Page 43 of Luciano (Belles & Mobsters 1)

“Oh no, the agreement still stands. The Belles and Mobsters' agreement continued, including belles from the Romano family. It is the biggest auction, fetching the largest sums. Women go to the highest bidder. Unfortunately for the Romano family, not all their family members had the stomach for it. There were hushed stories of random family members disappearing or being brought down if they tried to fuck with their new, secret business. Till Kennedy Romano. His feud against his brother was rather bitter.”

That was Grace’s father. My wife told me about her parents during our first few months of marriage. She loved them very much. I should have known all this before; we all should have. But the truth was that I was focused solely on avenging the death of my mother and sister. Both were killed by Alphonso Romano.

“How is it that none of us heard of this before?” And how was it not picked up in Grace’s background check that there was a feud between Kennedy Romano and his brother?

“Well, none of us are really from old families,” Nico retorted. “Alessio came from old money, but his family is based in Canada. My family only got rich about a hundred years ago with the construction boom. Your father, Luciano, was first generation in the States, and he worked himself within the ranks. And you quadrupled, if not more, what your father made, so you would have never needed the money. Cassio and Luca weren’t in those circles, and really their grandfather in Italy raised them. So their father kept them out of the loop.”

“Holy fucking shit,” Luca muttered. “Belles and mobsters. Who in their right mind would ever agree to offer a daughter to a man in our circles?”

He was right. I knew I wouldn’t want my children to be part of this underworld. It was cruel and unforgiving. It made me a hypocritical bastard because I took Grace without consideration to the mafia world.

“I would imagine desperate people would agree to it,” Cassio muttered.

“I hate that fucking old bastard.” Luca didn’t hide his feelings about his father. He hated him with passion. Not that I could blame him.

“But again, there is no evidence for any of this. And good luck finding someone that would be willing to attest to this,” Nico added.

Cassio's jaw was pressed so tight, I thought it might snap at any second.

The dread was heavy like lead in the pit of my stomach. Grace was the only woman of her family’s current generation. Three years ago, I sent her right back to them. She ran, disappeared for the longest three years of my life. I thought her uncle hid her from me, but if there was an ounce of truth to this story, that couldn’t be. He worked with Cassio’s father. If he had her, she’d be in Benito King’s clutches, offered to the highest bidding mobster.

And I brought her right back into the lion’s den. I might as well have had her delivered on a silver platter.

My blood simmered, the anger at myself unlike ever before.

Nico continued speaking, “As you know, Alphonso only had a brother. So there was no Romano belle offering. Kennedy Romano was in politics; he was pretty good too. He had a childhood sweetheart that refused to marry him for many years. The world was flabbergasted. They were a perfect match. She came from old money. The whispering is that her family knew about the ongoing deal the Romano family had and the human trafficking. Kennedy Romano became educated by his wife in his own family business affairs, after which he cut all contact with the Romano family. His political career grew fast and strong. He was going after the mafia and crime relentlessly. There were stories he could have easily become the next president. And they had a little girl; the only child for that generation since Alphonso never married.”

The meaning of it lingered in the air. Grace was owed to the King family.

“The word is that Grace Romano was meant for Benito King’s legitimate son,” Nico concluded. “Whatever the highest price she fetches, Marco King is to pay double.”

I would never let them have her. I would kill every single member of the King family if I had to, but they would never have Grace. She was Vitale now. She was mine.

“What other families do the Kings have arrangements with?” Cassio gritted out.

“I don’t have concrete leads. Politicians, here in the U.S. and in Europe, movie stars, old families.” Nico took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

“Do you think maybe Grace knows?” Cassio’s question was reasonable.

I met Nico’s gaze. “We could ask her,” he suggested.

My eyes took in shattered vase pieces on the floor and my desk. “She won’t tell us anything,” I rasped. If all this was true and Grace knew about the belle deal, I have betrayed her in the worst way possible. Was that the reason she betrayed me that day? Did her uncle hold that over her head?

“Fuck, we have to do something,” Luca gritted.

“Do we know how it works? The belle offering?” I questioned. “When? Where?” The whole concept made me sick to my stomach. “Raphael mentioned he overheard Alphonso speak to Benito about the delivery of a woman.”

Cassio and I shared glances. There was no question who that woman was now. Did Alphonso Romano already know Grace was back in the States?

Massimo barged through the door at that moment, an alarmed look on his face.

“What is it?” Fuck, I didn’t know how much more bad news I could take today.

“I broke it.”

“Broke what?” Cassio and I questioned at the same time.

“I broke your wife’s firewalls.” He looked disheveled, which rarely happened to him. “You won’t fucking believe it.”

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