The Mafia Contract Series

ALESSANDRO

I leave Winter to sleep while I shower and change. I have calls to make and want to catch up with my brothers before the day runs away with us.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

As I leave, I take a lingering glance at the sleeping beauty in my bed and still can’t believe my luck. She loves me. The moment those words fell from her lips, it healed my soul. Nothing else matters now. My grandfather, Allegra and the Giodanos. Nothing but making Winter my wife and taking over the Majerio family as soon as required.

It will be a fight to the death to keep Winter by my side, but my grandfather chose me as his successor for a reason and I didn’t miss the pride in his eyes whenever I stood up to him, despite the frown on his face. I am more like him than he would care to admit and I’m guessing he would be disappointed if I married Allegra, anyway.

I head outside and nod to the ever-present soldiers who guard our headquarters well. Their loyalty is to Club Mafia when they are here, not only their respective Don. Here Angelo is the Don, and we all offer him that respect, regardless of what and who we control in the outside world.

Stepping over to the fountain that is the centerpiece of the courtyard, I call my grandfather more out of respect than anything else.

“Alessandro.”

His husky voice reaches out and grabs my attention and he says slowly, “I trust you are in a more amenable frame of mind now you have had your fun.”

“Nothing has changed, Grandfather. I won’t marry Allegra and will bring Winter home, or we remain here.”

“Which is…”

Nobody knows about Club Mafia except those who belong and serve it, so I laugh softly.

“Here is here. That’s all you need to know.”

There’s a brief silence before he sighs heavily.

“You put me in an unfortunate position with Don Giodano.”

“You will find a way out of it.”

“No, Alessandro.”

“No, what?”

“I will do nothing. I will leave it up to you to explain why you are declaring war on the Giodano family. Because that’s exactly what it will be if you back out of our deal. A bloodthirsty, desperate war where nobody wins. Ask yourself if she’s worth it when you can have it all, anyway.”

“The answer will always be yes. She’s worth it and if it involves a war, it won’t be the first one I’ve fought for her.”

His exasperated sigh tells me he’s disappointed in my reaction, but I can’t worry about that.

His deep voice hisses back, “Three months and the clock is ticking. I have every faith in you to do the right thing for everyone concerned.”

He cuts the call, giving me no chance to retaliate and I huff with frustration and light a cigarette to calm myself the fuck down.

An amused laugh hits me from behind and as I turn, I see Flynn sitting on the wall watching me.

“Jesus, Flynn, how long have you been stalking me?”

“My whole life, brother.”

He winks as he points to my smoke.

“Got a spare?”

“You begging for leftovers now? Don’t you have more money these days?”

He shrugs. “Louisa hates smoking.”

I raise my eyes. “And the real reason is?”

“That is the real reason.”

It makes me laugh out loud as I hand him a smoke and grin. “The Angel has been pussy whipped. I never thought I’d see the day.”

‘I’m not the only one judging by that conversation.”

As I lean against the fountain, I shake my head. “She knows nothing. It was my decision.”

I growl irritably, “If my grandfather believes I’ll give up the only woman I have ever loved for a cold, emotionless, mafia princess who craves power and doesn’t care who she has to marry to get it, he doesn’t know me at all.”

“So, you’re about to fight another war. I can loan you my army if you like.”

“I figured you might.” We share a grin and I watch as he hops off the wall and saunters across, flicking the lit cigarette into the fountain after only one puff. “Dirty habit.”

He grins. “You should get Malik onto your problem. Stuff like that gives him an orgasm. He’ll thank you for it.”

I consider our mysterious Arab friend and say with interest, “How is he coping with life in the family business?”

Flynn shrugs. “The same as the rest of us, I guess. He doesn’t talk much about it but the tortured pain in his eyes deepens every time we meet.”

“I noticed.”

Tossing my own butt into the fountain, I jerk my thumb toward the house. “Let’s eat. I’m keen to meet the woman who was mad enough to wear your wedding ring.”

I note the softening expression of my chaotic friend and am happy he’s found love. It’s obvious because I’ve never seen him so calm and as we head inside, I am looking forward to introducing my woman to the others.

Flynn must be reading my mind because he says in a low voice, “How is she?”

As I picture her sucking my cock not that long ago, I grin. “She’s perfect.”

Flynn’s eyes narrow and he fixes me with a stern gaze. “I wouldn’t make it so obvious unless you want Angelo to cut you a new pair.”

“He’s good. Even welcomed me to the family.”

Flynn whistles. “Then he’s madder than I am.”

As we head into the kitchen, I make straight for the coffee machine and hear. “Hey, baby.”

Spinning around, I see a pretty girl head straight into Flynn’s arms and for some reason it makes me smile when I witness the happiness on both their faces.

“Louisa.”

At the sound of my voice, she turns and looks at me awkwardly, a blush staining her cheeks as she mutters, “Oh, um, hi…”

“Alessandro.”

I smile to put her at ease, but Flynn adds. “The Beast to everyone else. More like a puppy dog, really.”

As I fix him with my most ferocious glare, I don’t miss the way her skin pales as she gazes between us with concern.

Flynn merely rolls his eyes and, taking her hand, pulls her over to me.

Stepping forward, I kiss her on both cheeks and whisper, “If you ever need help with him, call someone else. He’s beyond any I can offer him.”

I wink as she giggles, relaxing a little and my heart lifts when a sleepy looking woman heads into the room, barefoot and wearing one of my t-shirts.

Her hair is messy, and she yawns deeply and yet as soon as she sees me her face lights up and I don’t miss the lust that sparks in her eyes.

Flynn sighs, causing her to spin around and the faint blush to her face when she sees Louisa and Flynn watching her with amusement, makes her say quickly, “I’m sorry, forgive my appearance but the aroma of coffee enticed me in here.”

Flynn laughs out loud. “You have never looked more perfect, Angel. Come and meet Louisa, my wife.”

A huge smile breaks across Winter’s face and she steps forward and, to all our surprise, hugs Louisa close and for a moment I wonder if she’s confusing her with her friend Emma who lived with us at Rockwell. Flynn had a thing for her, and it ended as they always did as one night only.

She pulls away and says with tears glistening in her eyes, “Thank you so much.”

“For what?” Louisa appears confused and Winter says softly, “For making Flynn so happy and for helping bring me home.”

Louisa appears a little emotional. “I’m so happy it all worked out.”

Winter nods and, looking past her, catches my eye and I swear if we were alone, I would be inside her right now. “It’s good to be back.”

I hand her a coffee before slipping my arm around her shoulder and pull her close, leaning down and breathing in the sweet soft scent of my woman.

It’s typical that Angelo chooses this moment to walk in, hand in hand with Jasmine, and the amusement on her face is the opposite of the frown on his.

Winter makes to move, but I keep a firm hold on her and growl, “Morning guys.”

Jasmine grins wickedly as Angelo sighs, before his expression softens and he heads straight for Winter and plucks her from my side. As his own arms wrap around his sister, I can almost taste their emotion as they block out the rest of the room and enjoy the fact they are back together again.

I watch as the tears blur in Jasmine and Louisa’s eyes as they stare at a scene I’m not sure any of us believed we’d see again, and it’s only when Malik glides into the room that they pull apart when he says briskly, “I’ve spent an interesting night delving into Massimo’s past and you may be interested in what I found.”

We all stare at him with eager expressions and Angelo nods toward the door. “We’ll talk over breakfast. I have a feeling this will be a long conversation.” As we head off, it strikes me that Malik must have discovered something good because even he looks excited, and I hope that whatever it turns out to be is a good thing and won’t interfere with the happiness we are enjoying right now.