Sniping Her Mafia King

Fickle with her affections

Arwen eyed Psych-One with barely contained irritation. “Is that a valid question?”

“Yes.”

“I thought I was being forthright in coming here and telling you what happened.”

“You were hoping we were going to tell you to avoid Adrianu Cavallaro and make you choose between him or us. Answer the question.” Psych-One corrected dryly.

Arwen disliked how the woman pegged her so easily. She huffed, “No, I didn’t ask Adrianu Cavallaro to take care of Trace to play helpless damsel in distress because I was trying to make him feel needed.”

“Then why did you? You could have dispatched of Trace with your eyes closed.” She tapped her pencil on the notepad on her crossed knee.

“The situation was already volatile. Deidre was upset and asked him to help. I do have to maintain my cover with her. She already thinks I’m a badass because I shoot guns, box, and have a black belt in karate. I don’t need her adding girl-who-kicks-the-s**t-out-of-giant-men to her list. He was there. It served a purpose.”

“Why did you ask him to be violent with him? Again, you could have gone to Trace later and put him in his place. You could have made a call to us and one of our own would have met him and ended him. Yet, even after Adrianu Cavallaro left with your ex-lover, you called him back and double-downed on your request for assistance.”

She clenched her fists in frustration around the arm the chair and squeezed until her knuckles were white. The woman was pushing her buttons. She saw the way Psych-One looked at her grip and then wrote something on her notepad. Arwen released the chair. “I showed you the text messages Trace sent Deidre. In the moment, after seeing them for the first time I was fired up and Adrianu had asked me before leaving if I wanted him left alive or dead. I knew he still had him. I’d said alive. I wanted to adjust my answer.”

“You asked a mob boss for a favor.”

“I did. In hindsight it was dumb. I immediately called Juno to let her know.”

“What did Juno suggest?”

“She agreed I needed to call it in and undergo debrief.” She looked away and stared at the photo of the English countryside on the far wall, ignoring the mirrored wall behind Psych-One’s chair.

“What did he ask for in return?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

She grimaced, “he said it was not a quid pro quo situation. He said he would gladly teach the man some manners and expected no repayment.”

“Trace Lovett was admitted to hospital at two am with a series of stab wounds from an alleged mugging gone wrong. He was stabbed in various muscles and based on prelim reports, it’s likely he won’t be able to compete again in bodybuilding. He has a grade two concussion.”

Arwen made a face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought he’d do more.”

Psych-one chuckled, “are you complaining he didn’t rough him up enough?”

“He told Dee to kill herself.”

“Does it help to know his pants were heavily soiled with his own urine and feces? They scared him quite badly.”

“Okay, yes, it helps. He shat himself?”

“Yes, he did.” Psych-One’s lips twisted with an unusual smirk. “Artemis, Jesse, and I had a long conversation this morning about whether or not Trace should be permitted to leave the hospital alive. A little serum in the IV pole could work.”

“Then Dee would think he died because of Cavallaro. I’d rather he got hit by a bus leaving the hospital.” Arwen was serious. “I don’t want her to think her actions or requests killed a man. It’s one thing to make a comment. It’s another to live with the reality of it.”

“Do you really want him dead?”

“Yes.”

“Then it will be done when he leaves the hospital.”

“Great.” She patted her knees and moved to get up, “so is that all?”

“Nope. Sit your ass back down.”

She sighed, knowing she’d moved to fast. “Fine.”

“Adrianu Cavallaro is a mob boss. Until we know his intentions with running his family, tread lightly Arwen but we,” Psych-One measured her words, “encourage you dating him.”

“You want me to spy on him?” she lifted one eyebrow incredulously.

“No. f**k him and if you find out anything useful, report back.”

“You’re ordering me to f**k Adrianu Cavallaro?”

“Is this a problem?”

“Yes. I’m not going to prostitute myself.”

“Not even for Bellona?”

“Are you asking me to do this as a mission?” she couldn’t believe her ears.

“No,” Psych-One started laughing hysterically. “We’re just f*****g with you.” She jerked her thumb in the direction of the mirror behind her. “Juno and Artemis are behind the window. We’re just having a bit of fun. The last thing we would ever do is pimp any of our assets. There are far better ways to make a man talk than sucking his dick.”

