afford for any shit to go sideways, especially when we are dealing with the Cartel.” He says and I sigh, knowing he is over thinking this.

“No, she won’t be a problem.” I return my focus to my breakfast, and that is the end of that conversation. He knows better than to push me when I have the final say.

“We need to move. The shipment will be here in four hours and we need to get it loaded up and moved out. Plus, we need to call in and see nonna.” I say as I stand and button my suit jacket. I smooth my dirty blonde hair back and fix my tie.

“On it.” I nod as I walk out of the dining room and into my office. I nod at my men as I enter the office and sit down behind my desk and open the safe.

I reach for the file and open it up. I don’t know why, but something is telling me to, so I do. This file contains the reason why I am Don and not my brother. My first hit, the man I killed twelve years ago.

Special Agent Nate Mulholland. He was the only one who came close to bringing us down. My father, Carlos, ordered the hit as my initiation to taking over from him and I did it. Walked right up to him as he was tied to a chair and blew his brains out. He didn’t beg or plead. He didn’t even scream during the interrogation. I ended him and became the head of the family.

He didn’t have family, only a deceased wife, no kids, or other family. His wife was called Lorelei, which we later found out was not her real name.

She was the same women Gianni killed when he was seventeen. She was not to be harmed; she was under the protection of our family. Her name was changed when she ran away. She was known as Lorelei to the outside world, but to the family, she was Maria DeNucci.

She didn’t know about her father’s agreement with my grandparents. But Gianni, in a drug crazed state, got into a firefight with a rival group and she was shot and killed by him. Wrong place, wrong time.

Dad had to clean up my brother’s mess and had it swept under the rug. Paid it off as an accident, which it was. Even so, the entire organisation felt the loss and the promise to her deceased parents, Laura and Gerald, was broken. My dad, the mighty and unshakable Carlos Moretti and my nonna Carlotta, were both devastated.

There was an agreement in place that my dad was to marry Maria, but she ran away when she was fifteen and we never found her, not until the day Gianni killed her. She went against everything and became a beat cop. Her parents had no idea where she was. They sadly died two years after she ran.

Her own sister Rosena refused to have anything to do with them after Lorelei ran away and she left the family as well, cutting all ties and even went off the grid. These women were moving like ghosts. We couldn’t find them and still don’t know if Rosena is still alive.

It was only after I killed Nate; I found out who he was. I knew then and there that I was no better than my brother. But Nate was not under our protection. Maria or Lorelei was. Leaving the office, I head towards the waiting SUVs and climb in and wait for Gianni.

“We ready to do this?” He asks and I nod my head deep in thought. The guilt eats at me for what we have done. But then I remember who I am and what is at stake if I let us slip, even by a millimetre.

“Let’s go.” I say and we drive away towards the docks where our warehouse is. Today is going to be a very good day.