Taming My Mafia Stepbrother

Luca’s pov

One of the reasons why I didn’t get a house like my father’s was that the place was needlessly large. The distance from the main gates to the front door took about five minutes. And that was by car.

I had an overly cautious nature to get a house like it. Lord knows I grew up in a constant state of alert. Security was harder to maintain, housestaffing was harder to keep up with but that didn’t mean an attack attempt on the villa would be a successful one. Knowing my father, he probably had traps and high end security cameras situated around in the areas the soldiers didn’t touch.

But then again, I preferred a smaller mansion.

“Welcome sir,” Antonio, my father’s butler, greeted as I walked into the grand foyer of the house. He used to call me “young master” but had long discarded the term since I became don.

“Good to see you, Antonio. Is my father in?”

Antonio motioned up the stairs. “He’s in his study.”

The man was always in his study. He spent more than fifty percent of his time as don in the place and even retirement couldn’t make him quit the habit.

I climbed up the curved marble stairs, taking two steps at a time. The urgency building up within me.

I was halfway down the long, wide hallway to my father’s study when a familiar yet unfamiliar voice called out my name. My face squeezed into a frown and I wondered what my father’s new wife had to say to me.

She scurried to me from the open living space on my left. I wouldn’t even have noticed she was there if she didn’t call my attention.

“I’m sorry to have disturbed your visit. Are you here to see your father?”

I stared unblinkingly at her in growing irritation. “If you’re sorry, you would say whatever you have to say and be on your way.”

My tone must have been more icy than I intended because she blanched in fear and reflectively drew back a step, subtly, but I noticed. I couldn’t pinpoint the reason for the innate wariness I had for her. I never felt I could trust her from the moment she was introduced to the family. Plus, Cara doesn’t seem to like her either so there’s that.

“Well, there’s something I wanted to speak to you about.” She cleared her throat. “It’s about Gina’s wedding, I was wondering if you’ll let the event be publicized. I thought of inviting reporters-”

Jesus fucking Christ. How unaware was this woman?

“No.”

“But I think it’s a good idea for-”

“No.” My voice took a warning edge. “Let this be the first and last time you speak of this.”

I moved past her and resumed my short walk to my father’s study, wondering where the hell he found a woman like her. If he wanted to remarry so bad, he could have at least chosen a woman from the Costra Nostra so I wouldn’t have to deal with suggestions like inviting the press to my sister’s wedding when we needed privacy more than ever.

I knocked twice when I got to the thick double doors before entering. My father was seating at his desk, squinting at some strewn papers on his desk even though he had his reading glasses on. He didn’t look up but I knew he noticed my presence. And that was why his eyes remained on his desk, if it were to be a stranger, his gaze would have shot to the door, his hand on the gun strapped under the desk.

I knew this because it was something he taught me when I was only nine.

“Father,” I said when I got to the desk.

He finally looked up, an older version of my eyes meeting my gaze. “You’re here.”

He got up and came around the desk, not before arranging the papers I perceived to be his estate reports then pushed them to a corner. My eyes found a scratch on the cleared surface and the image of Cara bent over the desk as I spanked her sweet ass flashed in my head, sending spears of heat through my body.

My father moved to the living area of the study and I followed him, forcing the unwanted images to the back of my mind.

“I rarely see you these days” he said once we sat down on the plush leather sofas. “It’s becoming an honor to have you visit.”

My lips curved in a wry smile. “Things are more hectic than usual. With the bratva on our necks and all.”

My father’s relaxed mood morphed into a serious one, the light in his eyes fading as he leaned forward. “About that, what do you plan to do first?”

“I plan to find out the root cause first of all. My investigator has been gathering information.” With my reason for visiting forefront in my mind, I went straight to the point. “Apparently it all began with you.”

The old don’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I proceeded to expand on it. “Something about killing the pakhan’s daughter.”

I watched him stare blankly into space for a minute then his eyes widened as recalling memories came to him.

“That old fucker,” he sighed. “He hadn’t let that go.” His gaze found mine again, “well I don’t expect him to, it’s his child we’re talking about.”

