Chapter One

Iwalk through the big hall where the Baldini wedding reception is being held. It's glitz and glam in here, not exactly my kind of party.

Luca Baldini is marrying his young wife, Emelia, who was once his sister's best friend, and who is now his partner in crime–literally.

They have a weird relationship, one I can't quite put my finger on.

I'm not sure this wedding was worth the travel time from Mexico.

I'm only here because my cousin, Carlos, is busy sealing a deal with the groom, and he wanted back up with him in case things went south.

That's how things work in our world; arrive for a celebration and leave with gunshot wounds and a few headless men on the floor.

The Baldinis are a powerful family, with good contacts, and that will help us push our product even further than we could up until now, but I have my suspicions that they can also be fucking sneaky.

And I don't like sneaky people.

I'd have no problem at all if things came to the point where I needed to put a bullet in Luca's brain. His big brother, Enzo, too, if that was something that also needed to happen.

These little rich brats don't impress me.

Nothing has gone wrong, though.

The ceremony was boring, and most of the people at the reception are dancing and enjoying themselves. I, on the other hand, cannot stand to be here for a moment longer.

This wedding is nothing but a show, we all know this, but I can see Carlos laughing and joking with these dirty Italians like we're all the same people.

I've warned him that I do not think Luca can be trusted.

I think back to when Grazia came to Mexico not too long ago, and it seemed like she had something to share with us back then, but she left right away. Then shortly after that, we heard about this wedding.

I can see it on her face tonight—she's not impressed by this union. Although I can also see what looks like the start of a baby bump on young Emelia, so perhaps they took their act further than it needed to go.

Fucking idiots.

This deal with my cousin has Luca looking very happy, I notice, but the rest of us are sitting around like morons, barely getting anything from it.

Somehow this is how it always is with my cousin Carlos, him giving his own family crumbs after making big deals with other people and bringing in large amounts of cash.

Never mind the fact that we helped him source the drugs and even gathered the information needed to make this whole thing happen.

On top of that, without my protection, Carlos would never have made it this far.

"Marco!" Carlos comes up to me, smacking me on the back. I nod in recognition. "Look at this party, eh! When all of this is settled, we'll be having our own party. When are you getting married?"

"Is it all getting settled?" I ask him, ignoring the question about getting married. "Because last I heard, this family was on uncertain footing."

"It's all just fine." Raul comes up and stands in between myself and Carlos.

He's always had a soft spot for these Italians, so his opinion is useless to me.

"Okay, and what's our cut?" I ask them both, because now that we know where the product is going, we should be splitting profits equally.

Carlos just laughs and pats me on the back again.

"Marco, Marco, my man Marco. You will be well looked after, as you have been all of these years. Don't worry so much about cuts and money now. Go and drink the free drinks and be merry." I stop the conversation there before my temper gets the best of me.

I go to the bar and order a shot of tequila. It's an open bar, as it should be, and Luca is at least smart enough to have more than enough tequila on the shelves for the event.

I pick the most expensive, a Barrique de Ponciano Porfidio, and tell the bartender to make it a double shot.

As I swallow the shot, I catch sight of Grazia Baldini again, Luca's sister, dancing on her own in the middle of the dance floor.

She seemed angry before, but I can see the liquor has made its way into her veins, and now she's just looking for a fun time.

She's a good-looking girl, even if she is half-Italian. The other half is American, which isn't much better.

Her dark hair and darker eyes draw you in, but just enough to keep you interested without showing you what she's thinking, it seems.

When we met in Mexico, she seemed young and inexperienced, eager to see more of the world, and easy to impress.

Despite our differences being in her presence was so easy.

At least she's not as stupid as her brothers.

The longer I watch her dance, the more I find my fingers drumming on the bar, and finally, I act on the urge to join her.

She smiles as I walk up to her.

I can feel my cousin Carlos' eyes on me, but he stays on his side of the room for now, allowing me to grab Grazia by the waist and move with her to the music.

I wrap my arms around her lower back and pull her into me.

We manage to dance through two full songs, but the third is slower, and Grazia seems to have other plans.

She pulls me by the hand to the doors, and we step outside into the cool air. She's definitely already drunk.

I know that what I'm about to do isn't the most charming thing, but I can't help myself. Plus, just being in the same room as her brother has pissed me off, and I may as well get something out of this trip.

Grazia tugs at my hand and leads me out until we're further into the garden, where the light from the reception just barely reaches.

I graze my leg against a rose bush and swear when the thorns poke through my pants.

