Page 33

Chapter 33

Massimo

That went off the rails real fucking quick.

I’m in the SUV, parked in a dark alley, my guards posted outside. No one knows I’ve video-called my princess. I swept the vehicle for bugs, activated a jammer to block any electronic surveillance, and the windows are blacked out.

After Nova had eaten, she did I as had instructed her, fingering herself while I watched and fisted my cock. Having to come into a cloth so I didn't ejaculate all over the back seat.

After her orgasm, she collapsed in the window seat with a grin, and I said a regretful goodbye.

I make sure there is no evidence on my clothes and exit the vehicle.

Marcelo, Tino, and two other guards are waiting for me. I nod at them, and Marcelo and Tino follow me while the other two stay with the SUV. We walk through the dark, rain-soaked alley, the air thick with the stench of blood, piss, and puke, until we reach a nondescript door of a three-story building. I knock, and a panel slides open.

" Sono qui per vedere, Tony." The simple phrase conveys that I'm here to fight in the underground fights Tony runs.

The guard on the other side of the door sizes me up. I'm in jeans and a T-shirt that stretches taut over my chest and arms. He opens the door to let us in, sizing me up again.

"Tony is to the left of the ring," he tells me in Italian. "Tell him Alejandro wants to put a thousand on you. "

"You Alejandro?"

"I am."

I smile. "You're a wise man, Alejandro."

He grunts and returns to his sentry post at the door. Marcelo leads the way down the stairwell, and Tino follows.

Going down the stairs feels like we're heading into the bowels of hell. It's dark, the stairs are narrow and treacherous, the heat rises, and the raucous cheers and shouts grow louder as we descend.

At the bottom, the space opens into a cavernous room with a second level that rings the pit and is packed with people leaning over the railing. Everyone's eyes are fixed on the center where two women are beating the shit out of each other in a caged ring.

With my height, I spot Tony to the left of the ring, sitting at a table with two of what he calls his accountants. They’re surrounded by a ring of guards to keep the crowd at bay and protect the cash from greedy hands. A few idiots have tried to steal over the years, and they were pulverized to make it clear: you don't fucking steal from Tony Caprisi.

We push through the crowd, heading straight for Tony. He sees me coming and jumps up with a huge smile on his face. I don't fool myself into thinking Tony is happy to see me; he only sees the money I bring him whenever I come for the fights.

"Massimo!" He spreads his arms wide as his guards split like the Red Sea to let me in. "I was hoping you'd come to see me." He wraps me up, clapping my back. "I wasn't sure since you didn't come last night."

This is Vincenzo's territory, and he and Tony are close, and I usually come to fight the night before Don's meetings

"Well, I'm here now. You have a contender for me to kick their ass?"

He laughs, sizing me up. "Do I? He's called Beast. Are you sure you're ready?"

I shrug. "Put me in the ring; we'll see."

Fighting is an outlet for me. I rarely let myself get involved in the dirty, wet work of our world, but the beast in me is always ready to emerge. In the ring with Gabe, I don't fully let go, but in rings like this, I do. I'm still in control, though—I don't kill my opponent. Tony's ring isn't to the death, but the crowds still love watching people beat the shit out of each other.

Tonight, rage courses through me—rage for Mancini's sins and what he's done to Nova. The tricks that Camillo, Achille, and Gastone used today to try to get me to slip up and reveal that I have Nova only fuel it. I’ll bring up the vote again tomorrow, but my gut tells me the outcome won’t change. However, I’ll still destroy Mancini. Fuck the politics of my syndicate that makes me grind my teeth.

I pull my attention back to the task at hand. "Alejandro wants to place a grand on me."

"Smart man." Tony laughs and claps my back again. "You know what to do. You'll be up after the next match, which is your buddy, Renzo."

It was somewhat of a tradition for Renzo and me to come here together, but we didn't tonight because of my need to call Nova.

I push out of Tony's ring of guards and make my way to the platform as the ringmaster announces the winner of the two women. The redhead is the clear winner as the blonde is on the mat and looks like she's just coming to as she's helped to her feet.

I climb the stairs as the announcer calls out Renzo's fight. He's up against the ring's current champion. A chorus of boos rise, but there are also some cheers—Renzo's fights are always a spectacle. The man is a devout martial artist who trains daily, mostly in Krav Maga.

Renzo steps into the ring, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. His tall frame is muscular but leaner than mine, and he's covered from neck to feet in tattoos. His bi-colored eyes meet mine across the pit as I stand on the platform. There's a dark frustration rolling off him that mirrors my own. He gives me a single nod before turning his focus back to his opponent.

There's a group on the second level chanting, "Finish him." Renzo's opponent lifts his fists and struts around the ring, and they go wild.

The fights here are bare-knuckled—no gloves, no wraps. No weapons are allowed either, and the referee pats them down, ensuring they're both clean.