Arwen rubbed her forehead, “What is happening?”

“Nothing. You didn’t even need to come to debrief this morning. You called it into your Alpha. We were good.”

Arwen glared at the mirror, “Juno said it was a good idea to come in.”

“She was operating on an abundance of caution as a new Alpha. You’re good. All of this was just to f**k around. Juno thought it would be funny to see you sweat over your new boyfriend. You can get out of here.”

“Thanks,” She flipped off the mirror after nodding at Psych-One. As she exited the room, she saw Jesse coming out of the adjoining one with a wide grin. “You b***h. I cancelled an appointment for this.”

“Hey, this is all new to me. I called it in last night and they said you were solid, but you didn’t answer when I called you back.”

“I was in the shower!”

“You didn’t call me back.”

“I knew if it was urgent, you would have sent a ping to my watch.”

“You could have at least texted me to ask what I wanted.”

They walked together towards the main offices where a team of women monitored screens and CCTV. “Honestly, I was f*****g exhausted. Between having two professional NHL players in my clinic on Monday and their constant whining and moaning about how I should be able to fix them with magic elixir, Deidre keeping s**t from me, your cousin respectfully asking me out,” she held a finger up, “which by the way, I find very confusing, and the s**t with Trace, I was too tired to function.”

“What do you mean respectfully asking you out?” Jesse made a face as they walked to the elevators.

Arwen considered her friend was fixated on the wrong part of the story of her evening. “I mean, he said I was allowed to say no if I didn’t want to go out with him.”

“Adrianu Cavallaro?” Jesse was stunned. “My cousin said it was okay to say no to him?”

“My thought exactly. Reverse psychology?”

“Nah, he has an MBA. Completely a numbers guy. Humanities wouldn’t be his strong suit.” Jesse made a face. “He’s not known for lying or for sugar coating anything. He’s stupidly bossy and he’s the world’s biggest pain in the ass.”

“He’s also a mafia don now,” Arwen complained. “It was bad enough when I thought I was just lusting after a random Vegas casino owner but knowing what I know it’s a hundred-fold worse.”

“I will say this. If you agree to be with him Arwen, he,” she sighed, “he’s a male Cavallaro. Dylan is the exception to the rule. The rest of them are very possessive and jealous. I was at dinner once with Addy when he caught a girl that he was dating flirting with the server at the bar on her way back from the bathroom. He caused a huge scene, accused her of being disrespectful to him and they left the restaurant. The next day I found her sobbing in the lobby. He had given her one more night of being with him and then kicked her out of his hotel room. According to her, he’d taken her back to the room, gave her the most incredible night of her life,” Jesse made a face as if the thought made her want to vomit, “and then in the morning coldly told her it was over stating he had no use for someone who was so fickle with her affections.”

“Fickle with her affections?”

“I think he likes old movies.” Jesse’s laugh was mocking, “I’ve never forgotten the phrase. It cracks me up every time.”

“Until you consider he punished her with s*x. He literally f****d her so she would think all was well and then kicked her out.”

“Like I said, he is a possessive bastard and if you cross him, he’ll send you packing without a second thought, but he’ll make your life hell in doing it.” Jesse looked to her friend sadly.

“You think I’m making a mistake going to dinner with him?”

“You’re going to dinner with him?” Jesse smacked the stop button in the elevator. “Holy s**t! For real?”

She groaned and leaned against the elevator wall. Her fingers clenched around the bar on the wall in frustration and faced her friend. Her blue eyes cloudy with emotion. “I waited for him to call and let me know he’d handled the situation. I was overtired and exhausted and he said he had to go back to Vegas, but he’d be back this week. Asked if we could have dinner when he got back. I said yes.” She sighed dramatically, her dimples on full display as she gave a self-mocking smile.

“Well s**t,” Jesse scratched her temple curiously, “what made you agree?”

“He made Deidre feel safe, Jesse. Told me to go into the house and hug my kid. Said he knew I could take care of Trace, but Deidre needed me more and sent me inside to deal with her instead. It felt more divide and conquer than a man being controlling and saving the day. Does it make any kind of sense?”

“It does.” Jesse nodded. “He didn’t diminish or refute your power.”

