Mafia Darling (The Kings of Italy Book 2)

I almost died. Again.

This time was different, however. The other attempts on my life had been sloppy, easily avoided. Except for the car bomb, I saw them coming.

The sniper caught me by surprise. I hadn’t expected a coordinated attack to facilitate Enzo’s escape. I suppose I should have—he knew it was me or him, that one of us would end up dead—but I’d been shot on the street like a foot soldier. In front of my wife.

What had I been thinking?

I’d been careless, which was unforgivable. She was carrying my child. Nothing mattered more than the two of them, along with Giulio. I should’ve held firm and had Francesca cancel the appointment. Instead I let her manipulate me to get her way.

I would not make that mistake again.

Consciousness once more tugged at me and forced me awake. My brain swam toward the sounds until my eyelids fluttered. I hoped to find the beautiful face of my wife, who stayed here at night with me, but instead Marco was there. It was the first time he’d visited, at least while I was awake, since the shooting more than a week ago.

“Cugino,” he said. “They say you won’t be able to eat solid food for months.”

“Vaffanculo,” I whispered, my mouth dry.

He chuckled and helped me sip some water. “How do you feel?”

I gave him a pointed stare, not bothering to answer such a stupid question.

The doctors said Marco probably saved my life by packing my wound and stopping the bleeding in the car. I remembered nothing after dropping onto the sidewalk, but my cousin had acted quickly, apparently. I’d never be able to repay him for that. “Thank you.”

“You would have done the same, if the roles were reversed. And you’re welcome.” He lightly touched my shoulder. “I’m not ready to lose you, you stubborn bastard.”

“Have you learned who took the shot at me?”

“A professional, hired by whoever is working with Enzo. I saw the rooftop. It was a clean, patient job. They were there for a couple of hours, at least. They knew you were going to be there.”

Fucking Enzo. Killing him was my top priority once I was released from the hospital. And that shooter had better watch his back because I would slice him into tiny pieces the instant I learned his identity.

“Francesca?” I asked.

“A rock. She’s safe, working on the legitimate side with Toni. He says she’s very capable.”

“How is Giulio?”

Marco nodded, knowing exactly what I was asking. “He’s fine. Got a good head on his shoulders and he’s making all the right moves.”

This pleased me.

“Everything is in good hands, Rav. You don’t need to worry. Just get better.”

“No one can know.” I was so tired, I couldn’t finish the thought. But I knew Marco would understand.

“Of course, of course,” Marco said. “We’ve covered up most of the reports and bribed the staff to keep quiet. No one knows the full extent of your injuries. I convinced La Provencia to push Crimine back a week, but if you don’t feel up to going I can go in your place.”

We both knew this was a terrible idea. I needed to be at the meeting with all the other ’ndrina leaders, or I’d be seen as weak. Luckily I had a bit more time to recover before I had to make the trip, and the conference was in Calabria, not far from Siderno.

I raised my brows. “I want to come home.”

“They think by the end of the week, if necessary, but it doubles the risk of infection. No one is advising it, Rav.”

“I don’t care.” I would be safer, as well as hidden from prying eyes, inside the castello.

Marco held out his palms. “Your wife won’t like it.”

“She’ll be fine.” I would make her understand. Every day I lingered here made me and the entire empire vulnerable. If I had to build a sterile hospital room in the castello, so be it. I had to get out of here.

“Any problems?” I asked him.

“None I’ll bother you with. I told you, stay focused on getting better.”

“Tell me.”

He shook his head, the bastardo. “Some people making plays, speculating that you’re too weak to stop them. Giulio and I are handling it. They all know he speaks for you.”

Cazzo. I’d wanted more time to groom my son, to guide him in what it meant to rule. To throw him in like this seemed almost cruel. “Bring him to me.”

Marco said, “I will. Maybe tonight, if you’re awake.”

“Wake me if I’m not.” I tried to speak the words urgently.

“Your wife will gut me if I do that. She’s been hovering over you at night like a mama bear.”

My dolcezza. The best thing that has ever happened to me. I loved her beyond reason. Which was why she needed to stay at the castello from now on. Coming here was too dangerous. “No more.”

