The Carrero Contract - Selling Your Soul (Mafia Romance) novel Chapter 168

I jump, awakening in a dark silent room as the weight on my legs shifts heavily and emits a long low growl. It makes my heart stop, skin prickling all over, suddenly frightfully aware as I get my bearings and remember where I am and what the hell is lying on me. Pulse quickening as I groggily come to, a cold sweep of blood due to the abrupt manner I awoke in the eerie room, lacking any TV noises. The illumination of the city view is subtler than I would have expected and not casting a great deal of light at all.

His low grumble puts an instant fear of me God in me and I try to focus on him towering over me by pushing myself to half propped up and stare at the beast.

I must have fallen asleep with that movie and the TV has gone into standby and switched off. It’s dark as hell, and it dawns on me as I look around to figure out what’s happening the shades must be activated by light or a timer as they have all come down two-thirds of the way, so this room is almost completely pitch black. I have no clue what time it is.

Lync stands up over me, shifting closer protectively and seems to perch himself with a foot on each side of me. Even though I cannot make him out that well, I can sense he’s facing the door and is listening intently. I sit up further to see what it is he can hear and then yelp in fright as that damn beast’s lanky whip-like tail smacks me right in the mouth with a sudden violent wagging. Bitch slapped by the damn dog for God’s sake.

It knocks me sideways and senseless for a moment and distracts me from my thumping heartbeat and trembling limbs. Cursing him out and rubbing my startled jawline as I push his arse away from me harshly.

‘Arsehole.’ I mutter at him grumpily. If anything, he woke me up fully and now all my senses are on high alert thanks to being dog smacked.

He completely changes in the blink of an eye, from silent and still predator into a yappy, excitable puppy that rolls over, jumps up and flies off the bed, all while making the most insane whimpering, barking noises that signal extreme excitement. The dog legs it, right out the room, pushing the door open and letting light flood through from the illuminated hallway beyond. I blink at the assault, eyes unable to focus as fast as his apparently do and then blink at the clock sat on the bedside table, trying to get my bearings. It’s ten past midnight and it occurs to me it might be Alexi returning home and the stupid mutt can clearly tell.

I exhale with relief and slump back down into my mountain of cushions to await the appearance of my hunky bed companion, a smile spreading across my face and that warm glow of utter happiness at knowing he might be back.

I mean it’s his weird as fuck pet. I’m sure it gets happy to hear him come back as he isn’t here that often anymore. It’s obviously Alexi.

Neglectful dick.

He’d better not shelve me in this apartment like he has done Lync and go off to spend nights in the club with some hoe. I’ll rip his goddamn throat out and cut off his dick to feed to the damn dog. I bet Lync would probably enjoy a good bit of meat like that and I would definitely not regret doing it.

I lie and wait, expecting him to walk in at any moment and get mighty restless when after a full four minutes he’s a no show. Staring at the dark blank ceiling and straining to listen to any sort of noise and get absolutely nothing at all.

Now I’m wondering who did, in fact, come in that set the dog off on euphoric wagging and slide out of bed to locate my robe to curb my ‘need to know’ agitated state. I pull my satin kimono from the cupboard by the light of the hall, blinking to adjust as I near it and pad out to head downstairs to see. Annoyed that if it’s him, he hasn’t bothered to come to tell me and yet apprehensive that maybe the dog is nuts and he just sees ghosts or imaginary friends sometimes.

Oh, I hope not.

I’m suitably covered in case it’s one of his many minions, so I don’t have to explain to Lexi later why they have cardinal knowledge of my tits in sheer lace. This sexy nightdress stops mid-thigh, mostly transparent, and I have no underwear on under it, strictly put on for his benefit and I won’t be caught wearing it by some random security doing a walk around. Alexi would kill me, then him, and then probably me again.

I take a couple minutes to get to the end of the long-carpeted walkway and head down the stairs into the dimly lit apartment. It's eerily quiet but there’s a faint sound of music drifting ever so gently from the door at the strange brick wall. I can see from halfway down the stairs it's sitting open and look around to check who is in here. Heart upping a gear, I feel like I’m sneaking around in some forbidden domain and it only heightens my senses. Nervously tapping the metal railing and tiptoeing on, eyes darting around in case I get caught. I have to inhale heavily to calm my erratic breathing and remind myself that I may be a prisoner for my own safety, but this is my new home. I shouldn’t be afraid to get caught exploring it.

