His Mafia Princess (Family First #1) (6 page)

Chapter Twelve

Alessandra sat with her father on the veranda behind the house, the scents of the blooming trees and fresh cut grass teased her senses. She could smell his cologne wafting around them, but also the light scent of the cigars he smoked as well. She heard him speaking, but it didn’t make sense, at all, to her.

Alessandra looked at her father and attempted to listen to what he was saying. She frowned then, still not understanding. “I’m sorry but what?” She was utterly taken aback by what he had told her. There was simply no way her father was telling her was a mobster.

“You know exactly what I said, Alessandra. It doesn’t look good on you to play the simpleton.” Her father’s lips turned down in a frown. Even though he’d already said as much, it was still hard for her to accept. She could see her father’s worry in his eyes and felt it in his words.

“I’m not trying to play a simpleton, Daddy, but I’m honestly more than a little confused. I’m trying to wrap my mind around the fact that you came in here and told me that you are, well, what you are.” She couldn’t say the word mobster, as he had. She had to think of him some other way. The man who took her had called her father that, but to her he was her daddy. He was and always would be just a businessman in her mind. “But you are telling me Gregorio is taking over for you.”

“I saw something in him years ago when I brought him into the Family. He’s worked his way through the ranks, and now he’s my second. It’s time. It’s time for me to step down so he can take over. It’s been coming for a while, but I’ve honestly put it off as long as possible. I’ve wanted to stay in power because, well let’s face it, Alessandra, I’m a control freak.”

“Yes, I’m very aware of the fact that you are a control freak.” She said this with a small frown. “However, that doesn’t explain the whole ‘why now’ part.”

“Because you were taken. My men were already thinking I was too weak to continue to lead them. When your men start questioning your leadership, it's not a good situation. It’s time to walk away when that happens.”

“So what does that mean for me?”

“Well, my darling, that’s all up in the air right now. If you want to, I will let you come with me to our family home in Nice.”

She loved the villa in Italy. It was beautiful and seemed to fit into the hills where the hole was located. “I would be bored silly.” She admitted this after a moment of thought. “I love living here.” This was her home, this mansion that they lived in. She loved the area. Her friends were all here and it was simply, well, home.

“Then there will be changes,” her father said as he rose to his feet. “But I will let you find out about those later.”

Gregorio, she knew that was what her father was alluding to. He had told her he was going to give her two days to heal, and then he was going to come back for her. She felt her body reacting to the thought of him coming back for her and couldn’t wait.

“I understand,” she finally said to her father when she realized he was looking at her and waiting for some sort of a reply.

“Good. I’m glad you do understand.” Her father hesitated for a moment and then said, “I never wanted you to find out what I did. I never wanted you to be in this life you’ve now been pulled into. Your mother knew what I did, and she made me swear before she died that I would never let this life touch yours. I wasn’t able to keep that promise, and for that I’m sorry.”

“You should’ve told me. I feel as if I’ve been kept in the dark about a subject that directly affects me. This bothers me, a great deal. I’m not a child, Daddy. Yes, I know you see me as one, but I’m not. I know I have a great deal of growing up to do, but I could have handled this, if you had told me first. I never would have guessed.” She admitted this to her father with a small hitch in her voice as she spoke.

The man reached for his daughter and wrapped his arms around her. He wasn’t a rotund man, but he wasn’t chiseled muscle like Gregorio was. It was weird how she was thinking and comparing all men to Gregorio now. “Your mother never wanted you to know, so I swore I wouldn’t tell you. I am so sorry that promise was broken. I’m certain one day your mother will take me to task for that. When I’ve died and stand before Saint Peter, she will be there at his side so she can ensure I’m held accountable. She will remind me just what evil I have done.”

“Mother loved you.”

“She loved me, yes, but she didn’t love the man I was. She didn’t love the man that killed without remorse, that ruled with a brutal hand. No, she will be there to ensure Saint Peter gets it all right.”

Alessandra could only nod. That sounded like her mother. Ensuring that justice was done. Her mother had been gentle and kind, but she had a sense of honor most wouldn’t ever be able to even think of.

“It is because of her that I stopped selling children.”

Alessandra pulled from her father and gasped. She stepped back as if he were someone she didn’t know and shook her head. “You what?”

“I did. I made a lot of money on it as well. However, because of her, I no longer do so.”

“I…” She didn’t know what to say about that. She had no idea how to even think of her father now. He was not the man she had grown up with. He was not the man that had bounced her on his knee and played with her. He was a monster.

“I need time.” She turned to run from the man that had raised her, the man that had loved her. She had to get away or she would say and do something that would hurt their relationship even more than it was currently hurt.

Alessandra grabbed her keys on the way through the house. She hopped into her car and took off as soon as the garage door opened. No, it might not be the smartest thing she had ever done, but the fact was that she wasn’t thinking. She just needed to get away.

With tears rolling from her eyes, she drove toward the one place on the planet that always calmed her. She drove toward the observatory that stood on the top of the highest point in their state.

Putting the car into park, she got out and walked to the edge of the high ridge and simply stood there. She looked over the valley and realized she had never truly seen the world. She had seen it all through the eyes of a child.

****

“You shouldn’t be out here without a guard.”

When he had gotten to the mansion and her father sat nursing a whiskey sour, Gregorio had been pissed when Giovanni told him Alessandra had gone out without protection. His blood had run cold. After punching the old man for letting her leave without a guard, he got into one of the cars instead of his bike so he could move faster. The Hennessey Venom GT had been built for speed, after all.

When she turned to face him, he saw her tear-stained cheeks and wanted to hit someone all over again.

“I needed to breath.”