“You mean no more visits?” When I nodded, Marco grimaced. “She won’t like it.”

“No more visits.”

“I’ll try, but I’m not certain she’ll listen to me. Between her and Zia, the two of them never leave you except when the other is here. Zia hasn’t let anyone come visit you. I had to threaten her just to get her to leave for a few hours.”

Picturing Marco squaring off with Zia would have made me laugh, if I didn’t hurt so damn badly. Francesca needed to obey orders. I was her husband and I made the rules. No more bending when it came to her safety. “What about Enzo?”

“Not a trace. If I had to guess, he’s recovering up in the mountains surrounding Napoli. What do you want to do? Hire a hitter?”

“Yes.” Francesca wasn’t safe as long as Enzo continued to breathe. I could feel my energy waning, the darkness calling me again. “Sicilians,” I got out. They had several snipers we could hire, competent men they used to take out politicians and Guardia officials.

“Good idea. You’ll owe them another favor, though.”

“Worth it.” I closed my eyes, unable to fight any more.

When I fell back under, my dreams were of blood and death.

Francesca

The conversation with Giulio bothered me all afternoon.

When my business calls ended, I decided to go to the hospital early. I needed to talk to Fausto about his son. I didn’t like the way Giulio looked. Perhaps one of Marco’s sons could help out, just until Fausto was back on his feet.

Nesto agreed to drive me, and he took two more soldiers along in precaution. Since the shooting, security at the castello had been beefed up considerably, all the men armed to the teeth. I wasn’t complaining. I still had trouble sleeping when I pictured Fausto on the ground, nearly bleeding to death.

In the back of the armored SUV, I closed my eyes and wondered how I could help Giulio. I knew he had Marco, but Marco was old school. Was there something I could do, something they hadn’t considered? I tapped my phone against my thigh, thinking. What about some cyber-stalking? While Fausto’s guys wouldn’t be stupid enough to have social media accounts, their relatives might. I used to follow David’s sister’s Instagram account back in Toronto because she posted way more personal information about their family than he did. It was how I learned he went to a party in Richmond Hill instead of staying home to study, like he’d told me.

So, maybe one of the men had a distant connection to Enzo we didn’t know about.

Giulio said Vic was on the cameras during my kidnapping but not when Enzo escaped. If he was any good at security and computers, though, he’d probably figured out how to access everything remotely.

I unlocked my phone. “What is Vic’s last name?” I asked the young men in the car.

“Benedetti, why?” Carlo answered.

“No reason,” I murmured. I began searching for bread crumbs, family members who might be on social media. I quickly found an aunt on Facebook without a private account. Perfect.

She was older and posted a lot of family photos. She also liked to share religious memes, but I ignored those. I even caught Vic in some, when he was a scrawny teen. I wouldn’t have recognized him if not for her caption naming everyone in the photo. I kept going back, waiting for the page to reload with more photos.

My eyes swept the posts, not sure what I was looking for except some connection to Enzo. A hint that Vic knew someone from the D’Agostino crew. A photo with a large group went by and a face caught my attention.

Holy shit. Wait, it couldn’t be. I stared closer. Enlarged it to be sure.

Yes, I was right. It was her.

Agent Rinaldo was in the background.

My mind reeled with the news. What the fuck? This was no coincidence. Vic was related to a GDF agent? How was that possible? Was Rilando even an agent? She’d handed me a card, but anyone could print those online.

“Turn around!” I slapped the headrest of Nesto’s seat. “Go back to the castello. Right now!”

Nesto didn’t question it. Immediately, he turned around in the middle of the street, causing the SUV’s tires to squeal against the pavement. I hardly noticed. I began texting Giulio that I needed to see him and Marco right away.

The drive seemed to take forever and the men in the car were quiet. More than likely they didn’t know what to think about my erratic behavior. I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to explain myself to them, not with news like this.

Once inside the castello I didn’t bother knocking on the office door. I turned the knob, went in, and closed the door behind me. Giulio looked up from behind the desk, Marco standing at his side. I blurted, “Agent Rinaldo is related to Vic.”

