Dangerous Beauty: Part One: Destiny (18 page)

Carter chuckled. “So we leave in the morning huh, Underboss?”

Nathan smirked. “Yes. There are…situations that I must attend to,” Nathan said, frowning at the thought of Reeves. “Reeves…”

Almost instantly Carter’s mood changed and she frowned. “Should I be worried, Nathan?”

Nathan looked at Carter trying to decide whether or not he should be honest. He didn’t want to be dishonest with her at all, not even when it came to business and he didn’t think he’d have to be. This just may be one of the perks of being with a woman like Carterina Anastacia Stone, or Steele. No lies, no hiding who he really is, and no secrets. Deciding he would try this whole being open thing to see how she took the truth, Nathan decided to be honest with Carter. “Do you honestly want to know?”

Carter stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest her expression going from playful to serious. “Yes, Nathan I would appreciate honesty, that’s what we decided yesterday, right?”

Nathan nodded. “Yes, we did.” Nathan cleared his throat. “You remember hearing about the confrontation I had with Andrew Reeves?” Carter frowned and nodded. “He wants to retaliate,” Nathan said with a shrug tucking a loose strand of hair behind Carter’s ear.

Carter raised an eye brow. “What exactly does he want to do?”

“Kill me, I suppose. It’s actually quite funny. He’s trying to gather allies, but I don’t really give a shit. He’s not the first man to want me dead, and he won’t be the last. Don’t worry, baby,” Nathan said hoping Carter wasn’t distressed by what he just told her.

Carter shook her head firmly. “I’m not worried, Nathan, but I am upset. Reeves should be dead. He’s too fucking stupid to breathe.”

Nathan crossed his arms over his chest and nodded slowly. “I’m aware of that, but it wasn’t exactly the right time to kill the asshole, our last chat was…a bit too public for my comfort.”

“Yeah, well, I’d love to go to Brooklyn and have a nice little “chat” with the bitch myself. We really didn’t get to finish our conversation the last time I saw him, and it was just getting to the good part too,” Carter said with a smirk. “To think I could have saved you a ton of trouble if I had just went for his throat first,” she said with a shrug.

Nathan smiled and leaned forward to kiss her lips. “Tell you what, once I get Reeves together for another “chat” I’ll make sure you get a chance to come by and say hi,” He smiled against her lips.

Carter smiled wide and wrapped her arms around Nathan’s neck. Nathan lifted her from the floor, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Don’t tease me, Salerno. You know exactly what will happen if you put me in a room with that asshole. What happened with Tessa will look like a game of patty cake compared to what I’ll do to him.”

Nathan laughed. “That’s my girl.”

Nathan heard someone clear their throat and he looked over to the phone on the table and he tensed, instantly remembering who was on the phone. He locked eyes with Carter and bit his knuckle. Carter gave him a look of confusion.

Dante, Lucca, and Mickey were trying to hide their laughter, and Kyle was giving him an apologetic smile.

Nathan looked over at the phone on the table. “Umm… Pop, are you still there?”

Carter’s eyes went wide and gasp and put her hands to her mouth shaking her head.

“Yes son, I am still here. The question is who is there with you?”

The men stood waiting for the young underboss and his men to exit the Salerno private jet. They were all skeptical about the rumors going around about whom was returning with Mr. Salerno, mostly because many of them never even heard of the girl until it was said that she was killed with her father.

After the exchange between the boss and underboss was overheard, the rumors have been spreading like wildfire. The men at the landing site couldn’t wait to see if it was true. They couldn’t wait to see if Spook Steele’s daughter actually survived one of the most vicious and dirty hit jobs any of them had ever heard of.

They all stood straight as soon as the door to the plane opened and the stairs appeared. They stood watching, waiting to see who came out of the plane first.

“Gianni, you think it’s true, or just a load of bullshit?” one of the men asked.

Gianni took out a cigarette and lit it up. After a couple puffs he looked over to the man standing next to him. “I told you I was there when they were on the phone. Angelo had it on speaker so Mitchell heard and so did the other men in the office. Not only did Nathan find Spook’s daughter, he’s screwing her too,” Gianni replied with a smirk bringing his cigarette back to his lips.