“Deidre said when he called and Trace showed up at the door, he didn’t even hesitate to turn his car in the direction of our address.” She looked to Jesse in confusion, “are you sure he’s a mob boss?”

“Family means everything to him, Arwen. Even his father. Though he hated him with every breath in his body, he would do anything to respect la Famiglia.”

“If he ever finds out,” Arwen whispered.

“How would he find out?” Jesse grunted and then gave her a punch to the shoulder, “by the way, the bullet was f*****g close to my head.”

“Honestly, I had a split-second consideration of grazing his shoulder. I diverted in the last milli-second and went between you.”

“Why?”

“He called my work phone on Sunday night before I flew out and left a message.” She blushed, “it was filthy as hell.”

Jesse’s nose scrunched up at the thought, “I don’t even want to know.”

“Let’s just say his message was enough to make me need a cold shower, followed by several minutes with Mr. Big,” they exchanged a wicked grin, “and then another cold shower. Then I had to fly to Sicily via a trip to Toronto for work.”

“Torben watched the mission Saturday night at Artemis’ house.”

Arwen’s eyes rounded, “no f*****g way.”

She grunted, “he said the way Addy behaved with the women is exactly the kind of man he knows him to be. It’s funny how I know my own family one way, but a long-time friend knows him a completely different way.”

“We’re often different with our families than we are with our friends,” Arwen shrugged.

“True.”

“Jesse, I’m worried about Dee.” She watched as Jesse hit the button on the elevator again.

“Why?”

“Apart from the fact she kept such a huge secret from me, there’s a couple other things.” Arwen rubbed her forehead, “she’s still struggling to fit in at school. The private school was one thing because it catered to her needs. College is different. The women are tough on her. One of her classmates is sleeping with the prof for grades.”

“We have him under surveillance. It’s not just one girl. We’re going to burn him.”

“Good. It still doesn’t solve she can’t make friends. She has a crush on a guy who keeps reading about ancient curses in the library and won’t say anything to him. She had her friend over last weekend for a sleepover while we were in Vegas, but I think it was the first time they’ve spent time together in weeks. I think she’s isolating herself at school. She made a comment the other night she was jealous of Portia because they’re the same age and she seems to have it all together where Dee is struggling.”

“She needs to go see Portia in real time,” Jesse chuckled. “I stopped by this morning, and she was covered in baby puke, hadn’t brushed her hair yet and was crying about her boobs hurting.”

“Oh no, poor Portia. Does she need help?”

“She keeps refusing it. Cam’s mom keeps stopping by to help. She says she’s fine. My mom stops by, says she’s fine. I stop by, she says she’s fine. She’s not fine.”

“I have kickboxing until six and then picking Dee up after work. I’ll stop by and see how she’s doing. They’re still at Dylan’s place, right?”

“Yeah. They’re moving in a few weeks. They’re doing the painting and renovating of the guest room at my place to turn it into a nursery and she wants to make sure all the paint fumes are gone before putting his tiny little lungs in it. Dylan is picking up extra shifts left right and center after missing work last week to go to Sicily, so things are a bit delayed. She says she is patiently waiting for him to settle in.”

“Seems reasonable.”

Jesse laughed, “it makes complete sense except it means they have a guard in the house twenty-four seven and she’s ready to bash Dylan and Cam into next month. She asked Isabella if she would teach her how to fire a gun.”

“Oh s**t,” Arwen gave a shout of laughter as they stood in the underground parking garage at HQ. “I’ll send her a text and tell her I want to come for baby cuddles.”

“See if you can get her to shower. Dylan’s working a double today. She said she didn’t need to shower when I was there this morning.”

“Okay.” They gave a wave and went in opposite directions. Arwen mounted her bike and shrugged into her leather coat before slipping her helmet on.

She zipped through the streets of Manhattan towards the direction of her physiotherapy clinic in Queens and forced herself to concentrate on the driving in city traffic instead of the rage which hadn’t left her veins at the prospect someone had told Deidre she should kill herself and she had let the person leave her home alive. She wanted to personally put a bullet in his head, but she was too close to the situation and as it was, a man she was going on a date with happened to be one of the last men he was seen leaving her yard with before being mugged. If the police investigated his mugging at all, and of course the hospital had to report the stab wounds, then there was a distinct possibility Trace would tell them what happened. Arwen was curious how the mafia worked in such situations. How could they be sure Trace would keep his mouth shut?

