Page 43 of Brutal Heir (Ruthless Heirs #3)

LA SPADA NERA

A lessandro

“I want every motherfucker from La Spada Nera rounded up,” I shout into the phone. The new stitches on my shoulder pull as I pace the length of my office, fury pounding through my veins. “Kill the foot soldiers and bring the leaders to me. I’ll handle Jace Morello myself.”

How dare that piece of shit shoot at my little leprechaun? At me ? On Christmas Day, no less! No one touches what’s mine and lives. And if Rory wasn’t mine before, those three little words from her lips sealed it.

“But Alessandro, your father…”

“I don’t give a fuck, Jimmy.” The man on the other line has been working for the Geminis long before I was born. While my father and uncle handle the legitimate business, Jimmy handles all that dark shit. The stuff my family no longer wants to deal with.

He works for my father, his loyalty belongs to him. This is the first time I’ve approached the fixer myself.

“Look, kid, you’re crossing a line, one you’ve never even treaded close to.

I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t warn you.

This move could plunge the Geminis back into war.

You know things have been pretty peaceful in the last few years, and your father wants to keep it that way. This will change everything?—”

“If you’re not up for the task, Jimmy, I’ll call Mā ’s men. I’m sure the Four Seas will have no issue taking care of La Spada Nera.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I just want you to think on this for a minute. You’re calling for the death of dozens of men, some boys even younger than you.”

I draw in a breath, attempting to still the pounding of my pulse. “This is what my father has wanted for years, Jimmy,” I growl. “For me to take my place as the Gemini heir. So this is me taking it.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m positive. Now make the call and exterminate those Spada scum. And while you’re at it, bring me Sienna Cruz. I need to question her myself.”

“Will do, capo . See you at the Vault in an hour.”

I jab my finger at the call end button and heave out a breath, tension radiating through every blood vessel.

My entire life I’ve battled with the idea of taking over Papà ’s business, and now there would be no going back.

But for her, I would do anything. Absolutely anything to keep her safe.

This whole damned thing is my fault. I let the skimming issue at the Velvet Vault go on for too long.

La Spada Nera thought they could take advantage of my injury, of my absence, and now I would teach them what happens when they fuck with Alessandro Rossi.

The soft sound of feet across the marble registers an instant before a voice seeps into my office.

“There you are…” Rory stands in the doorway, her nightgown slipping off her shoulder and her hair a wild tumble of auburn tendrils.

Just the sight of her has the tension waning, and a different sort of tightness swelling beneath my sweatpants.

“You should be resting.” She waggles a finger as she closes the space between us. “Come back to bed.”

“To bed or to bed ?” I raise a flirty brow, all thoughts of revenge pushed to the back burner at the sight of her.

She swats at my chest, the uninjured side. “You’re crazy, McFecker. You were just shot yesterday.”

“I feel just fine.” I curl my arms around her waist and drag her hot little body against mine, so she feels my growing arousal. “Must be the incredibly talented nurse who stitched me up.”

“Well, you’re not wrong there.” She grins up at me. “But any sort of physical activity could risk tearing one of your new stitches.”

“What if I swear to just lay there and let you do all the work?”

A devious chuckle parts her pretty pink lips, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from devouring them. “Then what fun would that be for me?”

“Oh, Red, I’m sure I can find a way to make you come with minimal effort.”

“Cocky, aren’t we?”

“It’s not arrogance if it’s true.” Slanting my mouth over hers, I claim those lips, the hunger I thought I’d lost long ago building with every brush of our flesh.

My hands dive lower, curling around her ass and pressing her body flush against mine.

With only my boxers and her panties between us, I can already feel how wet she is for me.

I could bend her over my desk and take her right now. And damn, do I want to.

But fuck me, I have to meet Jimmy at the Vault and by the time I get dressed and drive over there… there’s not much time.

Still, I press her harder into the edge of the desk, the fine silk of her nightgown hiking up her thighs with a little help from my greedy hands. One slip of fabric and she’d be right where I need her.

