Chapter 1
Marcello
“Did you really think Vincent wouldn’t find out what you were doing?” I asked Benito. “That he wouldn’t send me after you?” I let my nails grow slowly in front of Benito’s face. He screamed behind the gag I had in his mouth, and his eyes widened. “What’s wrong?” I taunted. “You knew better than to cross the Vittone family. Yet here we are.”
Benito had been trusted. He was family. Until he wasn’t. He’d betrayed us and put the family in jeopardy. How? He’d thought with his dick instead of his actual brain. I slid my claw under the gag and easily sliced it in two. The nick I’d given him on his cheek was nothing compared to what I was going to do to him.
“I don’t regret it,” Benito said as soon as he could.
“Really? You have zero remorse?”
Benito smirked. “You wouldn’t understand. You live like a priest anymore. You used to be worth something.”
I slid my nail down the side of Benito’s neck and slowly sliced. The blood that oozed would have been enticing, especially from a man as attractive as Benito, a little over a year ago. That was before. Now, I drank from a glass. But that was my choice.
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand. You crossed lines. You decided to mingle with the Pisano family. You knew what the consequences of that would be. And now it’s time to pay,” I told him. “Vincent wishes you well.” I slowly slid my claws into Benito’s neck. His eyes widened as I did, and when the warm blood spurted out and onto my hand and arm, I thought nothing of it. This was all in a day’s work for me. For many in the family.
Benito tried to scream, but it came out as a drowning, gasping gurgle. I smirked when Benito’s rounded eyes met mine. If I were to pull my claws from his neck, he would possibly recover. That wasn’t an option though, and he should have known it.
I winked at Benito before I snapped my hand toward me, pulling my claws from Benito’s neck through the front. I flicked off the bits of spine and larynx that were stuck to them and then wiped my fingers on Benito’s shirt before he could fall forward. Seconds later, he did just that, landing with a thud. I stepped over his body without a thought. “Do what you need to with his body,” I called out to Dario, who had been standing in the shadows. I heard his response before I walked away.
“You know I will.”
I made it all of half a dozen steps before I heard the others following behind me. I was happy for Naldo and Mazzi. The fact that one of our coven’s vampires was mated with a warlock really helped when it came to certain things.
I glanced to my side and found Naldo staring at me on and off. I chose to ignore him, though, as I didn’t feel up for a chitchat just now. “Where’s Mazzi?”
“Home. He wasn’t feeling the best, so he stayed back at the house. It was the safest place for him anyway with his condition.”
I nodded. That was another thing. We were going to be adding a baby to the house. I wasn’t so sure how that wouldgo over with some of the others, but it was what it was. That’s what happened when one found their mate. They claimed one another, and, well…then babies usually followed. Vincent had been hesitant at first, but he really couldn’t deny Naldo his beloved.
I kept silent, not in the mood to talk about anything beyond that basic question. It seemed as if Carmelo and Naldo were more than happy to carry on their own conversation. “Who is with Dario?” I asked. We never sent anyone out alone, nor did we leave them behind alone. That had all been implemented when everything had gone down with the council and we’d lost Vito.
“Nicolo is with him,” Naldo said. I stumbled a step but smoothly covered it by turning. It was then that I saw Nicolo. I’d been so focused on everything else that I hadn’t even seen him. That wasn’t like me at all.
I moved in the shadows, following the narrow path of the alleyway. I didn’t even hesitate when I reached the car. I simply opened the door and slid in behind the wheel. The back door opened, and then the passenger-side door. Carmelo slid in beside me. I didn’t say anything, just started the car, and then we were on our way back to the coven house. It took all of fifteen minutes this time of night, and when we arrived at the gate, I typed in my code and waited for the gate to slide open.
I parked in the circular drive and got out without a word. I didn’t feel like talking. I needed to let Vincent know the job had been done, and that was the end of that issue. Carmelo and Naldo held back as I walked down the corridor toward Vincent’s office. I found the door open and my oldest friend and our coven’s master standing at the window. He heard me enter, turning with a glass of wine.
“Benito will no longer be an issue.”
“Good.” Vincent looked me over slowly and shook his head. “You need a shower.”
I glanced down at the blood-splattered shirt and shrugged. “Eh, I have been messier.”
“You need to fix whatever it is that has been bothering you. It will lead to carelessness, and with Mazzi expecting, I do not wish for any mistakes to put him or the baby he carries in danger.”
I blinked several times, not knowing what to say to that. He wasn’t wrong. Mazzi was pregnant, but he was a warlock. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t protect himself.
“Of course, Master,” I said, bowing my head in respect. It was obvious that my friend wasn’t standing here tonight. No, tonight it was Vincent, coven master and head of the Vittone family. I turned to leave, but it was Vincent’s words that had me pausing in the doorway. “You too could have what Naldo and Mazzi have found if you would only pull your head out of your ass. I miss my friend, but he is no longer with us. He was left in Montana.”
I closed my eyes. I’d been half-starving when I’d returned from Montana because the thought of drinking from any other than the sweet, angelic little fox that the fates had fucked up and gifted to me was repulsive. Vincent had forced the issue, and in my weakened state, I had confessed to him why I was refusing to drink from any of the donors that we had in the coven house.
“He might have been chosen for me, but we both know that I could never keep him. This sort of life is not for him, and we both know that,” I said.
“You don’t know that. He might surprise you, but you refuse to give him the chance to prove to you whether or not he would fit in with the family.”
I shook my head and left the office. I found Naldo at the bottom of the stairs, his hand on Mazzi’s slightly rounded stomach. I didn’t know if Sandro could deliver the baby or not, but I figured they already had that all figured out. It wasn’tmine to worry about, and I nodded to Naldo and offered Mazzi a forced smile as I walked past the pair to the stairs.
