Reign of Destiny: Dark Reign, #7, page 1
REIGN OF DESTINY
Dark Reign Book Seven
A.G. KIRKHAM
Copyright © 2022 by A.G. Kirkham
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Dark Reign Families
Dark Reign Families
* * *
La Famiglia
Marco (Capo) & Gloria Moretti
Son: Nero
Daughter: Grazia
* * *
Nero (Future Capo) & Felicia MorettiLuciano (Consigliere) & Grazia Donatelli
Children: Antonio Children: Ciara
Nero’s Parents: Marco & Gloria MorettiLuciano’s Parents: Paolo (deceased) & Francesca Donatelli
Felicia’s Parents: Mario & Teresa BianchiGrazia’s Parents: Marco & Gloria Moretti
Nero’s Sibling: Grazia MorettiGrazia’s Sibling: Nero Moretti
Felicia’s Sibling: Emiliano BianchiLuciano’s Sibling: Cara Donatelli
* * *
Nostra Casa
Moreno (Capo) & Anna Viale
Children: Samuele, Simona (twins)
Reno’s Parents: Giovanni & Clara Viale (both deceased)
Anna’s Parents: Franco & Angela Corelli
Reno’s Siblings: Sebastian Viale, Dante Viale
Anna’s Sibling: Giorgio Corelli (married to Sara and they have a child Franco Jr.)
* * *
Sebastian (Consigliere) & Olivia Viale
Sebastian’s Parents: Giovanni Viale & Magdalena DeLupa (both deceased)
Olivia’s Parents: Orlando & Diane (deceased) Micelli
Sebastian’s Siblings: Reno Viale, Dante Viale
* * *
Dante (Consigliere) & Elena Viale
Dante’s Parents: Giovanni Viale & Magdalena DeLupa (both deceased)
Elena’s Parents: Dario and Gina Ciello
Dante’s Siblings: Reno Viale, Sebastian Viale
Elena’s Siblings: Elio Ciello, Zano Ciello
* * *
Leonardo (Underboss) & Lucia Conte
Children: Joseph
Leo’s Parents: Martina Conte, father unnamed
Lucia’s Parents: Giuseppe & Natalina (deceased) Ferrante
Siblings: None
* * *
Il Destino
Alessio (Capo) & Josephine Cassini
Alessio’s Parents: Alfredo and Maria Cassini
Josephine’s Parents: Germano and Nina Cucco
Alessio’s Siblings: Mara Cassini, Mia Cassini
Josephine’s Sibling: Mona Berto (married to Bruno)
Contents
Prologue
1. Destiny
2. Restitution
3. One More Saturday
4. Night Out
5. Officially Betrothed
6. Changes
7. You Get What You Give
8. Nasty and Nice
9. The Rules
10. Cheers
11. Earth and Fire
12. Extraordinary
13. You’re Welcome
14. Happily Exhausted
15. Dragon’s Fire
16. Quiet, baby
17. The Rescue
18. Brotherly Love
19. Give Her What She Wants
Song list
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by A.G. Kirkham
Prologue
RENO
I Choose Her
The glow of the moon outlines Dante’s form, sitting in a chair in the dark, a bottle of whiskey on the table next to him and a full glass in his hand. I move to switch the light on.
“Don’t,” he says.
I sigh. Jesus, he’s fucking drunk, and he’s a shitty drunk.
“Fine.” I pull up a chair to sit across from him. I start by saying, “You didn’t make your move.”
“She wasn’t ready,” he says, slamming down his glass. “Cara’s in school.”
“She’s turning nineteen. In our circle, she should already be betrothed.” I keep my voice calm and direct.
“Cara’s mine,” Dante snarls. “Mine. She was mine the first time I laid eyes on her.”
“If she were yours, then you would have done something about it. I’ve been after you for months to make a move. You ignored me.”
“You fucking knew this was happening, and you didn’t tell me,” he accuses, stumbling as he comes to his feet.
“Sit. The fuck. Down,” I command. Dante’s not himself, and I’m exerting immense patience, something I don’t normally have. When he falls back into his seat, I continue. “You met Cara, what, two, three years ago? And since then, you’ve done nothing about it. You’ve had two conversations with her, if that. I waited for you to tell me to make the match. Anna has warned you and urged you to do the same. You ignored us all. This tells me one of two things. One, you’re a complete and total idiot to let an opportunity slip through your fingers.” I pause, and Dante jumps in.
“Or…”
“Or, you like the idea of Cara, but you were never in love with her. You can be attracted to someone and still not want to spend your life with them. Cara’s sweet, angelic, innocent. She’s everything good, and we’re not. We live with blood and deceit in our lives every day. You liked the thought of an innocent.”
“And maybe I do love her,” he insists.
