Owned by the mafia boss

VINN

Nico got out of prison.

Two years early.

Nothing could’ve prepared me for being jumped by my bodyguards, forced at gunpoint into a car, and driven to my boss’s mansion. He’d materialized in Boston like a rabbit out of a magician’s hat. Nobody told me he’d been released. Not the lawyers I kept on retainer or my informants inside his jail. He’d blindsided me.

I stood with Michael in Nico’s living room, which doubled as a museum for my cousin Anthony. His athletic trophies filled the china cabinet. Pictures of the shithead smiled at me from every direction.

My father gave me his stupid name-Vincent-shortly before running out on my mom after I was born. I had no family except Michael’s, and they were a hot mess.

Anthony had it all-money, great schools, sports, parents who loved him. I’d always felt like a peasant when I visited here. My clothes were too dirty for their furniture. I taught myself not to eat everything in sight because my mother couldn’t pull it together enough to make me a sandwich.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

I’d envied Anthony.

I’d resented his privilege. I’d stewed in jealousy at the mountain of gifts under the tree every Christmas. As I grew older, my contempt for him deepened into disgust. He’d wasted his potential. Thrown away all that education to become a waste of space. He’d been a junkie and liability.

But as I watched my heavyset uncle pace the living room, gun in hand, I wondered who was the real disaster.

“How did prison treat you, zio? They feed you well?” I pretended not to notice the thirty pounds of weight he’d added, smiling. “Should’ve told me you were back. I could’ve stopped at Lucchese’s.”

“Alessio did already.” He motioned to a pile of meat on butcher paper. “Got me it as soon as he heard. Good kid.”

That fucking asshole.

I ground my teeth. “He knew?”

“No. I called him a couple hours ago.” Nico grabbed the bottle of wine, his hands trembling. “I wanted to get the full story. He said a lot of things that concerned me.”

Great. “So he’s underboss now?”

“I offered, but he doesn’t want the job anymore-”

“Which he made clear when he left town!”

“You ruined what I built.” His voice leapt from the low baritone to a thundering roar. “You destroyed our leadership, compromised our position in Boston, and you lost my son!”

Jesus. “I didn’t lose your dipshit son!”

Nico seized the handle of his Glock and pointed it at me. “What did you call Anthony?”

Was he drunk?

It wouldn’t be the first time Nico had one too many and shot someone. But I wasn’t in the mood to lie down and die.

“Nico, put it down. You’ve had too much to drink.”

“I’m not drunk.” He stabbed it in the air like a toddler. “You have a lot to answer for. Both of you.”

I rolled my eyes, meeting Michael’s slanted gaze.

He stood beside me, fists clenched. He looked ready to blow, and the sight of his lips pressed together winded me like a gut-punch.

“You fucking maniac. You bastard.” Michael’s words blazed like a wave of fire as he screamed at Nico. “You took me in front of my kids! While I was picking them up at daycare.”

A shock rippled through my limbs. Even I wasn’t that crazy.

I stared at Nico. “Seriously?”

Nico seemed unconcerned. “I needed a conversation with you both.”

“Where’s Alessio, then?”

“I’ve already dealt with him,” he snapped, wearing a sneer that reminded me of his douchey son. “You’re next.”

I opened my mouth to snarl an insult, and changed my mind. I bit the inside of my cheek. I fought the ribbon of anger working through my muscles.

Michael seized my arm, his grip biting. His pleading stare dug into my chest. He didn’t deserve to have his brain dashed out in Nico’s dated living room. People depended on him. Unlike me, he had a family who’d miss him.

So be it.

“Send Michael away,” I muttered, my stomach hardening. “You’ve made it clear you can get him wherever he is. If you need to put a bullet in my head, fine, but leave him alone. Anthony was my responsibility.”

Nico didn’t budge. “He stays.”

I had to save him.

I licked my dry lips. “Michael shouldn’t be here.”

“He. Stays.”

Let him go, damn it. “This is fucked up, Nico.”

“You know what’s fucked up? Sitting in a cell while your nephews destroy everything you’ve built. You’re a goddamned parasite, Vinn, and you.” He faced Michael, who went rigid. “What the hell were you thinking? You murdered the asshole who knew where Anthony was!”

“I gave the order,” I blurted. “Michael was just following orders. It’s my fault-not Michael’s.”

A total lie, but whatever.

Michael buried his head in his hand. The other clawed his leg. It probably killed him to say nothing. The idiot better stay quiet and let me take the fall.

“How could you do something so stupid?” Nico screamed, the sound blasting my ear. “You should’ve kept him alive for questioning.”

“No point. Crash was out of his mind. He didn’t want to negotiate. He wanted to torture, so I made a decision.”

