“Word of advice, Jace, never assume you know who or what a person’s role is in this house. It could get you killed one day,” I shared, patting him on the chest and followed after Father.
He paused to take my arm and tuck it around his as we continued down the hall. “I’m impressed. He’s not a man to be caught off guard like that.”
“That’s me, full of surprises. Are we not joining the delightful party I’m late for?” I asked as he led me into another room, where I found my two uncles waiting.
I let out a squeal of excitement and rushed to hug them. Mathis was my father’s younger brother by three years, and Athos was a half-brother by grandfather’s mistress with ten years between him and Daddy.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you,” Mathis said, picking me up and spinning me around. “God, it’s only been four years, but you’ve grown, squirt.”
“Don’t hog her,” Athos grumbled, pulling me into another bone-crushing hug. “I can hardly believe you’re finally home, ya little brat. Couldn’t just make this easy on all of us, could you?”
When they finally let me go, I found Father patiently waiting for his own hug. I let him envelop me in his warmth, breathing in the comforting scent of cigars and brandy. “I missed you so much, Daddy.”
“Oh, my little girl is finally home where she belongs, but she’s not so little anymore,” he murmured as he kissed the top of my head. “As much as I hate to cut this short, we do have to make an appearance at the party. I figured this was the only way to keep your uncles from making a scene and embarrassing me in front of important guests.”
“How did you know I was here?” I asked, pulling back to look him in the eye.
“If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not going to tell you. Then I’ll never know where you are.” He chuckled, tweaking my nose. “Come on, let’s get this over with so I can steal you away for myself. We have so much to catch up on, you and I.”
“Yeah, letters four times a year really doesn’t cut it.” I sighed, letting him lead me back to the hall.
When we got close to the room, a group of men around my age stood watching me intently. Then I noticed Ryker was among them.So he did work for Daddy, after all. Boy, did he have some explaining to do later if he wanted to live.
“Busy night, boys?” Father asked with humor in his voice. “Allow me the honor of introducing you to my daughter, Astin Marzia Caprioni. Astin, these are our lieutenants and under your direct command. All are hand-picked by me to assist you in your rise to power. You already know Ryker, he’s head of security here and at all of our businesses. Braxton is our nightlife man in charge of skins, clubs, and restaurants we own. Jace runs any and all of the underground gambling as well as assisting in security when needed. Gunner works with the construction side of things, dealing with contractors and the legalities that come with using them. Atticus is our money man. He keeps the books and ensures I always have plenty of money to run my empire while keeping it out of the government’s hands. Finally, we have Luca, who’s our international connection on drugs and guns getting them in and out of the country then into the hands that need them.” Turning back to me, he smiled. “I know it’s a lot, but you’ll have time later to get better acquainted. I wanted you to put names to faces since I held these back from your education.”
Father lifted his hands to rest on my shoulders. “If you’re ever in trouble and your uncles or I can’t help you, these are the men I trust with your life. Do you hear me, Astin?” he questioned, giving me a stern look. “These six men, right here. No one else.”
“I understand,” I answered, knowing this was important for him.
With a nod, he tucked my arm in his once more, and we entered the party. While I’d much rather stand back there taking my time staring at six of the hottest men I’d ever see in my life, I had an empire to take over. I’d thought Ryker was mouth-watering, but damn all of them were enough to get any woman excited about spending time with them. That realization made me glance at my father from the corner of my eye.Did he have other plans for these men besides being loyal subjects to my ascension to the throne and me?I didn’t have much time to dwell as I was led to the front of the party near the quartet, which stopped playing upon our arrival.
“Good evening, everyone. I’m sure you’re all wondering what the occasion is that you’ve all gathered here for tonight. It’s to celebrate two joyous things… my beloved daughter’s twenty-fifth birthday and her appointment to the position of underboss in the Caprioni Family,” Father announced to the room.
You could hear a pin drop as they all gawked at me with wide eyes, clearly in a state of shock. I knew each and every one of these people from my training and dealing with documents on current issues within the company. As a few moments passed, some expressions turned angry, and I marked those in my memory for later. Others seemed pleased with the news, and some just didn’t give a flying fuck who or what I was—clearly, they were just here because they were told to be. Finally, someone started clapping, and the spirit of the party was revived as someone wheeled in a massive cake with sparkling candles all over it.
“Come, my girl, blow out your candles and make a wish.” Father cheered as it stopped in front of me.
I closed my eyes a moment and prayed to whoever or whatever was listening that I was ready for the shitstorm I knew would come once this news spread.
five
Shejusthadtobe the boss’s fucking daughter. Why hadn’t I demanded that Ryker send us all a photograph so we knew what she looked like, for fuck’s sake?Feeling her release me from her hold and step back, I stood in a daze rubbing at my throat.
“What’s your name?” Her question caught me off guard as I was still trying to wrap my brain around what just fucking happened.
“Jace,” I answered, not willing to do anything more to piss this woman off.
“Word of advice, Jace, never assume you know who or what a person’s role is in this house. It could get you killed,” she shared, patting me on the chest like I was an idiot and followed after her father.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding as I watched one of the sexiest women I’d ever seen walk arm in arm with the most powerful man in Mansara. Groaning, I fell back against the wall, hand still on my neck as I felt the burn of a nick where she’d held the blade. How had I fucked this up so badly? I knew she would be here tonight, but I assumed it would be with Ryker and Braxton, who were supposed to be locating her. Fucking hell, where were those two idiots?
Normally, a move like that wouldn’t have worked on me, but I was caught off guard with the boss involving himself in the situation. That should have been the only clue I needed to know something was wrong. Knowing Colmazio Caprioni, if he didn’t think I was worth the effort, he would’ve let his daughter kill me for putting a hand on her. Life in the mob wasn’t easy—one moment you were in and things were going fine, the next, you fuck up like I’d just done, and it was all over. When I’d been pulled into the upper ranks with a few others, Boss had told us he had plans for us. He didn’t really go into detail with anyone other than Ryker, who then filled the rest of us in.
“Jace, you seen a woman come in here wearing black pants and a red corset, hot as fucking sin?” Braxton asked as he appeared in front of me breathing heavily like he’d run all the way here.
I just narrowed my eyes at him and grunted.
“Seriously, don’t go all dark and broody on me. I don’t have time to fuck you and make it all better,” Braxton teased, leaning into my space and cupping my dick. “Fuck, she must be here. You’re hard as fucking steel.”