“Dante, you’re my brother, and I would give my life for you. If you love this girl, really love this girl, I’ll help you fight that battle alongside you. But consider this: you are inciting a war. La Famiglia has fought beside us, and we’ve formed strong bonds. Is Cara worth tearing that apart? And remember, war means Anna losing her parents, her brother and his family, and the friends she’s made. It means Olivia loses her best friend in Felicia and Grazia, and her father. It means Sebastian and I both have to work hard to make sure our wives will adapt to a war where we may find ourselves face-to-face with a member of their family and have to pull the trigger.” I can see that Dante is hurting, and very badly.
“How do I let her go?” he whispers.
“You never had her, Dante. She’s an image of the girl you think you want. That being said, if she is the one you want, the woman you need to make you whole, I’ll find a way to make that happen. That means that I’ll have to have Emiliano killed. Felicia will lose a brother, and if it’s found out, the damage will be irreversible. Think it over tonight.” I stand, getting ready to take my leave.
“Choose a wife for me.”
“What?”
“You picked a woman for Leo, so choose one for me.” He rakes a hand through his blond hair, but can’t meet my gaze. Shit, I hate when he gets like this. Pissed off, I can handle. Defeated is torture.
“We’ll talk about it in the morning. Get some sleep.” After leaving, I alert the two men I’ve put outside his house. “He doesn’t leave tonight, and if he does, you follow him and you call me immediately.”
They nod, and I go back to the main house. Anna’s waiting for me and is quick to ask, “How’s Dante?”
“Drunk.”
“Oh no.” She sighs. “I don’t understand him. I’ve all but made the phone call for him. How can he be upset now?”
“Dante’s a complicated man. Sebastian speaks his mind, says what he’s thinking, and always has. Dante relies on logic. Computers, programs, and research make sense to him. Emotions are hard for him. You add the fact that our father was an asshole, his mother died, and if it wasn’t for Risk, God knows where he and Sebastian would be. That’s a lot to handle. It was Dante who discovered that my first wife was conspiring to kill me and marry my father. I don’t blame him for second-guessing the idea of marriage.”
“Sure. But what about me and you, Olivia and Sebastian, Leo and Lucia?”
“This runs deep, farfalle. It’s late. We’ll talk more in the morning.” We can debate this all night. Dante needs to sleep off the bottle he almost emptied, and I’ll sit down with him again tomorrow.
Dante
Hangovers suck. Sebastian even smiles loudly. I want to punch him in the throat. Even the smell of the linguine in white wine clam sauce is making me queasy. It’s normally my favorite dish, and I literally want to toss it across the room to the farthest corner away from me.
Dario, the owner of Luna Bella Trattoria, makes it for me when he knows we’re coming. He’s had trouble lately with vandals and threats from a local gang. The punks think they’re going to edge in on our business. Dario’s been one of ours for years, and we protect our own.
In his earlier days, he was a soldier for Nostra Casa, but he never fully recovered from an injury and wanted to open his own business. He was there for us, and now we support him. His wife works with him, and his two sons pitch in when they aren’t in school. Their daughter just finished college. Dario is so proud when he talks about her. I haven’t seen her in years.
Reno is at the bar, chatting up Dario and laughing. Sebastian is taunting me with the aroma of food under my nose and laughing at my unfortunate calculation of whiskey intake, when a breathtaking redhead comes running in.
She scans the room, looking around wildly, and sees the man she’s seeking next to Reno. She glances toward the
“Papa, duck!” she screams, then launches herself at Reno and pulls him down to the floor just as a hail of bullets hits the bar. Sebastian and I drop to the floor, and our men start to fire back at the car, but it’s already speeding off down the street.
Reno’s slowly getting up, and Dario lifts his head from behind the counter to see his daughter lying amid shattered glass.
“No!” he cries out. He leaps from behind the bar and drops to his daughter’s side. “Elena,” he cries.
Reno touches her throat, looking for a pulse. “She’s breathing. Call our doctor.” He turns to Dario. “You’ve got to let us take her. Meet us at the warehouse. My men will stay to watch over the place.”
I rush over and sweep the unconscious beauty into my arms, carry her outside, and slide into the back seat of Sebastian’s Mercedes SUV, while Reno and Sebastian are up front. Blood drips from a gash in her forehead where she hit the ground. She’s pale and cold. I hold her closer, enveloping her in my arms. She stirs and murmurs something incoherent, then lays her head against my chest.
“How’s she doing?” Sebastian asks, looking into the rearview mirror.
Never taking my eyes from her face, her red hair cascading over my arm, I reply, “I want her.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Reno turns in his seat and stares me down. He’s fuming, and rightfully so. Some punk-ass gang member just took a shot at him.
“Maybe. Probably. But I still want her.”
I choose her. I have no fucking clue why, but it has to be her.
ONE
Destiny
DANTE
The doc cleans the cut on her head, checking for embedded glass, and dresses the wound. He starts to move his hands over her arms and legs looking for other injuries. I know he’s only doing his job, but the desire to punch him in the throat is so strong, I have to force my gaze to remain on Elena’s face. Even as she is, pale, with minor cuts, and bandaged, she’s extraordinary. Her flaming red hair is splayed across the examination table and her body is limp.
