Dirty Mafia Sinner (Dirty Mafia Kingdom #2)

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

SANDRO

Ambushed once, call me weak.

Ambushed twice and call me the asshole who didn’t learn his lesson.

I’m rinsing off when the bathroom door is thrown open. Years of preparation for a moment like this has me hauling ass from the shower. I slam into my uninvited guest, my hand to their throat and full body weight pinning them to the door. You dare surprise me in my home, motherfucker?

Her whimper is what registers first.

Then her big wild eyes.

I ease off her. “How in fuck’s name did you get in here?” The bedroom door is locked, as is the hallway entrance to the gym adjacent to my walk-through wardrobe. What I neglected to secure was the bathroom door.

My fingers roll into a ball so tight my knuckles crack. The rage she ignites pumps through me like an IV shot. I’m high with it, edging on borderline psychotic.

Men fear me.

Men respect me.

No one with any self-preservation would interrupt me in my bathroom. Not even my fuckdolls are permitted in my private suite.

“The balcony,” she squeaks.

“What?”

“I knocked on the door. You didn’t answer, and it was locked. But I knew you were here, and I had to talk to you right away, so I jumped balconies.”

“For Christ’s sake.” I grab her shoulders and shake her. “It’s a hundred-foot drop.”

Tears spring into her eyes. “It’s about Emily…”

I stiffen. “Eavesdropping?”

She draws a breath. “Please, Alessandro.”

“What did I tell you? Don’t. Say. My. Name.” Not so long ago I lost my mind while delirious and high on meds. I gave in to temptation and demanded my name from her lips. Not fucking Al, or Sandro— Alessandro.

Weak actions only a weak man would take. It’s why I went cold turkey on the meds. It’s why I push my body and test my endurance. Al might be a chump, but Alessandro Beneventi is merciless.

“I’m begging you. Spare her.”

“Give me one good reason why.”

Her big eyes stare at me like I’m not human.

About time she catches on.

“Don’t kill her because she’s your friend?” I snort. “You’ve shit luck choosing the company you keep, baby.”

She flinches. “Don’t call me that.”

I get in her face. “You don’t tell me what to do.”

Our eyes lock, and a familiar stirring hits me like a sledgehammer. I slam it into the ground before I do something I’ll regret. “Coke dealer. Seductress. Weak with daddy issues.”

She gasps, but I continue on, merciless. “Your best friend had a lot to say about you.” I shake my head with pretend disappointment. “Why would she believe you’d run off with her boyfriend?”

“I didn’t … I wouldn’t…” Riley scrunches her face. Disgusted by her friend or Ciro? “Emily doesn’t know Ciro’s dead?”

Her loyalty’s admirable. Shame I wasn’t shown the same consideration.

“I saw his body…” Her face pales as her words sink in. Like it’s only just now hit her that I could wrap a rope around her pretty neck and hang her from a balcony, and no one would care.

“No body now. No crime scene. Gone, just like that.” I snap my fingers in front of her face, and she jerks back.

Fuck knows why the one and only witness is still alive.

Fear grips her, and her body shakes.

“Get the fuck out.” I shove her aside to open the door.

She plants her feet, and I clench my jaw.

“What do you want from me?” Her voice trembles.

“Not a motherfucking thing.”

Tension thickens the air between us, yet I see the wheels within her mind spinning.

Then she does the unimaginable, and drops to her knees. Face inches from my erection, she raises beautiful green eyes. “I’ll do whatever you demand.”

Well, fuck. I wasn’t expecting that.

“If you let Emily go.” She holds her head high like this bargain she’s proposing is the winning numbers on a lottery ticket.

I shrug. “Not anything you can offer that I don’t already have.”

Hurt washes over her expression, her reaction the equivalent of popping a balloon with a butcher knife. And I want to hurt her.

Almost as much as the desire to flip her onto all fours and drive my way home.

Whatever I want.

Wherever I want.

I take her elbow, tug her onto her feet, and push her out the door. “What I want is you out of my sight,” I say, before slamming the door so hard, the crash reverberates louder than my twisted thoughts.

Out of sight.

Now I need to rid her from my mind.

RILEY

My emotions run rampant while an alternate plan for saving Emily evades me. I begged Alessandro to spare her. Humiliated myself by getting on my knees. Completely, utterly offered myself to him.

And he slammed the door in my face.

Tears aren’t enough to calm my panic. I’m powerless against that unforgiving monster. I press my eyelids tighter, though the worst thought possible pushes through—Emily might be dead by now.

Something rockets by my face, clipping my nose. Startled, my eyes snap open, and I glance around.

There, perched on the wrought iron balcony, is a small bright yellow canary with delicate brown markings. Fearless as it studies me from an arm’s breadth away. If its sudden appearance was startling, the perfectly pitched song it begins singing stuns me speechless.

I still and barely breathe for fear of frightening it away.

My mom used to say bird visits have symbolic meaning. A hummingbird brings joy and happiness. A crow represents change. A cardinal’s visit is the most precious because it means a loved one who has passed on is thinking of you. What do you signify, little bird? Because I’m lost as to what to do.

It’s been an hour or two since he didn’t simply reject my proposition but literally slammed the door in my face. His room is quiet, and he’s likely bossing men about or bending brunettes over to spank them.

Getting what he already has .

I’m a practical person. His harem shouldn’t bother me this much. Recklessly falling for a violent mafioso with a short temper and an unforgiving streak a mile long is absurd. Yet logic flies out the door whenever I’m in his company.

That’s why you invited him home, Riley. To feel again, remember?

Silent now, the canary bobs its head.

I should warn it. This is no place for beautiful things.

With careful movements, I reach for the stale croissant I brought upstairs from the kitchen earlier. I crush a small piece between my fingers, and then ever so slowly, sprinkle crumbs on the balcony railing behind me.

It immediately hops closer, then closer, then quickly pecks up the pieces.

“Aren’t you a brave birdie?” I whisper.

For a long while we study each other. Hope, I think. You’re a sign everything will be fine.

Loud knocking shatters the moment, startling us both. The canary flies off in the direction of the pool as I brace myself for what comes next.

Step by step, I trudge toward the bedroom door, slipping on then zipping up my uniform as I go.

I whisk the door open and am greeted by one of Alessandro’s stern-faced soldiers.

“Boss says to get your ass down to the pool, immediamente.”