Page 2 of Merciless Queen (Moretti Mafia #1)

Caterina

Since I was a child, I saw dozens of men murdered.

It shouldn’t have been as exhilarating as it was, but knowing I killed someone who was a menace to my kingdom was worth every second of the blood-stained hands.

The satisfaction of ending a pathetic existence sent chills through my body as I watched the life drain from their fear-filled eyes.

With normal mafia-related business, I let my men handle the simple traitors, rats, or anyone threatening my family.

I dealt with the monsters. The men and women who got off on hurting innocent women—trafficking and raping them for profit, destroying their lives.

There was nothing wrong with consensual sex work—but I refused to let anyone harm the unwilling for some sick twisted desire.

The media bestowed me the title of Savage Moretti Princess since I’d rejected every marriage proposal from wealthy bachelors across the world.

I was the princess, the pride and joy of my father, but tonight, I was getting in touch with my family roots.

This was what I enjoyed most instead of the fake facade of smiling brightly and hosting galas.

Tomorrow, I could go back to pretending.

Unfortunately for the man in front of me, he wouldn’t see the morning sun.

I smirked, my stiletto red bottoms clacking against the cement of the club’s basement. Each step made him quiver. He was putting on a brave face, but he was moments from pissing himself.

This man—no, this waste of fucking oxygen—tried to take one of my girls. He hurt my family. One of my dancers, sweet Angel, was brand new and na?ve. She had the drive to dance, and she was good. One of the best at my club. The devil tried to taint an angel; luckily, she was protected.

Tonight, he would get a taste of his own medicine.

“You like to hurt women.” It was a statement, because I already knew. Angel, sobbing in my arms with a laceration on her face, told me that. “Cut them. Rape them.”

He grunted, pulling at his chains. My boys already did a number on his face. I could hardly recognize him with his swollen face and broken nose. Note to self: give my boys a raise. They did a damn good job of keeping the bastard alive when I knew they wanted to kill him.

Angel was lucky to be alive. I knew something was sketchy when Moxie told me Angel went away with someone, and he wasn’t a regular.

Instantly, red flags screamed, and I locked my club down.

One of my girls was in danger. I just didn’t realize how serious it was until a blood-curdling scream tore through the alley.

Malachi pulled him off of Angel before anything too damaging could be done. She had a few cuts and a gash on her face, but the bastard thankfully couldn’t get her panties off. Angel put up one hell of a fight, and she saved herself; we just came to pick up the pieces.

It was my fault, honestly, since I didn’t see the enemy. One of mine got hurt.

But now I would deal with him.

“You feel big and bad hurting girls?”

He spit at me, his blood and saliva hitting my thigh. “I didn’t fucking do anything, you dumb whore.”

I smirked, twirling the knife between my fingers.

Torturing him would be fun, and watching the tough guy act leave him before he took his final breath would be everything Angel needed to heal.

I stepped closer to him, stabbing him in the lower arm just above his ulna bone and dragging the knife down, watching his skin split open as crimson dripped down.

I was almost positive I severed an artery, but the end goal was him dying.

Playing with people indefinitely was not what I enjoyed.

I saved that for Spencer and her depravity.

He hissed, cursing as I got to the joint that connected his upper arm to his shoulder blade. Maybe I should have changed before coming down here—now I was covered in his blood, and I barely even did anything.

“You fucking bitch.”

I stabbed him in the lower abdomen on his right side. Here I wouldn’t hit any major organs that would kill him instantly, but it would hurt like a bitch. I held the knife, twisting it slightly as I looked into his pained eyes. “Angel is my family. And you hurt my family.”

“The bitch is lucky I couldn’t get her panties off. She had a hot, fuckable body.”

I saw red.

He was going to die.

I stabbed him over and over, missing vital organs but sending a message.

When I was covered in his blood and he was sobbing, I dug my nails into his jaw.

“That girl has a name. You’re lucky your flaccid dick didn’t touch her, or your death would be more painful.

Now tell me who the fuck sent you.” I already knew the answer.

Vincenzo wanted to infiltrate my club and hurt the people I cared about.

“Fuck. You. Why are you so mad? Huh? Daddy touch you?”

“My daddy is a loving man.” I let go of his jaw, walking to my table.

The next part involved a serrated knife.

Call me a sadist, but I liked how a serrated blade cut through a penis and made the pain worse.

This man was useless to me. Manny thought he would succeed in hurting Angel, but Vincenzo failed to inform him that I cared for my girls.

I saw them as more than just dancers; I saw them as people because that was what they were.

Humans. Enjoying life and making money by using their assets.

I hit a switch on my wall, opening a metal gate as vicious growls escaped my Dobermans’ jaws.

Titus and Lucifer stood at my side ready for my command.

I got Titus and Lucifer on my twenty-first birthday.

Most people got drunk, but I bought two pups and started training them to be ruthless killers.

I had no desire for alcohol or partying when I had been doing it with my father’s men at fourteen.

I liked their company, and they knew if they ogled my tits, my father would shoot them.

Win-win.

“What are they gonna do? Lick me to death?” Manny spat with disdain.

My mouth curled, knowing exactly what my boys would do.

I grabbed the laser pointer from my table and stood next to my boys.

I would tease him first, making him believe they would do fatal damage.

“Lucifer.” I point to Manny’s ankle. “Attack.” Lucifer lunged toward him, sinking his canines into his ankle.

He jerked back, tearing flesh, muscle, and fat with him.

Lucifer dropped the chunk of skin at his feet before galloping back to me.

