Dirty Mafia Sinner (Dirty Mafia Kingdom #2)

Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

RILEY

Shouting wakes me.

I sit up in bed, immediately aware I’m alone.

“Get your ugly mug out of my face,” a man bellows.

I hurry into the hallway and peer down into the living area. Two guards lay immobile on the floor as Alessandro and another man fight in a full-on brawl.

“I’ll kill you,” the prisoner cries out, body-slamming Alessandro and taking him to the floor.

“Not if I kill you first, you son of a bitch.”

I race for the stairs and drum down them. By the time I reach the living room, both men are on their feet. Alessandro faces me, his expression furious. He punches the man, sending his head pitching sideways. Blood splatters across the tile.

There’s a brief pause as the intruder recovers. And then the battle’s on.

My fingers clench into a fist as I hover helplessly nearby.

“Your men tied me to a hotel bed for days, you control freak.”

So, he does know Alessandro.

“What else would you have me do?” Alessandro snarls. “Hold your hand while the shit you snorted leaves your system? Allow you to bring down the Beneventi empire?”

“I’m not the one who was ambushed.”

Oh no. Wound, meet poking finger. The man is either a fool or the bravest soul on earth.

Alessandro launches at him. After several brutal punches, the boxing match turns into a grappling session as they take it to the floor.

I snatch a vase off a table, dump the contents on the floor, and creep forward until I’m a few feet away. They’re about the same size. Same dark hair. Same tenacity. Alessandro is more muscular, more strategic. His attacker is wild and unpredictable.

“Thank fuck I caught you.” Alessandro flips the man onto his back and pins his arms overhead. “He’s dead.”

“Like you’ll be if you don’t get off me.”

“You listening? Don Lucchese’s dead. Funeral and the vote is in less than a week.”

I can’t see the man’s face or read his reaction. But within seconds he goes completely feral. “You can’t keep me from going.” His fist connects with Alessandro’s side.

Alessandro gets in his face. “Watch me.”

It happens so fast, and I’m completely caught off guard. The man crashes his head into Alessandro’s in a vicious headbutt and flips positions.

Then he produces a gun.

“You fucking froze before,” Alessandro taunts. “Now you’re going to shoot me ?”

“You hold a grudge like nobody else.”

“You ruined my life,” Alessandro snarls. “Go on. Shoot me. Then you’ll be stepping up instead of shooting up.”

The man’s hand shakes.

“Pussy,” Alessandro gloats.

“You controlling prick. I’m this close to putting you out of your misery.”

Fear moves me closer. Love has me raising the vase to strike.

Alessandro’s eyes snap to mine as I swing. But sensing danger, the man shifts, and I hit him in his upper arm.

The man’s up and on me before the vase crashes to the ground. I’m tackled, my head hitting the tile floor. Gun to my temple, I can only stare up at him.

What? Am I seeing double?

He looks like Alessandro.

“Don’t you fucking hurt her, Renzo.” Never, in all this time, have I heard Alessandro so desperate. So vulnerable. “Hurt her, and I will kill you.”

The stranger and I lock eyes. He’s a mess, a beautiful, wild mess. “Who the hell are you?”

“You’re Alessandro’s twin.”

“Get your filthy hands off her.”

His twin—Renzo—relaxes but keeps the gun to my temple. “Well, this is worth the unexpected brotherly visit. You’ve a pretty sidepiece.”

Alessandro rolls to his feet, his panic subsiding, then shoves Renzo off me.

His brother, twisted and delirious, falls on his back, laughing.

“Keep your trap shut.”

“Father doesn’t know,” Renzo laughs harder. “Sandro Beneventi, the next Beneventi capo, obedient heir and sacrificial lamb, has been keeping a secret.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

“I love her.”

I gasp.

Renzo’s laughter abruptly stops. He sits up, giving Alessandro a steady look, weighing his words, while my heart nearly leaps out of my chest.

My lips part. I can barely breathe.

Renzo smirks.

And Alessandro punches him in the side of the head, knocking him out cold.

SANDRO

“Glad you invited me over for this Hallmark moment.” Renzo’s got a knot on his head the size of a fist, a tracking device secured around his ankle, and a shit-eating grin permanently etched on his lips. He keeps eyeing Riley like she’s the eighth Wonder of the World.

The three of us are eating leftover gnocchi at the kitchen island and pretending a bomb didn’t just detonate in the living area.

“What’s your name?” he asks, mouth half-full. He’s skinnier than when I last saw him, although I only had one functional eye, so I could be wrong.

“Her name’s Riley,” I mutter.

Renzo laughs. “Won’t even let you answer, huh? If you’re in it for the long haul”—he glances at her ankle monitor, then at me—“best get used to it.”

My girl shrugs her shoulder. “He’s not that bad.”

Renzo chokes on his gnocchi, and it’s my turn to laugh.

“How could he be?” Her eyes collide with mine. “When he loves me.”

“Fuck.”

“I like her,” Renzo exclaims. “Sure, her aim sucks. But she went after me … me , the eldest son of Sebastiano Beneventi.”

“By five minutes, idiot.”

Riley glances between me and my twin.

Renzo flashes his trademark smirk at her. “He’s an asshole. Always has been, always will be. And now, he’s an asshole in love. Glad I went cold turkey and currently am sober enough to witness this.”

“Christ’s sake. Will you shut up?”

Renzo draws a zipping line across his lips.

“Come here, baby,” I order in a low, gravelly voice.

Riley climbs off the stool and steps between my thighs. I wrap my arms around her and pull her in, then kiss the top of her head. I need to give her something. Raising her chin with my finger, I gaze into her eyes. “I love you. Capisci?”

“Yes.”

“Good girl.” I pause, waiting. “Anything you’d like to say to me?”

Renzo nearly pisses his pants.

But I realize love’s made me stronger, not weaker.

Not yet.

My gaze connects with Renzo’s. And for the first time since I stepped into his shoes, I read regret in his eyes.