Mafia Kings: Massimo: Dark Mafia Romance Series #3

You promised you wouldn’t leave me…

I love you…

Come back to me…

Lucia’s voice echoed in the darkness…

And was slowly replaced with the sound of slow, steady beeping.

When I opened my eyes, I was looking at a ceiling with acoustic tiles and fluorescent lighting. Off to the side, sunlight streamed in from behind floor-length curtains.

Then I heard the voice I loved.

“Oh my god… you’re awake…”

I looked over to see Lucia stand up from a chair next to me. She was no longer wearing the blood-flecked white dress she’d had in the tower, but a pretty blouse and skirt.

And she was smiling ear to ear as her eyes filled with tears.

“Hey, baby,” I croaked. My lips and mouth felt dry.

Lucia leaned over the metal railing of a hospital bed and kissed me passionately on the lips.

When she pulled away, I gently touched the side of her face. I was concerned – the black eye she’d had when I saw her at the bell tower was beginning to turn yellow and green.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She laughed and clasped my hand with both of hers. “I am now. Hold on – I have to tell the others you’re awake!”

She frantically kissed me once more, like she couldn’t bear to tear herself away from me –

Then ran to the hospital room door, flung it open, and shouted into the hall, “HE’S AWAKE!”

Then she ran giddily back to my side and tenderly touched my face.

“How long was I out?” I asked.

“All night. They operated on you after the island, and you’ve been sleeping ever since.”

I heard the sound of footsteps, and Lucia stepped aside so I could see who it was.

There was Adriano and Lars, who I expected…

But the others shocked me.

Dario…

Alessandra…

Niccolo…

And the Widow, who came swishing in wearing one of her long, black, starched dresses.

Bianca came in, too, and Adriano wrapped an arm around her.

“Oh, wow,” I said, surprised.

“‘Oh, wow’?” Niccolo joked. “The conquering hero wakes up after defeating death – and his first words are ‘Oh, wow’?”

“Actually,” Lucia beamed, “they were, ‘Hey, baby.’”

“Much more romantic,” Niccolo agreed.

“I just didn’t expect to see you all here,” I said.

Dario approached the bed and grabbed my hand in both of his. My big brother was normally stoic, but I could see the barely contained emotion behind his smile. “I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to Papa… so there was no way I was going to risk that again.”

I arched an eyebrow. “That bad, huh?”

“Aaaaah, he’s just being dramatic,” Adriano said.

“Not too dramatic,” Lars said. “You were shot 17 times.”

I stared at him. “…what?!”

“Now who’s being dramatic?” Niccolo quipped. “Yes, you were shot 17 times… but only three bullets got through. We’re going to have to send a fruit basket to Signor Guillardo.”

“I think something a little better than that,” Alessandra said reproachfully.

“Okay… a gold-plated fruit basket,” Niccolo relented.

Alessandra bent down and kissed me on the cheek. “You scared us.”

“Ah… it was nothing,” I said, and smiled at my other sister-in-law. “Bianca went through a lot worse when she saved my life.”

Bianca smiled and gripped my hand. “I didn’t get shot 17 times, though.”

“Yes, don’t downplay how incredibly brave you were,” Lucia scolded me. “You were amazing.”

Then she leaned down and kissed my lips softly.

When she stood back up, the Widow cocked an eyebrow. “Massimo… where is my granddaughter, and who is this young woman you’ve replaced her with?”

“Cut it out, Nona,” Lucia said, though she was smiling.

“Not that I’m not happy to see all of you,” I said, “but where are Roberto and Valentino?”

I noticed that Alessandra stiffened and looked unhappy.

“Both of them send their regards,” Niccolo said. “Roberto is on his way back from Hong Kong – he should be here within a few hours. And Valentino is in Sicily. We’ll see him soon enough.”

“Sicily?” I asked. “Is he meeting with them like I met with Signora Fioretti?”

Alessandra seemed to get even more irritated by the question.

Dario tried to put his arm around her, but she pulled away coldly.

Niccolo ignored the drama and gave me a plastic smile. “You could say that.”

I could tell something was wrong. I was just about to ask what it was when the Widow interrupted.

“Hopefully it doesn’t go quite the way our meeting did,” she said drily.

“Let’s hope,” I agreed. Then I looked over at Adriano. “Are you okay? You looked pretty rough when you came up the stairs at the bell tower.”

“Eh…” He shrugged as he patted his side. I noticed his shirt was more filled out than usual, like there were bandages underneath. “Got shot a couple of times, re-busted a couple of ribs. Been there, done that.”

“I’m sorry…”

He burst out laughing. “What the fuck are you talking about?! You were the one who led the charge – the only reason any of us walked out alive was because you rushed in like a crazy man and took 17 bullets for us.”

“Ham,” Lucia said.

I looked up, not understanding why she was using the English word for pork. “What?”

“H, A, M. It’s a Jay-Z song. Hard As a Motherfucker.”

“Lucia,” the Widow scolded her – but everyone else burst out laughing.

“I knew I liked her,” Adriano said with an approving grin.

“What about you?” I asked Lars. “Are you okay?”

“I had the easiest job of all,” he said modestly. “I only had to take one shot.”

“Well,” Lucia said, “it was a fucking important one.”

