Chapter 25

Stavros

Love.

I’d never wanted to feel it again. I’d pretended like no woman was worth exploring the option with. I’d convinced myself that living alone was perfectly acceptable and exactly what I’d wanted.

Now, playing house in a place that I didn’t own in a city that I could no longer call my home, I realized how much I’d missed. It had been four days of utter bliss, even though I’d remained anxious and angry about everything that had occurred over the last ten days.

When I came through the door both here and at my uncle’s place where my aunt had taken Jenna a couple of times, it was as if I was finally coming home. I’d managed to shove aside all the worries and concerns, the frustrations of not knowing who the hell was behind the attacks. Although it was looking more and more from the intel my uncle had received that Madden was indeed trying to finish what his father had started years ago.

Perhaps the Death Squad had nothing to do with the games being played. But we were all on edge, the soldiers roaming the streets, talking to informants and those my uncle controlled in business. No one was talking, which made me that much more nervous. But I’d still managed to enjoy spending time with the woman I couldn’t seem to get enough of.

I’d enjoyed nothing more than taking walks with Jenna, showing her the sights. I’d been thrilled to hear her laughter when she’d tasted real Greek yogurt and a dark chocolate gelato for the first time.

I’d adored the way she’d leaned over the railing staring out at the Aegean Sea, the sun adding a perfect shimmer to her porcelain cheeks.

And I’d laid awake every night for hours wishing I could be a better man for her.

But even now, as she cuddled close in my arms after we’d made love and consumed our glasses of wine, I wasn’t as content as I should be. Maybe because my gut told me the shit was about ready to hit the fan.

Or maybe it was because I’d hit a wall with the way I felt about her. And I knew exactly why.

Amara.

I hadn’t used her name in years, had forbidden it not only from my vocabulary but also that of my family. Just the thought of her brought so many deep-seated emotions, so much anger and sadness. I’d done everything in my power to shove her out of my mind, the pain too intense. Now I knew I needed to face it.

Whether I liked it or not.

My brother’s comment about the possibility that Jenna was the same kind of deceitful woman, hired to do a job weighed heavily on my mind even though I was following my gut. Jenna was a beautiful, innocent flower.

Even though the news I’d received moments before walking into the house for the night had been soul crushing.

Maybe it was all about the fact I still needed to have a frank conversation with Jenna about what she might know. While I no longer bought any possibility that she was some kind of plant for Madden or Sean Donnelly out of New York, or even the Armenian clan, there was a still a possibility she’d seen or heard something. But I was no fool either. She would feel instant resentment, even hatred for me insinuating she had anything to do with the attacks. Unfortunately, I’d need to risk infuriating her.

Up to this point, there’d been no real sightings of Madden but with Phoenix’s latest call only a couple of hours before, I had a feeling that would soon change. There was an unspoken rule amongst the various mafia kingpins in a few cities. That included the Big Apple.

No leader could be killed without the approval of a majority of the members of the elite group agreeing. And it had to be for a damn good reason. We didn’t share the same need given there was little competition in Philly other than the Italians, who we’d proctored a limited alliance with. Mostly so there weren’t issues with ships coming and going from the ports.

However, New York was overrun with them. Pick a nationality and they were represented. Back in the sixties, the five families had sat down to talk, determining a set of rules to play by. Anyone who went outside of them was handled in privacy and swiftly. While Viktor Marku had been a fucking asshole for attempting to come into Philly, the fact he and his family had been slaughtered had evidently brought out the mafia families in full force.

Including Gabriel Giordano.

From what I’d learned, he’d joined the group of leaders, one or more of the other members providing evidence of who he believed responsible, Sean Donnelly, the Irish mob leader. The group had voted unanimously to terminate Sean. That was happening tonight.

I’d warned Phoenix that I believed even they’d been used as pawns in Madden’s game, but as with all old school methods, the kind of powerful men who controlled New York were not to be questioned. After all, I was only the Underboss of a less powerful organization.

At least in the minds of many.

The details would never be known, Sean’s body never found, his widow sent money to ease her pain. I found it fascinating that the old school ways could work, the group developing a fund they were required to put money into every year in case something like this happened. As my father had always said, you took care of your own. Period. Whether in protection or in becoming judge and jury. He and my uncle had been members of their own similar organization.

Much like the Brotherhood, what happened behind closed doors and throughout the country or world stayed there.

Much like sins in Vegas.

At the least the Brotherhood had evolved, working for the greater good of innocent people and commerce, building on community as well. How things changed. Yet the old ways would always be hiding in the shadows.

