Chapter 40

LUCA

^~THE NIGHT OF THE ~ROSSI~ ATTACK…~^

Leaving Freya naked and disappointed in my bed was the hardest thing that I had ever done in my life. Bruzzatore was beyond pissed. He wouldn’t stop yelling in my head, sending me mental images of Freya’s beautiful, sad face as she lay nearly naked in a sheet, watching us leave.

I groaned loudly. ~She deserves better than this.~

I made my way to the edge of my territory, frowning when I saw Matteo and some of my men standing around doing nothing.

“What the fuck is going on?” I snapped as I approached them. They all turned and immediately bowed to me.

“Matteo,” I said. “Come here.”

Matteo stood and approached me slowly, obviously sensing my touchy mood.

“I thought you said this was an emergency,” I said when he was in front of me. “What’s going on here? You said there were Rossis on the territory.”

“Yes, Don,” he said quickly, nodding his head. “Uh, Destra Angelina and a few of our men are scanning the territory to see how many of them are out there. We don’t think they’re aware that we know about them yet.”

“How long ago did she leave?” I asked.

“I’m right here,” someone called from behind us.

Matteo and I both turned to see Angelina coming out of the woods nearby. She approached us with a serious look on her face, a few other men following her with weirdly dazed expressions. “There are ten Rossi men scattered across our property.”

I clenched my fists. What the fuck were they doing in my territory?

None of the other mafia families were stupid enough to try to invade our land in years. They know that the Contis would tear them to shreds if they even tried.

These fools were about to learn that. “What are they doing?” I asked.

Angelina shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re just standing around.”

“You mean they’re not doing anything? Do they have any weapons?” Matteo asked.

Angelina shook her head. “No. No weapons… Nothing. They’re seriously just standing there like a bunch of robots.”

“Something is off,” Matteo said. “I don’t like this.”

“Me neither,” I said. “No weapons will make our lives easier, but I don’t want anybody letting their guard down. Something is definitely wrong.”

I looked around at my men—around thirty of them, standing proud and strong, all awaiting my orders. “Hopefully, this will go over with no problems.” I looked at Matteo. “You know what to do.”

Matteo nodded and bowed his head slightly. “Yes, Don.”

He walked over to the men and began giving them orders. I had been through enough battles with Matteo to know that I didn’t even need to tell him what to do.

Matteo was a natural leader. He knew how to give orders but still be personal with the men of the Conti family.

There was no one I trusted more in my family, which was why I’d made him the leader of the family’s security force. I watched as they listened to Matteo intently and then primed their weapons, preparing to put all of their training to good use.

I was about to join them and lead the fight when I made eye contact with Angelina.

“Are you and the donna having a nice first night together?” she wondered.

“Watch yourself,” I warned.

She laughed and raised her arms in surrender, bowing to show she didn’t mean any disrespect.

“You know, I’m really, really glad that you’ve met your ~destino~, Don.” A strange look passed over her face as her lips formed into a smirk. “It’s going to make things a whole lot easier around here.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. ~Odd thing to say.~ “Right…,” I said. “I’m glad too.”

She smiled wider and nodded. “Better get going. The men are going to need their big strong don to help lead them.”

She winked at me and then, without warning or waiting, ran back into the woods without us.

~Odd thing to do~, I thought dismissively.

***

We were prepared for an intense battle with the Rossis. In fact, the men of my family—who’d been training for years without being able to use their skills—even seemed excited for a fight.

But we didn’t get one.

They allowed us to chase them off the territory without any resistance. Like some sort of game. We chased them for a while, then they slowed down and let us get really close to catching them before speeding up again.

Zigzagging and changing directions, they had us running in circles like we were playing tag.

We continued like this for longer than I’d like to admit. It’s like they were messing with us, using their smaller numbers to stay more agile than our larger fighting group.

Usually whenever we had skirmishes with the Rossi it was always quick and bloody. No games.

What was happening now was strange. The Rossi family weren’t known for being cowards. They didn’t just run away from a fight. What they were doing made no sense at all. And it was pissing me off.

I wanted to get back to Freya. I had told her I’d be back before she fell asleep. All I wanted to do was hold her and watch her cute little face relax as her breathing evened out.

She always did this thing where she would nuzzle into my chest and let out a contented sigh right before she fell asleep. I’d hold her tighter and smile every time.

It was my favorite part of the night. I loved her with everything I had in me. ~God, I wish I was with her right now.~

Thankfully, the Rossis eventually seemed to get tired, fleeing the territory all at once as if having decided that they’d had enough.

Matteo and I stopped and gathered our men around us. We looked at each other in confusion.

“What the actual fuck?” Matteo asked, saying exactly what was on my mind.

I shook my head. “I have no idea. Are they all gone?”

Matteo paused as he pressed a finger against his earpiece, asking other squads scattered across our property to report in. I tuned in, listening to what the other men had experienced.

Matteo nodded. “The same thing happened to all of them. They’ve all been driven off our territory.”

“We’re not going to let our guard down,” I said. “I want men posted around every section of our territory, all night. There’s something more going on. It cannot have been that simple.”

“I agree,” Matteo replied.

I looked back toward the house longingly, desperately wishing that I was with Freya. I knew now that I wouldn’t be able to spend the night with her. I needed to stay out here and keep my family safe.

“Why don’t you go ahead and go back to the house, Don?” Matteo said, watching me. “I can take care of this. It’s what I was trained for.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

I sighed as I imagined Freya waiting up for me, wondering where I was, worrying about me, alone on her first night here. She was probably wet from just getting out of the shower, her chocolate-brown hair splayed out all over my pillow.

I imagined her wearing only my shirt and my boxers, with—oh God—her beautiful long legs out on display. I knew that the minute I joined her in bed, one of those beautiful legs would be thrown over my waist like always as she snuggled into my chest.

I would pull her closer so that she was basically on top of me, then begin to run my hand up and down her back and play with her gorgeous, silky hair.

I could already feel the sparks dancing along my skin. ~God, I miss her.~

“Okay,” Matteo said, clearing his throat loudly. Was my daydreaming that obvious? “Go back to your ~destino~, Don. I promise you that I am more than capable of handling a few intruders who aren’t even in our territory anymore.”

I looked at Matteo, then back at the house, then back at Matteo once again.

“You’re sure you can handle it?” I asked.

“Positive,” he confirmed.

I sighed heavily. “Okay,” I ran a hand through my hair and began to walk back to the house. “Try not to bug me for the rest of the night,” I joked. “And I mean, if you do, I want multiple people on fire.”

Matteo laughed. “You got it, Don. Say hi to Donna for me.”

And then he ran off into the night, as I trudged back towards the house.

My only thoughts were of Freya and of getting back to her as soon as possible.

Just then, I heard a familiar voice ring out in the darkness.

“Hello, Luca.”