The Vendetti Coward: Salvatore Vendetti (The Vendetti Famiglia Book 4) Read online

  “You’re fired,” I manage to whisper as frustration, guilt, and embarrassment churn through my veins.

  Her beautiful, soul-sucking irises stare at me, unblinking, until they fill with unshed tears. Without another word, she spins on her heels and runs in the opposite direction towards the stairs. I’m too much of an asshole to chase after her, although I have no idea what I’d say or where to even begin when it comes to her.

  The moment is broken as slow, obnoxious clapping comes from behind me. I turn, finding I have an audience outside of the office a few paces back. I have no idea how much they witnessed, but it was enough by my guess. Valentino was the one clapping, not that I’m surprised. Cristiano, Matteo, and Violet all stand there in a group, wearing irritated expressions, aside from Tino. He finds this all so fucking comical, the bastardo.

  I open my mouth to speak but Matteo cuts me off with a quick click of his tongue. He’s pissed. Great, this is just what I needed to deal with right now. I already feel like shit for being a terrible father, and then again for reprimanding Annabella the way I did. “Not a word, Salvatore. From what I heard, you’ve already said far too much.”

  My fists clench as I keep my mouth shut. I’m fairly sure, one way or another, I’ll end up making things worse if I don’t listen to the head of the famiglia.

  He turns to Violet. “Mia fiore, go fetch her for me. Annabella trusts in you. Bring her to the office. We have much to discuss.” He flicks his stare to our youngest brother. “Take Sal for a drive. He needs to clear his head, and I don’t want him fucking up further with the nanny before I can clean up this mess.”

  “Yes, Capo.” He nods immediately, striding towards me.

  I want know if Matteo is planning on cleaning up my mess by getting rid of Annabella permanently. I don’t want that to happen by any means. The thought of any harm coming to her makes me enraged inside for some reason. I honestly like Anna. In fact, I have a suspicion my affections for her are the real reason why I’ve avoided her so much over the past few weeks. I couldn’t bear to face her after what I’ve done and the way I behaved. Not to mention there was our kiss and all the touching we did at the club. I haven’t been able to get the sensation of her off my mind. Well, I couldn’t think of anything but drugs and alcohol, but once I had detoxed again and could process somewhat clearly again, Annabella and Rosa were at the forefront of my mind.

  “I have a proposal,” Matteo calmly states as he takes the seat across from me. He’s behind his large, imposing desk he seems to enjoy so much. It’s big enough to make me feel ridiculously small sitting here.

  I silently wait for him to continue. This man intimidates me to no end. Things have been rocky around here. There was our impromptu outing, and then finding out Salvatore had relapsed. I’d been a participant in it all—the drugs unknowingly, of course. The clubbing though. I didn’t even attempt to protest, and I probably should’ve, considering who Sal and his family are to New York.

  “You seem to have a way with getting my brother out of his shell. You somehow ground him and make him want to focus. He detoxed again, and was horribly sick from his medication. From what the staff shares with me, you kept attempting to be there for him during those few rocky weeks. Not only did you put yourself out there, but you took care of my niece the entire time he wasn’t able to.”

  I nod, quietly responding, “Of course I did. It’s my job, and I care about Rosa’s well-being.”

  “No, Annabella. Tending to my brother and playing mama twenty-four hours a day is not your job. You were brought on to be part-time help for Salvatore, to teach him how to care for his daughter properly without all the anxiety involved. Yet you’ve completely stepped up, settling in where the famiglia needed you. I want you to know it means a great deal to me and my brothers.”

  “It was nothing…He needed me, and I adore Rosa. I didn’t want her to suffer in any way because he was ill.”

  Matteo smirks. “My wife tells me you love that bambina a great deal. Famiglia is everything to me, and I believe Salvatore got delt a rough hand in life that he couldn’t cope with. How can I explain this…It takes a certain kind of person to head up our famiglia. I’m sure you’re privy to all the gossip swimming around. Sal wasn’t born with a hardened heart. On the contrary, he was consumed with worry. He believed he’d be too soft for the job, to be underboss. I, however, know he would’ve been perfect, but I’ve come to respect that he doesn’t believe the same. I probably shouldn’t be sharing this with you, but your papa tells me you are trustworthy. A strong young woman with a good head on your shoulders.”

