Page 40 of Shattered King

Luca

R af looks like absolute shit.

Not that I can blame the guy. He got shot and nearly died.

Thick bags hang under his eyes, and he’s sitting up hunched over like someone punched him in the gut.

When I come down into the quiet of the basement, though, his sharp eyes stare into mine, and I’m thrilled by the sudden fire I see in his expression.

“The girls okay?” he asks, which I appreciate. The first thing he wants to check on is his family. “That horrible nurse wouldn’t tell me shit.”

“The girls are fine.” I stand at the end of his bed. Poor bastard seems all skin and bones. “Fio and Elisa are both unhappy you asked to see me first.”

He nods like that doesn’t surprise him. “They’ll come down soon enough. First of all, how long have I been out?”

“A few days.”

He grimaces and looks around. “I assume the hospital was too dangerous?”

“We had to move you.”

“And my family?”

“Disarray at the moment. Corrado’s trying to gather support, but the Capos haven’t fully backed him. Not while you’re still alive.”

“Which explains why the hospital’s not safe. That fucking bastard.” He takes a deep breath and leans back in his bed. “You want to hear something terrible?”

“Always.”

“I looked up to Corrado when I was younger. Always thought he was the strongest of all my uncles, and I liked that about him.”

I smile a touch. “Now that doesn’t seem so great, does it?”

“He has to die.” Raf stares at me, face grim and determined. “I should have moved harder on him much sooner.”

“You made some mistakes,” I concede, but I don’t take that any further. I’m tempted to tell him about the attack on Fiorella and the shit she’s been through, but what’s the point? He’s been unconscious, and none of it was his fault anyway.

Yes, he should’ve hit Corrado harder and faster. Yes, he gave his uncle too much space. He should’ve been working harder to cement support behind him, especially knowing that his father was going to die soon.

But he fell into a common fucking trap. He believed in the reliability of the people in his organization. He assumed they’d do the right thing and respect his father’s wishes instead of trying to kill him.

Now here we are. He wasn’t paranoid and aggressive enough. So it fucking goes.

“I never should have listened to my father.” He grips the sheets tightly in his hands, his knuckles turning white.

“He was so sure his brother would back down eventually. They were so close when they were younger. But I was the reason they started falling out, and when Dad named me as his official heir, that fucked everything up. Corrado could never accept it. Dad thought he’d get over his pride for the sake of the Famiglia. He was so fucking wrong.”

“At least you’re learning.”

He grunts, jaw working for a moment as he gathers himself. “What progress have you made? I assume I’m alive because the Marino Famiglia still backs me.”

“Partially, anyway. Don Marino made it clear that he’s under considerable pressure to stop your family’s civil war, no matter the stakes. He’s holding back for now, but he won’t wait forever.”

“How much time do we have left?”

“A week at most. Possibly less after tonight.” I finally tell him about the attack, which doesn’t do much for his bloody mood.

“Corrado’s got to die, and he’s got to die fast.” He moves as if he’s going to get out of bed but doesn’t get far. He’s tangled in IV lines and much too weak to start walking around. His frustration is palpable, and I almost feel sorry for him.

“I have some leads, but there’s one main problem. If I’m the one who takes your uncle down, your Capos will always see you as a pawn of the Marino Famiglia.”

Raf licks his dry lips and studies me. “Are you saying I’m not?”

“I’m saying if you want to be Don, you’d better make them think you aren’t.” I step closer, voice lowering. “But you’ll always remember how much you owe to me and my Famiglia, won’t you?”

There’s the pivotal moment. He considers, not giving me much by way of a reaction, not yet at least. I need him to understand that while we’re going to give him a long leash, our alliance is going to be heavily weighted in favor of the Marinos.

It’ll make his life harder, but I’m not here to worry about his leadership style.

I’m here to win power and keep my family safe.

“We can work together,” he says at last and gestures down at himself. “Not that I have much of a choice.”

“That’s the thing with you, Raf. You always have a choice. You just have to be willing to deal with the consequences.”

“Says the guy that wasn’t shot.” He holds up a hand before I can reply. “I understand our situation, and I accept it. What else do you need?”

“Nothing. That’s all.” I turn to leave but hesitate. “Actually, one thing. We need support from one of your family’s Capos. I’ve been thinking about approaching someone, but I haven’t been sure who. Got any suggestions?”

Raf takes a moment to consider. “Filippo the accountant. He’s not blood-related, so he doesn’t necessarily owe Corrado anything, and my father’s the one that raised him up.