The other man laughed. “Shit man, that sounds like Nathan.” He turned to face Gianni. “I just find it hard to believe that some little girl survived that crazy ass hit job. This bitch could be lying. She could be like a cop or something. He can’t be sure. I mean really, how many people have actually seen Spook’s daughter? She’s a fucking rumor her damn self.”

Gianni snorted. “Angelo knows the girl exists, he saw her when she was like three or four. Angelo said that Spook brought her to his house once and her and Nathan played together or some shit, and after that Spook only talked about her when he was here.”

“Yeah, well that doesn’t mean she survived.”

“It’s possible that she survived. Didn’t you hear the shit about how that job went down? Somebody hired six men and only two made it out alive. Spook killed more than half the motherfuckers, probably to save his daughter, before they got him,” Gianni said with a shrug.

“True, but I still don’t trust it, and if I was the one that paid for that job, I’d be pissed that they didn’t kill everybody,” the man said still skeptical.

“She knows Andy Reeves. She told Nate that he was too stupid to breathe,” Gianni said smiling at the memory of hearing the woman talking about Andrew Reeves.

The other man frowned. “She said that Andrew Reeves was too stupid to breathe?”

“Yep, she said she would love to have a “chat” with him.”

“Why would she want to talk to A.R.?”

Gianni rolled his eyes.
Dumbass
, he thought. “I don’t think she plans on talking to him, you dumb shit.”

“Then what she plan on doin’?”

Gianni shrugged. “No idea, but I’m just saying, she sounded like Spook’s daughter to me. You know Spook was fucking crazy, the craziest son of a bitch I ever met, at least. It’s only right that his daughter be crazy too.”

“What you think she looks like?”

“Don’t know.”

“Well if Nate’s fucking her she must be a piece, but he usually has a particular taste in chicks.”

“What the fuck that got to do with anything?” Gianni asked looking confused at the shorter man.

“I’m just saying I only see him with blonds, maybe a few brunettes, all tall because he’s a fucking giant.”

“So?”

“Well this chick is black right? Spook was black so I’m guessing his daughter is too, and I’ve never seen Nate with a black woman before. Have you?”

Gianni rolled his eyes, “Yeah, well there’s a first time for everything I guess,” he said puffing on his cigarette

“Well maybe she’s not black. She could be adopted, you know, or her mama could be white.”

Gianni’s pursed his lips and he looked at the idiot with flared nostrils. “You’re a fucking dumbass, you know that. Who gives a fuck what color she is, she’s Spook’s daughter and that means she’s family. You know how close Spook was to the Salerno family. There’s no way Angelo’s going to let your racists ass say anything about his daughter.”

“I’m not racist, you asshole. I was just wondering, what if she has his heir, we already have Nathan, who’s half Russian, now Nathan’s going to bring another mix into the family?”

Gianni narrowed his eyes on the shorter man. “You got a problem with Nathan’s Russian mother?”

“No I’m just…”

“Good, ‘cause if you say that shit to his face, he’d blow your fucking head off,” Gianni smirked. “Or he’d make me do it, and I would do it.” Gianni smacked the idiot in the back of the head to further make his point. While the man rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head, Gianni turned his attention back to the plane waiting for the passengers on the private plane to descend.

After a few more minutes of waiting, men began to unload from the jet.

Mikilo Valente was the first to appear. He came down the stairs quickly and looked around as if scanning the area. After him, Dante Luciano appeared and Lucca Salerno followed after. The three men huddled together and spoke quietly each of them removing the leather jackets they wore revealing the shoulder holster that each of “The Five” always had on them.

“The Five,” as they were known to everyone in the family and to most in the criminal underworld, consisted of Nathan Salerno and the men he had with him where ever he went. The men have all been together since childhood. All raised in the same life, with each of their fathers in positions of great power within the Salerno family. They were not only a dangerous group of childhood friends, they were the future of the Salerno crime family. Each of them expected to carry on the legacies of their father’s.

