Chapter 10: Mafia Kings: Massimo: Chapter 10

The light was absolutely perfect out on the balcony, and I got a great angle that hid that dimple in my chin I hate. Ever since I heard that hot American comic on TikTok talk about dating a girl with a butt chin – she was from Texas, and his friends called her the ‘Texas Chinsaw Massacre’ – I have been lowkey obsessed with trying to hide mine. I hate it. I’ve been thinking about plastic surgery, even though the thought of somebody cutting into my face freaks me the fuck out.

But I loved my outfit today. That much was a plus. Dior top, Cartier necklace – and I adored my Prada jacket. It really set off the whole ensemble.

And my Louboutins. Gotta have the Louboutins.

I was thinking about what I should put in the caption for my Insta post when the tallest guy I’d ever seen walked up to me.

I mean, the dude was huge.

Ever see Game of Thrones?

Pedro Pascal as Oberon Martell is my all-time hot internet boyfriend –

So the one guy that stands out is the man who killed Oberon Martell.

(Retroactive spoiler alert. But it was 10 years ago, so… come on.)

It was Cersei Lannister’s private bodyguard. They called him la Montagna – the Mountain. He was played by some Icelandic bodybuilder and was almost seven feet tall.

This guy reminded me of the Mountain…

But a lot hotter.

He had these soft brown eyes… wavy, dark brown hair… and a neatly trimmed beard over a solid granite jaw.

His shoulders? SO broad and muscular.

And his suit? Amazing. I think it was bespoke – I didn’t recognize the brand, and he was so gigantic that I doubted he could get something off the rack – but it was beautifully cut. Perfectly tailored to his enormous, huge, absolutely delicious arms.

I stared up at him with my mouth slightly open.

If we’d been outside, he would have blotted out the sun.

“Signorina Fioretti? My name is Massimo Rosolini.”

Ohhhhh…

That voice…

It was sooooo deep.

And his name… Massimo…

It made me think ‘Massive’ – just like him.

I’m not gonna lie: between his face, the height, his shoulders, and that voice… I got a little turned on.

And then he went and fuckin’ ruined it.

“I’m here to take you back to your grandmother.”

Shit.

Of course he was.

Just another mafia clown in a nice suit.

“Not interested, thanks,” I said as I breezed past him –

Or tried to, anyway.

He put a gigantic hand on my shoulder.

His paw was as big as a ham hock – and about as welcome as getting touched by raw meat.

“HEY,” I snapped, “GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF ME.”

I’d had enough mafia goons trying to order me around to last ten lifetimes.

I didn’t need yet another idiot thinking he was the boss of me just because he worked for Nona.

I tried smacking his arm away –

But it was like hitting a big tree branch. Didn’t budge a millimeter.

“Signorina – ”

“It’s Lucia, asshole. And LET GO OF – ”

“Your grandmother was attacked.”

Suddenly the entire world buckled beneath my feet.

My insides turned cold and I felt like I might throw up.

For a split second, I was six years old again in the back of the car, my ears ringing from the sound of the crash –

“Is she… is she okay?” I croaked. It was difficult to speak.

He finally removed his hand from my shoulder. I guess I looked like I wouldn’t run off.

“Yes, she’s fine – but we’re worried someone might come after you. Her men called you and texted you – ”

‘Her men’?

Nobody who worked for Nona talked like that. It was always ‘we.’

I narrowed my eyes as he continued talking.

“ – but you didn’t answer, so – ”

“Who are you again?” I snapped.

“As I said, my name is Massimo Rosolini – ”

“Yeah, I got that part, dumbass. But you don’t work for my grandmother.”

If he did, I would have remembered him for sure.

“No,” he said with forced patience, “I live in Tuscany, outside Florence – ”

Florence –

Rosolini –

Everything clicked into place.

No wonder the name had sounded familiar.

I did my best to ignore all the mafia bullshit flying around my life, but it’s not like I could completely escape it. For one, the story had been all over the news last month – not to mention it was all Silvio, Nona’s consigliere, could talk about whenever I came home.

“You’re the assholes who whacked the Agrellas!” I yelled.

About 20 students all around looked over in surprise.

The big guy’s eyes widened comically. He glanced over his shoulder like he was afraid what a bunch of normies would think.

Maybe it was different in Tuscany, but in Venice, all the locals knew who the Widow was – and everybody in school knew I was her granddaughter. Sometimes I could hear them whispering about it behind my back.

“We did not kill the Agrellas,” he hissed angrily. “I came to explain to your grandmother – ”

“Oh – the same day she got attacked?! What a fuckin’ coincidence!” I spat. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!”

I yelled that last part loud enough that some of the male students were starting to gather around, wondering if they should intervene.

There was the sound of leather-soled shoes slapping on the marble floor.

Roderigo, one of Nona’s dumbass minions, came running up next to us.

