Bought Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle
Dane
Lorenzo’s name appears on my phone’s screen and I roll my eyes at it before picking it up.
“Do you realize that it’s only eight in the morning or were you up all night last night fucking hookers?” I pour a cup of coffee while I speak then turn and take it outside onto the balcony to enjoy.
“You’re the comedian of the family, did you know that? No, no hookers over here. After you went to check out your bought pussy, I decided that I’d just get to bed so that I could handle any problems that popped up this morning.”
The morning is clear and bright and I take a sip of my coffee before answering. I bought this house a few years ago simply because of the way it overlooked the town. From up here on my back balcony I can see straight down the mountain into Main Street. There was a huge pissing match between developers and members of the city council when this condo building was suggested, but our family was more than happy to help inspire the change necessary to get papers signed and have it built.
And I fucking love it. Immediately, I bought the top two floors and renovated them so that I have a huge home with glass windows on most of the walls. This means that I can see anything in any direction and I never have to worry about any asshole trying to sneak up on me. Also, at eighteen floors up, the views are incredible and nobody bothers me.
I have my own private elevator, which I strongly encouraged when the plans for the building were being drawn up, and of course, my own doorman. He’s packing, just like I always am, and makes sure that nobody ever gets in without me personally inviting them.
It’s the best way to make sure that work never follows me home, and it’s worked out perfectly so far. When I marry Natalia and move her here then she’ll have plenty of room to wander around without me having to worry about her escaping. I’ll be able to keep an eye on her no matter where in the house she is and she’ll be perfectly safe here where nobody can get to her.
“Are you trying to imply that problems did pop up? Fine. I’ll bite.” I blow my coffee and lean on the balcony railing while I wait for him to answer. There shouldn’t be anything wrong. We did everything by the book last night and nobody knows that we were the ones to burn the building down.
“You don’t read the fucking news, do you?”
“I can see you rolling your eyes through the phone, asshole,” I say. “Just tell me what’s crawled up your ass.”
‘The building we burned down? It was owned by Mark Jacobson, Steve Jacobson’s brother.”
“Steve’s the mayor,” I say, finally giving my brother more attention than I was giving my coffee.
“Exactly. So it’s all over the news because Steve is pissed about arson against his baby brother.”
“His baby brother is either selling drugs or complicit,” I point out. “Sounds like baby brother is a piece of shit and maybe Steve needs a fucking reality check.”
“Or Steve is dirty. That’s always an option. We need to find out, Dane. I have no idea what plans you had for the day, but they’re on the back burner now. I need you with me so that we can figure this shit out and put a stop to it.”
“Fuck.” Suddenly I wish that I had gotten into some trouble last night other than visiting Natalia and then coming home to jack off while I thought about her. The day just took a spiral and there isn’t going to be any way out of it until we get this all straightened out. “Have you called the other guys? We might as well get everyone involved so that we can make sure that we have it under control.”
“I’m about to. I figured that you’d be pissed if you didn’t hear about it all first, so you’re my first call.” Lorenzo sighs and I can picture him scrubbing his hand over his face as he thinks about what to do next. “Just get your ass in gear, okay? We need to pay the mayor a little visit.”
I hang up without responding and drain the rest of my coffee before turning and grabbing the railing. Leaning over it, I can see straight down to the courthouse where we’ll be heading in a few minutes, and I exhale hard.
Why the fuck would the mayor want to get mixed up in this kind of shit? Normally people who go into politics are smarter than this and want to make sure to cover their asses, but he obviously either has a fuckup for a brother or is just as fucking stupid as the rest of his family.
Either way, we have to put a stop to it.
I’m already dressed, and I grab my gun, slipping it into the back of my pants, as I leave my building. In the parking deck I slip into my car and then roll my neck, hearing the vertebrae crack as I do.
I thought that last night was going to take care of whoever thought they were smart enough to try to run drugs through here without getting caught, but it looks like we just opened up a huge can of worms.