A sweet groan purses her lips, and fuck, I’m going to lose my mind.

“Don’t tempt me,” I growl against her lips, my voice rough with need and the agony of restraint. “I have to go meet Jimmy.”

Her fingers slide into my hair, tugging just enough to send a bolt of fire down my spine. “Then don’t tease me, Rossi,” she whispers, her breath hot against my jaw. “Unless you’re gonna do something about it.”

“I thought you wanted me to rest.” I drag my mouth to her throat, nipping at the spot just below her ear that makes her squirm.

She gasps, her hips rolling against my cock like she’s trying to drive me insane. And it’s working. Dio , I’m already half feral.

“Eh, rest is overrated.”

“ Cazzo , Rory…” My voice is nothing but a rasp now. “You keep moving like that and I’m going to fuck you right here. Gunshot be damned.”

Her laugh is low, dark, a sound that shoots straight to my dick. “What’s stopping you?”

“I have to go.” I bite down on her collarbone, not hard enough to bruise, just enough to feel like a warning. But I know she can feel me trembling. “Jimmy’s waiting.”

She pulls back just enough to meet my eyes, and all the teasing vanishes from hers. What’s left is fire. No, something wilder. Something that looks a hell of a lot like possession.

“I’m going with you,” she says softly, but there’s nothing weak about it.

“Rory…” Flashes of the last time she saw me at my club surge across my vision. She ran. She saw the real me and raced out of there so quickly she was nothing but a memory. “I don’t want you involved in that part of my life.”

“Well, tough shite, Ale. I’m already involved.

They shot at you, at us . There’s no way in hell I’m going to let you deal with that alone.

I told you I’m not running anymore.” She reaches down and slips her hand into my sweatpants, her palm wrapping around my cock in a slow, devastating grip.

“And don’t think for one second, I’ll forget how hard you were for me.

After we find the gobshites who did this, we’ll come home together, and I swear I’ll ride you until you forget your own fucking name. ”

A broken curse tears from my throat as I grab her wrist, but not to stop her, just to ground myself before I explode all over her hand like a goddamn teenager. I’m two seconds from saying fuck the meeting and the gunshot and bending her over my desk anyway.

But I don’t.

Because if I give in now, I’ll never stop.

I capture her mouth one more time, a kiss brutal and claiming, then force myself to step away. My hands linger on her hips like I don’t want to let go. And I don’t.

“Promise me,” I whisper, fierce and low. “That no matter what happens today, no matter what you see, you’ll come back with me.”

“I promise.” Her eyes shine in the dim office light, more serious than I’ve ever seen them. “I love you, Alessandro, and I’m all in.”

And damn it if I don’t believe her.

I smirk, then press another kiss to the seam of her lips. “I better get that shower started before I change my mind.”

“I’ll be right behind you.”

Of course my naughty little nurse would never let me go without checking on my bandages.

Then I force myself to head for the door with one last look at the woman standing there like sin incarnate—half-wild, half-mine, and all the reason I have to keep fighting.

Let La Spada Nera come.

They have no idea what they’ve just awakened.

The club’s basement is colder than usual. Not only temperature-wise, the old vents never worked properly in the former office of the Velvet Vault, but also in the way the shadows hang like bad omens in the corners. The low hum of the fluorescents overhead does nothing to soften the atmosphere.

Sienna sits across from me, spine rigid, hands curled into white-knuckled fists in her lap. She looks like she’s trying not to cry. I don’t care. Not yet.

I lean back in the chair behind the old desk, slow and deliberate, letting the silence stretch. Pressure builds in silence. It’s better than threats. She’ll talk…eventually.

Rory stands against the wall near the door beside Jimmy, arms crossed, silent but alert.

Her eyes flick between me and Sienna, and I can feel her watching me.

Judging. Not because she doesn’t trust me.

But because she does, and she needs to know how far I’ll go.

I hate that she’s here, but I know her well enough to understand that objecting wasn’t an option.

