Just what the Mafia Princess ordered

Chapter 2 - Meet AJ

AJ's POV

"The old man will be mad when he realizes you're gone." My little sister Caterina warned me while she sat on my bed, watching me throw some clothes in a bag as quickly as possible without paying attention to what I was putting in there. I could end up with six shirts and no boxers.

"Well, he can share that disappointment with me when I get back in a few months," I advised her, calmly trying to keep my voice even so she didn't realize how freaked out I was right now.

My little sister was right, my father would be pissed beyond belief, but he would have to wait to rip me a new one until I got back. I had never thrown caution to the wind like this, but I was still reeling from our last conversation. I shouldn't have been surprised when he called me into his office yesterday to let me know he was finally ready to step down and let me take over the business in a few months. I was twenty-six years old and had been planning and training for this moment since I was old enough to hold a gun. Everything I had done growing up, the fight training, the weapon training, the business degree I was forced to get when I went to college. All of that had been in preparation for leading our family.

Things had been tough for a while for the Romano clan. Some crap had gone when I was younger, which had resulted in us losing a lot of business and connections, and it had taken a long time for my father to pull us out of the hole we were in. In reality, we still had a way to go, but my father thought I would be the one to return us to our former glory. It was a lot of pressure. A lot of eyes were on me, waiting for me to prove my worth.

That was why I was currently packing. I needed to get away one last time before I devoted the rest of my life to my family. I needed one final taste of freedom.

I grinned at Caterina as I zipped up my bag, "Tell the folks I'll be back when I'm back."

I knew I was being a chicken, letting my sixteen-year old sister be my messenger, but I was hoping, because it was his little girl telling him, he wouldn't shoot the messenger this one time. She was his favorite, and we all knew it. I was just the firstborn who would continue his legacy, but she was his little princess.

By the time I made it to the airfield and the private jet I had hired, I had had ten missed calls from my father and at least a dozen messages telling me to get my ass home now. The good news was that I hired the plane with my own funds, under a shell company he wasn't aware of, so he couldn't stop me, nor could he figure out my final destination. I greeted the flight attendant, not missing the flirty smirk she threw me as I handed over my coat, but when I headed towards my seat, I realized that I wasn't alone.

"Theo, what are you doing here?" I asked my cousin carefully, hoping he wasn't here to drag me home on my father's orders.

"You didn't think you would go on this grand adventure without me." He joked, sipping on a glass of bourbon. “You need your wingman with you.”

Sighing, I collapsed on the seat next to him and gestured at the flight attendant to bring me a glass of bourbon, "How did you even find me?"

Theo chuckled, "I helped you set up that shell company, remember? It's not hard to find when you know where all the bodies are buried, literally and figuratively."

He wasn't wrong. He was my cousin, but he was also my best friend too. We were only two years apart in age and did everything together. He knew all of my secrets, and I knew all of his, so it was only fitting that he joined me on this last hooray before I dedicated the rest of my life to my family. Being a Romano was a lot to live up to in Chicago, but I would do whatever it took to make my family proud after this final summer.

Our flight was short, less than two hours, so we had just gotten comfortable and relaxed when it was time to get off. Theo spent the entire flight flirting with the flight attendant but failed to get her number. I didn't have the heart to tell him she had slipped it into my jacket before handing it back to me. Not that I would call her. Not my type at all. She was too eager, and that didn't interest me. I liked my women the same way I liked my alcohol, strong, a unique flavor and just the right amount of kick.

When I decided to get away, only one place came to mind. During my childhood, my father was always so busy with work that we never saw him around the house much, but he managed to clear his schedule for a month every summer, and we would all head to Myrtle Beach as a family. For four whole weeks in a year, we had his undivided attention. We would spend all day at the beach playing in the water and making sandcastles on the beach, and at night we would light fires and have smores on the beach together. I looked forward to that time every year. It was the one time we were all together, the one time of year when we felt like a real family.

Once I turned eighteen and went to college, those summers stopped too. I guess heading back there was like going back to a time when life was simpler, and I guess having someone here with me wasn't such a bad idea. Thankfully, I had rented my own place on

the beach, which had multiple bedrooms, so he had somewhere to stay other than sharing a bed with me because he wasn’t my type.

The condo I rented was much newer than some of the more weather-worn beachfront properties along the water. It was the only sleek and modern house nestled amongst the vintage beach houses, making it stick out like a sore thumb. It had three bedrooms, an expansive kitchen with all the trimmings, and even a private plunge pool and hot tub. Not that you needed a pool with the ocean right outside, but it might make for a good spot for a few parties while we were here.

When we got inside the condo, I dumped my bag on the sofa and went into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge to examine the contents. One of the benefits of having money behind me is paying for someone to stock the kitchen before you arrive. It saves so much time. I grabbed two beers from the fridge, popping the tops off them before walking over to Theo, who was looking out the back door. He wasn't much of a nature person, so I knew he wasn't staring at the water, and when I reached him, I saw exactly what had caught my cousin's attention.

The beach was filled with women in various stages of undress. Some of the bikinis they wore left very little to the imagination, and I had a very good imagination.

I handed him his beer and held out mine, "Here’s to a final summer of freedom before the real work begins.”

Theo chuckled, clinking the neck of his bottle against mine. “I’ll drink to that. You’ll need your rest today because tomorrow, the fun begins. Starting with an open mic night at a bar I found in town.”

I groaned, “Not happening, Theo. I didn’t even bring my guitar.”

He smiled at me, “I’m sure there is a music store or pawn shop you can pick one up from. Come on, cuz if this is your last tour of freedom, let's go out with a bang.”

As a kid, the pressure of knowing my future was already planned out for me was all-consuming. I wasn’t too proud to admit that it caused a few panic attacks in my younger years until my school counsellor suggested music as a way to relax. The first time I picked up a guitar and strummed the strings, I felt an instant wave of calm wash over me, and I had been playing ever since. Theo was my biggest supporter when it came to my music and had been pushing me for years to take it further, but what was the point when it couldn’t go anywhere? I could walk away from the family business like my aunt did, but that would mean it would all fall on Cat’s shoulders, and she would never have the strength to tell my parents no.

My little sister was a sweet person who I loved to the moon and back, but she didn’t have the stomach for what our family did. Her taking over instead of me would tear at her soul repeatedly until there was nothing left of Caterina but an empty shell, and I would die before I let that happen. Me taking the reins meant that she got the freedom to follow her passion without any argument from my parents and that I could live with. I could take anything thrown at me. I was born for this life.

Going into this new career path, there was no one I trusted more to be by my side than Theo. His mother had gotten out of the family life and chosen a career where she was now off saving the whales or something or the birds in the sss. It was hard to keep track of her movements. But our family business has a way of drawing people in, and Theo couldn’t resist. I doubt I could go into this without him at my side. But that was still months away, so right now, I needed to worry about booze, the beach and all the beautiful women that I could find.

This was going to be the summer to end all summers.