“I knew you would come here.” He moved just a bit closer to her. “You’ve always loved it here.”

“It’s the only place I’ve ever felt as if I belonged.”

“Oh, honey.” Gregorio wrapped his coat around her shoulders and he moved in to cup her cheek. “You’ve always belonged.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I’ve waited so damn to hold you,” he confessed and squeezed her tighter. “You’ve always amazed me.” He stroked her hair now and held her. “He tried to keep you from ever learning the truth.” He pressed a kiss at her ear. “But one thing he could never keep you from is me. I tried, Alessandra. I tried to stay away, because I know I’m not a good man and I never will be.”

She tried to pull back from him, but he wouldn’t allow it. He held her closer. “Let me finish,” he said. “I’ve tried to stay from you, but I can’t. You have one chance, Al, only one. If you don’t walk away now I’m never letting you go.”

“You told me two days.” Alessandra looked up at him with a smile. Damn, he loved that look in her eyes. “Were you part of all of the family business?”

“Do you want me to lie to you?” He pulled her back slightly, his fist in her long dark black tresses to control her head. “Because now that you know, you need to open your eyes and know everything. I won’t lie to you, Alessandra, not now that you know.”

“I don’t want someone to lie to me. I don’t want to be coddled. I need to know what I’m getting into.”

“Yes, I was part of it all. I’ve fucked every whore under your father. I’ve beaten and killed men that didn’t pay when they owed a debt. I’m not a good man, Alessandra, and I never will be. But…” He tightened his hold on her hair. He wanted to see how she would react to a bit of pain. “Once you are in my bed, I won’t fuck another. That’s the way it should be. The Boss should never have a mistress.”

“Did my father?”

“Several. You have two half-brothers out there somewhere. They were twins. He’s hidden them or paid his whore off to go away, but I know that they are out there. They were born two days after you.”

He heard her indrawn breath and felt her shake in his arms. “What?” She whispered that word, her eyes once more wide.

“You heard me. Don’t ask for a repetition of something you already know, Alessandra. It makes you seem dim, and we both know you aren’t. Don’t demean yourself and me by asking for statements to be parroted back at you.” She was going to be his wife. He would not allow her to seem weak. He wasn’t going to let her hide. Not now. Never again. “You are stronger than this, Alessandra, and you damn well know it. Don’t act stupid.”

“Don’t talk to me like that,” she said angrily, her eyes flashing in anger. “Contrary to popular believe, I am not stupid.”

“I know.” He knew just how intelligent she was. She had two degrees from college and was far too smart for him, but he wasn’t letting her go. Not now and not ever. “You make me feel, but it's more than that. You make me question myself, and you make me more observant because you are so smart. I’m thankful for your intellect. You are more than a beautiful woman to have on my arm.”

“I don’t want to know anything about the business. I just want you to come home to me each and every night. Can you do that?”

“I will do all I can to ensure I always come home to you, Alessandra. You are the one I’ve been waiting for. Since I saw you naked at sixteen, I knew you were going to be my wife one day. I’ve wanted you since then.” He admitted this bluntly. “I was twenty-eight and wanted to fuck you nine ways of Sunday.”

“Oh.” He could see the shock on her face when she muttered that one singular word. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

“How about you just tell me you want me.” He pulled her close. He then watched her. “I’m going to kiss you now, sweetheart.”

“Okay.” Her eyes were glued to his lips and that had his dick even harder. He tugged her just a bit, enough to make her lose balance, and then put his mouth to hers.

Gregorio kissed her like a man starving. No, he hadn’t gone without sex for twelve years, but he hadn’t kissed a woman since that fateful day when she was a girl. That was for her, only her. He kissed her now so she could feel every single emotion he was feeling. He was god damn good and well going to have her. Now.

He moved his hands to her ass and picked her up. When she wrapped her legs around his waist, he felt like he had won the fucking lottery. His hands squeezed her plump ass, and he walked to the tables overlooking the valley below them. He knew his men guarding the roads would ensure they had privacy.

Sitting her on the edge of the stone table, he pulled back from her slightly and pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m taking you home with me, Alessandra.” He wasn’t taking no for an answer. She was his. They would soon be married, but for now he was taking what was his.

“Okay.”

He noticed that she kept running her hands over his body and pressing kisses along his throat. “I will have one of the guys get your car,” he said and nibbled her throat. He was addicted to her taste, and he was going to bathe in that sensation because she was his weakness. He knew that. He would always need a taste of her. One day he hoped to control that so that his enemies wouldn’t see his weakness, but in the meantime he would protect her and keep her safe.

“Okay.”

She seemed stuck on that word. He was fine with it though, because she kept kissing him and nibbling on his throat. His cock was so fucking hard he knew he could fucking hammer nails into concrete but soon, really soon, he was going to ensure he was able to put his dick where it should be. Inside of her.

“You are going to marry me in thirty days.” It wasn’t a question. Gregorio was done asking questions. It was a statement of fact. He was going to marry her and he was going to keep her too.

“Okay.”

There was that breathless word again, which had him laughing just a small bit. “Come on, baby.” Again, he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He reveled in how fucking much she wanted to touch him as well. He didn’t say anything else. Instead, he simply carried her to his car. Once she was in the passenger seat, he buckled her up and then walked over to his side of the car.

Home. It was time for him to take her home. It wasn’t as opulent as the home she had grown up in, but it was his, free and clear. He had busted his ass for the last five years to ensure she had everything she could possibly want. He’d built the house from the ground up with her in mind. It had shitloads of safety features and several panic rooms, because he would not and could not lose her. Not now, not ever. She was far too important to him.