I swing open the doors to Kings Gym, Keller’s and Grayson’s boxing club. Tossing my bag down next to the ring, I watch as the two owners beat the shit out of each other.
The ladies’ kickboxing class in the far corner has stopped their training to ogle the two sweaty beasts sparring in the ropes.
“Time’s up! My session starts in—” I check my Rolex, “—forty-five seconds.”
They stop and Keller clocks Grayson on the side of the jaw and laughs.
I’m desperate to unleash some of this anxiety brewing inside of me. I’m still not totally okay with leaving Rosa on her own, despite her assuring me she will be fine. She is so fragile, it’s hard to feel comfortable being gone.
I don’t know how to cope with this overwhelming need to protect her. When I’m with her, I forget about myself. She is my focus.
“Asshole,” Grayson grunts, rubbing his jaw.
I may not have any blood family, but these two are my brothers. Keller, my foster brother turned heavyweight boxing champion of the world. The ‘Killer’ himself. His title fight brought in enough money to pay this place off so I could let him retire from my organization. He left some big shoes to fill as one of my enforcers, so I’m fucking lucky I had Grayson there to take his place.
They’re both lethal. And both are angry. I’m glad they’re on my side.
Keller unlaces his gloves with his teeth. “Brother,” he pants out, resting his huge, heavily tattooed frame over the ropes.
I stand there for a moment watching him catch his breath. “Being a dad got you out of shape already?”
He scowls at me. I might joke, but he has never been happier. Him and Sienna have a perfect family, with their kids Max and Darcy.
Grayson jabs Keller in the arm. “He’s back in fighting shape. Your next opponent will be lucky to get out alive.”
Keller’s come a long way from fighting on the streets. That’s how we grew up, with no parents or home. We fought for everything. Food. Money. Hell, even for our lives, in some cases. We always had each other’s backs, and always will.
I jog up the steps and duck under the ropes.
“Everything okay?” Keller asks after he takes a drink. I can hear the concern in his voice.
Just because I probably look tired, it shouldn’t be a sign of something wrong. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”
Grayson chucks over some gloves for me.
Keller crushes the empty plastic bottle in his large hand. “I heard you’ve got a certain Falcone daughter residing at your place.”
I flick a glare to Grayson, who shrugs.
“Don’t worry about me. I have it under control. I’ll see you tomorrow night for dinner. Can you make that chicken dish? I’ve been thinking about it all week.”
“I’ll ask Sienna.” He grabs my shoulder and brings his face level with mine. “All you have to do is ask if you want my help, Luca. Family first. Always. We’ve had each other’s backs, nothing has changed there.”
But it has. He has something I can’t let him lose.
“Keller, Mom would rip me limb from limb if I let you back. We’re good.” I scowl at Grayson past his shoulder. He shouldn’t have told Keller about Rosa.
I’m not dragging Keller into this. He would tear the world down to protect his family. He would die for them. I won’t put him in a position to do that.
I jog away from him and put up my gloves, motioning Grayson to join me.
Grayson holds up the pads, and I start to throw some jab combinations. Left, right, left, duck. Over and over again.
“Ready to fight?” I wipe the sweat from my forehead.
His eyes light up. “I’m always happy to knock you on your ass, Luca. I’ve only got twenty minutes. Maddie is meeting me here.”
“You two straightened out your little argument?”
He scrunches his face up, “Maybe, let’s see if she shows.”
“She will.”
It’s so obvious they are in love. It’s sickening.
“I would have paid millions to see her pull a gun out on you,” I chuckle.
He shakes his head. “Shit, it was scary and hot all at the same time. I always said she’d try to kill me one day. Honestly, just wait until you meet your Maddie. I would have let her shoot me. That’s the scary part.”
“I don’t think that’s in the cards for me yet. Although, if I do, I’ll be snatching that gun out of her hands and shoving it up her pussy until she’s screaming my name.”
I burst out into laughter as Grayson bites the inside of his mouth, sporting a grin, and shrugs.
“You filthy fucker. I’m jealous.” I have tears running down my face.
“Whatever. Let’s box. When you’re in the ring, I’m the boss.” His hands come up under his chin as he bounces closer.
“Well, now I can’t concentrate. I won’t be able to look at you holding a gun the same way again.” Dropping my arms to my sides, I’m laughing so hard I don’t have the strength to pick them up.
I snap my mouth shut when his glove hurtles towards my face. I duck out of the way, but he nails me on the side of the head. It’s the kind of pain I need to distract myself from life right now.
I kill the engine and am shrouded by darkness. The flame of my lighter illuminates the inside of the car briefly as I light up a cigarette while I wait for Frankie and Vince. Grayson’s too busy taking Maddie on a date in London.
They pull up in a dark box van next to me. Silently, we climb out of our vehicles and grab our gear.
It’s time to steal guns from the biggest crime family in Europe.
The three of us weave our way through the stacked cargo containers before I give the signal to stop. Dropping to one knee, I peer slowly around the corner. There are three men guarding our goal, their guns slung across their backs reflect the spotlights. They’re facing away from us, watching as the boat pulls up. Vince clambers up to a better vantage, his silenced sniper rifle strapped snugly across his shoulders.