Time to shut that shit down.
My Range Rover roars to life under me and I pull out of the private parking spot, turning onto the road that winds down from my building, and make my way across town.
Lorenzo pulls up after I’ve been in the parking lot for a few minutes. His jaw is set and tight and he glances all around his vehicle before getting out and joining me where I’m leaning against mine. There’s a bit of a chill in the air today and I give him a nod as he pulls his jacket tighter around his body.
When he does, it outlines his gun, making him look even more intense than he normally does. Johnny gets out of another car that’s parked at the end of the parking lot and saunters over to us. The sun is bright and he has on dark sunglasses that completely obscure his eyes.
“You guys ready for this?” When Johnny and Lorenzo nod, I lead the way to the building. Steve has no idea that we’re coming, but I’m more than confident that he’s going to let us in when he sees who’s standing outside his office door.
His secretary glances up at us then does a double-take before reaching for the phone on her desk. “Don’t worry about calling him,” I say, locking my gaze on her. “We have business with him.”
She hesitates, chewing her lower lip for a moment before giving us a brisk nod and slowly pulling her hand from the phone. “He’s in there with a board member,” she says, keeping her voice low. “I have no idea how much longer they were going to talk.”
“They’re done now.” Walking past her, I open the office door and lead my brother and cousin in. The three of us fill the room and spread out as I look around us.
Immediately ahead of us is a huge desk that takes up all the space in front of the windows overlooking Main Street. I realize with a start that I could see straight into that window from my balcony if I used binoculars. Steve is perched on the corner of his desk, nodding furiously to what another man is saying.
The board member turns around and I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Timothy Helms has been a pain in my ass for as long as I can remember. He’s a stuck-up shit, the lawyer liaison between the police department and city council, and always wants to find some dirt on our family.
So far, he hasn’t been able to dig anything up, and I’m not at all interested in him finding something now.
“The Accardi family,” Helms says, turning and throwing his arms open wide like he’s welcoming us in for a hug. “To what do the mayor and I owe this pleasure?”
“We came to talk to Steve about his brother’s extracurricular activities.” Moving closer, I side-step Helms, keeping my eyes locked on the major.
In response to my words, he swallows hard, obviously trying to think of what to say.
Helms saves him.
“Anything that you want to say to my client, you are more than welcome to say in front of me.” Crossing his arms, he fixes me with a dark stare like he fully expects me to take a step back from him.
I don’t. Taking a deep breath, I walk closer to him, the heavy weight of my gun at my hip and my family behind me giving me all the confidence in the world that I need to deal with this asshole. They may think that they’ve won, or that they’ll be able to get something over on us, but that’s not how this works.
He lawyered up and that tells me everything that I need to know about what kind of shit he’s involved in.
“Listen, asshole.” I stop just short of slamming my finger into his chest to really get his attention. From the way he’s looking at me, it’s pretty obvious that I have it. “You may think that you can protect him, but let me tell you something. Scum like him always rises to the top and gets discarded. We’re just here to make sure that it happens in a timely manner.”
Silence. When I’m sure that neither Steve or his lawyer are going to respond, I whip around. Anger washes over me when I realize that we’re going to have to come at this from another direction. Both Lorenzo and Johnny walk with me and we don’t stop until we’re outside on the Main Street.
“Dig up everything about those two pricks,” I tell Johnny, who nods. “It’s obvious that they’re in this together, and we have to figure out how to put a stop to it. I want you two to figure out everything that we need to know so we can keep drugs out of town.”
“Except for ours,” Johnny says with a grin.
“Obviously. We’re the only ones selling and moving shit through here. Let me know when you guys have something.”
“What are you going to do? Go home and scratch your balls or something?” Lorenzo’s fighting down laughter, I know it. He may not like me telling him what to do but he’s not so stupid as to disregard what I’m telling him.
“I have to go get fitted for my tux,” I say, without turning around. “And then I want to pay my bride a little visit to see how her night was.”