  He talked to my father about me? “Absolutely, Mr. Vendetti. I would never betray you or your family.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. You see, I’ve got to look out for my brother, and in doing so, it’s my responsibility to find him a wife.”

  The thought of Salvatore engaged to someone has my stomach tumbling with panic. My throat feels dry, my heart thrumming out of control. I don’t know why I feel any type of way about the second Vendetti, but I do. Sometime when I wasn’t paying attention, tenderness began to bloom and grow for him. “Wow, that’s uh, quite the responsibility. So, you’d like me to help you with prospective candidates for him to marry?”

  His smirk twists into a devilish grin and it’s unnerving. The man may be flawless, created to lure you in, but I have a feeling it’s all to sink his teeth deep. “How would you feel about it, if I said that’s why I called you down here today?”

  “I…well, I’d understand. I’ll do my job, whatever it may be.”

  “It wouldn’t bother you, not in the slightest, to see him betrothed? Or if he brought home a wife one day?”

  I swallow, begging myself to remain professional as perspiration wets the flesh on my back. Salvatore kissed me, but that doesn’t mean I have any right to claim him or anything, for heaven’s sake. “I would treat her with respect, of course, and figure out a way to do my job to her standards. Whatever Salvatore wishes. I only want him to be happy in life. He deserves as much,” I end on a whisper.

  “Good. Normally, these types of things aren’t discussed with the intended. Yet your father insisted that I ask you, rather than him, to just arrange it per tradition deems.”

  My mind scrambles as I try to keep up. I swear I couldn’t have heard him correctly. “Excuse me? My father arrange what?”

  “You marrying my younger brother, of course. I called your papa to set up a formal betrothal, but he wouldn’t agree without your acceptance prior. For being an old Italian, I wasn’t expecting as much from him.”

  I nearly choke on my words. Eventually, I sputter, my tenor shrill, “Y-you want me to marry Salvatore? But why? I’m just me!”

  Matteo chuckles. “Yes, Annabella. I would like you to formally accept my offer of Salvatore’s hand in marriage. I believe you two will make each other happy someday.”

  “But shouldn’t he ask me himself if he wants to marry me?”

  “That’s not his decision. I’m his Capo, the head of the Vendetti famiglia. Their fates are left to me to decide—all of them.”

  Jesus H. Christ. This man has far too much power over his family. Also, forgive me for taking the Lord’s name in vain, but holy cow. “Does he want this, though? I don’t want him to feel like I’ve betrayed him somehow, like I went behind his back.”

  “Salvatore knows his duties to the famiglia. Now that he’s sober, this is his chance to have happiness and maybe even love. One can hope as much. Rosa already loves you, from what I hear. She has no mother, so you wouldn’t only be taking on Sal, but her as well.”

  I tear up. I can’t help it as emotions flood through me at an alarming rate. I do care for Salvatore, and I already love Rosa as if she were mine, but is this the right thing for me to do? Will Salvatore hate me if I accept? “There’s no one better for them?”

  “The fact that you’re asking me that question only confirms you care about my brother. Now, I’d like to get your papa’s blessing on t
his union. You won’t make me lock you away until you give in will you?” I think he’s kidding, but I doubt it. This is a mob boss in front of me, after all.

  Marrying Salvatore would make me extremely pleased, and I’d finally get a chance at having the family I’ve dreamed of coming true one day. Love is far too important to me though. It’s one reason why my father has stood back and attempted not to meddle in my dating. “Love is important. If I agreed, the terms would be a long engagement. At least a year. I want to have a chance to fall in love with him.”

  “You’re not already?”

  My cheeks burn with the truth coming forward. “I lust him right now,” I answer candidly. “I think I could love him, but we need the barriers between us to finally come down. I need the chance to love him, and him to love me.”