I look at Frankie, who doesn’t take his eyes off the men.
“He sent his fucking rookies to a gun deal,” he mutters.
“Handy for us.” They aren’t ready. We are.
As the boat docks, Vince fires a quiet shot and the guy in the middle thuds to the ground. The other two jump away, aiming their guns in the air randomly. The wrong way.
“Let’s do this,” I grunt to Frankie.
We crouch and move towards our targets. I gesture to him at the Falcone straight ahead of me. Pulling the knife from my pocket, I creep up behind him, grab him around the throat and slash from left to right. Warm blood spills across my forearm, and I toss him to the ground as he clutches at his throat. I watch the life drain from his eyes and then turn my attention to Frankie. He has the last guy in a headlock. When I hear the snap, I cringe and Frankie drops him.
“Ouch,” I whisper to him with a grin.
“Says you.” He looks down at the dead guy on the ground next to me.
Footsteps signal Vince joining us, and we walk towards the boat.
There’s only one guy that I can see, and he’s tying up the boat.
I press my gun against the back of his head, and he stills.
“Guns.” I bark at him. “Load them in that van. Now.”
“Eh?” He turns to face me, the tip of my gun now at the center of his forehead. He looks past me, to Frankie and Vince on either side of me, and then down.
I laugh as the shock appears on his face when he spots the bodies. “I see you’ve spotted your friends back there.”
“I-I am not part of this. I’m just the delivery guy.” His voice quivers.
I jab the barrel hard enough to leave a half-circle cut on his head. “Load the guns into the truck. Tell Romano there is only one way to ship his guns into New York and that’s through Luca Russo.”
He steps back, nodding frantically and calling in Italian to someone in the boat.
Frankie pulls his own pistol up as a young guy appears at the steps, shaking like a leaf.
“Go on, then.” I shove the old man with my gun.
Once they load up the back of the truck, Frankie slams the doors shut.
“You sort out the mess here, V,” I say while I’m texting the quantities to Enzo.
“You got it.” The short Russian herds the two boatmen back towards the docks.
Frankie hops in the truck. Not a single hair is out of place on his head. This life comes naturally to him.
I hit send on the text and look up at him. “Good job. Get those back to our warehouse. Keep them hidden, the less people that know about this, the better.”
He doesn’t say a word, just drops his chin before firing up the diesel and backing out of the alley.
My boots kick along the gravel. I should have gone with him to make sure everything gets well covered.
Something is screaming at me to get home.
To get to her.
By the time I get there, it’s two in the morning. I’m careful as I creep past the guest bedroom, not wanting to disturb Rosa.
I head into the en-suite and wash the blood off my hands. The water swirls a deep red. Gripping onto the side of the sink, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My hair is tousled, with splatters of blood smothering my white shirt and speckled all the way up my neck. My jacket and shirt get tossed in the ever-growing pile of laundry. It takes forever to scrub the dried crust from under my nails.
Turning on the shower and cranking the heat up, I stop as I go to take off my pants. I swear to God, that sounds like yelling. I rush out of the room into the hallway.
Screams rip from Rosa’s room.
“Get off me!” I can hear the panic in her voice.
What the fuck? I dart back into my room and snatch the gun off of my bedside table. I slowly push open her door with my weapon at the ready, then flick on the light.
Her cries get louder. I scan the room and she’s in bed, wrapped up in the blanket, but rolling around and shrieking in agony.
Oh shit.
My gun clatters to the floor. I rush over to her side and crouch down. Sweat beads on her forehead and her eyes are squeezed shut as if she’s in pain.
“Please, no,” she whimpers.
I reach out to touch her but stop myself.
“Rosa,” I whisper.
Her body flails around the bed. It’s like she’s possessed.
I can’t watch this; her wails are eating me alive. It’s pure, guttural misery.
Without thinking, I get on the bed and pull her body into mine. Carefully, I hold down her arms and wrap her in an embrace.
“Shh, Rosa. It’s me, Luca. No one can hurt you here,” I whisper into the top of her sweaty head.
I can stop anyone physically hurting her, but I can’t fix what’s tormenting her on the inside. If I could take some of her pain, I would in a heartbeat.
I hold my breath, holding her snugly.
Her screams turn into tears falling against my bare chest. I keep talking to her, telling her I’m here and that she’s okay.
I don’t know what is haunting her, but now I realize why she’s so desperate for a drink. And why she looked at me in horror when she found out her room was next to mine.
She didn’t want me to see her like this.
I sit with her, letting her settle in my arms. I’m too scared to move or startle her. So, I stay exactly where I am for hours. To the point my back aches and my arms are dead.
As the sun starts to rise, I carefully lift her head to rest it on the pillow and slip out from under her.
I take one last look as I close the door. She looks peaceful now.
My grip on the door handle tightens and my jaw clenches. Whatever demons are doing this, I want to fucking kill them.
