The Mafia Contract Series

I don’t get nervous-ever. I don’t entertain fear and always face my problems head on with a cool detachment. But the anxiety on the faces of the two women who mean the most to me in the world is making me nervous. I don’t want to upset either one of them, but this tale could blow their worlds apart.

The resignation in Dimitri’s eyes tells me he knows already, and I’m not surprised about that because Louisa looks ten shades different to when she left. There’s a happiness in her face that reflects her beauty and it’s as if someone has colored in the edges and she radiates happiness. Vivian also looks resigned to it and so, like the best diversion tactic, I dive straight in and tell them what happened with Iris Young.

Vivian looks at me with tears pouring from her eyes and whispers, “I’m so sorry, Flynn.”

“I’m not.” I shrug. “It was the best possible outcome because now I’m in no way related to Massimo Delauren.”

Dimitri looks sharply at Louisa, and I can see him connecting the dots in his mind and with a sigh of resignation, he fixes me with a knowing look. “Then I guess things will change around here.”

“Why?” Vivian speaks out and I hear the anxiety in her voice, making him smile reassuringly. “I’m not blind, Vivian. My daughter left here with a very different expression on her face and has returned positively blooming. I’m guessing your son has a lot to do with that, which presents us with a huge problem.”

Vivian looks down and, to my surprise, is trying to disguise a smile.

I glance at Louisa, who is looking so anxious I want to drag her beside me and reassure her that everything will be ok and Dimitri sighs heavily. “So, Flynn, what exactly are your intentions toward my daughter?”

I’m impressed at his direct question and respect him even more for it. Louisa looks as if she wants to disappear in a puff of smoke and it’s almost amusing to see the embarrassment written all over her face.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Sir, I would like permission to date your daughter.”

I lay it straight out there because I’m guessing Dimitri would prefer it that way and the room falls silent as we wait for his answer to that.

He looks at Louisa and then at Vivian and I hate the uncertainty in his eyes. So, before he can speak, I say quickly, “It’s true, this situation isn’t perfect and I’m probably the last man on earth you want in your daughter’s life. I live a hard life surrounded by violence that promises to get even worse before it gets better. I have nothing to offer except my love and devotion and having just found my family, I’m aware that I’m already testing that. But then I met your daughter and nothing else seemed to matter.”

I smile at Louisa and love the light shining from her eyes as she stares at me with support written all over her face. Turning to Vivian, I say gently, “The last thing I want is to upset you. Above everything I want you in my life and to build a relationship. There is so much to talk of and learn about one another, but I can’t help the strong feelings I have for your stepdaughter. I wasn’t expecting that and if I’m honest, which is what I will always be, is that initially I came here for her.”

They all stare at me in stunned surprise, and I lean back and sigh heavily. “The most important thing in my life is to destroy Massimo. He controls all our lives and carries out his reign of terror in the cruelest of ways. He has taken a woman my friends and I care deeply about, and I’m certain he is making her life a living hell.”

Louisa appears as if she’s about to faint and Vivian seems concerned as she shares a strained look with her husband. I’m sure Louisa will be thinking I’m just like everyone else and I say gently, “Winter is my friend’s sister, his twin sister. We all attended college together and before that ended, she was kidnapped and forced to marry Massimo. He keeps her well-guarded and has molded her into his perfect shadow. It’s as if her humanity has been stripped from her soul and it’s vital we bring her back to us. The plan was to marry for power. Gather an army who would protect us from Massimo and his formidable family and bring Winter home. Initially, that was my plan when I learned who you were, sir, and hoped to harness the hatred you have for your brother to help our plan.”

Louisa gasps and looks so destroyed it bruises my soul.

Turning to her, I say with unexpected emotion. “Then I met you, Louisa and it wouldn’t have mattered if I came here for a different reason entirely. There was something about you that hit me hard. It was as if I was seeing my destiny and to learn we could be related destroyed me in a way I never saw coming. The reason I came here was no longer important. The most important thing was to prove we weren’t related and not for the reasons you think.”

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife as I say sadly, “All my life I wished for a family. I used to imagine what that would feel like. I would look around at people who had loving ones and envy them their happiness. My whole life has been filled with pain. Physical and mental torture, and the first person who showed me a different way was Winter. She was kind, loving, and easy to be around. We all fell in love with her at Rockwell Academy, as we became a family of sorts.

She showed me something I wanted for myself. The importance of family and when I first set eyes on Louisa, I wanted mine with her.”

Vivian can’t stop the tears from spilling down her face and I feel bad for that and smile at her with sadness. “There is everything I want in this room, and yet you probably wish it was different. I may have come here with questions and a hidden agenda, but I want to be open and honest about that and tell you that agenda may remain, but my feelings shifted direction. I will do everything I can to make Louisa happy, sir.”

I stare directly at Dimitri, whose face is like thunder, and then I turn to Louisa and say with a slight break in my voice. “I’m not here for your inheritance, your connections, or your family. I came here to find my mother and in doing so, I found a woman I will love for eternity if I’m allowed.”

Louisa frantically wipes the tears from her eyes and Vivian says shakily, “It changes nothing for me, Flynn. You are still my son, and I will always stand beside you. If Dimitri thinks different, I will respect his opinion, but I will always have a relationship with you, Flynn, whatever happens here today. It’s taken me so long to find you and I will never let you go.”

My heart sags in relief and Louisa says sharply, “I may not like hearing the reasons you came, but I can tell you speak from the heart. I want to see where our road leads, Flynn and if my father can’t give us his blessing, then we will deal with that, but we’ll do it together.”

I love the fierce determination in her face and as Dimitri speaks, we look at him in combined shock as he says loudly, “Oh, for fuck’s sake, why is life so complicated?”

He shakes his head and says sternly, “Whatever your reasons for coming here don’t matter now.

We will deal with the situation as it is, and we have a huge problem.”

I hold my breath as he growls. “My fucking brother is a monster, a sadist, and a bastard and that has never been any different. I tried to bring him down once and, like the cockroach he is, he just shook himself off and reinforced his empire. No, I am with you on this, and I know a man who can help us. And Louisa…” His face softens, and he says with a weariness in his voice, “Even I can see you’ve changed.

There’s a happiness in you that’s different, and I’m guessing love has a lot to do with that. I’m not happy about the situation, but I’m not stupid enough to start laying down ultimatums. The fact you’re not related takes away the main obstacle for me and if I’m to guarantee your safety, we need to cut off the snake’s head. Flynn may live in a violent world, but I can tell he has a good heart and I’m counting on him proving me right about that, so this is what we will do.”

He glares around the room with a fierce protective expression on his face and growls, “We pay Pedro a visit and I’m guessing he will be only too happy to assist us in this matter. There is only one other person who detests my brother as much as I do, and he will take great pleasure in helping you in any way he can.”

I stare at Louisa’s father with overwhelming respect and can’t believe how well he has taken this.

I’m in awe of him and it appears his wife and daughter are too, which shows me immediately how he has grown so successful. It takes a strong man to roll with the punches and Dimitri is obviously a professional, so with a great sense of relief and hope for the future, I take the glass of champagne he offers me and toast a very different future to the one I thought I had.