The door to the office by the entrance is shut and muffled voices contained within. Security clearly locked away and doing whatever it is they do. I stop and wonder what cameras they have in here and glance around for anything obvious, realising this will only make me look more idiotic if they can see me. I stop, straighten up and try to look confident like I’m not snooping in any way, shape or form.

The lights are off in the kitchen and living room and only floor lights set to dull are keeping the place bright enough to walk around. It’s obvious Mrs Capone has gone to bed, and the dog is nowhere to be seen.

I wait for a moment, nervously as I realise this might be anyone and not Alexi at all. I could wander down to happen upon a change in his security detail or just someone popping in to check all is quiet. Maybe one of his men actually sits in that little room at night, or whatever is behind there.

I mean, it’s Alexi’s home. It could be a dungeon, a gym, maybe a medieval torture chamber that leads to a steel box of a room to muffle the cries of the people he interrogates.

Maybe not. He wouldn’t keep that under the same roof as his sweet little mummy stand-in.

I reckon he has one though and that’s where they took my kidnapper.

I could go knock on the office, ask if they know when he’s coming back, or I could go check out the extra part of the apartment in the pretence of looking for Lync and nosey in that room now it’s open. My curiosity has been twitching since I realised there is more apartment in that direction behind that wall. Lync did piss off on me rather rudely after moving to sleep on top of me like a heavy bone crushing blanket, so trying to locate him is a great excuse for anyone I bump into along there.

I could say he makes me feel safe up there all alone and I need him back.

I take a deep breath, pick up my wavering bravado and go marching purposely down the last steps and towards that vast urban chic brick wall. Mind set on not being a complete wuss. I need to go find out if that arsehole came back and didn’t come to see me.

The door is stained in similar tones of reclaimed wood as the wall which makes it blend into the brickwork and I head right for it. Concealed but not invisible and now I’m set on going there, nothing will stop me. Except, maybe the cries of a human man being tortured. That would have me backtracking and hightailing it back upstairs.

Pulling it open I spy a corridor inside with only two more doors visible in the entire space. Surprising, as I expect a hall like upstairs with several doors leading off. One is shut tight on the darkened side and nothing to tell me what is beyond it, and one is sat open, emitting light and music from the interior. The hall itself is dark wood and polished floor and a little foreboding.

I recognise the Maroon 5 song drifting my way as soon as I hear it and relax a lot. Exhaling as my body sags, realising just how tense I was and smile involuntarily.

Alexi has specific musical tastes and that is one of them. I exhale again and shake the stupid away, loosen my robe a little, fluff up my hair and adjust my breasts to perkiness before pushing the door open to reveal a very cosy study.

I want to look good for him when he has been gone all night. No harm in primping and preening to get his blood flowing in the right direction. I went to bed with minimal makeup, a figure-hugging ‘fuck me now’ nightdress and no knickers for this reason.

Alexi is here, much to my relief and delight, sat on a long leather couch taking up one wall, reclining casually with Lync sprawled along beside him, head on Lexi’s lap. Both occupying a two-seater brown leather couch that looks invitingly comfy.

He is holding a brandy glass and swirling the contents while staring straight ahead at a faux fire burning silently on the wall facing him. I’m starting to think he is most definitely a fireplace man with one in every room here and his bolthole. I wonder if fire is another calming method for him, my crazy little possible pyromaniac.

The desk and shelving at the far wall are shrouded in shadow so all that is illuminated is where Alexi is, and the floor up to the fireplace. The rest of the room is dark all around and he’s just there looking magnificent and welcoming. My heart bursts to overflowing at the sheer sight of him and immediately changes my whole mood from apprehension to happiness.

He glances at me when he catches sight of me walking in and gives me a strained smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes and no dimples on show at all. My smiley and bubbly internal fizz of joy disperses just as quickly, to be replaced with worry at the lack of his own enthusiasm at seeing me.

“Hey, gorgeous. You should be asleep; we have to get up early.” He sounds low and strained, eyes duller than normal and hints of dark shadows in that angular face. His stubble peeking through from a long night.

I falter as I remember I didn’t even bloody pack and just push it aside as unimportant right now. He would only see my forgetfulness as me rebelling again and I’m not in the mood for bickering. Especially as I didn’t deliberately disobey him, I just had other things on my sleep-addled mind.