She contemplated the question as she pulled into her parking space and sighed with exhaustion. She walked into the clinic and saw two women sitting close together in the reception area accompanied by Cat.

“Cat!” Arwen immediately walked toward her and gave her a hug. “Hi,” she smiled warmly at the two women sitting holding hands in the reception chairs. “Let’s go out back and have a cup of tea and a chat. You can tell me what’s going on.”

Cat smiled at the two women, “ladies, this is Doctor Arwen Beddoe. She owns this clinic. She’s the one I told you about who helps people who have musculoskeletal injuries.”

“You’re a doctor?” One woman asked quietly in a thick Russian accent.

“Not a medical doctor.” Arwen smiled softly, “but I promise you, whatever you tell me here stays here.”

They all walked into the back room towards Arwen’s office and exam room. “Come on in.”

For the next two hours, Arwen ran the girls through a series of functional testing to establish a baseline of their current physical conditioning. She then sent them to Karla and Beth who immediately understood the women were now under the protection of Bellona and were treating them carefully. All of her staff were Bellona assets in one way or another. “Heat therapy and then massage,” she ordered for both women. “Inga’s left scapula is especially tender, and it’s winged. She’s hesitant about acupuncture for now so let’s just do the lesser of the modalities until she’s more comfortable with us.”

As the women were gently led away to the treatment area, Arwen looked sadly to Cat. “Only two of twenty?”

“Only two would come,” Cat said sadly. “Arwen, Addy spared no expense. He’s put them up in his hotel. Sent everything and anything they could possibly need in clothes and supplies. Had interpreters on site before we even got there. Had his personal physician there to work with me. He reassured every girl he would arrange for them to return home if they wanted to return home or he would find them legitimate work here in the US. If they wanted to go to school to learn a new career, he’d put them through school.”

“There’s twenty women. He offered to pay tuition for twenty women. How rich is he?” Arwen’s jaw dropped open.

“Apparently in the same category as Cam and Torben,” Cat shrugged. “Tuva said not only has he always had the funds of the Cavallaro family at his disposal but he’s freakishly brilliant with numbers. She said she had studied with Torben, Sacha and Addy in their college days and Addy’s math skills were on par with Torben’s and he’s a freaking genius. I guess he has the ability to take a dollar and turn it into a lot of dollars.”

“Huh,” Arwen made a face. “Who knew? He’s rich and smart?”

“And deadly,” Cat whispered. “He noticed every time one of the guys from the New York group came into the area, the girls got quiet. He observed it. I noted it and was going to bring it to his attention, but he already saw it himself. When the guy left the room, he asked the girls if the man had ever hurt them. One of the girls finally admitted the goon had been one of the guys to load them into the container. She mentioned Luca had been there with Ferraro when the girls were loaded, and this guy had accompanied him. He walked out and then came back and hour later and told the girls the man would never bother them again. He told them if they saw anyone else who was involved, they just needed to tell him, and he would personally take care of the situation. He promised every single woman in the room they were safe and would never be hurt again.” Cat held her gaze, “every individual knew he had killed him, and he made no apologies for doing it and said he’d do it again for them.”

“I had him take care of Trace,” Arwen said quietly.

“What?” Cat’s eyes widened incredulously. “What the f**k Arwen?”

“I know.” She quickly recounted the events of the prior evening.

“Why didn’t you just let him kill him?”

“Because then Dee would know Addy killed him. We can’t bring our darkness to her. It’s bad enough she knows Addy beat him up.”

“Yeah, you’re right. She’s got such a good heart. Let’s not make her one of us.” Cat sighed dramatically.

“I told Psych-One I wanted him dead. Once he’s discharged from hospital and nobody connects him to me or Addy, then he’s a dead man.” Arwen’s voice grew cold, “told my baby girl to kill herself. He’s going to die.”

“We should do it personally,” Cat said suddenly. “The last thing he should ever see is your face.”

Arwen’s eyes flitted to Cat’s and saw her friend was serious. “Make it happen.”