Marco went stiff and Giulio narrowed his eyes at me. “How do you know that?” my friend asked. “We’ve looked into his family and his background and found nothing out of the ordinary.”

I found the screenshot of the post I’d saved on my phone. “This came from his Aunt Rosemary. I found her on Facebook and started scrolling back through old photos.” I pointed to the woman’s face. “This is her right there. That’s the woman calling herself Agent Rinaldo.”

“This is from seven years ago,” Giulio said, passing the phone to Marco. “Minchia! How did we miss this?”

“Because we weren’t looking on Facebook,” Marco murmured. “This explains why we hadn’t heard of her. She’s not a real GDF agent.”

“Why would Vic’s relative pose as a GDF agent and approach me? It makes no sense. If he’s working with Enzo to embezzle money, why bother with me?”

“Chaos,” Marco answered. “You are Fausto’s weakness. If Enzo can get you thinking about leaving or turning over information, that’s all he needs.”

Giulio nodded. “Who knows? If you agreed to go with Rinaldo, you might’ve been kidnapped again.”

Jesus. This was making my head spin. Was Enzo really so devious?

“So now what? You’re going to go and find Vic, right?”

“I know exactly where he is.” Marco took out his phone and began texting. “I’ll have the boys get him and bring him here. That way he won’t suspect anything.”

“Then the dungeon?” I asked, my gaze bouncing between the two men.

Giulio cast me an odd look. “Why do you sound excited by that?”

“I’m not excited.” I heard the lie in my voice. Damn, I was excited—but not at the idea of Vic enduring whatever hell awaited him in one of those cells. No, I liked that I’d played a part in discovering his treachery. I was good at this mafia shit.

“Okay, they are bringing him,” Marco said. “He thinks we need his help with a problem in the security room.”

I dusted my hands and took a bow. “Well, my work here is done. Good luck, boys. I think I’ll head over to the hospital now.”

“Wait, Frankie.” Marco gestured to the chairs in front of the desk. “Let’s sit down. I have something to tell you.”

Giulio’s face went completely blank, and I knew I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear. “I don’t need to sit. Tell me now.”

“He said you can’t come to the hospital any longer. It’s too dangerous.”

My jaw fell open. That fucking husband of mine! Anger flared to life in my chest like a match had been struck. “He can’t keep me from visiting him.”

“No, but I can.” Giulio sighed heavily, looking serious and resigned, very much like a young mob boss. “I don’t want to, Frankie, but I will. Until Enzo is dealt with, we all need to remain cautious. And our enemies are crawling out from under the floorboards now that Fausto is injured. I can’t worry about everything else and you, too.”

The nape of my neck turned hot and a familiar defiance burned in my chest. No way was I staying inside the castello for months while Fausto recovered alone in the hospital. These two had to know me better than that.

“Do not get that look on your face,” Giulio warned. “I’m serious, Frankie.”

I wasn’t going to argue. If I did, they would only watch me more carefully. “Then I want a way to talk to him. Set up a video feed in that hospital room.”

“I can do that,” Marco said.

“What about Zia? She won’t like being kept from him, either.”

Marco shifted on his feet, evading my gaze. Giulio rolled his lips together tightly, his shoulders growing tight like he was bracing for impact.

“Oh, I see.” I gave a brittle laugh. “Zia’s allowed to go but I’m not. Sure, that makes sense.”

“You’re pregnant,” Giulio snapped. “And his wife, which makes you a target. You can’t seriously think Zia is in the kind of danger you are.”

I resisted the urge to yell at him. This was not Giulio’s doing. I knew exactly who was responsible. Fausto was making decisions again without consulting me, that controlling asshole.

And if he thought I would obey blindly like a weak little wife, then he obviously didn’t know me very well.

“I have more work to do anyway to prepare for tomorrow,” I told them as I walked toward the door. “Let me know if you need any more help with Vic.”

“Frankie, promise me,” Giulio said to my back.

I crossed my fingers in front of me, where he couldn’t see. “I promise. See you later, G.”