His Kingdom (Owning Vegas Book 1)

An Hour Earlier

Deep down, I know Charlotte wasn’t okay with me leaving her. She’s not alone, though. She has her friends with her. And if I didn’t have to sort out the shitshow that is our fucking world, I wouldn’t have left.

Sammie and Carlo found the fucker who arranged that hit on me. It was a member of the Marciano family. They’re Italian mafia, and they’re trying to gain a foothold here on the strip. My fucking strip.

Because their Don is someone I respect, I’ve agreed to have a sit down with him. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to hang the fucker responsible for putting that bullet in my wife. Slaughter him like the pig he is. By his own hand or not, he’s the reason Charlotte was put in danger. The reason she was shot, instead of me. Death is the kindest thing I can do for him.

Joey Marciano sits across from me. I meet his glare with one of my own. “Make this quick. You and I both know I’m not going to let him live. My wife was shot because some asshole thought making a move on my casino was a smart thing to do. So, whatever you have to tell yourself in order to come to terms with one of your men being taken out by me, I suggest you do it.”

“I’m not here to start a war with you, Giuliani,” Joey says.

“Then why are you here?”

“I have a gift. For you.” The old bastard smiles. “A show of good will.” He waves a hand, and his underboss opens the door. A man is tossed inside, hitting the floor with an audible thud before scrambling to his knees. “The guy you’re looking for.” Joey nods in the fucker’s direction.

“What’s the catch?” I ask, not moving from my seat. No matter how much I want to get my hands on that fucker. I haven’t gotten to where I am today by acting on emotion. I’m not going to start now. I have so much more to fucking live for.

“What? Boss, no, don’t do this! I didn’t do anything! I swear!” The fucker screams while trying to get to his feet. A hard task when your ankles and wrists are still bound.

“I want to make a deal. One that will benefit both of our organizations,” Joey says. “One where this…” He waves a hand towards his guy. “…is forgiven, forgotten.”

“My wife was shot. That’s not something I’ll ever forget. Or forgive,” I tell Joey.

“Understandable.” He nods his head.

“That said, it would be rude of me to not at least hear you out.” I lean back in my seat. “What kind of deal we talking?”

“A merger. Of families,” Joey says. “I have a daughter, Antonia. Twenty-one, marrying age.”

I blink. This fucker cannot be for real. He wants to marry off his daughter? To whom? We don’t fucking work like that.noveldrama

“We’re not in the business of arranged marriages,” I remind him.

“It will bring peace to our two organizations, Louie. Think about it,” he says. “Antonia will be married regardless. It will either be to one of your men or someone from another family.” Joey sits back, mimicking my position as one leg crosses over the other.

I get the hidden message. It’s us or them. One of the other crime families in Vegas. As far as I’m concerned, he can go and join them. I don’t give a shit. All I want is that asshole squirming on the floor.

“I’ll do it.” Carlo steps up from behind me.

I turn to look at him. “Excuse me?” I blink.

“I’ll do it. I’ll marry her. For the family,” he says. “It’s a good idea.”

“You want to enter into an arranged marriage?” I ask him.

“Sure.” He lifts a shoulder.

“Fine.” I turn back to Joey. I will deal with Carlo later. I don’t know why the fuck someone so insistent on never getting married all of a sudden wants to enter into an arrangement with someone he doesn’t even fucking know. “Let’s make a deal.” I hold out a hand.

The older man returns the gesture with a smile. “This is going to be a very beneficial relationship between our families,” Joey says.

I nod my head. Waiting for Marciano and his underboss to leave the room before collecting my gift.

“Let’s get him to the basement,” I tell Sammie. I stand to button my jacket, and just as I reach for my phone, Charlotte’s name flashes across the screen. I swipe to answer the call and immediately press the device to my ear. “Sweetheart? You okay?”

“It’s Evie. You have to come back, Louie. Now!”

“What happened?” I ask, already walking towards the door.

“She’s asking for you. Just get back,” Evie says, then cuts the call.

“Fuck!” I draw my gun from behind my back. “I wanted to make this hurt a lot fucking more but I’m needed elsewhere,” I tell the asshole on the floor before putting one bullet in his head and then two more into his chest.

I run to the elevators, my mind going through all the worst-case scenarios. I knew I shouldn’t have fucking left her.

When I get to the apartment, I find Charlotte on the sofa. She’s covered in sweat, and tears stain her cheeks. I was gone for one hour. One fucking hour.

I take her into my arms, carry her into our room, and shut the door. She doesn’t need anyone else. All she needs is me. I’m not leaving her again. I don’t care if I have to spend the rest of our lives by her side 24/7. I will find a way to make it work, because I never want to see her like this again.

After getting her to calm down, I tell her that I love her and lay her next to me on the bed. “I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

She’s grabbing on to my suit like she’s afraid I might disappear. “I’m sorry.” Charlotte shakes out her hands as she lets go of my jacket.

“I’m going to stand up and take off my clothes. Then I’m going to carry you into the bathroom and we’re going to shower together,” I explain, keeping my voice cool and even.

“Can we have a bath? Or go to the pool?” she asks me.

“You can’t swim just yet. But we can fill up the tub and do our best to keep your shoulder from getting too wet,” I tell her as I shrug out of my jacket. I remove my shirt next and then pick her up.

“Louie, who’s getting married?” Charlotte asks after we’ve settled into the tub.

“Carlo,” I say. “He volunteered to marry the daughter of the other family.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I have no idea. Maybe he saw how great our marriage is working out for us and wants what we have,” I suggest.

“Maybe he thinks he needs a woman around for Jazzy,” Charlotte counters.

That makes sense, but I still don’t think that’s the reason. He seemed… eager to be the one marrying that girl. He doesn’t even know what she looks like. At least I don’t think he does. For all I know, their paths could have crossed at some point. Vegas isn’t as big of a city as some might think.