Filippo’s not a decent man, but he’s not stupid either.

He didn’t draw his gun when Carmine and Rocco lost their fucking minds, which means he wasn’t against me even if he wasn’t trying to protect me.

Assuming he’s still alive, you might get some support from him. ”

“That’s a good idea.”

Raf’s eyes close, and he lets out a long, heavy sigh. “Do me a favor. Tell the girls I’ll talk to them in a little while. I’m not really feeling up for them this second, okay?”

“Whatever you need, but they won’t be happy about it.”

“Do what you can.”

I leave him there and head slowly back upstairs. I don’t know much about Filippo Benedetti, but at least it’s a place to start. Raf seems like a man coming back from the brink of death, but there’s a new sharpness to him. Like he can see the world for what it is all of a sudden.

There is no such thing as loyalty. Not without reason. Men follow other men when it suits them, not out of some bizarre, old-fashioned sense of honor. Even blood family isn’t enough anymore.

We live in a world defined by money and power. The strong survive and the weak eat shit. Life’s always been that way, but Raf was insulated from the worst of it. His father’s influence distorted the way he viewed the people around him.

I think getting shot blew apart his entire reality.

But he’ll come through it better now.

Fiorella and Elisa are waiting in the kitchen. They basically assault me, and I have to explain Raf’s situation. “He’s sleeping again though,” I say as they both start toward the basement door. “He asked to be left alone for a little bit longer.”

“He’s my brother. If I want to see him, I’m going to see him.” Elisa glares at me.

“Just passing along what he said.”

She disappears downstairs, stomping loudly on each step. Actually, if Raf thought both his sisters would give him some space right now, maybe I’m wrong about this whole sharpness thing.

Fiorella doesn’t follow at least. She leans into me, and I kiss her lightly. We stand together in the silence of the dim hallway, and I pull her hips into mine, feeling her weight and her warmth, breathing in her smell.

“You really think Raf’s going to be okay?” she whispers.

“Mostly because we’re going to make sure he is.”

“These attacks aren’t going to stop until we find my uncle.”

“You’re absolutely right, which is why we’re going to meet with Filippo.”

Her eyebrows raise as she leans back from me. Her hands still linger at my sides like she can’t bear to let go. “Why him? I don’t know him very well. He’s always been kind of creepy.”

“Raf says his loyalty is a little bit more flexible than some of the others.”

She nods slowly, considering. “He’s probably a good choice then.”

“We’ll talk to him together. We need to convince him to help us take down Corrado.”

“You mean, I need to convince him.” She leans in and kisses me again with a playful smile. “You’re not convincing anyone of anything.”

“You’d be surprised at how amenable most people are when there’s a gun to their head.”

“Can’t solve all your problems with a bullet, Luca.”

“Watch me try.” I bury my mouth into hers and fist her hair. “Solved them pretty well tonight.”

I linger with her like that. God, the thought of almost losing her was like a nightmare.

I can’t imagine how hard it was for her to climb into that car’s trunk only to find herself trapped all over again.

The thoughts she must’ve had racing through her head.

But history won’t repeat itself. I won’t let it.

Not while I’m here to make sure she’s safe.

Fiorella’s my priority.

There’s no disappearing from me. I’ll rip an entire fucking house to the studs just to make sure she’s safe.

“We’ll go tomorrow.” Her hands move to the hem of my shirt.

She tugs on it lightly, then slips her palm over the skin of my abdomen.

She moves them along my back, grazing her fingernails lightly.

The scratching sends a tingle down my spine, and I’m half hard when she kisses me again. “We need to rest up tonight.”

“The way you’re looking at me, I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep.”

“I thought I was trapped in that trunk forever.”

I pull her tighter against me. “I won’t ever let that happen to you.

Do you understand, Fiorella?” Passion rolls over my skin.

The desire to protect her is like a grenade in my chest. I feel it so strongly my jaw tightens, and if I could bring back those dead Serrano soldiers and kill them all over again for her pleasure, I’d fucking do it.

I’ll make them all scream for what they did to her.

“I know you won’t.”

I kiss her hard. I consume her. I’ll break the whole goddamn world to make sure she’s never in a terrible position like that again.

Even though a part of me is proud of her for making the hard decision to climb into that trunk.

She’s so much stronger than she realizes, and I know she’s going to be a perfect partner and an incredible mother.

I drag her upstairs, heedless of anything else, because I can’t stand another second without my dick sunk deep between her legs. I need her moans. I need her sweat.

And I need the blood of everyone that fucking hurt her.