Ruthless Prince (The Mancini Mafia #2)

Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

VINCENT

T he men laugh at me as I sign up for the competition.

“You lost to the Mountain. You don’t have what it takes any longer, Vincent,” a guy named Sal says.

“Good thing I’m not listening to you,” I comment back then walk away. One thing I learned from Igor growing up was to know when to fight and when to walk away.

I will win this competition no matter what. Losing to the Mountain is a stain on my reputation, but it won’t be that way forever.

I spend the next few days training hard, using the punching bag Mr. Moore set up in the gym room of his mansion. I punch and kick and jab and par until I’m exhausted. It also gives me the excuse not to talk to Ellie. She’s too cute for her own good, and I know Mr. Moore doesn’t want me to interact with her. I’m not going to lose this fight over some girl.

I’m going to get close enough to Nico Mancini to kill him.

The first round of competition arrives. It’s a ten-round competition, with each winner going up against a previous winner until only one remains. They’ll win the money and a meeting with Nico.

“Ready for this?” Mr. Moore asks on the drive to the fight. Ellie is in the backseat. I heard her and her father arguing about whether she could come, but in the end, she won. I’m sort of glad she’s here.

“I’ve been fighting most of my life. I’m ready.”

We arrive and enter the building. I start to head for the locker rooms but stop and gently grab Ellie’s arm. When Mr. Moore gives me a look, I let her go instantly.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry if I was an ass about you asking Nico Mancini to meet me. I know you were just trying to help.”

She smiles softly at me, which makes my heart flutter for some damn reason. “It’s ok. I hope you win this round so you get closer to meeting him your way.”

“Who knows? Maybe you’ll be my good luck charm.”

She blushes and turns away from me. “Good luck.” Sitting down beside her father, she waves at me before I head into the locker rooms.

I can hear the roar of the crowd grow as more people arrive. The announcer, Sebastian, riles up the crowd as he introduces the fighters. I zone all of that out and focus on my one task.

Win this fight.

Then it’s my turn.

“The Kraken!” Sebastian announces, and I enter the ring. Before me stands a large, muscular man nicknamed Bear. It’s fitting with how hairy he is.

Bear is a tough opponent to go up against in my first fight back after the Mountain decimated me, but I can take Bear. I have to.

Nico is in the audience tonight, I notice. When I glance at him, I catch him watching me with a scrutiny I don’t understand.

“Let’s fight!” Sebastian says, jumping out of the way as Bear lumbers toward me. In my distracted state, Bear catches me off guard. I just barely avoid his punch and land a kick to his stomach. He doubles over, coughing. I elbow him into the neck, and he roars, attacking me.

Bear grabs me around the waist and holds me in a headlock. It’s so similar to what the Mountain did to me I almost panic. I can’t lose this first round. I just fucking can’t.

Nico shifts in his seat, looking almost … disappointed.

It fills me with fire, and I use it to stomp on Bear’s foot, making his hold on me loosen. With a snarl, I kick up with my foot and land a solid hit to his jaw.

“You got this, Vincent!” Ellie’s voice comes through the crowd. I’m used to women fawning over me. The fighting rings tend to attract a lot of women with loose morals.

But never before have I had someone like Ellie cheering me on. She’s not doing it to get into my bed. Not a good girl like her. So … why is she cheering for me? Why does she seem to care so much when we’ve only known each other for a short time?

Bear punches me square in the face, sending flashing lights across my vision. I wobble and fall face down onto the ring. The crowd boos either at Bear for hitting me or me for falling.

I let my mind wander to Ellie, and now, I’m on the floor. I’ve never had a woman distract me like that.

I try jumping up, but Bear slams his entire body down on top of me, trapping me. I try fighting him, bucking and kicking, but I can’t move. What the fuck is wrong with me? Ever since Igor died, I’ve been off my game.

But I don’t tap out. I’m not going to lose.

Bear wraps his arms around my throat and squeezes until I black out.

When my eyes reopen, I’m staring up at Bear as he’s announced as the winner of this first round. He’ll continue on in this competition whereas I … I’m done.

Mr. Moore stands up and throws down his hat. Ellie stares at me with her mouth open. If a woman like her is shocked I didn’t win, then I really am a fucking loser.