She’s mumbled a few words and called for her father, then drifted back into unconsciousness. With each moment that passes, I become more worried.
“Why isn’t she coming to?” I ask the doc.
“Give her time. The mind shuts down to give the body a chance to heal. It won’t be long before she opens her pretty eyes.” Immediately, I search his face. “I’ve known Elena since she was a little girl. Her father, Dario, he’s a good man.”
I nod, and at the same time, Dario rushes through the doors to his daughter’s side. Reno and Sebastian are right behind him.
“La mia piccola, what have they done to you?” he exclaims, stroking her hair and cupping her cheek.
“I know you’re worried, my friend, but she’s going to be fine.” The doc pats Dario’s back. “She has a concussion and a sprained wrist on the arm she landed on, but the minor cuts and bruises that will emerge will fade. She’s a lucky girl.”
“And a brave one,” Reno adds. “She knew what was going to happen, and instead of running for cover, she ran in to save you and in turn saved all of us.”
Dario looks at Reno with a shy smile. “She’s a good girl.”
Sebastian puts an arm around Dario. “We’re grateful. Know that we will look after Elena and your family. We’ll have your restaurant restored and ready to open in no time.”
“Thank you, Mr. Viale, but all I care about is that Elena is all right.” Dario turns toward Reno. “My boys are picking up their mother. Gina is going to lose her mind.” He shakes his head.
“Sebastian, go meet them at the door,” Reno orders, and signals the doctor to leave us as well. Once the door is shut, Reno asks, “Is there anyone else who needs to be made aware of the situation?”
Dario blinks, then catches on to Reno’s meaning. “No. No. Elena just finished school. I promised her mother that she could complete her studies before finding a proper match for her. I’ve had several men approach, but I’ve not given it any thought as yet.” Dario turns back to Elena and tucks her hand into his. Her eyes flutter open, hazy and unsure.
“Papa?” she calls, worry in her hoarse voice.
“Right here,” he says, and she turns her head toward us. A small smile spreads across her lips.
“You’re okay.” She gives a little sigh and releases a breath. “Did anyone get hurt?”
“Just you, piccola. Only my daughter would run into a restaurant that she knows is going to be riddled with bullets,” Dario teases.
“My dad was in there,” she says without missing a beat. Dario bends to kiss her forehead.
“Don’t ever do that again. That’s an order,” he says, pretending to be stern, but his smile softens his words.
Elena sees that Reno and I are in the room. Our gazes lock, her lips part, her eyes go wide, then they close tightly shut. It’s like she wants to say something, but stops herself.
Reno speaks first. “Elena, my gratitude simply isn’t enough. I don’t think I’ve ever been tackled by a girl as tiny as you.”
“Capo, I’m so sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
Reno bursts out laughing, Dario following suit, and I have to admit I let out a chuckle as well. Reno is about to respond when Dario’s wife, Gina, flies into the room and beelines toward her girl. Much calmer and more sedately, Elena’s brothers come in after her. It’s as if Gina sees nothing but Elena until Dario points out her capo is with them.
“Gina, we must not be rude.”
Gina is startled and turns abruptly to look our way. With a hand on her chest, she says, “Capo, please forgive me. I’ve been so worried about my Elena.”
“No apology necessary.” Reno waves it off. “Dario. Dante, Sebastian, and I will meet you at the restaurant tomorrow to discuss matters.” He turns to Elena. “Thanks for the takedown,” he says, giving her a wink. When he looks at me and commands, “Time for us to leave, Dante,” my back stiffens.
I don’t want to leave, but Reno’s eyes are stern and unyielding. I glance at Elena one last time and finally find my voice. “Until we meet again.” I hold her gaze for a beat before walking out.
Elio and Zano, Elena’s brothers, stop us as we leave.
Elio begins, “Capo, if you see fit, we—”
“When we find where the bastards are hiding, you’ll be front and center on the attack.” Reno preempts his request. “And we will find them, and they will pay with their blood. No one, and I mean no one, attacks our family. Nostra Casa, nostra fortuna, but most of all, nostra vita.”
“Shall we meet you at the restaurant tomorrow?” Zano asks.
I don’t want Elena left unprotected, and I hope our conversation tomorrow includes talk of our union. That discussion is something I would rather conduct with as small an audience as possible. “I would prefer you keep watch over your mother and sister,” I say quickly.
“That’s a good idea,” Reno agrees. Meanwhile, Sebastian has joined us and is grinning like an idiot at my discomfort. “Take a few days to regroup, then report to Dante. He will be leading the search for these men.”
“I don’t want to hear a fucking word out of your mouth,” I warn Sebastian. He raises his hands in front of him, warding me off in jest.
That stopped Sebastian, but Reno had plenty to say. “You declare your need to have Elena as your wife, then for the next few hours, you’re as silent as a mime. Did someone cut out your tongue? What the fuck was that in there?”