“Lucia!” the Widow said primly. “Language!”

“Nona, give me a break!” Lucia complained as everyone else laughed again.

“What about our other guys?” I asked.

Lars looked grim. “Fourteen dead. The rest were wounded.”

A silence fell over the room.

Fourteen dead…

I thought of poor Lorenzo lying in the gravel, dying from Zollner’s bullet to his chest.

“I would like to contribute to the families of the fallen,” the Widow said to Dario. “And to the others who lived… who helped save my granddaughter.”

Dario bowed his head slightly in a sign of respect. “We’ll take care of them, but anything additional you wish to give them would be a very kind gesture. Thank you.”

“Wait – how did none of us get arrested?” I asked.

The Widow answered. “Once the police found out that the men who kidnapped my granddaughter were Wagner mercenaries, I was able to persuade them to classify the event as a terrorist attack. A few well-placed ‘donations’ persuaded them to look the other way on the elite private organization I hired to secure her safe return.”

“You hear that?” Niccolo joked as he pointed at me. “You’re part of an elite private organization.”

“I thought that’s what we always were,” Adriano chimed in.

“What happened after the bell tower?” I asked.

Niccolo gestured around the room. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“No, I mean… you’re here,” I said to Niccolo. “So is everything safe now?”

“Signora Fioretti has reestablished control over Venice,” Dario said diplomatically, “and invited us here as her honored guests.”

“Does that mean the mercenaries surrendered?”

The Widow scoffed. “More like turned tail and ran.”

“We killed everybody on the island,” Lars said. “When the ones on the boats heard their boss was dead, they decided to make a hasty retreat.”

Niccolo gave me the evil eye. “About that part where their boss was dead…”

“…what?” I asked innocently, although I knew what was coming.

“You could have let him live.”

“I think he did exactly the right thing,” Adriano said.

“Yes, well, you enjoy shooting people we could otherwise use as bargaining chips,” Niccolo said sardonically. Then he turned back to me. “If we had Aurelio, we could have forced Fausto to the bargaining table.”

The Widow snorted derisively. “You honestly believe a man who would betray his own blood would drop all his plans because his son failed him and was captured?”

Niccolo knew better than to argue with the most powerful mafiosa in all of Italy. “I’m just saying…”

“Sometimes,” I said, “it’s better to set a fearsome example.”

The Widow looked at me with an approving smile and nodded slightly.

Niccolo glanced at the two of us and knew something was up.

“…perhaps,” he grumbled.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dario said. “Our brother is alive and Lucia is safe. Our families are whole. That’s all I care about.”

“Speaking of family…” I said, then frowned. I looked up at Adriano. “My clothes – ”

“I remembered,” he said with a grin as he pulled something out of his pocket. “Once they took them off you, I made sure to grab it.”

He handed me the small box.

“Thanks, man,” I said.

“Don’t mention it.”

“Signora Fioretti,” I said to the Widow, “I would like to ask your blessing for the hand of your granddaughter in marriage.”

The entire room gasped.

Dario and Niccolo, in particular, looked at the old woman, worried how this might play out.

Lucia regarded her grandmother with both fear and excitement shining in her eyes.

The Widow stood up straight and smiled slightly. “I give you my blessing… and I welcome you into my family as my grandson.”

Everyone in the room broke out in a cheer.

I opened the box. Inside was a fairly close match for the toy ring I had given Lucia in the grocery store…

Except on this one, the band was really gold, and the stone was an actual ruby. Adriano had raided our mother’s old jewelry boxes for something that came close.

“Lucia Fioretti… I love you – will you ma– ”

Lucia burst into tears before I even finished.

“Yes – yes – YES!” she cried out as she leaned over and kissed me on the mouth.

Everyone in the room clapped and cheered.

When Lucia pulled away, I took the ring out of the box.

“Now we can replace the other one,” I said as I reached out –

She jerked her hand back like she’d touched a hot stove. “NO. I’m never giving this up.”

“But – ”

She smiled down at me through her tears. “It’s a reminder of the happiest day of my life. Well… the second happiest day, now.”

I grinned back at her and slipped the ring on her finger next to its more modest twin.

She leaned down and kissed me again.

Everyone else cheered and clapped some more – except for the Widow.

“Two rings?” she asked, perplexed. “Did I miss something?”

“I… kind of already proposed to her a few days ago,” I explained.

“I see,” the Widow said. “Well, that’s very – ”

“Nona,” Lucia warned.

“I was going to say, ‘Romantic,’” the old lady replied. “Come here.”

Lucia smiled, then walked over and hugged her grandmother.

“We have a wedding to plan!” Alessandra said happily.

“It’ll have to wait,” Niccolo said. “We have another one to attend first.”

“What? What are you talking about?” I asked.

I noticed that Alessandra straightened up again. Both her face and her body language grew cold.

Niccolo glanced over at her and sighed, then looked back at me. “As soon as you can travel, we need to go to Sicily.”

“Why?”

“Because Valentino’s getting married there.”

I frowned in surprise. “To that girl who works in the kitchen? What’s her name – Caterina?”

Alessandra looked away, her face furious.

“No,” Niccolo said quietly. “It’s an arranged marriage – to the daughter of the Cosa Nostra family that runs Sicily.”