Lust for Danger: A Mafia Romance -- Book One: The Family [Erotic Mafia Romance Book] Read Free Page A

father’s shoulder, pulling him in for a close embrace. “I’ll pay off our family’s debt. I’ll work for them, but I won’t become one of them. Not in my heart. It’ll be just like acting – like playing a role from a script. You’ll see.”
     
    His father smiled sadly. “Son, you are becoming an honorable man. I only wish your mother could see you today.” He looked around at their modest kitchen, with its dingy tiles and faded wallpaper. “She would never have wanted this for us. But you and your brother… you’ve got a chance to make something of yourselves. You hear me, Carlo?”
     
    The two of them looked at each other with a strange intensity in their eyes, as if the words passing between them were far more important than they could ever convey.
     
    “I hear you, Papa,” said Carlo. “Why don’t you get some sleep. I’ll clean up the dishes.”
     
    “Son…” his father said, trailing off again. He was never the type of man who shared his emotions so easily.
     
    “Yes, Papa?”
     
    “…I’m proud of you.”
     
    Carlo smiled, and hugged his father again. “I’m proud of you, too, Papa. We all are. I love you.”
     
    And in that moment, the two of them shared a strange feeling – a feeling that would return to Carlo again and again in the years to come, always arriving in the darkest of hours, when the world he’d been wrapped up in was threatening to tear him apart from the inside out.
     
    It was a feeling of understanding. Carlo saw what he had to do, and he understood why he had to do it. He had to protect the name of his father, and by extension, his mother and brother. His family depended on him.
     
    And armed with that knowledge, there was no one in this world that could take that away from him – not even Dominic Pirelli.
     
    He would make this sacrifice for his family, but he would never forget who he was.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    A chime sounded, and a robotic female voice echoed through the empty subway car.
     
    “Prossima fermata, Trastevere.”
     
    Fingering the wad of banknotes in the pocket of his leather jacket, Carlo stepped out of the traincar and took the stairs two at a time, as he’d done since he was a boy. No matter what was going on in his life, he always loved the feeling of stepping out from the subway station and feeling the cool breeze of Trastevere on his cheeks.
     
    He knew the roads by heart – probably could have walked home with his eyes closed if he had to. But why close his eyes, when the beauty of the city was all around him?
     
    What he’d said to Jessica was true: he still felt as though he didn’t know all of Rome’s secrets, even after living here his whole life. But in this neighborhood, there wasn’t an avenue or an alleyway he hadn’t been down a hundred times.
     
    “Buona sera, Natalina,” he said, as he passed his favorite panetteria, whose owner always seemed to have a sweet of some kind waiting for him.
     
    “Ciao, Carlo!” she called from inside the shop, her grandmotherly face breaking into a wide smile when she saw him. “Why don’t you come in for a snack? I’ve just made some biscotti. Delicious!”
     
    “Natalina, that sounds wonderful,” he replied. “But I can’t, I’m sorry. I’ve got to go home now.”
     
    “Ah!” she cried. “You youngsters… always moving, always going somewhere! No matter. You come see me tomorrow, eh?”
     
    He laughed. “I will, Natalina, I promise. And hey – I might have a friend with me, too.”
     
    She raised her eyebrows. “A friend , huh,” she smirked knowingly. “What’s she look like?”
     
    “She’s American!” he called out over his shoulder, and he laughed again as his reply sent her eyebrows even higher.
     
    “What! Una regazza Americana! Che cosa bella .  You just be careful, Carlo! These Hollywood girls… they steal your heart! You can’t trust them! Why, my neighbor’s son married an American, and…”
     
    “Ciao, Natalina,” Carlo