I missed him. I was worried about him and his meeting.

“Well, if your Chewbacca sidekick hadn’t woken me with his spazzing out to see you, then I would still be asleep. Why didn’t you come up?” I ask warily, sensing his unease almost like waves of thick static coming from him. Alexi is agitated and stressed, and I guess the dog cuddles and booze down here is him levelling himself off before coming to me. My senses alert and suddenly overly sensitive to his weird aura and murky mood. Tension rising inside me immediately that makes my skin prickle with unease.

He doesn’t answer, just downs his drink and carefully lays the glass on the little table to his right. Avoiding my eye and adding to my anxiety.

Now I know he uses alcohol to help his flaws, I don’t really see it as excessive anymore. He doesn’t drink a lot, and it only seems to be when his overall nervous energy is high. I guess that’s how he contains it and manages that cool and calm demeanour.

It’s not ideal but it works for him, obviously.

“Come, sit. We need to talk.”

Those words make my stomach drop to my feet and that little niggle of insecurity cranks up a level. Nothing good ever came of a man telling a woman they needed to talk, and I hesitate. Realising just how badly I will fall apart if Alexi now decides he doesn’t want this anymore.

I’m an insecure person, with a lot of self-worth issues, obviously, my mind instantly goes to go to ‘he wants to dump me’.

I move forward steadily, trying to hide my internal panic, keep the stained facial expressions at bay then yelp as he catches my hand and yanks me onto his lap, almost killing the damn dog in the process. Lync has the sense to dart out of the way just in the nick of time, sitting up to blink at me as though I’m to blame for almost pancaking his skull.

“Don’t look at me like that, blame him.” I direct at the mutt and Alexi just hauls me more comfortably into his body and forces my face around to his with a hand cupping my chin. Hauled and manhandled so my cooler skin burns with hands all over me and the close contact of his warm body. Pulled up tight like he is wrapping up something precious.

He kisses me firmly, pulling my face down towards him for a second so we make full facial contact, noses, foreheads, mouths and chin, squished up together and assaulted with a needy pressing of lips that translates to a man who is mighty wound up. He then he lets me go with a very heavy outward exhale. A sigh so loud it can only translate that he is extremely fed up.

“I missed you.” It’s as breathless and low as it could possibly be, and he sinks me into his body, wrapping me up in his arms and pulling my legs so I end up curled like a little ball in his embrace. He rests his chin on top of my head and just holds me tight. It’s like being cradled as a baby, warm, tight almost suffocating. Crushing me to him soundly and I can feel his heart beating through his chest a little faster than is normal for him.

I can sense the stress seeping out of his pores and push him back to lift my chin to see his face. Gazing up at him as concern overtakes me. Not liking that all I can feel are vibes of high tension and low mood.

“What’s wrong? You seem … off.” My voice trembles lightly, because deep down my gut is going crazy with anxiety and tying itself in knots. I’m so sensitive to the changes and moods in him because there is still that fear he will tell me this has all been a game and he duped me to the extreme.

I know it’s stupid when all the evidence points at the exact opposite but it’s still early days for me accepting that this is real and hard to overcome in just a short time.

Alexi lifts a hand and strokes back my hair gently, like he always does, before kissing me softly on the forehead. Coming back to rest his skin against the spot he graced with affection and looks down at me with so much fatigue on his face. Dark circles, tired eyes and a complete lack of hard lines of familiar cold scowling. He seems all used up. So very young and deflated, and I just hug him tighter.

He’s tired, and even though it’s obvious to me, it’s not to the untrained eye. I have learned how to understand his tiny signals so much better. I can read this on him loudly.

“It’s not Santagato, and it’s not as simple as someone moving in to claim some turf.” He breathes it out with a low husky tone, irritation present and as selfish as it seems, I get instant relief that’s what he’s uptight over and not us—me, more specifically. I exhale with a rush of warmth enveloping me, replacing the cold doubt that this is not about us. It’s about bigger things and I’m being stupid.

I need to stop doubting a man who imprinted my name on his chest for all time.

“Are you going to tell me?” I press gently, lifting my hand to trace the buttons up the black shirt he has on, against that strong hard body, until I get to the top one and trail the V of his exposed neck with gentle fingertips. Smooth tanned skin with only a slight peek of hair. Taking comfort in being able to touch him this way freely and being nestled in his embrace.

