Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Alex

On a list of all the nightclubs I owned, The Ultraviolet Room wasn't my favorite. I usually preferred the Vixen. It had the perfect combination of clientele, rich and very gay.

The Ultraviolet Room, not so much.

Heaving a sigh, I downed the rest of my drink.

If I wanted to go home with someone tonight, I'd probably have to settle. The selection of partners available here was not up to my usual standard.

It had been a long day. The Mariano family may be the head of the Italian mafia, but that didn't save them from dealing with paperwork. There was so much red tape to manage and information to fabricate in order to blind the eyes of the law.

Since I refused to get involved with my family's dirtier affairs, the busy work usually fell to me. My father, David Russo, was the head of the Italian mafia, and I was the man's only child. One day that title would fall to me, but there was no reason to dive into my family's muck all at once. I preferred to wade in slowly and enjoy my freedom while he could.

After spending the day submitting fake tax forms, I hadn't felt like driving all the way across town to my preferred club. Instead, I'd headed for the nearest establishment I owned.

I was paying for that moment of laziness now by suffering through subpar company. A brunet man currently occupied my lap. The man was pretty enough, but nothing special.

From the moment I'd stepped through the door, I'd been surrounded by so-called friends . People just powerful enough to feel entitled to my time. I knew my bodyguard more than I knew these people, and I barely remembered the man's name. These social hyenas, I was lucky if I even remembered what family they came from.

A man sitting on the couch to my right—Harvy? Javier? —kept droning on about something to do with shipping containers. The words washed over me like white noise, and I flagged a waiter down to ask for another drink.

Eventually, a woman sitting on his left—Rachelle? Rebecca? —changed the topic to discuss the upcoming Olympics. This held my attention just long enough for me to decide I had nothing to add to the conversation. I remained silent, smiling and nodding when necessary to feign engagement. Instead, I entertained myself by imagining what I was going to do later to the brunet currently running a hand over my chest.

Maybe a good spanking before fucking him hard.

If the man wanted to act like a coquette, then I would take great pleasure bullying him to tears.

A glint of metal out of the corner of my eye suddenly caught my attention, but before I could look, someone grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me to the floor. I landed flat on my back, knocking the air from my lungs. Then an even greater weight landed on top of me.

Half a heartbeat later, the familiar pop of a silenced gun sounded far too close for comfort.

A large body lay over me like a blanket of muscle and bone. I stared up into a stern face and gasped out a single word.

"What?"

The stranger on top of me pressed me harder into the floor, stealing what little breath I'd managed to regain.

"Stay down."

Over the stranger's shoulder, I caught the same glint of metal from before.

A gun.

Someone had just tried to shoot me. Thanks to this stranger, the bullet had missed its mark, but now the gunman was approaching to make a second attempt.

While I was still processing that fact, the stranger jumped to his feet and intercepted the gunman.

The man didn't even flinch when the weapon pointed at his face. Grabbing the gunman's wrist, he twisted the man into an arm lock and knocked the gun from his grip. Then, with a quick snap and the crunch of breaking bone, the gunman's arm hung limp.

Clutching his broken arm, the gunman shouted in surprise and pain. The noise was quickly silenced by a strike to the throat, which left the man gasping and sputtering on the ground, unable to draw breath.

Probably a collapsed windpipe, based on the blue color tinting the gunman's face. Depending on the severity of the wound, he might survive, or he might not.

I didn't care. I was too busy staring up at my savior.

Well over six feet tall, the man was built like a tank but moved like a viper. A scar sliced down his cheek, starting just under his right eye and following the strong line of his jaw like a teardrop. Overall, the man cut an intimidating figure, haloed in the neon lights of the club.

Letting my gaze trace my rescuer from head to toe, I licked my lips.

"Well, you're definitely not boring."

The man never heard me. The gunman wasn't alone. The moment the first gunman hit the ground, another stepped out of the crowd. My savior jumped to his feet and rammed a shoulder into the gut of the nearest gunman, slamming them into the wall. The would-be assailant's head snapped back with a crack of bone against brick. He staggered but kept a grip on his gun.

A hand grabbed my arm and tried to pull me to my feet.

"Sir, we need to go."

I slapped away the hand. "There you are. About time." My bodyguard had finally joined the action, though instead of fighting off the enemy, the fucker's first instinct was to flee. I was not impressed. I'd be firing this one by the end of the night.

Another glint of steel.

My bodyguard collapsed to the floor with his throat slit from one side to the other and his life force creating a thick puddle on the floor. A third attacker, not a gunman this time, stood over the fresh corpse with a knife in one hand and a victorious smile on his face.

I sniffed in disdain. "A bit premature, don't you think? I'm not dead yet."

Just as the word "dead" left my mouth, I kicked the knife-wielding attacker in the shin. The man hopped back, avoiding the blow, but it was enough. By then, my savior had finished with the second gunman and snuck up from behind to wrap an arm around the third attacker's throat.

Struggling to get free, the attacker tried stabbing my rescuer with the butt of the knife. He caught the man's flailing wrist in one hand, twisting it until the asshole dropped the weapon. Unarmed, the assailant could only flail as the arm around his throat squeezed until he passed out.

Four bodies lay sprawled over the floor, one dead and three unconscious. My champion stood over them, his expression just as serious and restrained as he had been with a gun pointed at his head. There was no victory in this man's eyes, only an intense focus. Like a knife that refused to be sheathed, he was ready for the next fight.

Actually, there were five bodies on the floor.

I realized with disgust that I'd spent the entire fight lying on the ground like a damned swooning maiden. Quickly getting to my feet, I dusted myself off and then turned to face my knight in shining armor.

What exactly did one say in a situation like this?

It wasn't my first fight, not by a long shot. It was, however, the first time I'd been rescued by a complete stranger. Simply saying "thank you" seemed too cheap.

Should I offer compensation?

No. That might make it look like I was trying to get rid of the man as quickly as possible.

Quite the opposite.

I really wanted to drag this man home with me.

Before I had the chance to say anything, however, the ringing of my phone interrupted my musing. Resisting the urge to snarl in frustration, I brought the phone to my ear without looking at the identity of the caller. Only a few people had my personal number.

"You'd better have some answers, because someone just tried to kill me."

To my shock, my mother's familiar voice greeted me from the other end of the line.

"Alex, you need to come home."

Her words were smooth and unhurried. To anyone else she would have sounded relaxed. I knew better. Her accent was heavier than normal, indicating how much effort she was putting into maintaining her calm facade.

I gripped the phone in both hands. "Mother? What's going on? Did you hear what I just said?"

"I heard. Our enemies are moving even faster than I feared."

"What are you talking about? Why would anyone suddenly try to kill a member of our family? That's basically suicide."

"Your father... " My mother's voice wavered in a moment of uncharacteristic emotion. "Your father's been arrested."