“Yeah, a reckless one,” he replied in a low voice. “Alessio would’ve never pulled this shit. He would’ve run it by me.”

“How was I supposed to do that with you in jail?”

Nico pointed the gun at my face.

I waited for his judgment.

Images streamed in my head-waves lapping ashore, preening seagulls, gloomy skies and cold nights, tall glasses of beer and stacks of fried cod. A flicker of warmth shot into my chest.

The sting of metal on my cheek chased it away.

“You’re lucky I’m in a forgiving mood,” Nico sneered. “I’ll give you one last chance.”

Michael blew a sigh, but my insides roiled.

“Toe the line, because if I pull this trigger, you’re headed straight for hell.” He dipped his head, teeth flashing. “You cold snake.”

Nico backed off, stowing the piece in his robe. “We’re repairing the alliance you broke. The Legion president knows where my boy is, and all he wants is the girl.”

The president didn’t have Anthony. He was dangling him in front of Nico, hoping he’d bite.

“The girl is Michael’s sister, and it’s a scam.” I jigged my knee restlessly, eye-fucking him. “They’re playing you.”

“No, they’re not,” he muttered. “He’s on Leda, but I can’t get to him without their connections.”

“Well, that’s convenient.”

Leda was an island off the Caribbean owned by several billionaires. White-collar criminals, arms dealers, drug traffickers, and all manner of rich and corrupt flew in at invitation-only to network and make multibillion-dollar business deals. It was also a major human trafficking hub.

I hadn’t bothered investigating because a mafia boss from Boston didn’t pull any weight on Leda, and I’d assumed Anthony had been sold to a local rival syndicate and murdered.

“They sent me a proof-of-life video. He’s there. I’m getting him back,” Nico said, his fat face melting with a smile. “All I have to do is give him the girl. Liana.”

A tide of nausea crawled up my throat.

Michael exhaled a ragged breath. “Again, we are not giving Liana away because it’s up to me, her brother, not you.”

“It’s not up for debate.”

“You might be boss, but there are rules.” Michael’s voice strained like a piano string, his growl darkening. “Break them, and you better be ready for the consequences.”

Nico closed his eyes as though to shut out everything. “You’d understand if it was your son.”

Michael shot upright, upsetting his chair. “I’m supposed to stand by and watch one of those animals marry my sister? No fucking way.”

“Michele,” Nico warned. “Remember who you’re talking to.”

I couldn’t believe Nico would sink so low.

This was the man who’d harped on the importance of family at every get-together. Blood is thicker than water was his constant refrain. Never mind that he’d picked an outsider to succeed him. And now, he was willing to sacrifice his niece for his impotent son.

The hypocrisy stabbed me in the brain, provoking a white-hot response in my body. Pain spiked into my head from my clenched teeth. I wanted to rip him apart.

“She’ll be raped, Nico.”

Nico jerked his head. “The president gave me his word he won’t mistreat the girl.”

“Do you know what this will do to my mother?” Michael exploded, his nostrils flaring. “You’re forcing her to be a hostage.”

“We are making this deal,” Nico fired back. “I forgive you for screwing up with Crash, but you need to meet me halfway.”

No.

My hands shook as I fought to keep them from wrapping Nico’s throat. Michael met my gaze. Bloodlust glazed his red eyes. He would attack Nico. If I didn’t defuse the situation, he’d beat the shit out of Nico, and it would end with him dead. We couldn’t kill a boss and escape untouched. The hired guns outside would make sure of that.

“It’s done,” Nico said, interpreting our silence as mute acceptance. “Killian’s picking her up right now.”

My stomach knotted as I pictured the president throwing Liana over his shoulder.

I had to do something.

“Nico, I’m dating Liana.” I licked my lips, grasping. “I actually…I just asked her to marry me, and she said yes. We’re engaged.”

Nico set down the bottle, a ring of burgundy staining the tablecloth. “Bullshit.”

I needed to sell this.

If I didn’t, I had no idea what I’d do. “I swear to God, I’m marrying her.”

He fisted my hair, digging the barrel into my temple. “I’ll put my gun up your ass for lying to me, boy.”

“Nico, come on. We’ve known each other since we were kids.” He’d have to confirm the news at least, and that’d buy me time to talk to Liana. “I never told you, but I’ve been seeing her for a few months.”

Michael stared at me before he had the sense to wipe his expression. “He’s telling the truth.”

I met Nico’s pitiless gaze. It wouldn’t be good enough. He was desperate. He’d do anything to save his son, even order me to break my fucking engagement.

“There are other women, Vincenzo.”

His bitter voice bottomed out my stomach.

I blurted the first thing that came to mind-“Nico, she’s pregnant.”