I leaned in. “Did you really kill his daughter?”

My father blinked at me, affronted. “No. I didn’t. I promised your mother for fuck sake.”

A muscle ticked in my jaw at the mention of my mother. I didn’t want her brought up. Not now and especially not by him.

I leaned back in my chair. “Well that’s not what the old pakhan thinks and I need to know why.”

My father’s expression took a remorseful turn. He got up and slowly walked to the large window. His hands folded behind him. “The girl was only a child.” He began gazing into the large stretch of field before him.

I rose to my feet and moved to stand beside him. “Don’t tell me a baby was killed because I wouldn’t know how to deal with the angry pakhan if he thinks we killed his baby daughter.”

My father chuckled at my side, still looking out the window. “She was kidnapped by one of my capos then. He had misunderstood my relationship with Mikhalov and had stolen the girl in retaliation, at least that was the story I was fed at that time. The bastard didn’t do it because of his loyalty to me, he just wanted to get back at Mikhalov for something I’m yet to know of.”Content © copyrighted by NôvelDrama.Org.

He turned to face me, a faraway look in his gaze. “He ran away with the girl and managed to hide from us for eight years. When we found him, he had already sold the child to the Columbians who claimed she died from the fever. I killed the bastard and brought his dead body to Mikhalov but it wasn’t enough.” A tired smile appeared on his lips.

“Mikhalov wanted a replacement for his daughter; a daughter of mine brought to him dead.”

I frowned at this. Regardless of what happened, children were innocent and shouldn’t be used to end wars.

“Luckily your sister wasn’t born at that time but when she was. I doubled all our enforcement and security and waited and waited for him to show up like he promised.” His jaw tightened and I could feel the angry panic bubbling inside him. “But he never did, until now.”

His gaze was intense when he said, “promise this old man that you’ll do everything in your power to protect your sister.” He paused. “And your stepsister.”

He didn’t need my word for that. I was going to protect them even at the cost of my life. “What was his name? The Capo?”

A darkness spread across my father’s face. “Emilio.” He drawled.

Emilio. I wished I could conjure the bastard and kill him all over again, more brutally this time. Twenty years later and we were still dealing with the mess he made.

“Gina would be given to Dante and that leaves your stepsister. What do you plan to do about her?” My father suddenly said.

My spine stiffened and my murderous train of thoughts immediately halted. I faced the expectancy in his expression and for the first time in my life, words eluded me.

My father frowned, the look he gave me bored through my poker expression, suspicion sewn into his frown. Old age hadn’t weakened his keen perception.

“I met up with the boss of the Irish mafia.” My father started, still frowning. “Seems like his younger brother has his eyes on her.”

His words crawled up my neck and into my throat before settling in my chest like sharp knives. I can help him by gorging out his fucking eyes.

I straightened my still stiff spine and returned to the leather sofa. “Well, we are barely done with settling Gina’s marriage. It’s too soon to be talking about Cara’s.” I said, expertly hiding my rattled feelings from my voice.

“The earlier, the better.” My father pushed. “That girl is the least protected out of all of us.”

My throat suddenly felt tight and my skin felt damp beneath my dress shirt. I itched to free another button even though the top two were already unbuttoned.

“I suggest you consider it and take up on their offer.” My father’s voice was unfaltering and even though I wasn’t looking at him, I knew his eyes were still boring into me.

Although it was what I initially decided to do, the finality of it sent discomforting splinters down my spine. My blood roared at the thought of Cara getting married to Cadain. Fucking Cadain, that idiot couldn’t even handle a woman like her. She was going to be bored out of her mind tied to his bland ass. She didn’t fit with a spiceless and spineless bastard like him.

“Luca,” my father pushed, bringing me out of my head.

My fingers dug into my crossed knees to keep from racking through my hair. “I’ll consider it.” I said. “But it’s all I’ll do for now.” I added, my tone brooking no argument.

My father wasn’t satisfied with my answer but he didn’t protest.

And thank God he didn’t because if I didn’t know what I’d have done if he had decided to push the matter. Smashing the glass table before me is one option.