Page 13 of Shattered King

Luca

T he depot’s busy on a Thursday morning.

There are two businesses happening at once. Mostly the trucks are making legitimate runs. My guys are actual drivers with real licenses and specific routes. We get hired to transport stuff like any other trucking company.

Except there’s the other side to what we do.

Those guys are legit too. They have all the proper paperwork and licensing requirements.

Except their information is slightly less than legal, and their cargo would send their fucking asses straight to jail if they were ever caught.

And each of my guys is paid a small fortune to ensure that they keep their mouths shut even if some uppity local cops find something they shouldn’t.

I like the morning chaos. I’d like it better if I had slept last night. I drink cheap black coffee and watch the legit guys get their routes from grizzled old Giorgio while the less-legit guys speak quietly with Enzo.

“What’s with the pissy look?” Stefano asks, leaning up against the wall beside me. His hands are stained black from working on one of the trucks. Not only is he my best muscle, he’s also a gifted mechanic.

“My wife is a pain in my ass.”

He snorts a laugh. “Aren’t they all?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Always felt like that was standard procedure. You get married, and everything goes downhill, right?”

I glance at him. “That’s not what I want.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

I grind my jaw, glaring at the action. A truck starts up with a loud grumble and someone shouts nearby. “She slept in the guest room.”

His eyebrows arch. “That’s not too bad, right? I mean, you two are strangers.”

“Someone’s trying to kill her. I sat out in the hall all night again making sure she was okay.”

His eyebrows raise even higher. “Seriously? All night?”

“My fucking back hurts, and I didn’t sleep.”

“You’re an insane person. That’s psychopath behavior.”

“You’d do it too if someone wanted to kill your wife.”

He hesitates a second and only shrugs. “Guess we’ll never find out.”

“That’s what you say now. Meet the right woman?—”

“Like you did?” He grins and lightly pats my shoulder. “Not in my future, boss.” He walks off with a slight wave, and I watch him go.

Fucking Fiorella. She’s so damn stubborn. If she understood how concerned I was for her right now, there’s no way she’d keep making this so difficult for me. But in her mind, I’m just being a controlling prick.

And maybe I am, but so what? If keeping tabs on her all night is what it takes to make sure she wakes up breathing, then that’s what I’ll do.

I never wanted any of this. When Adriano asked me to take one for the team, I accepted right away. My sister went through this, Adriano himself did it too, and now it’s my turn. That’s how things work in the Famiglia. You step the fuck up and do what you have to do.

Only I was like Stefano before Fiorella came into my life.

Marriage felt like more trouble than it was worth.

All I ever wanted was a role in the Famiglia.

Running this trucking company and keeping my crew going has been my entire world ever since Adriano raised me up to be his next Capo.

I trust and love that man like a brother, and I’ll do anything for him.

That’s why I accepted this arrangement.

It was never about her .

At least until that day in my office when I plunged myself deep between her legs and felt something I’ve never felt before.

It was lust. It was need.

But it was also obsession .

And now it’s fucking me up beyond belief.

“Enzo!” I bark once he’s nearly finished prepping the drug shipments. “In my office. Bring the others.”

He nods, and I retreat into the back. The chair creaks as I collapse back into it with a groan. My coffee’s getting lukewarm, and I curse as I throw it all back. I need the energy more than I care about taste right now.

Stefano shows up first. The big man grabs a chair and starts talking about some brake pad issue he’s dealing with on one of the vehicles.

Leo’s in next, looking squirrelly and shifty.

Davide slinks in and takes his customary spot in the corner, looming and looking annoyed that we dragged him out of his computer cave.

“You do realize we have real jobs to do, right?” Enzo asks as he closes the door behind him.

“Giorgio can handle it for a while.” I glance toward the windows.

Enzo shuts the blinds. We do our best to make sure the floor manager isn’t entirely aware of the full scope of our questionable operations.

He’s not technically a member of the Famiglia, but I still trust him.

Keeping him partially ignorant is about protecting him as much as it’s about protecting us.

“What’s going on, boss?” Leo asks, sitting up straight. The young man’s always so damn eager.

“I need you all to look into someone for me.” I glance over toward Davide. “Corrado Serrano. The current Don’s brother.”

Davide tilts his head, frowning. “Isn’t he their consigliere? He’s got some shady law degree from one of those crappy online places.”

“That’s right. Don Serrano thinks his brother might be involved in what’s happening with my wife. I need you all to drop whatever else is going on and figure this out.”