“I got here… as fast as I could… when I heard the screaming,” he panted.

“Would you please tell her that I’m here as a friend?” the big guy said, obviously annoyed with me.

Roderigo wiped a bead of sweat off his brow. “It’s true – he saved your grandmother, Lucia.”

“If he didn’t fuckin’ set her up in the first place,” I snarled.

“You have to come back to the palazzo,” Roderigo said.

“WHY, exactly?”

“Because it’s not safe out here.”

I rolled my eyes.

“It’s never fuckin’ safe ‘out here,’” I said, using my fingers to make air quotes. “You people are always saying that.”

“Men tried to kidnap your grandmother,” Massimo snapped.

“Who, your men?” I asked sarcastically.

Massimo was getting even more irritated.

Not gonna lie, I kinda liked pushing his buttons.

“NO, not my men – ”

“Please, Lucia,” Roderigo asked in the voice he used when he was afraid I was going to make a scene.

Which he tended to use pretty often, because I had to make a lot of scenes to get even a speck of freedom.

If Nona had her way, I’d spend my life on a ten-foot leash… and she’d still want eight feet of slack in her hand.

“No,” I said.

“Lucia – ”

“What are you going to do, lock me away in the castle for a week? A month? How long?”

“Probably just for a day or two – ”

“That’s what you said last year. ‘Just a day or two, Lucia! Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon!’ And then two days turned into two weeks, which turned into two months – ”

“Lucia – ”

“NO. I’m not fuckin’ Rapunzel, and I’m not staying in your goddamn tower. If Nona’s so worried about my safety, tell her to get out of the fuckin’ Cosa Nostra.”

I turned to leave –

But the big guy was faster.

“Fuck this,” I heard him mutter –

And then he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.

Like, literally picked me up in the air and tossed me over his shoulder.

It happened so fast that I barely hung on to my phone and purse.

In two seconds flat, my stomach was on his shoulder, and my ass was in the air as his arm locked tight around my legs.

Under different circumstances, I would have loved that.

I’d never met a guy so strong that he could just toss me around like I was a rag doll.

However, these were not ‘different circumstances’ –

And I did NOT love it.

“PUT ME DOWN!” I shrieked at the top of my voice.

“Uhhh…” Roderigo said, obviously unnerved. He knew better than to pull this shit.

Not that Roderigo could have done it, anyway. I doubt he could have lifted me a foot off the ground.

“Let’s go,” Massimo said as he started walking down the hall.

Roderigo followed behind me, obviously in shock.

Just like me, he couldn’t believe this shit was happening – but he was useless, so he just followed along like a whipped puppy dog.

“PUT ME DOWN!”

“No,” Massimo said.

I stuffed my phone into my purse so I wouldn’t drop it, then started pounding Massimo’s back with my fists.

It was like trying to punch a brick wall with a thin layer of padding over it.

Dude was all muscle.

Which ordinarily would have been like, YUM! –

If he weren’t publicly humiliating me.

“PUT ME DOWN, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” I screamed.

“I’m taking you back to your grandmother.”

“You’re KIDNAPPING me is what you’re DOING!”

“No, I’m saving you – ”

“HELP! HELP ME!” I screamed at the students standing around staring.

I couldn’t see him, but I heard a new guy’s voice say, “Hey – ”

And then Massimo growled, “DON’T.”

As we kept going, we passed a tall guy in a hoodie. He looked a little unnerved, like somebody had just stuck a gun in his face.

“GO GET THE POLICE!” I screamed at him.

Suddenly there was a loud smack! that reverberated through the hallway –

As a light sting flared in my ass cheeks.

Not to mention vibrations that I felt, ahem, other places.

I gasped in shock.

…okay.

I won’t lie to you.

I was surprised, and pissed off, and in total disbelief –

…but I kinda liked it.

Or I would have, under different circumstances.

But I repeat:

Not these circumstances.

“Did you just SPANK me?!” I asked, absolutely horrified.

This stupid asshole had just spanked me in front of a hundred people!

At my university!

With my ass in the air!

ME!

The fuckin’ granddaughter of the Widow of Venice!

“You know better than to say things like that,” Massimo said coldly.

He was talking about telling people to get the cops.

A complete and utter no-no when you’re part of the Cosa Nostra.

But at this point, I was beyond caring about gangster etiquette.

I shouted, “I don’t care if you DID whack the Agrellas – ”

SMACK!

Another flare of pain, another vibration deep inside me –

(unnnh – GOD that felt good)

Followed by utter shock.

The shithead spanked me again!

This… would… not… STAND.

I was gonna go Quentin Tarantino on this motherfucker.

I drummed my fists on his back again. “I’m gonna pop a fucking CAP in your ass for that, you – ”

Massimo suddenly stopped.

Something had changed.

I could see the shock and fear on Roderigo’s face.

He fumbled in his jacket for his gun –

But he never got it out.