Page 24 of Relentless Refuge

The child can’t even use proper English. Has he even been groomed to speak to someone in authority like me? I wonder if he ever spoke with Mr. D’Angelo this way.

“I’ve seen it myself, sir,” Dietrich says, and I look over my shoulder at him. One of my best soldiers, he has been charged with guarding the D’Angelo home now for weeks. I trust him, so I listen. “Bratva members have been staking out the place. I don’t think they’re after her mother. They want her, and I think they want her because you want her.”

When I turn back to Nicolo, I see the concern etched on his forehead. Darnel and Victor seem apathetic, though they have no emotional ties to Isabella, and in terms of business, we are secure enough. But this isn’t about business to me. If they’re stalking my wife, then we have a real problem.

“They’re going to make a move,” Darnel says nonchalantly, and Victor nods in agreement.

“Hopefully, not like the one they made on me. Imagine a woman being at the receiving end of a car bomb…” Victortsksand gulps the rest of his drink before setting the glass on the coffee table in front of himself.

“She isn’t just a woman, brother. You’ll do good to remember she is my wife andLa Capa Famiglia…La Donna D’Angelo. If they pursue a hit on her, no matter how insignificant, it is a declaration of war. These last few events have pushed the boundaries of my patience, but I will be out for blood.” My chest tightens at the thought of someone harming her, and my fingers itch to feel the cold steel of my gun in my hand.

“Indeed,” Nicolo says. “La Reginamust be protected at all cost. We will heighten security around Giana’s home and Isabella at all times.” Finished with his drink, he sets his empty glass on the table and stands, slapping the front of his legs. “I will go spread the word now.”

“Good, and I will increase security here. I want four men with her at all times, and she goes nowhere alone.” I nod at him as he snaps his fingers at Fabian, who still looks like an overly alert guard dog.

The two make a graceful exit, and Victor and Darnel fall into a calm conversation, but in my mind, I’m plotting and scheming. Staying two steps ahead of my enemy at all times is the way I work. The men are right. If the Bratva want to make a real statement, they won’t come after me. They’ll go after her, because in doing so, they get to me and they cripple her budding organization.

But I’ll see them coming every step of the way, and they won’t know what hit them when I blow in like a hurricane and stop them in their tracks. No one touches my Bella.

18

ISABELLA

This meeting has been a long time coming. I stand in my mother’s parlor waiting for Uncle Nicky to be ready to leave. My hands shake slightly just thinking of confronting my entire Family and laying down the law. It wasn’t something my father ever had to think or even dream about. They loved him. They would have followed him to the grave. But I’m just a woman in a man’s world, and they have no respect for that.

I peer out the window at the waiting car and think of how Mom warned me this may happen. Following that run-in with Owen and Chase at the gun range, I should have known to watch my back a little more closely, but the shit they pulled at that meet was unacceptable. I should have killed them the way my father would have and I wouldn’t be having this problem now. They would see me as being as ruthless as he always was.

I hear footsteps on the wooden floor outside the hall and know it’s Uncle Nicky come to retrieve me after visiting with Mom. I turn, and just as I do, his head pops into the room.

“Are you ready?” he asks, and I see the hesitation in his expression.

I’m not ready, but I don’t have a choice. I am their leader now, and I have to make them see that we are strong if we are united with the Romanos and we will fall prey to our enemies if we continue to be divided against one another.

Nodding, I leave my perch by the window and pad across the room to take his arm. My head dips as he leads me up the hallway to the front door and out. Mom didn’t even come to say goodbye, and she knows what I’m about to do. I’m young, and I’m green, and there is no good reason my entire Family—more than half of them older than me—should trust my leadership yet. But they must. I won’t allow anyone to take over what belonged to my father and destroy it.

“You seem a bit nervous,” Nicky says as he waves his driver off and opens the back door to the limo. He’s a proper man, and it’s odd seeing him send a staff member away. He’s grown used to being waited on thanks to Mom and her association with my father. Though, he’s also a very personal man, and I can tell he wants to talk.

I climb in without answering, but when he’s seated next to me, I sigh. “I am.” My stomach is tied in knots, and I’m wondering if I’ve done the wrong thing in claiming my right to the throne of my father so quickly after his death.

“Good, you should be.” His hand slaps my knee, and I look up at him in surprise.

“I should?” I ask, searching his face for an explanation. I’d have thought he would expect me to be bold and decisive like Father, to not take shit from anyone and to stand my ground withoutfear. But I see compassion in his eyes, as if I’m his very own daughter whom he loves, and he has wisdom to impart to me.

“Of course you should. You have to look into the eyes of men you love and rebuke them. There is every chance they will walk away from you and never come back. They love you, though, so you have that going for you. They’ll never outright hurt you.” He motions to the driver, who sets off toward our destination—my cousin’s farm on the outskirts of Newark where we sometimes hold large Family meetings like the one today.

I think of Owen and Chase, my two closest cousins who most definitely intended to harm me—twice now. I think Uncle Nicky is mistaken and doesn’t know our family well at all. If my father was a ruthless killing machine when people opposed him, who’s to say my cousins and uncles aren’t as well? And what about the hired hands who have no blood relation?

“I think you might be wrong about that.”

“I’m not wrong, Isabella. They’d sooner walk away and divide the whole Family than to harm a hair on your head. I heard what Owen and Chase did and I heard the lesson you taught them. They loved your father and trusted him wholeheartedly. Whatever mal intent they had is gone. They may not fall in line with you, but they won’t lay a finger on you now.” His face grows serious and he clears his throat. “Your job now is to unite us all. I believe you’re the only one who can.”

Minutes tick past in silence as we approach the family farm. Cars line the narrow driveway on both sides all the way back to the large building near the far end of the property. The door of the barn stands propped open, and none of Marco’s men are here to protect me if something goes wrong. I know I do have acontingent within my family who will attempt to protect me, if only because they loved my father, but fear swells in my chest.

Nicky grabs my hand and squeezes, then pats it. “It’s time.”

We climb out of the car and head in. I’ve never been to one of these meetings, but I’ve been in this barn a million times with my cousins playing. When we walk in, a hush falls across the gathered group. As if in awe of me, or perhaps allowing their deep-seated frustrations to mount, they stare at me. Nicky leads me to the small, raised dais upon which a few chairs have been situated and a microphone stand is perched. He nods at the mic, and I approach it. This meeting may only take one minute, but so far, it feels like it’s taking an eternity.

“Hello,” I say in as bold of a voice as I can muster with all this anxiety swirling.

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