I sensed Jenna was asleep and slowly eased my arm from under her, taking my wineglass and the second opened bottle of wine outside to the balcony.

While she preferred the mornings, I preferred the darkness, especially nights when there was no moon. The shadows soothed my soul, keeping me grounded. Phoenix was right. Before I’d known what happened, I’d lost my spirit and verve for life, even though I was damn good at faking it.

The night was cool, but I enjoyed the light breeze tingling my skin.

I’d learned something that could forever alter my relationship with the beautiful woman. Both her parents were Irish, although her father’s background had zero connection to anyone in Italy or to the Irish mob.

But her mother was a different story.

And learning the truth had been unnerving as fuck, which had kept me away from the house for longer than needed.

Sean’s death should bring Madden out into the open. From everything I’d learned about the man, he’d worked even while behind bars to secure a place in the United States. My gut told me he’d maneuvered the situation with Viktor and Sean, somehow managing to pit one against the other.

Viktor’s statement about me killing more than two men finally made sense. My actions had been shadowed by some of Madden’s men, laying a trail of blood that I had nothing to do with. The pieces were all falling together, none of which made it any easier to deal with.

The subterfuge had provided Madden with a golden path to arrive in the United States, becoming the surrogate father for Sean’s younger children, neither one old enough to take over their father’s throne. The bastard had purchased oil rigs in nearly every part of the world, already parlaying his original fifty-million-dollar wealth into a number approaching a billion. And half of that had been done when he’d been behind prison walls.

I had to give the man credit. He’d remained under the radar, slowly building his infrastructure while other mafia leaders had been greedy.

I poured some wine, taking a sip as I thought about the next day. On a last-minute text from Phoenix, several members of the Brotherhood, including my brother were arriving in Santorini for a meeting. The others would be in attendance by Zoom. That meant Madden had been found or he’d made additional threats. Either way, it was time to take action.

Yet something didn’t sit right with me. I was certain all of us were missing something, my brother included. The quiet before the fucking storm of the century.

“Penny for your thoughts,” she purred from behind me.

“You don’t want to know my thoughts.”

She laughed and walked closer, tying her robe as she looked down at the fountain in the courtyard below us. When she revealed she really did have a coin in her hand, the lightheartedness I’d felt before started to return.

“If I’m successful pitching this into the water, then you need to tell me everything that’s on your mind. Do we have a deal?”

I grinned as I looked at the distance, the fountain at least twenty feet away. “You’ll never make it.”

“Bet me.”

“Okay. You have a deal, bad girl.”

I should have learned that underestimating a girl who’d spent time with a rough and rugged uncle in Texas wasn’t the best thing to do. Irish or not, she was an American tomboy through and through.

She eyed the goal, lifted her hand as she planted a smile on her face and without batting an eye, she flicked the coin into the air. There was even a flair to her throw, the coin going several feet over our heads before slowly making its way toward the fountain.

The splash was subtle yet more powerful than she had any idea about.

“I’ll be damned.”

Chuckling from beside me, she took the wineglass into her hand, lifting it in a private toast before licking the rim and taking a sip. “My grampa taught me that little trick.”

I just shook my head. When she placed her hand on my back, I took a deep breath.

“You asked me to trust you enough so you could save my life and you did, three separate times. Now, I’m asking you to trust me enough to share your greatest demon with me.”

“Demon, huh?”

“We all have them, Stavros, but yours involves a woman. I can feel her presence when you’re at your angriest.”

“You are a very intuitive woman, which drives me crazy.”

“Which is why you’re starting to love me.” Her eyes opened wide after making the statement. As if her words would shock me. In truth, she was right. Love. There was that damn word again.

Her plea was so goddamn heartfelt that I was angry with myself all over again. “Her name was Amara. We met when I was barely twenty-one. I was in college and thought I had the whole world at my fingertips. I was already being groomed to take the second position of power in my family, what some would call the prince-hood. That was just fine by me. It allowed me to be a playboy and enjoy my life when Phoenix was molded on a daily basis.”

“She was the love of your life,” Jenna offered.

“I thought so. We were inseparable. She went to the same college and we had a love of pizza together and BDSM.”

“Now, that’s a combination.”

“She introduced me to the lifestyle, including taking me to my first kink club. I’d thought she was young and innocent. She helped me embrace my dominating sadistic side while she explored the reasons she craved pain. Intense pain. But everything began to unravel when she knew I’d fallen for her. The ugliness became overwhelming.”

“She lied to you.”