  “Done. We’ll make the engagement official immediately, but plan for a year-long commitment. It’s not uncommon. The only reason we marry so fast is to offer our bride the protection she needs when it comes to being linked to a Vendetti. However, for Salvatore, I’ll amp up the protection for your sake. I can do this small thing for him. He’s been through enough and deserves his shot at having a life. Your father tells me you’ve got ambitions to be a pediatrician. I can make that happen as well. I’ve got connections to get you accepted into med school and the Vendetti fortune to pay for it all.”

  “What do you want in return?”

  “Ah, you are a smart girl.” He offers a genuine smile, the first he’s ever directed my way. The others have all been for someone else. It completely changes his features, but no matter how handsome he becomes, Salvatore has caught my eye above all other Vendettis. “Normally, I’d be marrying him off for connection or something of the sort. In this case, I’m doing it for my niece’s future. She deserves a mother in her life, and you’ll be filling that position for her. Make no mistake, her mother is dead, but she wasn’t a saint. Quite the opposite. She was a vindictive whore, and I’d like to erase her from this famiglia’s history. You’ll adopt Rosa, at my expense, of course, and you’ll be the only mother she ever knows. Tell me, Annabella, is this something you can handle?”

  Can I handle it? It feels like home here at the estate. I can’t imagine Salvatore being with any other woman without it making me completely miserable inside, and I love that little girl upstairs. Matteo’s offering me my dream by sending me to medical school without the college debt in tow, and I’ll be close to my family. Of course, I can handle it. I’ll do it all wearing a smile while I’m at it too.

  “Yes,” I state confidently. “I’d be thrilled to marry Salvatore and adopt Rosa. You have my word that I can handle it, and that I’ll always look out for both of their best interests.”

  “Good girl,” he praises and produces a folder with my name on it. “What flowers should we send your famiglia to announce the union? Cigars for your papa?”

  “Any. My mother will be flattered, and my father will approve of the gesture.”

  “Of course he will. It’s tradition.” Matteo opens the manilla cardstock, thumbing through some documents until he finds what he’s looking for. “This is a contract saying you’re entering this marriage of your own free will and you will never attempt to take any of Salvatore’s money, nor Rosa away from him.”

  My mouth pops open. I’m stunned and trying not to be offended by the paper. “I would never!”

  “Please sign your full name at the bottom.” I do and smile as I offer his pen back to him. “Severo.” He gestures to the guard always glued to his or Salvatore’s sides. The man produces a long knife, handing it to Matteo. “He gestures for my hand, turning it over so my palm faces up. I gaze at him curiously and a tad fearfully. “This is the mafia. Things aren’t done so cut and dry as the outside world.”

  I swallow and bop my head like I know what he means, when in reality I haven’t the faintest clue what on earth is happening. I’m thrilled and terrified, but it’s too late to back out now. Not that I want to.

  “Normally when we arrange a betrothal, the head of the bride’s famiglia takes part in the blood oath, but in this case, you’ll be accepting your own fate.” He slashes the blade across my palm and I cry out, attempting to jerk my hand out of his grasp. He’s too strong and my fight is futile against him. He uses his index finger to smear the blood over my entire hand, palm, and fingers. He presses his bloody tip next to my name on the opposite signature line then slams my hand down on the middle of the document. I’m yanked out of my seat and stunned by his move, then he releases me just as quickly. It takes me a moment to realize my bloody handprint has taken up the center of the document.

  “W-what’s that?” And what the fuck just happened? This is crazy, a contract with blood?

  “The blood oath. You break this contract, you’re blood belongs to me,” he threatens. “Trust me when I say I always collect my debts.”

  My lower lip trembles. It’s too late to turn back now. I’ve already made my deal with the dark Vendetti king. It’s in this moment that his earlier words come back to me…

  Rosa’s mother is dead. Did she have a blood oath too?

  Why should I be afraid now?

  Strange men have come to kill

  me since I was twelve years old.