Enzo doesn’t look pleased. “You realize we’ve got a big load going right now? Six trucks packed to the fucking insulation with high-grade fentanyl.”

“I’m aware of the shipments.” I narrow my eyes at him. “And I’m also aware that they’re already on the road.”

“Want me to tail him?” Leo asks, looking around. “I’ll stay on him like stink on a homeless guy.”

“Real nice,” Stefano mutters, shaking his head.

“That’s an option. For now, keep your distance. I don’t want him to suspect anything. Don Serrano is dealing with enough as it is.”

“Since when did you give a damn about the Serranos?” Enzo asks, arms crossed over his chest.

“Since I married one.” I stare at him, daring him to keep defying me. He only nods once and looks away.

“We’ll get on it,” he says at last.

“You could’ve put this in an email,” Davide grumbles as he hurries out of the room.

“That guy loves his computer more than anything else in the world,” Leo says, watching him go. “I swear, if it had a pussy?—”

“Don’t finish that,” Stefano says, swatting at him with one big palm.

Leo cringes away. “What! I’m just saying, he’d fuck it.”

“We know.” Stefano punches him in the shoulder. “You dumb fuck. Davide’s a good man.”

Leo rubs his arm, glaring. “Then why’s he always hiding out?”

“Because not everyone’s such a talkative asshole.” Stefano gets up and nods at me. “We’ll look into Corrado for you, boss. No worries on that front.”

“Yeah, Luca, I promise. We’ll handle it.” Leo heads out after Stefano. “I don’t know why you care so much. And anyway, a computer with a pussy, now that’s funny…”

Enzo shuts the door after them but stays where he is. “How worried are you about this Corrado situation?”

I sit back in my chair and glare at my empty coffee cup. “Don Serrano made it sound like bad shit is imminent.” I glance up at Enzo. “He’s dying. Rapidly.”

Enzo sits down in the chair Stefano vacated. “That’s not good. There’s always a lot of chaos when a Famiglia changes hands.”

“His son, Raf, is going to be in charge. He seems like a solid guy, but—” I scratch my nail on the desk absently. “He’s not responsible for making sure nobody hurts Fiorella.”

“Nobody wants that to happen,” Enzo says, softening a touch. “We stepped up for her once already. You know we’ll do it again.”

“I know that. But you can’t be so fucking defiant in front of the other guys.”

Enzo grins lightly and waves a hand. “Come on. You get to show how you can be a hardass.”

“Just stop with that shit, alright?”

“If you’re looking for me to kiss your ass, good luck with that.”

“I’m looking for my crew to follow my orders, that’s all.”

He raps a knuckle on the arm of his chair. “No worries on that front, chief.”

“Find out if we really need to worry about Corrado. And if we do, I want to be the one to pull the trigger.”

“You really care about this new wife of yours, don’t you?”

“Maybe I’m just bloodthirsty. I haven’t killed anyone in a few days.”

He grins at me, shaking his head slowly. “No, you’re smitten. You keep talking about her.”

“Fuck off. She’s my wife .”

“And you have a thing for her. How pathetic.”

“Get out of my office, Enzo.”

He stands up with a groan, rubbing his lower back with one fist. “Just saying, you look like shit because you’re going down a rabbit hole. I don’t want to see you get lost on the way.”

“She’s my wife,” I say coldly, staring at him. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her.”

He looks back, smile fading, and nods once. “Good. You fucking should.”

Then he walks off. I watch him go, frustrated by his bullshit. I’ve known Enzo a long time, and he’s the only person in the whole world that can get away with talking to me like that, but sometimes he pushes things too far.

I don’t know what his problem is with Fiorella, but I meant it when I said I’d do anything to keep her safe. No matter what it takes. For as long as I have to.

I’m tired by the time I get back home. The security system Davide helped install says Fiorella hasn’t tried to leave the house at all. Which is a good thing, but it makes me suspicious.

She’s not the type of woman to sit around at home.

But it’s quiet. The living room’s clean, and it looks like someone even straightened the kitchen. There are fresh dishes in the drying rack. I frown, scowling around , but I don’t know where she’s hiding.

I head upstairs and into my room. I stop dead the second I turn to the bed.

The mattress is stripped and tipped off to the side. The empty frame looks like a wooden skeleton. The sheets are thrown in the corner, rumpled dark blue balls.

My first reaction is anger.

Then I start laughing.

God damn, the cheek of that girl. It makes my heart race as I get changed. She’s going to keep pushing my buttons just because she can.