As that's happening, Tony gets on the mike. "Folks, we have someone brave enough to go head-to-head with Beast! "

The crowd's attention shifts from the caged ring to the platform I'm standing on. The crowd parts as a huge man pushes through. He's ugly as sin; his face looks like it was used for batting practice. He's just as big as me, but he's got a layer of fat over the muscle. I study him as he climbs up the stairs, looking for his weaknesses. He’s not overly agile. And he hides it well, but he’s favoring his left knee.

Beast snorts and lurches at me, trying to get a reaction, but I stand stoic and unmoving. He eyes me, then bangs his fists against his chest and roars like he's King Kong.

Marcelo and Tino smirk, then resume scanning the crowd.

"Get your bets in now! Who's gonna be the winner: Beast or his opponent?" Tony shouts over the microphone, and there's a swell of people trying to get to the table to place their bets with the accountants. Tony's runners also comb the crowd and collect bets.

It's chaotic, and there's better ways to operate this, but Tony is set in his ways. And I suspect he thrives on the chaos around him.

As someone who values calm and control, this is my worst nightmare.

Beast strips off his jeans and pulls his shirt over his head, standing before me in nothing but his shorts. He smirks at me before lifting his arms above his head and strutting around the platform.

Renzo and his opponent are facing each other in the ring, and the referee begins their fight. The crowd roars as Renzo's opponent immediately lunges toward him, going on the offensive. But he's wild and reckless, whereas Renzo is focused and razor-sharp. Renzo deflects the guy's fist with his forearm and delivers a brutal hammer strike to the guy's jaw, making him stagger back.

Renzo doesn’t give him an inch and snaps the guy's head back with rising front kick under his chin. The guy stumbles, dazed. He recovers but swings wildly, and Renzo swats his hands aside before wrapping his arm around the guy's neck in a guillotine choke, and drops his weight downward.

The crowd screams for blood, as the opponent claws at Renzo, desperately trying to breathe, but he quickly crumples. Renzo releases the man, who heaves in deep breaths on his hands and knees, and Renzo shouts at him to get up, frustrated that he's not getting a challenging fight.

The guy holds up a hand, which Renzo bats away in disgust. Once his opponent slowly rises to his feet, Renzo moves in, striking with quick, savage blows to the guy's head. Renzo is a controlled fighter, but his control slips as he begins to unleash on the guy. When he doesn't show signs of stopping, even though the guy lays limp on the mat, the referee jumps in to intervene.

Renzo's tattooed body is taut with frustrated rage as the referee lifts his hand and announces him as the winner.

Beast pulls my attention from Renzo by knocking his shoulder into me. I don't react, and he snorts in my face, then gives me his back.

I freeze.

There's a tattoo at the base of his left shoulder blade. A dagger intertwined with the fleur-de-lis.

The mark for those who are part of the French mafia.

In Vincenzo Pisani's territory.

A member of the French mafia—who is also allied with Mancini—here, in Catanzaro, is a connection I can't ignore.

Vincenzo was one of the Dons who voted against me taking out Mancini, claiming that if I did, it would destroy a multi-million-dollar opportunity they're on the verge of securing regarding a drug called Glucoaid-X, because Mancini is the key.

But are Vincenzo and the other Dons working with the French mafia, too? Both Mancini and Julien Moreau are desperate to get Nova back. My mind rejects the idea that my peers would be involved in this way, especially since our syndicate is vehemently opposed to human trafficking, which is Mancini's and the French mafia's main revenue sources. And the 'Ndrangheta has always steered clear of the Moreau family because of their horrendous auctions, which are rumored to include children.

I don't have any answers; however, my need to protect Nova increases, and I'm more convinced than ever of my plan, even if it's underhanded .

Before coming here, I met with Alexie, Fabio's man sent from Reggio Calabria. He delivered me the package that Fabio had custom-made on a rush order—a ring made by a master jeweler.

A one-carat cushion-cut diamond with rose gold, handcrafted petals that cradles the stone. The band is a delicate platinum vine studded with diamonds. On the underside of the setting, is a tiny sapphire which symbolizes the Italian tradition of wearing blue for fidelity and good fortune.

I am making Nova my wife when I return home. That will protect her from being taken from me.

Seeing that tattoo on Beast, and the possibility of treachery in my midst, reinforces my decision for protecting Nova, even though marrying me will be one of the last things she wants. Her only request was that, once all of this was over, she could live in peace, free from the monsters of her world.

The reminder makes my own monster bellow and snarl. As I stare at Beast, rage courses through me like molten lava.

I kick off my shoes, undo my jeans, and let them drop, leaving me in the loose shorts I wore underneath. I reach behind my head and pull my T-shirt off, making the crowd go wild.

Tony is calling Beast and me to the ring. The crowd has already parted.

But the rage within me is like acid eating away at my control. The gruesome monster that lives within me is snapping its maw and sharpening its claws on the steel cage I keep it within, begging to be let out.

Mancini and his cunning smile.

Nova's innocent and beautiful face. The memories of her haunted, tormented look…

I let my monster free.

Beast sees the feral, rabid look of fury on my face. He smiles, and we don't even make it off the platform as we come together like two titans battling over the world.