Manny hissed in pain, his body jerking to no avail as the chains rattled. He was putting up a fight, but I could tell by his furrowed eyebrows and his tightened jaw that the pain was unbearable.

Lucifer took his spot next to his brother as Titus patiently waited for my command. The laser shined on Manny’s left side. “Titus. Attack.” Titus leaned low with a growl before running full force and lunging onto Manny’s hip.

Manny released a guttural scream, his body jerking as Titus locked his jaw. Titus stayed like that for a few moments before jumping off of him. He didn’t take any flesh, but he caused a lot of pain, which was what I wanted.

“Did that feel like licking?” Stepping back toward him, I ran the blade down his torso, letting the edge nick his skin. “You should’ve thought twice before hurting my family.”

My fingers curled around his limp dick as I dug my nails into the sensitive flesh.

Manny pulled back, hissing as my nails clawed into him more.

I hovered the blade above his pelvic bone.

He still had fight in his eyes even on the verge of death.

Manny didn’t think I would do it. Vincenzo taught them that a woman was only good for one thing, and murder wasn’t one of them.

I made the first cut, sawing through his skin as he struggled. It was an uneven cut due to his struggling, but I got the job done. His blood seeped through my jeans as I finally removed his dick from his body.

I grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at me, taking his extracted appendage and shoving it down his mouth. “ Spero che tu marcisca all’inferno .” I hope you rot in hell, you rapist trash. I let go of his head, and he just hung there, whimpering and gagging.

Mercy would be slitting his throat, but he wasn’t worth a mercy killing.

He didn’t show Angel any when he hurt her.

I cleaned my hands with the gray wash rag and pulled out my phone, snapping a picture of his broken body.

Angel would sleep better knowing he was dead, but I didn’t want her seeing the gory aspects Titus and Lucifer were about to inflict.

I lowered the chain he was hooked to and let him fall to the ground in a crying heap. He turned on his side and coughed up his severed penis. Titus and Lucifer’s growls echoed off the basement walls as they waited for my command.

“Attack.”

I watched them rip Manny to shreds, aiming at his throat first. It didn’t take long for him to stop fighting as my Dobermans attacked him.

When I trained them, instead of just eating on command, they learned how to kill on command.

It made torment fun and kept my hands clean unless I decided to add my own touch.

When he was dead, I snapped my fingers, and they both stood at attention before running back into the cage.

I knew raising Doberman puppies to be vicious killers would come in handy one day.

They helped me remove trash from this world while being the best boys.

The cage brought them through a tunnel under my mansion that led to the house I kept them in. There was an automatic system that would rinse their coats off to get the general mess off, but I would bathe them when I got a quick shower done and changed.

Walking into my office, I stripped out of the bloody clothes, leaving a trail behind me as I walked into my bathroom.

Moira is going to kill me , I thought as I looked behind at the mess I was leaving.

I arrived into the smaller bathroom I had installed for reasons like this.

I took a deep breath, stretching my sore muscles.

Torture took a lot out of a person, and I was rusty.

After thirty minutes of scrubbing, the blood was finally cleaned from my skin.

Wrapping my body in a towel, I stepped back into my office.

Sometime between me entering my office and my shower, someone delivered another vase filled with a dozen long-stemmed roses.

I grabbed one of the delicate flowers, growling as I crushed it in my hand.

Albert Barone’s son wanted my hand in marriage.

Another Italian heir worried about marriage, alliances, and babies.

These men didn’t take no for a goddamn answer, and it was pissing me off.

“Malachi!” I screamed for my capo. Malachi rushed to my office, his eyes instantly going to my cleavage where the towel was tucked in. “ Goddamn men . Malachi, my eyes are here.”

“Caterina, are you okay?”

I raised my hand, putting my bloody finger against his lips. “You are not my father. You know better than to call me that.”

“Sorry, Cat.”

“I swear to God, why can’t men take no for a goddamn answer? Do I need to send him a video of me fucking his mom?”

“Boss, breathe. Respectfully, and don’t kick me in the balls for this,” Malachi started, shifting his weight to one side. “You’re hot, dominating, and slightly scary. I see why men want to marry you.”

“My father is tired of this, too.”

Alexander Moretti. Once Don of the Moretti family, he stepped down because he wasn’t coping with my mother’s death.

He didn’t give a shit about old mafia traditional values, including me marrying some dumbass mafia son to have special babies with a different last name than Moretti.

Thank God. The Morettis have been around for ages.

“I don’t care how many dons send me flowers. I am not marrying their sons, and I am not creating alliances by being in someone’s bed. Just because I am a woman in the fucking mafia doesn’t mean I am a damn doormat.”

“I know, boss.”

I sigh. “Now that some Don pissed in my Cheerios, what do we have?”

“Word on the street is that Vincenzo is getting married.”

I looked at him, shocked. Vincenzo Mancini was walking filth.

That monster broke into our house when my father was gone and killed our guards before finding my mom.

He wanted me, too, but my mom made me promise to stay hidden.

I listened to him rape her before he stabbed her over and over until she died.

Once he was out of the house, I held my mom’s mutilated body until my father came home and peeled me away from her, kicking and screaming.

Something in me clicked, listening to this development in my office.

That day, I made a promise that I would kill that man. Taking from him what he once stole from my father would be the ultimate revenge.

His future wife.

She had to be just as bad as he was if she was marrying the sick fuck.

“I want someone watching him to confirm, and then I want her.”

Vincenzo Mancini would pay for daring to cross the Moretti family.