Nothing feels like this does, nothing ever could. I feel like I’m where I belong.

“I don’t know where to start. It’s the past coming to finally payback for things that happened when I was just a kid.” Alexi slides his arm under my legs and stands up suddenly, taking me with him, cradled against his chest before turning around and depositing me on the couch carefully while he moves to a little side unit to get a fresh drink. I just nestle down, hating the sudden separation, freezing when Lync crawls forward and puts his face in my lap the way he had with Alexi minutes ago. I just sit motionless, and stare at his huge warm head nestling heavily in the crook of my body as I try to get comfortable again. His excessive heat creeping through the thin satin of my nightdress and I nervously pat him as gently as I can. Flat opened handed tap taps on his head with a look that must translate disgust because I’m so very wary of him.

This dog is going to eat me I’m sure of it. I’m the competition and he is a fly little fucker, attempting to take my guard down until I least expect it.

I realise Alexi is silent and still and glance up to catch him staring at us weirdly. Frowning with a hint of surprise and yet that tiny smile of amusement. Eyes fixated on my hand on his dog’s head and I glance down in case he thinks I’m smacking him or something absurd.

“What?” I ask defensively and put more effort into stroking the heavy lump on my legs gently in case he thinks it’s some sort of animal abuse and I just broke his little code of proper treatment. Lync has strangely odd textured fur. It's soft yet wiry and a little unruly and doesn’t feel too bad when you smooth it properly

“Lync doesn’t like new people and usually takes weeks to get within feet of someone. It’s just odd. He won’t lie down like that with anyone, except me.” Alexi turns away to pour the drink into two glasses he has pulled out and I blink down at Lync in a moment of ‘oh’. Those words sinking in and taking note. Not sure how to feel about that and push it out of my head for the much more important topic at hand.

“The past Alexi … coming back … go on.” I almost command with impatience and lay my hand down beside me to stop attracting the dog as a distraction.

Alexi turns, giving another strange glance at his beast, then me, then him again, the smile is genuine before he comes back and hands me the brandy he has poured. He stays standing to leave us settled this way, obviously liking the fact his two possessions are bonding. He seems amused anyway, maybe warmed by the fact Lync seems to like me and I guess he isn’t so bad after all.

Wild little beast that he is.

“Back when I was young, and my father was head of the family, six Italian families were always warring over the state of New York. It’s prime real estate, and they all wanted to govern it.” He begins with what is obviously important backstory and I nod, watching him as he paces around slowly. That restless energy finding it hard to dissipate and I wonder if Lync somehow helps to ground him when he needs a focus. He was calm enough with the dog in his lap when I walked in.

“The problem with always fighting within the families meant it left resources stretched thin and left all of us vulnerable to outsiders trying to push in. Too busy fighting among ourselves.” He adds, turning on a low light lamp on a desk I didn’t see in the shadows and brings much more warmth to our dim room.

“Sounds chaotic. Stressful.” I point out and sip my burning liquid slowly, keeping my eyes on him and listening intently. I didn’t want a drink, but I guess he feels like I might need one and I have told myself I will try to argue less from here on in.

“So, my father sat down the families and tried to bring them together. To create a sort of hierarchy where they united while governing their own areas respectfully. No more turf wars but an ability to come together should anyone else try to invade.” He raises a brow, a sip of his drink as he takes a breath and I nod. Understanding fully.

“Makes sense. Better to focus on making money than shooting rivals, right?”

“Right. Clever girl.” Alexi smiles at me, a sudden genuine hint of adoration in that serious expression and it still gives me those little goosebumps every time I see those dimples. I flush with heat at his obvious infatuation and wonder how many times he gave me this look and I just failed to see it while living in denial. I saw this smile before, many times. I was so blind to what he felt for me.

“The problem is the sixth major player in the city. The Giuseppe family … Dimi was power hungry and didn’t want to settle for a piece of the pie. He wanted it all and thought he had the means to take it from the rest of us.”

“What? Fight all five families? Did he have an army or was he just stupid?” I blanch at the craziness of taking on just the Carrero family let alone a united five powers that run this place. He had to be mentally unstable to assume he could power his way over five of them. Santagato’s family are also a force to be reckoned with. I don’t doubt they all are.

