Saving Blu (Kings Reapers MC Book 4) by Nicola Jane (classic reads .TXT) 📕

greeted at the door by a butler, who nods politely when I announce I’m here to see Piero Rossi. I’m shown to a dining room with a grand table in the centre. It looks like a scene from a movie and I wonder if this is my dad’s property or if he’s just staying here with a friend or associate.

“It’s mine,” says a voice from behind me. I turn. He looks the same, only greyer than I remember. Maybe more lines around his eyes, but that’s from his laughing. He used to laugh so much. We stare at each other for a few minutes. Eventually, he heads over to a decanter of whiskey on the table and pours two glasses. I take one and he smiles. “I knew you’d be a whiskey drinker, just like me.”

“Reminds me of Nonno,” I say, staring down into the amber liquid. My grandfather was a whiskey connoisseur.

“He’d give it to you on his finger before you could talk,” he says fondly.

I look around the room. “You’ve stepped up,” I say. “Into the world of the rich and privileged.”

“Money is much easier to come by these days. People give it away like it’s nothing.”

“How’s Gabriella?” I ask. Just saying his wife's name leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

“Dead,” he says bluntly.

“Accident?” I ask and he smirks.

“Of course. Has your life been exactly what you wanted?” He looks sad when he asks the question.

“Maybe. There’re things I’d change. Things I wouldn’t. I have a kid and one on the way.”

His eyes light up. “I followed your every move when you first left. Then you joined the army and changed your name and I saw how much you needed to get away from me. From this life. So I stopped. I let you go, but I often wondered if you’d married, had children of your own”

“Molly is five,” I say. I pull out the photo of her that I carry against my heart. I hand it over and he stares at it for some time. “That’s why I need your help,” I add.

He looks up, and something changes in his eyes. “Is she hurt?”

I shake my head. “She was, but she’s healing. I’m looking for someone, for two people actually. Ricardo Donini being the first.”

His poker face is firmly in place and he doesn’t flinch when I say Ricardo’s name. “He hurt your daughter?”

I nod. “I think he was behind it. He’s working with a man called Cobra. He runs an MC. He’s been picking off people from my club, mainly women. He had Molly and her mum hurt in a car accident.”

“Why would Ricardo have anything to do with that?”

I shrug. “Maybe he hasn’t, but it’s a gut feeling I have and you know a Rossi’s gut is as good as anything. He wants to move here and take over London.”

“What of it?”

“He can’t do that. The Kings already run it along with Vinn Romano.”

He stares at the patch on my kutte. “You left one organisation for another,” he says.

“Ricardo has also taken someone who belongs to me. I need her back.”

He refills his drink and moves to the window, staring out at the floodlit grounds. “Tell me everything, from the start.”

GIA

I might not know any type of martial arts or self-defence, but I can fight. I grew up with Vinn and we would fight until one of us would bleed and Dad would have to part us. Ric swipes the blood away from his bottom lip. “Marrying you will be fun,” he smirks.

“Marrying me will not happen,” I say, smirking right back.

He makes a grab for my ankle and I kick out, catching his shoulder. He stumbles back. “I could shoot you in the arm. Make you bleed.”

“Aim for my head. Don’t do half a job,” I hiss.

“How tempting that sounds,” he mutters.

“Even if by some miracle, you get me down the aisle, we’ll never consummate the marriage. I’ll fight you until my last breath.”

He grins. “Challenge accepted.”

“I assume you’ll feed our guests,” I say thoughtfully. “All that cutlery just lying around.”

“You’ll stab a mafia king in front of his people.” He laughs again.

“Listen to you,” I say, shaking my head. “Your first mistake is not being humble. Donini is just a name. You earn respect and build your name. Without respect, it is still just your name.”

“Did daddy teach you that?” he asks, catching my ankle and pulling me towards him. When I’m close enough, he grabs my wrist and drags me from the bed into his arms. He turns me away from him and holds my arms by side.

“No,” I snap. I throw my head back and hear his nose crunch as my head hits it. “I’m just fucking clever.”

He releases me, shoving me back to the bed hard. “I’m going to enjoy breaking you,” he spits.

I smile. “I think I just broke a part of you.”

BLU

My father sucks in a breath and releases it slowly. “I knew Ricardo was hungry, but he’s causing too much bad blood,” he mutters.

“I love this girl. Gianna is mine and I’ll kill Ricardo before I let him take her.”

“What are you proposing?” he asks.

“Let me take my name back. Let me marry her and make her a Rossi. Our family names will be the tie that the organisation needs and I can bring you into London with the Kings on your side. No more bloodshed.”

“I don’t know if the families will accept it. Everything is set. They are happy with their decision. You’ve been away too long, Azure,” he says. I nod, placing my glass on the table. “What does it mean for us, if I get them to agree?” he adds.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “But it’s a start to us repairing the damage that was done.”

“I miss them,” he mutters.

I ball my fists. “I can’t,” I begin. “I’m not ready to talk about them. But if you loved Mum like you said, then you’ll know how I feel about Gia. I will rip