Page 4 of King of the Cage

“Just a little longer. We can’t insult the King of Atlantic City,” I murmured back to her, holding the dark eyes of the woman across the crowded room.

I wasn’t hot on my Mafia family trees. I was the fuckup of the family, after all. Tonight, for the first time, I regretted the fact that I’d never paid the slightest bit of attention to the politics and players of the criminal underworld the O’Connors lived in. I had no idea who half the fuckers were at this hotly attended wedding. I knew exactly two members of the De Sanctis Mafia, the boss and hissottocapo. Power-hungry megalomaniacs, the both of them.

Quinn sighed. “Don’t forget you promised I could meet Haley after this. We’re going to a party.”

A party. My little sister had finally reached the age where keeping her at home every single night wasn’t possible. She had friends, a life. God help me if she had a boyfriend, because I hadn’t signed off on that, yet. Luckily, Quinn was trustworthy and knew what was allowed and not. She was a good girl, which, considering who her family was, was a fucking miracle. Every rule that I enforced for the youngest member of the family was for her own protection. Unfortunately, there were a whole lot of dangerous people who’d love to mess with the O’Connors, and Quinn would be the perfect target. If Ronan was the brains of the family, Killian the muscle, and me the disappointment… Quinn was the O’Connors’ beating heart.

“I know. I did. You will,” I said, still eye-fucking the stunning beauty across the room. What was the point of going to a wedding if you didn’t take home a bridesmaid at the end of the night? Absolutely no fucking point at all. Though I couldn’t be sure the pinup across the way was a bridesmaid; she seemed more like a bodyguard, or warden, if the bride really was reluctant. There was a violent edge to her beauty that sucked my attention toward her.

She looked like a right fucking handful, and I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Gazes stuck to her, male and female alike. She was magnetic like that. I could hear her throaty, dirty laugh across the room as she smiled at the bride. She had to be inner circle. She was either friends with Renato De Sanctis’ new bride, or her babysitter, making sure she didn’t run off. Either way, Renato trusted her, which made her a powerful woman.

“Oh my God, it’s Lucy!” Quinn suddenly exclaimed, peering in the same direction as I was.

“Who?”

“Lucy, my friend from this summer. What a weird coincidence!” Quinn pointed to a girl sitting with the bride and my mystery woman.

I didn’t believe in coincidences, not one bit. I did, however, believe in fate.

“Introduce me,” I ordered my sister.

She didn’t need telling twice.

We were halfway there when someone stepped in front of us, stopping Quinn in her tracks.

“O’Connor, you really didn’t need to show your face. You’ll ruin the wedding photos.”

Elio Santori stood before us. This motherfucker. One of the only two De Sanctis men I knew. Ex-military, Renato De Sanctis’ rabid dog of asottocapo.He and I had crossed paths more than enough times to hate each other.

“Now, it would be rude to ignore a last-minute invitation to the Mafia wedding of the year. And I know you’d be disappointed not to see me.” I gave Elio a shit-eating smirk.

He stared impassively at me. The man was a brick wall, without emotion. Maybe he was a government-modified cyborg or something, having undergone some kind of experimentation in the military. No one was this impassive. I couldn’t keep a poker face to save my life. We were complete opposites.

“Pay your respects and don’t cause trouble, if you’re capable of it,” Elio said contemptuously.

I chuckled. “You know me too well, Santori. I’ve spent all day thinking how I could piss in your cornflakes. Don’t take away my fun.”

“The last time you had fun, I lost five men,” Elio snapped.

“But did you have fun? That’s the real question.” I grinned at him, knowing I was pushing all his buttons, and wondering how hard I had to push to see this fucker break.

“Bran, this is boring,” Quinn cut in.

I broke my staring contest with Elio to look at her.

“It is, isn’t? Come on, let’s leave my good buddy here to enjoy the stick up his arse alone.” I patted Elio on the shoulder and watched him stride off.

God, I hated that guy.

Quinn took off, and I trailed after her, watching the object of my attraction turn her beautiful face up to stare at my sister when she reached them.

The dark-eyed beauty glanced at me and then away, dismissing me with a haughty glare. She flicked a nifty wee knife between her red-tipped fingers with confidence. A smirk stole across my face. She wanted to play. I switched my attention to the new De Sanctis bride.

“I never thought I’d see the day Ren took a wife, and I definitely never expected it to be someone so young and lovely. I’m Brandon O’Connor, but you can call me Bran.” I shook Charlotte De Sanctis’ hand. “Just blink twice if you need rescuing, gorgeous.”

The bride stared at me, her mouth popping open. It was no secret that Renato De Sanctis was a merciless motherfucker. He’d taken his bride, and it didn’t seem as if she’d had any say in the matter. He’d chosen her, and he’d have her. It was the way of our world. It had been my father’s way, and his father before him.It wouldn’t be mine.

A soft snort pulled my attention from the bride.

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