Page 1 of Queen of Misfortune (Shadows of Redemption)

DONOVAN (1 HOUR AGO)

“Kill them both.”

Fucking hell. Are those the last words I’m ever going to hear? Don Giovanni Fiori telling his men to kill me and my Boss, Don Niko Leone?

I’m pissed off about that and that Niko and I were duped into thinking we had a lead on Fiori when, in fact, the asshole who was supposed to lead us to Fiori led Fiori to us in one of Niko’s old warehouses.

After a short firefight, where Niko and I killed four or five of those motherfuckers, Fiori corners us. I wonder where our men are as Niko and I stare down the barrel of Fiori’s gun. A sound distracts Niko, and I see it in Fiori’s eyes. He’s ready to rid this earth of Niko. I’m moving before the gun goes off, putting myself in front of Niko. It isn’t just that it’s my job to protect him. Niko is my friend. My brother. The life I have is all due to him. Sure, my father worked in the Family, but Niko was the one who saw my potential. I also just learned that the woman he’s with, who I’m pretty sure he’s in love with even if he doesn’t say so, is pregnant. If that’s not a reason for him to live, I don’t know what is.

The bullet pierces my chest. Already off balance from moving to protect Niko, I’m jerked back, losing my balance and falling on Niko. He’s not moving under me, which means either the bullet went through me or that thud I heard was his head hitting the concrete.

That’s where I am now as Fiori gives the order for his men to kill us both.

It’s quite possible that the bullet hole in my chest will do the trick. But it hasn’t yet. I know because my chest feels like it’s on fire. They say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. That’s not the case. At least not for me. Right now, regrets and disappointment are filling my thoughts. Why didn’t I check Ugly Eddie for a tracker myself when we took him to interrogate him on where Fiori could be found? How did I not consider that Ugly Eddie’s walking into one of Niko’s clubs was part of a setup? Why didn’t I tell Niko how much he meant to me and how I hoped that he was in love with Elena, who in a fucking weird turn of events is Fiori’s daughter? And why did I have to die before getting to know Lucia, or Lucy as I call her, Elena’s sister? From the moment I nabbed her at the airport, I’ve been enamored. Yes, she’s beautiful and has a body made for fucking. But her mouth, the shit she spews… God, the woman has balls bigger than most men I know. Oh, how I wanted to tame her.

As I lie waiting for the kill shot, I’m reminded that Lucy is married. To another Don, no less. Of course, Don Giuseppe Conti is a million years old. He’s also in Italy while Lucy is here.

Thoughts and images in my mind are fading. Maybe I’ll bleed out before Fiori’s men take me out. But damn, what I would give to have lived long enough to drown in Lucy’s dark eyes, lose myself in her sweet body. The last image I hold is of her, defiant, mouthy, sexy.

1

LUCIA

It’s turning out to be a very bad night. But that’s what life is like in my world. There were many nights my mother waited up late for my father to return, concerned that he’d been killed. Of course, I secretly hoped he had been killed. Maybe Elena and I would be able to get away from the Mafia and live like regular people.

I’d come so close to leaving years ago. I’d met a man who wasn’t in our world and fell in love. Dylan knew who I was, or more accurately, who my father was, and he still promised to take me away. Sometimes, I think about him and what would have happened had my father not found out about him. The night my father made him kneel in front of me and shot him in the head is seared into my brain. I didn’t have time to grieve as my father called me a whore and put me on a plane heading to Italy to marry Don Giuseppe Conti. I was terrified, forced away from my sister, sent to a family I’d never met, speaking a language I didn’t know that well.

Luckily for me, Giuseppe, while he could be lethal, was kind to me. In some ways, Niko reminds me of him, except that Giuseppe was ill for all of our marriage. Earlier tonight, Ireceived a call to tell me Giuseppe’s illness finally caught up with him and he died. I’m sad about that. He was good to me, and I feel fortunate that his son, Luca, is as well.

Despite my loss, I’m more worried about my sister, Elena. She’s fallen for the man who kidnapped her and is pregnant with his twins. In the real world, this might be good news. In our world, it could be the death of her. Because of that, I’m glad that Luca has suggested that I stay in New York while he deals with the power plays about to come due to his father’s death.

It’s late, past midnight, but I find Elena sitting in the living room, wallowing in her sadness that Niko doesn’t want the babies and is planning to send her away.

“You should rest,” I say, sitting next to her on the couch. We’ve had a long day, her worse than me after a car accident set up by my father, his men kidnapping us and in her case, my father handing her over to Romeo Abate, the man my father gave her as payment for a debt. I don’t know how she did it, but she killed Romeo. I know that has to weigh on her. Elena is a sweet, innocent young woman who shouldn’t have to have killed anyone.

“I can’t.”

I hate how sad she is. “If he succeeds, maybe he’ll change his mind.” I hold her hand, trying to comfort her.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She leans on my shoulder. “I should be asking about you. How are you holding up?”

I know she’s asking about Giuseppe. “I’m okay. I mean, I’m sad. I’ll miss him. But I know now that one of the reasons he let me come here, insisted I come when you didn’t show up like you said you would, was that he knew his time was coming. He didn’t want me to see him like that. He’d want me to remember the good times.”

"Good times? I was so worried when Dad sent you away. I was afraid he’d be mean to you. I’m so glad it turned out to be the opposite.”

It’s one of those situations in which I could call my dad and say, “suck it!” since Giuseppe was kind. My life was infinitely better in Italy than it would have been had I stayed home.

“I was lucky. Giuseppe never asked for more than my company. He’s definitely a rarity in our world."

“When do you have to go back to Italy?”

I turn to face her. "Luca wants me to stay here in New York. It's… unsettled times when a Don dies."

"Luca? That’s Giuseppe’s son, right? Is he kicking you out of the Family?”

"He says I'm still family, that I can return if I choose to." I squeeze her hand gently. "He said I could bring you with me. He’ll protect us. I think he’s grateful for all I did for his father." Another reason to be grateful to the Contis. Luca still sees me as family and is willing to take Elena. It’s not wise, but Luca is like his father, lethal and yet loving, and willing to do whatever it takes to protect those in the Family.

“Does he know about the babies? About their being Niko’s?” She knows, as I and Luca do, that it could be problematic for her to leave while pregnant with Niko’s kids. Any other Don would worry about Niko’s response.

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