“About everything. What I didn’t know was that she’d been using me the entire time. She wasn’t twenty-one. She wasn’t really a student at the university and her parents certainly hadn’t been bankers.”

“She was an enemy.” She shook her head. “Oh, God.”

“Exactly. I’d gone to Columbia University in New York to get as far away from my family as I was allowed. I wanted no part of my father’s world, but others didn’t see it that way. My father was amassing a fortune by then, taking business away from the Italians in New York because my father was a fair man. The Italian mob didn’t like it, sending in their daughter to eventually provide family trade secrets. She was good at what she did, barely asking anything about my family for over three months, maybe four. But when we started to get closer, she began trying to discover information. By then I was already in love with her. I’d even purchased a ring. Can you believe that? I hadn’t reached fucking twenty-two years old and I was going to propose on Valentine’s Day.”

I laughed bitterly thinking about how young and na?ve I’d been.

“I’m so sorry. How did you find out who she was?”

“Phoenix dropped by school to let me know after I refused to accept his warning over the phone. I’d told him I was going to marry her, and my father insisted on doing a background check. That led to learning who she was. I was so angry with both of them that I was determined not only to prove them wrong but also to leave the family for good, taking the woman I loved with me.”

She continued rubbing my back. “Women can be bitches.”

“Yeah, I found her at a club we went to sometimes, dancing with a bunch of different guys. Mafia guys. I confronted her after she acted like she didn’t want to talk to me. I even popped the question right there. I learned very quickly my brother was right and she hadn’t cared about me. We argued. She tried to run, I followed. We argued again, including on the street corner. I grabbed her arm after she called me a stupid Greek and she jerked it away with enough force she tumbled off the street corner into the street, immediately hit by a truck.”

Gasping, Jenna clasped her hand over her mouth.

“She died instantly and I’ve felt guilty and angry ever since. Why? Well, maybe my sister was right in who I am underneath the armor. I know it was a long time ago, but given Amara was the daughter of an Italian mob leader, it put significant strain on our family, my father’s business, and our safety. It was ugly for almost a year, threats made, shots fired, my brother almost losing his life to protect me.”

“Oh, my God.”

“It was the worst time in my family’s lives. I was to blame.”

“You were a young man,” she insisted.

“Who was taught as a small child to know better. Now, aren’t you sorry you asked?”

“No. You weren’t to blame for what happened no matter what you think.”

“It was the last time I felt anything for a woman, other than basic primal needs.”

“That was almost twenty years ago.” She touched my face, her fingertips brushing in such a loving way that my heart thudded rapidly.

I laughed, the sound bitter and hollow. “I know but I did a damn good job of convincing myself I needed no one. Then you came along.” I turned to face her. “And even if she’d been who she portrayed herself to be, she wasn’t the love of my life. You are.”

She seemed surprised by my admittance, perhaps as much as I was. I was shocked how close I felt to her, how much I did want her in my life. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.” I pulled her close, kissing the top of her forehead. “Why don’t we get something to eat? You have to be hungry.”

“Mmm… Okay. I’ll meet you downstairs. Perhaps you should put some clothes on.”

“Why?”

“Don’t worry, big boy. I’ll rip them off later.” She playfully punched me before backing away. I’ll be damned if the moonlight allowed me to see she had tears in her eyes.

I only hoped the tears of joy wouldn’t turn into ones of hatred.

As I glanced up at the stars in the sky, I shook my head. I hadn’t wanted to mention Amara but it did feel like a weight had been lifted, a burden tossed aside. Maybe I was a fool for thinking that way. Or maybe the sick fuck inside of me had wanted to tug on her heartstrings. I wasn’t certain who I was any longer.

I grabbed a pair of jeans from the dresser only seconds later, shoving my legs into them. That’s all I needed to wear.

Music was already coming from the kitchen as I made my way down the stairs. I stood just inside the doorway, watching as she pulled out various cheeses and meat, olives and vegetables. And as always happened when we were in the same room, she lifted her head as soon as she realized I was close.

And as anticipated, her smile faded.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, although I want to make certain you stay inside the house tomorrow.” I no longer recognized my voice. I was aching from what needed to happen.

“Why?”

“Because things are getting dicey back in the States. I also need to ask you some questions.”

“This sounds serious,” she said, pulling a kitchen towel into her hands and wiping them.

“Yes, Jenna. I don’t like what’s going on, feeling out of control. I also don’t want to hide anything from you any longer. These questions might startle you, but they are necessary.”

She took a deep breath, narrowing her eyes. “Okay. Be direct.”

“How did you find out about the lease on the building?”