I drag in a breath, slow and sharp. “Start talking.”

Sienna flinches. “I—I told Vincent already. Everything I know.”

“Then tell me again.” My voice is steel wrapped in velvet. “And this time, don’t leave anything out.”

She hesitates, eyes darting toward Rory as if hoping for a reprieve. Rory doesn’t move. Good. She knows this isn’t her fight. Not directly.

“I didn’t want to steal,” Sienna says, voice cracking. “At first, it was just a few hundred here and there. Jace said he needed it, that he was in trouble?—”

“You knew who he was,” I cut in. “You knew he wasn’t some poor bastard who couldn’t make rent.”

“I didn’t know he was part of a gang!” she cries, sitting up straighter, desperation bleeding into her voice. “He never said anything about La Spada Nera. Not at first.”

I go still.

At first .

There it is.

“You kept seeing him after you found out.” It’s not a question.

Sienna swallows hard. “He said he’d kill my sister. That he’d… he said he’d send her back to me in pieces if I didn’t do what he asked.”

Rory gasps softly from the corner, and I clench my jaw, forcing myself not to react. Not to soften. Sienna’s voice shakes, but there’s no lie in it. Just fear.

“What did he want?” I ask flatly.

Her eyes brim with tears now. “Information. Anything I could get. Layouts of the club. Schedules. Who was coming and going. He wanted dirt on the Geminis too. Business accounts. Passwords. Anything.”

“You gave it to him?”

She hesitates too long.

My thoughts flicker back to my conversation with Matteo from a week ago. A hacker had gotten into Gemini’s personnel files. Could that have been La Spada too? But why?

“Sienna.” My voice sharpens like a blade. “Did. You. Give. It. To. Him?”

“I—I didn’t have passwords or access codes. But I gave him staff schedules. Deliveries. Who was where on what nights. I didn’t know what they were planning, I swear. I still don’t.”

I push back from the table and stand, pacing once. Twice. My gaze flickers to Jimmy before settling on Sienna again. My boots echo against the concrete floor like gunshots. I want to smash something. I want to find Jace and bleed the truth from him. But this girl… she’s not our enemy.

Not really.

She’s been working for me for years. My employees are like family which is why this betrayal stings so damned much.

I glance at Rory. Her expression is unreadable, but I catch the slight tremble in her hand. This is what I never wanted her to see. The cracks in the walls. The monster beneath the polished suit.

I face Sienna again. “You put everyone in this building at risk. Not just Amber.”

“I know,” she chokes out, wiping her face with trembling fingers. “I never thought anyone would get hurt… I never thought he’d kill her. I was stupid. I didn’t know how to get out.”

“And now?”

She lifts her chin, a sliver of defiance beneath the tears. “Now, I’ll do whatever it takes to fix it.”

I nod once. Then lean in, bracing my hands on the desk, looming over her.

“You’re going to make it right. You’re going to tell me everything you’ve ever given him, everyone he’s ever met here, and every fucking word he’s ever said to you.

You’re not quitting. You’re not leaving town.

You’re going to work for me until I say otherwise. ”

Her eyes widen. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’re mine now.” I drop the words like a verdict. “And if La Spada Nera comes sniffing around you in the next few days, you smile, you nod, and you feed them exactly what I want them to hear.”

Assuming any of the bastards survive my order.

I straighten and turn toward Rory who’s stepped forward now, eyes fixed on me like I’ve just pulled a trigger. But she doesn’t look afraid.

She looks like she understands.

“You okay with this?” I whisper.

Rory nods once. “Aye. But we need to protect the sister. If Jace knows she talked?—”

“I’ll handle Jace,” I snarl, heat rising in my chest as I glance at Jimmy for only an instant. “And Sienna?”

She lifts her head again, eyes bloodshot but steady.

“If you lie to me again, even once, you’ll wish Jace had gotten to you first.”

She nods again, a single tear falling down her cheek.

And just like that, we’ve got a mole inside a war we didn’t start but sure as hell plan to finish.