“No,” I growl, jumping to stand.

“You lost, Vincent,” Sebastian says. “Go home.”

I search for Nico in the audience, but he’s not there anymore. When I finally spot him, he’s walking toward the door.

NICO

I was a fool to even believe for a moment that fighter—Vincent—could be my son. My Vincent is dead. I saw his body.

This fighter just happens to have the same name. There are a lot of Vincents in the world. I got my hopes up for nothing.

I could approach the fighter and ask him who his father is. I could just talk to him.

And yet … I’m crippled with fear he’s not really my son.

Or he is and doesn’t know I’m his father.

It’s better this way. I put my son in the past. Aurora and I have grieved together, and now, we’re in a good place. I don’t need to drag the past up.

The fighter didn’t even win the first round, so I won’t be meeting with him.

I push the fighter with the same name as my son from my mind and head home to my wife.

ELLIE

I find Vincent pounding his fists into the punching bag of our home gym. He left the ring before I had a chance to speak to him.

“Are you all right?” I ask.

He’s shirtless, and the sight of his muscles makes me a little lightheaded.

“I’m fine,” he grits out, punching the bag so hard it practically swings up to the ceiling.

“I know today didn’t go how you wanted it to.”

“No, it didn’t. I lost. I can’t even win the first round. That’s supposed to be the easiest, and I fucking lost.”

“You did just lose your father not that long ago. That could be affecting you.”

He grips the punching bag to still it and looks at me. “Listen, Ellie, you’re sweet, but I don’t need advice right now, ok? I just want to punch this thing.”

“Oh, ok,” I say, quickly leaving the room.

“Ellie,” Vincent calls out.

I glance back.

There’s a look of remorse in his eyes. “I don’t mean to be an ass. I’m just upset.”

“I know.” And I know I shouldn’t even be inside the same room as him, especially when he’s shirtless.

MR. MOORE

I didn’t take in Vincent for him to fucking lose. I need him to win this competition. I need him to get close enough to Nico Mancini so he can kill that fucker. Ever since Nico Mancini returned to New York and became the most powerful man in the city again, my income has slowed down. I’m not the number one drug and gun supplier anymore.

Nico is.

And I need him dead.

It’s a good thing Vincent wants Nico dead, too.

But I can’t have Nico’s murder get back to me, so I need Vincent to do it, and the only way to get Vincent close enough is for him to win this damn competition, which he’s already lost.

So, I’m going to fix this for him.

Jack Riley, a.k.a. Bear, stumbles into his apartment, drunk. Easier for me that way. I’m hiding in the shadows with a syringe in my hand.

Once Bear gets closer to me, I lunge out of the darkness and stab the syringe into his neck.

“What the fuck,” he murmurs before falling to the floor and going unconscious, He’ll be dead within a few minutes. No one will suspect me. They’ll all think he was drunk.

With Bear out of the competition, Vincent will get an automatic placement in the next round.

I’m doing this for my business. I’m doing this for my daughter so she can have the life I never had growing up. And I’m willing to do whatever I need to do to keep Ellie safe.

ELLIE

I’m heading to my room when Vincent steps out of the hallway bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his hips. I stop short, a flush crossing my entire face.

Vincent doesn’t look as surprised as I feel like he should look. “Hi.”

“Hi …” I glance around to make sure my father isn’t walking down the hallway at this very moment. “Why are you taking a shower here? Your bedroom is on the other side of the house.”

“For some reason, I couldn’t get the knob to work. So, I decided to try this shower instead.”

It’s a perfectly reasonable answer.

So, why don’t I believe him?

And why am I happy he used the shower closer to my bedroom? I shouldn’t be. Father would be so disappointed in me for crushing on Vincent.

But my father isn’t here right now.

“You should probably go back to your side of the house now,” I say, my voice breathless.

“Probably. And where are you heading?”

“My bedroom.” The moment I say it, I regret it. I shouldn’t be talking about my bedroom with Vincent. I shouldn’t be talking to Vincent at all.

“Nice. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Ellie.” The way he says my name so softly, it’s almost … intimate.

“You, too,” I stutter and run for my bedroom. It’s only when I’m under the covers with my door locked I start to feel somewhat sane again.

Why do I get the feeling Vincent is going to be trouble?