  - The Godfather

  I stare at Matteo, shock filling my chest. I must’ve heard wrong, surely. “You did what?” I roar. I’ve never spoken to the Capo like this, but I’m flat out shook with the news.

  He steeples his fingers, peering at me over them with more patience than I deserve. “I told you, I’ve arranged your betrothal. You’re getting engaged.”

  “You told me you wouldn’t put pressure on me. Newsflash, Matty, this is the definition of pressure!”

  He scoffs. “Like you don’t lust after the woman already. If you call this strain, well, you’re in for a rude awakening. The only stress I’m putting on you is the type to make you a better man. I’m literally giving you a partner to help with your burden.”

  “You expect a woman to do that? To make me better?” I scoff. He has no idea, and frankly, it infuriates me he thinks he has any clue what my addiction and sobriety is like.

  “No,” he barks, scowling. “I anticipate your daughter’s life holds that influence over you. Annabella will offer you a partnership, someone to help shoulder all that fucked-up guilt and resentment you harbor. I expect you to make you be a better fucking man, for her. Be worthy.”

  “I can’t believe you’ve done this to Annabella,” I utter quietly, disappointed in Matteo. “We’re going to ruin her…I’ll fucking ruin her life,” I admit.

  “She’s agreed to this with her own free will. I have her blood oath.”

  I shake my head. “You know what you’ve sentenced her to. You damn well know exactly what this means,” I growl, angry and saddened.

  His lips twist into an evil smirk. “You mean the tradition…”

  I say on a broken whisper, “She’ll never f-forgive me for this. What if she takes it out on Rosa?”

  “She would die,” he responds with finality. “Mia Violetta and Sofia both went through the initiation into our famiglia. Annabella must as well…We have to obey tradition we’ve agreed on. There is no argument on this.”

  Resigned, I give in. “Will you participate?”

  “I will check her, although her father assures me she is still pure. If I fuck her, mia fiore will gut her. The queen will not share me with another, she’s made that much crystal clear.”

  “Yet you expect us to fuck.”

  “Once you’re married, that decision is between you and your wife. Although tradition dictates it’s favored for us all to fuck any woman cemented into our lives. It’s part of the test, the curse. You already know all of this. Do you think for one moment I wanted to allow my brothers to fuck my virginal bride on our wedding day?”

  “You won’t like what I think.”

  “Try me.”

  “Fine. I don’t think you gave one single fuck that we a
ll took our turns with her, that we spared nothing when it came to her. You hated her- the Bottaro princess, our famiglia’s enemy. You didn’t show her any interest either, until she’d become too weak to walk, then suddenly you were concerned. Don’t lie to me, fratello. You didn’t give a fuck about her. You cared about her carrying on the Vendetti bloodline and nothing more. Your legacy and the curse was too important for you to deviate from Romano’s orders.”

  He releases a dark chuckle. “I’m the Capo dei capi of the Vendetti Empire, the head of our famiglia… Of course I didn’t care about some stupid young woman showing up. She was nothing more than my duty, the key to opening the doors of my future. I can handle the truth. I don’t allow it to break me, Salvatore. I rise from it, I take it in my fist and crush it when needed. Mia Violetta was a pawn in the beginning, but she rose up and became a worthy queen. She took a new, scary situation and conformed to the occasion. She is my true equal. I won’t apologize for making her evolve into what she needed to be to head this famiglia by my side.”

  “I’m not you, Matteo. I can’t put Annabella through that.”

  “You have no other choice. Be angry with me if it makes it easier.” He holds a paper before me. There’s a bloody handprint in the middle of it. “She agreed in blood. I own her, and I own you. The decision is final, you will marry her, and you’ll take her to the office with our fratelli to perform the Vendetti consummation tradition.” He places a thin gold band before me. It’s the ring that signifies Annabella is to be married. Of course I’ll get her one with diamonds, but this one holds a lot of weight.

  “I’ll tell her before I take her in there.”

  “Then you better be prepared, because if she runs, she dies. Depending on how much you care for this woman, hurting her a bit upfront may be better than watching her perish and never having her at all. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission.”