Marcellius Fierri [Book #1]

Chapter 18

Whenever anyone starts a sentence off with "we need to talk," it's rarely ever followed by good news.

Pushing myself up and out of the water, I grab the white towel from Marcellius' hands. He's eyeing my body in the bikini, his facial expression unreadable. Wrapping the towel around my body, I sit down in one of the lounge chairs inside the cabana.

Marcellius closes the curtain to give us a little privacy. I watch him closely as he opens the drawer of a side table located beside him, and pulls out a pair of red swim trunks. I saw five cabanas out here, so I came to the conclusion that they probably have their own.

I'm so glad Marcellius can't see that I'm blushing. I'm losing my mind just watching him unintentionally teasing me as he removes his shoes and pants, followed by his boxer briefs. He's facing away from me, his perky ass practically in my face. It's taking everything within me not smack or squeeze it.

My head snaps up in his direction, as he turns to face me. He sits down, my eyes trailing down to his Mafia family's tattoo that is located on his left pectoral, peeking out from under his tank top. Marcellius actually had a couple of other tats, but none as big as this one.

The only reason I even knew what it was, is because Cesare has the same one on his hand and Luciano on his leg. I have no idea where Niccolo's was, nor do I want to know. The tattoo is of a cross with the words, "fino al giorno della mia morte." I have no idea what it means, but I'm assuming that it must represent their Mafia and what they believe in.

"Is something wrong?" I ask, remembering why he pulled me aside in the first place.

"No, actually I have good news." I perk up, the anticipation of what I hope it to be about killing me. "We found Kyle Johnson." I can't hide the wide smile on my face. All I can think about is my life finally getting back to normal. I will have my life back. "He was living in some abandoned motel in New Jersey. I have some of my men bringing him back as we speak."

I sling my arms around Marcellius' neck, pulling him into a hug. Tears stream down my face as I whisper into his neck, "Thank you."

He's caught off guard by my actions, and I can tell he's a bit hesitant to hug me back. But eventually he does, and I can feel him melt into my loving embrace.

I think we stayed there for almost three minutes before pulling apart. I look into his eyes as he reaches up, and holds my chin with his thumb and forefinger. "I'd do anything for you tesoro(darling)." His tone is gentle and soothing. I run my hands through his hair, a small smile on my face. "You're my priority always and forever."

Forever?

I'm about to kiss him when I remember the one question that's been on my mind since the nightclub. "Who's Selene and Miko?" He drops his hands to his sides.

I know that I just ruined the mood, but at the mention of forever, it made me realize that there could be a future between us. Which means there should be no more secrets between us. I need to know everything, whether it brings us closer together or further apart.

I can tell by the way that he won't look at me, that he wants so badly to dodge the question. I maintain eye contact as I wait for a response.

"Twelve years ago, I fell in love for the first time. It was with a woman named Selene Viagara." He sucks in a deep breath, sighing heavily. This topic must be hard for him. He continues. "We were only together for six months, but she ended up getting pregnant. Then we had our son Miko."

That explains why he struggles with being so vulnerable. He has a reason to be. His enemies can use that against him. It also explains why he reacted the way he did in the basement.

His son and the mother of his child were being threatened. They were in danger. "Months after Miko was born, we decided to split. We simply fell out of love. It became hard on me when I couldn't see my son on a daily basis, which is why I started drinking." There's a hurt in his eyes that I've never seen before.

He truly loves his son.

"Selene and Miko are staying in one of my safe houses in California. The flash drive that was stolen from me had information about them that no one, especially my enemies, should ever know about."

"When's the last time you saw your son?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"A month ago..," he says, looking down sadly. I can hear the pain and hurt in his voice. He misses his son, but knows if he wants to protect him then he'll have to keep his distance. "Once these new enemies are no longer a threat, I'll visit him again." I feel so helpless seeing Marcellius like this. I wish I could help him somehow.

Standing to his feet, he grabs his clothes just as Cesare pops his head in. "Damn, I was hoping to see some action," he says with a pout.

"What do you want, Cesare?" I ask, with a roll of my eyes.

"Your man just pulled up," he tells me before leaving.

I look at Marcellius and he gives me a nod. We head back inside the house, get dressed, and join everyone in the lounge area. I stand next to Mama Fierri. She gives my hand a comforting squeeze as we all watch Marcellius walk over to the entrance. The doors open and in comes two italian men with an unconscious Kyle Johnson in their arms.

Marcellius aggressively rolls up his sleeves, his eyes filled with hatred. He motions for his men to head down into the basement. Then he turns to me and asks, "Will you be joining me?"

I've thought about this for some time now. In the beginning, I was willing to be the one to torture the man for what he did to me. But I've learned that isn't me and never will be. I don't hurt people. So, I shake my head.

Marcellius turns away from me and starts down the corridor. His brothers follow close behind him, Luciano glancing back at me to assure me that everything will be okay.

I didn't see how any of this was okay. They were about to torture a man to death. Maybe I should've let the police handle it, because what those brothers were about to do was far worse than any prison time. That man was about to see exactly why "the four" was the biggest feared Mafia in all of New York.