Luca Vitiello (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles 0.5)

“You mentioned something Grace said to you,” I said, not wanting to consider Aria’s feelings for me, or mine. “Something about fucking you bloody.” The familiar fury resurfaced, an emotion I could deal with.

“Oh, yeah. She said you’d hurt me, fuck me like an animal, fuck me bloody when she talked to me during our wedding reception. Scared me out of my mind.”

No wonder Aria had looked like she’d seen a ghost. I wondered if Grace’s words were the main reason why she was so terrified of sleeping with me. Hadn’t I shown her that I was going to be gentle with her?

“I think that guy last night almost said the same thing,” she added after a moment.

“Before I killed him, he said one of the women who bought dope from him told him you were a skank who needed to be taught a lesson. She gave him cash.” I didn’t mention the sordid details of his last minutes.

Aria raised her head. “Do you think it was Grace?”

“I’m sure it was her. The description fits, and who else would have an interest in attacking you.” I’d have never thought that Grace would go as far, but I’d obviously underestimated her obsession with me.

“What are you going to do?”

“I can’t kill her, even if I want to cut her fucking throat—that would cause too much trouble with her father and brother. I’ll have to talk to them, though. Tell them they need to put her on a fucking leash or there won’t be any more money from us.”

“What if they refuse?”

I stroked Aria’s spine. She didn’t know how much money we shoved into Senator Parker’s ass. “They won’t. Grace has been fucking things up for a long time. They’ll probably ship her off to Europe or Asia for rehab or some shit like that.”

Aria leaned up and left a sweet kiss on my mouth. I’d never been kissed like that, never thought it was something I’d like. She was pure sweetness, and she was mine. Again, the image of Rick’s filthy hands on her and how he’d have hurt her flashed through my mind, and I almost lost my shit. Aria deserved to be treated like a queen. “I can’t stop thinking about what would have happened if Romero and Cesare hadn’t been there, if that fucker had gotten you out of the club. The thought of his dirty hands on you makes me want to kill him again. The thought that he might have…”

Aria nodded, but I couldn’t read the look in her eyes and then she ducked her head and made it completely impossible. “When Gianna leaves in a few days, you can have me.”

Surprise washed over me. Maybe I should have told her that she didn’t have to promise me something like that, but I burnt up with the desire to be as close to her as possible, to make her mine.The second Aria and I emerged from our room around noon, Gianna rushed toward her sister. “Are you okay? I was so worried because you didn’t come out of your bedroom.” She sent me a quick disapproving glance as if I cared. I kept my hand on Aria’s lower back as I led her toward the kitchen. She needed to eat something.

“Can you cook?” I asked the redhead.

Gianna glowered. “Because I’m a woman?”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Your sister is living proof that not all women can cook,” I said, stroking Aria’s back to soften my words.

Aria glanced up at me with a small laugh, and I knew I’d burn down the world to protect this woman. I’d start with killing my father, even if it meant ruling over a torn Famiglia until I’d removed every single one of my enemies.

Gianna watched us for a moment before she shrugged. “I can try to make pancakes or something like that, but I can’t promise anything.”

Gianna wasn’t a much better cook, but it was edible. Afterwards, I gave Aria and her sister some privacy and went down to Matteo’s apartment while Romero guarded the penthouse.

“How’s Aria?” Matteo asked when I sank down on his couch.

“Better,” I said. “I need to talk to Senator Parker. He needs to send Grace away. If she stays in New York, I’ll kill her.”

“Father won’t like it. You know how much he cares about schmoozing the politicians.”

That was the only thing he still did.

Matteo propped his elbows up on his thighs. “Have you thought about how to solve the problem? The Bratva is always an option.”

I shook my head. “It would make them too confident. Killing a Capo is a big deal. The Famiglia would appear weak.”

Matteo nodded but I could tell that he considered the Bratva our best bet, and he was probably right, but I preferred a less obvious solution. “I think we should go the poison route. Many men in Father’s family have suffered from strokes or heart attacks. There are poisons that have the same effect.”