Alexi is still standing by the desk with his butt perched on it, closed off, and an aura of tenseness cloaking him. I sit up a little more primly, moving Lync away, and cross my legs now this conversation is taking a more serious turn. Feet on the floor and glass in hand. Robe falling away because of its silkiness and I just let it.

“The treaty was formed, and a code agreed upon, but he refused to come, refused to sign his way into the union. My father reached out to meet him alone to try and resolve this for the greater good of the families, but Dimi had other plans. He sent out his men to take down the spouses and offspring of every head of the family as a show of his power … sound familiar?”

That dip in his tone, the eyes narrowing at his amber liquid and I nod mutely. Things clicking together but trying not to summarise just yet.

“Much like a low key, taking down the mistresses for the same reason. So, this is him?” Now it’s stirring in my head with a huge sense of foreboding as I realise this may be a huge Mafia war brewing and far bigger than just some stupid power play to get one up on the other. One that has taken decades to build towards. I feel sick instantly, stomach swirling heavily and skin breaking out all over in cold icy spikes and prickles. I shiver at the thought of it.

“No. I was thirteen when Dimi’s henchmen hit our family … you know how that went. Only two others were successful hits. A lot of innocent deaths in two days. Dimi is dead.”

There’s a silence as Alexi looks down into his drink again, pondering those memories from so long ago, and I instantly feel an overwhelming sense of pain on his behalf. That day moulded his path and now they’re coming back to try and ruin his life. No wonder he is so off. I ache to get up and hold him, squeeze him tight but I can sense he wants space. He would still be sitting with me in his lap if he didn’t.

“So, if not Dimi, then …?”

I push gently, my voice equally low in the intimacy of this small room. Alexi clears his throat and looks up with a heavy breath and a wry look.

“My father had the entire family wiped out of this state, one way or another. All the men were executed in the space of two weeks and their women and children given the option of fleeing with all they had or joining the men. Other families stepped in to help and they purged that name from every corner they could find. Giuseppe was removed from existence, and for the last fifteen years has been extinct in these parts.”

I literally sit wide-eyed and motionless as I try to wrap my head around what he is telling me. The complete destruction of an entire bloodline in two weeks. That is the cold touch of being in this world and the sad truth of the power they hold. Someone threatened them, and they dealt with it; not a single news report or whisper of it happening was heard in the whole state.

A whole family—wiped out. Poof. Gone.

Jesus Christ.

“So, if they are all dead, then who? How is it connected?” I blanch and down the rest of my drink in one go to steady the heavy thud of my heart.

“Dimi had daughters. They all fled to the origin of their roots in Italy. His eldest Marianne … she’s behind this. She came back, and it looks like she intends to carry on where her father left off. All of this, she was attracting attention and showing us, she was an adequate leader.”

It’s my turn to narrow my eyes as his words filter through, the sudden rage inside me coming from nowhere. The thought of all of this being some showy ‘look at me and what I can do’, and I just flip.

“What a stupid bitch. How the hell does she take on five families with nothing but left-over members who were scattered in the wind and think she can come in here and throw her weight around?” I snap. Annoyed at this faceless wench and the sheer nerve of her. Picking out people like me in some sort of power play to prove she is a worthy adversary.

What the actual hell?

“Some of those children were boys … some married into her family and it seems she has the wealth to hire outsiders. Men who have no respect for the code or order. I guess she feels like she is owed a place here and wants to stir up a name for herself before approaching the ruling five families.”

“So, it’s a kind of new turf war with an old enemy? Except her goal is what? To join you. How does she get that from killing all your girlfriends?”

‘It’s a show of resources and how big her balls are. She gets intel into our lives, to show she can, targets ones that will rile us but not actually declare war. She probably hopes it puts us in a state of unrest and willing to negotiate peace once more.’ Alexi shrugs, obviously as baffled as me why she thinks a plan like that would go down well with someone like him. I just gawp, push my glass on a side table and stand up abruptly, dropping my kimono as it slides away and I pace around in agitation.

‘So, coming after me twice … is that because she failed, or just because she wants to make more of a mark on you? Seeing as you’re the unofficial godfather of these five families.’

I’m riled, and hot with temper. Body itching all over so that even my flimsy nightwear is suffocating me. My skin feels like ants are crawling all over me and even pacing madly, cuddling myself, does not remove the tightening grip running over my whole body. High, intense terror at the news I’m being enlightened with and rage that some dumb bitch is using me as a pawn in a pathetic game of kings and crowns.