Protecting Her: A Romance Bundle

But all I could do was cry. Everything will be okay, I thought to myself. Everything will be fine, it’s all going to work out.

Deep down, I wasn’t so sure.

4

Alessio

Silvio and I sat in my car, breathing heavily. The air was thick with the scent of grease – we’d gotten burgers and fries to kill our nervous appetites – but otherwise silent. I reached for my diet cola and took a long sip, letting the carbonated liquid flow over my tongue and down my throat. Normally, soda helped calm my stomach whenever I was upset. But today, I had a sinking feeling that nothing would do the trick.

“Boss, I ain’t so sure about this,” Silvio said. He fingered the intricate silver pistol in his lap. “Why don’t we just kidnap the kid and hold him hostage? What the fuck does this kid know about his Daddy and Daddy’s grudges towards you?”

I glared. “Your patronizing tone isn’t exactly helping here,” I snapped. “You were the one who told me that Douglas wasn’t ever gonna take me seriously until I did something big.”

“I didn’t mean kill his son,” Silvio said heavily. “Alessio, this is bad. This might be so bad you could never come back from it.”

“Well, what the fuck else am I supposed to do?” I groaned. “Every other idea wouldn’t work – it’s either too much or not enough. If I kill his son, Douglas is gonna know that I’m fucking serious about getting my money. He ain’t gonna f

uck with me.”

“Michael is Douglas’s only son,” Silvio said slowly. “You wouldn’t try murdering someone who killed your only son?”

I pulled a packet of cigarettes from my breast pocket and lit one, inhaling deeply. The smoke filling my lungs only made me feel more suffocated than ever, and I coughed so hard that I saw stars popping and exploding in front of my eyes.

“If my father hadn’t died in an accident, you bet I’d have avenged him,” I said, stubbing my cigarette out in the cup holder ashtray. “But he didn’t. He was hit by a fucking truck.”

Silvio bared his teeth. “Well, Michael’s going to be hit with a fucking gun,” he said grimly. “And you don’t think his old man is gonna come after you?”

“I don’t care,” I said hotly. “I don’t give a shit what Douglas tries after this. He has to know better – he’s gotta fuckin’ take me seriously, or I’m taking my business elsewhere.”

Silvio sighed. “I admire your temperament,” he said. He ran a hand through his dark hair – it seemed to be threaded with more silver than it had been just a day ago. “But come on, Alessio. You gotta know this isn’t a good idea.”

I turned to face him. “I’m taking you to Tony, and Tony’s dropping you off,” I said. “I ain’t backing down from this, Sil. You gotta help me – you gotta do this dirty work yourself.”

Silvio looked tortured. For a moment, I almost felt bad for him. Silvio had been my father Gianni’s best friend, and they’d worked together for years. But I knew it had been a long time – maybe even decades – since Silvio had carried out a hit. Still, he was the man I trusted most in the whole family, and I knew I could rely on him to get the job well done.

Silvio was silent as I steered the car towards an abandoned building in the warehouse district. A young kid, Tony, was going to drive Silvio to the meeting place. Earlier in the day, I’d called Douglas and acted like nothing was wrong – like everything was biscuits and gravy. I’d told him that I wanted a meeting with him, to set some terms. He’d seemed happy and smug by the time we’d hung up. I’d been trying not to laugh – was he really that stupid to think I was going to let him fuck me over like this? That’s what had cemented my decision: if I didn’t kill his son, Douglas would spend the rest of his life trying to fuck me over. He was a greedy bastard, and he had to learn that he wasn’t the smartest man in New York.

“Alessio, please,” Silvio said as I pulled the car up to the warehouse. Tony was waiting outside, leaning on an ugly old black sedan. “Please,” Silvio said. “Please change your mind. This ain’t a good idea, and it ain’t gonna bring about the kind of change you want.”

“It ain’t your place to tell me what to do,” I said cheerily. I put my car in park. “You know what you have to do,” I reminded Silvio. “Just get there and do it. I’ll be waiting right here, we’ll go out and have us a nice meal or something after it’s done.”

Silvio looked pained. “Boss, I ain’t done this in—“

“Shut up,” I said. I grinned. “It’s show time.” I pointed at the clock. It was twenty-five after five, ten minutes before I’d told Douglas that I’d be meeting his son down at the docks. And his son ain’t got long to live, I thought. A giddy sense of relief spread through my body. This is gonna be it for little Michael.

Silvio obediently kissed my ring as I held my hand up in the air. Then he sighed once more, pocketed the little silver pistol, and climbed out of my car. As I watched him walk to Tony’s waiting car, I realized that he looked like a man on the way to his own execution.

I sat back and waited. I’d saved another burger to eat while Silvio was gone. The whole thing wouldn’t take very long. Tony would pull up, Silvio would get out and try to explain to Michael that I was running late and that I was already on my way. When Michael started to protest, Silvio would tell him to shut up, pull out a gun, and shoot him. It was gonna be one of the most simple hits I’d ever ordered, and I took pleasure in knowing that Silvio would eventually realize I’d been right.

If I didn’t kill Michael, his father would never respect me. And if I couldn’t get the respect I deserved from Douglas Bennett, the Amoruso family could kiss our long reign goodbye. I had to get the money I was owed from drugs, and make sure that I was in control of more territory than my father had ever been.

I tore into my burger, chewing noisily. Flavors of cheese and onion and ketchup spread through my mouth and I closed my eyes. Greasy food was one of the few rare pleasures in life, besides fucking girls and snorting a nice rail of coke. Because of the surprise hit on Michael, I wouldn’t be able to make it out to New Jersey today and pay little Carina a visit. Too fucking bad, I thought as I took another huge bite of my burger. She’s a hot little minx, and I’ll fuck her before long.

I grinned. As soon as I finished my snack, I wiped my hands on my trousers and pulled out my phone. It was almost six – with any luck, Silvio and Tony were already on their way back to me. Clearing my throat, I dialed the New Jersey restaurant. Sure, I wouldn’t get the chance to bed a cute little girl today. But I could talk to her – make her want me.

“Caruso’s Mendham, how can I help you?”

I coughed. “It’s Alessio,” I said. “And it’s always how may I help you, not can.”