“I already told you that. I saw an ad online, although I was shocked it was still available when I called the guy.”

“Okay, did you know who Rocky Salvatore was?”

“An asshole. Why?”

“Because it would appear he had a connection to some bad people in New York.”

“O-kay. Why are you telling me this?” She rounded the corner of the kitchen island, folding her arms.

I rubbed my jaw and walked closer. “Did Rocky say anything to you?”

“No. I told you he came onto me, talking about keeping me protected. Of course, there was an unsaid ‘if’ I did whatever he wanted. What else would he have said?”

“He might have been intent on protecting you. Did he lure you back to your clinic the night I met you?”

She narrowed her eyes, thinking about my question. “No. I mean he did give me the keys two days early, which shocked me, but no. A client did. I wasn’t ready to open for business but I had a strange call from someone.”

“Did anything weird happen?”

“Why does it seem as if you’re suggesting that I had something to do with luring you into the veterinary clinic?”

“Just answer the question.”

I sensed she was getting angry. “The client I just mentioned decided not to show up. Didn’t call to cancel. Didn’t say shit. It was going to be after hours, but I was so excited about being in business that I didn’t care or harbor any anger. What the hell are you getting at?”

“Tell me about your mother’s past.”

She narrowed her eyes for a second time, now glaring at me. “What the fuck does my mother have to do with anything?”

“She’s Irish, right? Both your parents are.”

“Yes, they are, although they don’t even have Irish accents. Tell me what the fuck you’re getting at or so help me God.”

I closed the distance, but she pushed me away to gain additional space between us. This was worse than I’d expected. “There is a group of men my brother has been associated with called the Brotherhood. They consist of some of the most powerful mafia leaders in the country. They formed an alliance to keep the peace, pushing out greedy and very dangerous organizations.”

“Go on.”

“They are helping in determining who is behind the attacks. At first it was believed the people I’d gone to New York to threaten, the Albanians, were behind it. But we no longer believe that since their leader was murdered. There is another powerful organization called the Death Squad who are comprised of various political, financial, mafia, and corporate leaders who are intent on taking control of everything from oil refineries to financial institutions, which would give them control over the entire world. Unfortunately, no one knows their identities.”

“I’m not following you. What does that have to do with my fucking parents?”

“I’m getting to that. The Death Squad use various organizations, no doubt promising them wealth and power if they will do their dirty work for them. They groom assassins like the Russian who tried to kill you. He wore a tattoo that is similar to one identified by the Brotherhood as belonging to the hired guns for the Death Squad. It is the Brotherhood’s belief that the Death Squad wants the Brotherhood’s business operations put out of business or worse. They’ve tried before and failed. But not with my family.”

“The Death Squad. Catchy name.”

“Yes.”

She dragged her tongue across her lower lip. “Continue.”

“That led the Brotherhood into doing some checking since it appeared I was lured to the area where your clinic is. Another name popped us, an Irish family from Ireland, a very dangerous mafia family with full intentions of coming into the United States. Now, there are a lot of moving parts with this, but it appears the organization, through the help of the Death Squad, was able to provide a clear path of doing so, by using people to get what they wanted.”

Her anger was increasing.

“Does the name Madden Byrne mean anything to you?”

The slight recognition was enough that I reacted immediately, gripping her arm.

“You’re hurting me,” she said with shock in her voice.

“Tell me the truth. Were you hired to get to me, to lure me to my death but couldn’t do it, which is why you were almost killed?”

She opened and closed her mouth before hauling off and slapping me. Tears sprang from her eyes as she jerked away. “I can’t believe you think that. I know the name of that man, some distant and horrible family member, but my mother was brought to America by my grandparents, who left their brutal regime on purpose. His name was not to be mentioned in my mother’s house. I found a picture with names and asked her one day and she made me promise to forget I’d ever heard it. I’ve never met him. I’ve never been to Ireland, and I’m no fool, Stavros, nor did I lie about my feelings or intentions with you like Amara did. I’m sorry about what happened but I’m not her. How dare you act like I’ve been lying to you. How dare you tell me one minute I’m the love of your life then flip sides and accuse me of being a femme fatale. I hate you. I hate everything about what you did to my life.”

With that, she raced out of the kitchen and if I had to guess, out of my life. It didn’t matter that she was in a different country or staying in the same house. She’d just shut down her emotions.

And I’d never felt like such a shit in my life.

I raked my arm across everything on the counter, shattering the bowls and plates just like I’d done with the joy and passion we’d found in each other.

There would be no third time, no recovery from my betrayal to the woman I loved.