Grazia giggles at my swearing.

If she wasn't such a petite and pretty girl, I might be pissed off at her laughter as well. I tower over her, trapping her between the wall and my body.

"Something is funny?" I ask her, my voice low and my lips near her ear.

I see her swallow and look up at me, her brown eyes big and glossy.

She looks unsure for a moment, and then smiles and grabs the back of my neck, pulling me into her and steering my lips onto hers.

She tastes sweet, and despite being drunk, the kiss is anything but sloppy.

The surprise has me frozen for a second, until I breathe in her scent and surrender to her, moving my lips in sync with hers, steadying myself with a hand on the wall above her head and cupping her chin with my free hand.

As much as I'm enjoying this, my mind is still on this deal and her family and how the hell I am going to get what I am owed from this.

Caressing the youngest Baldini's face, I realize that this might be it.

This mafia princess may just be my way in.

If I had control of her, I'd have her brothers in the palm of my hand. Then I'd be able to steer this deal in a way that would be a lot more profitable for me.

And since she's the one who made the first move, I don't think it's going to be too hard to get Grazia to trust me enough to be able to use her for this plan.

As the kiss gets more heated, I hear a small but deep moan come from Grazia's throat.

I pull away before the testosterone takes over and gets in the way of my plan.

"Let's take this somewhere more private," I whisper to her. She nods and takes my hand again, leading me inside now and up the stairs.

The house is exactly what I would have expected from the Baldinis. It stinks like wasted money and is covered in too much expensive-looking décor that does nothing useful.

Grazia holds onto my hand as we walk up the stairs and I know she's taking me to her bedroom.

The thought of her in her bed makes me even more horny than that moan during our kiss.

I need to just stay focused on my plan, I remind myself. I know that I'll get a lot more than just some good sex from her.

Money can buy me as much sex as I want to have. I don't need Grazia for that.

We walk into Grazia's room, and she does a twirl and says something I can't quite make out.

Then she freezes in front of me and starts to slowly unzip her dress. Fuck. Again, I have to fight my urges, and I'm getting tired of it.

If I thought there was enough time to fuck her before anyone found us, I'd happily take everything she's offering right now.

But this is about money and power, and I can't let some virginal-looking girl distract me.

I reach my right hand down to my belt and pull slowly, revealing my gun and grabbing Grazia at the same time, stopping her from running or screaming.

"Pack a bag. You're coming with me," I say.

"What the fuck?" Grazia suddenly seems a lot more sober.

I hear voices coming down the hall and grab her mouth, covering it until I hear the women in the hall close themselves into the bathroom.

Moving to close Grazia's door, I repeat, "Pack a bag with essentials. And hurry the fuck up."

She does as I tell her, not crying or arguing like I'd have expected.

She's tougher than she looks.

I grab a notepad and rip out a piece of red paper. I can't find a pen, but I grab a tube of eyeliner. That will do.

I write a quick note, because this plan won't work unless the Baldinis know that their sister is with a ruthless killer who will murder her unless they follow my instructions.

With her bag packed, I take the lead as I take her down the stairs.

I've already mapped out an exit strategy. I find the back door we used when we went up to Grazia's room.

She's not fighting me, but I keep my gun jabbed into her ribs, just in case.

As we leave the house, she whimpers slightly. I ignore her and put her into the passenger side of my rented Jeep.

"Where are you taking me?" Grazia asks, her voice steady, but her eyes tell me she's terrified.

"Don't worry," I say, turning the car on and driving out of the driveway.

Grazia stares out of the window for a while, but it's only a few minutes into the drive before I see that she's let her eyes close.

Hopefully, she has enough alcohol in her system to stay passed out until we're on the plane at least.

I call my connection at the airstrip and order an urgent flight back to Mexico, telling him to charge it to my cousin. There's no issue there. They know who we are already, and they know better than to ask silly questions.

Next, I call my housekeeper, asking that she set up the beach house. I bought that house a year ago, and it's the one place that no one else is aware of, not even Carlos.

I know that I can keep Grazia there until I figure out exactly how I'm going to use her to bring her brothers to play in my court.

It's finally time for me to focus on my own needs, now that I'm no longer using all of my resources to make my cousin even richer.

No more eating the leftovers from Carlos' table.

I am just as capable– if not more so– and I know that I can make these deals work.

These people think that the orphan is supposed to beg for his whole life, but I am done with that narrative.

I don't need to have parents now.

I am a grown man, and it's time I start living the life of a grown man and taking what is rightfully mine.