All Chapters of LOVE BEYOND BRATVA DARK WORLD: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Rocky Ace De Luna POV“Where’s the pretty lady, Daddy? Why won’t she come play dinosaurs with me again?”Matthew had been repeating those two questions more often by the day.I could tell Aryana had made an impression on him. In his young mind, she was an ideal playmate. Naturally, my boy had his reasons. He’d told me over and over how fun it was to play with Aryana. How she voiced the various dinosaurs. How she colored with him. How they’d read a book together before bedtime.My son hadn’t had much experience with a woman doing those kinds of things with him. The sixteen-year-old who sometimes babysat was on her phone a lot, Matthew had told me. After school, when he stayed with the neighbor, he mostly played with her grandchild while she prepared dinner. And he barely remembered his mother.So yeah, he’d enjoyed having Aryana here to play with him and read to him. And, well, he was his father’s son. I suspected he liked the way she looked, in an age-appropriate way.Couldn’t fault h

Craig Gomez POV“I don’t like having to do this,” Ace said. We were drawing closer to Conrad’s place and hadn’t spoken much up until now.The thing was, I knew what Ace meant. We knew Conrad Benet. He’d been on the family’s payroll since before we were even born. Getting information from him would be tough as hell. On the other hand, we’d get that information from a reliable source. If there was one person in this world who knew the Bernardino Family secrets, it would have to be Conrad Benet.But just because I didn’t like it didn’t mean it wasn’t necessary. “You said it yourself. Conrad will know why Bernardino put out a hit on Aryana. What else can we do? Ask his housekeeper? Or break into his fucking house and look for clues?”“Emilio Bernardino used to love Conrad Benet, man,” Rocky Ace reminded me of the relationship between those two. “The first money I ever made in the family? Conrad gave it to me. It was Emilio’s of course, but it was the first time anyone ever told me they we

Aryana Monteverde Santini POVMy lip’s part, waves of fear washing over me. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. It didn’t matter, though. A guy came up behind me, his fingers covering my mouth. His accomplice was quick to grab me by the wrists. Yanking them back, he tied my hands over my lower back. In seconds, they were dragging me toward the street.I thrashed around, trying to get away, but it was useless. In that tight hold, my screams drowned out by that thug’s hand.“Don’t fight it, babe,” a low, raspy voice said. “We’re not going to hurt you.”Yeah, right.In the dark, I didn’t see the curb, so I stumbled at the sudden step down. Strong hands grabbed me just before I slammed into a black sedan. The trunk popped open, and I dug my heels in, trying to keep them from dragging me toward it.But the two men easily lifted me off the ground. They put me in the trunk on top of an old musty blanket. Beyond that, there was the faint smell of gasoline.I wiggled around, my

Aryana M. Santini POV“She could’ve told me you weren’t my biological father, though. That might have made it a little easier.” Possibly. But it still would have been crushing. And possibly more than a four-year-old could face. But she’d had decades after that to tell me the truth.“She was probably just trying to protect you,” Montero said.Daniel took a step closer, but one look from Montero had him backing off. “So you took off and a woman and her young child all alone,” he snapped.“A woman who… whose child was from another man,” Daniel said quietly. Then he sighed. “Those guys scared me, okay? I’d never encountered anyone like them. I told myself that it wasn’t worth my life.”The tears flowed harder. Would Daniel have stayed, if my real father hadn’t threatened him? It would’ve made all the difference in the world to my mother. To have someone help with the childcare after those first few years. To have two incomes. To have some support.“I’m sorry, Aryana,” Daniel said.Montero

Rocky Ace De Luna POV“No,” Montero agreed, looking the older man in the eye. “But it is for you to decide. This isn’t the way we do things.”“I’ll admit, killing a young woman isn’t ideal.”“Not just a young woman, Don Gregorio,” I said. “His kin. His sister. I thought the organization had some principles.”“Let me ask you something,” Gregorio said, his eyes sharp. “You’ve been in Bernardino’s family for what? Fifteen years? When was the last time you heard a Don got whacked for breaking the rules?”His question had me thinking for several seconds. Montero and I looked at each other, an ugly truth setting in. Judging by my friend’s demeanor, he couldn’t think of an example any more than I could.“Never,” I murmured, pursing my lips.“So, you realize the position you’re putting me in,” Gregorio went on, bringing his gaze to Montero first, and then, to me.“He’s dangerous,” Montero said. “When he doesn’t follow the rules, he puts us all at risk.”“Quit blowing smoke up my ass,” Gregori