Dante “The Hammer” Luciano, age twenty-five. Known as “The Hammer” because of his vicious right hook, which was said to have the same effect as being knocked in the face with a hammer. He was the son of Bruno Luciano, who was the second most powerful capo in the Salerno family. Bruno Luciano ran all Salerno operations in Las Vegas, Nevada. This included their legal fronts, such as luxury hotels and casinos, as well as their more illegal operations.

Lucca “Tick” Salerno, age twenty-five. Known as “Tick” because of his hot temper. Every man that addressed him constantly remind themselves that Lucca Salerno was a constant ticking time bomb; ready to blow up any second. He was the son of the most powerful capo and brother to the boss, Alessandro Salerno. Alessandro runs all Salerno operations in both Italy and Sicily. Every man or women in the organization there answered to him. The only man Alessandro Salerno answered to is his boss and brother, Angelo Salerno.

Mikilo “Silencer” Valente. Known as “Silencer” because of the many men he’d silenced. Mikilo Valente is the main assassin in the group. His skilled use of weapons had made him one of the most feared men in the criminal underworld at the young age of twenty-two. He was the son of Cesare Valente, the
consigliere
of the Salerno crime family.

“Get the luggage and load them in the SUV’s, let’s go!” Mikilo ordered the men clapping his hands.

Gianni and the other men present did as instructed. There were four Cadillac Escalade SUV’s present that were all meant for separate destinations.

“Gianni!” Lucca called signaling for Gianni to come over. Gianni ran over to where Lucca was standing. “Who’s driving Nate to the office?”

“Nate will be in the SUV in the front,” Gianni said pointing to the SUV in front of the line. “Dino’s driving that one, Angelo instructed him to bring Nathan straight to the office.”

Lucca nodded. “Alright, Mickey will ride along. He’s sticking with Nate today. Have Gio, Bear, and Nino take Nathan and Carter’s luggage in one SUV to the penthouse and leave now. I want them out before she gets there. Did you already take the added security measures for the building?”

Gianni texted Lucca’s instructions to the guys then answered the question. “Yeah, we did just like Nate said. We replaced the door man he hired and the front desk workers with our men. We added the extra security and cameras too. The building is safe. We control who goes in and out with respect to the residents that live there. It helps that Nathan owns it.”

“Good, has there been any more talk about Reeves and what he’s planning?” Lucca asked.

Gianni shook his head. “I’m not sure. I think that’s what their meeting’s about. Well, that and the girl.”

Lucca frowned and nodded. The boss had seemed skeptical on the phone after Nathan told him about Carter. Nathan had to leave the room and try to explain how it was that Carter is actually Carter Steele, Spook Steele’s daughter.

Nathan was told to come straight to the office upon his arrival, and Carter to be brought to the office after their meeting.

“So is it true, is she Spook’s daughter?” Gianni asked looking at Lucca with raised eye brows inquisitively.

Lucca frowned. He knew the word would spread fast, he just didn’t think it would take less than 24 hours. “Yes she is,” Lucca said turning his attention to his phone, reading messages from his father and others at the office asking him the same exact question.

Gianni’s eyebrows shot up. “Holy shit, man. I can’t believe Nathan’s fucking Spook’s daughter. Was it just him or all of you, I know you guys do everything together, what is it? Does she have like big tits or something, he real— Oww! Shit why the hell you do that?” Gianni yelled when Lucca slapped him so hard on the back of his head, he nearly knocked the wind out of him.

“Watch your fucking mouth.” Lucca snapped. “Carter’s not like the filthy whores you fuck, so when you talk about her you better do it with some fucking respect. If I ever hear you say some shit like that again you’ll be spending a week trying to figure out how to get my boot out of your ass,” Lucca warned giving Gianni a deadly glare.

Gianni clenched his jaw and nodded his understanding, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head. “I got it. Damn man, you didn’t have to hit me so hard. You could have just told me,” Gianni said.

Lucca shrugged and looked backed to his phone.

“Gianni!”

Gianni looked up to the deep voice calling out to him from the plane and saw that the voice came from Kyle Valente, another one of “The Five” and best friend to the underboss.

Kyle “Charmer” Valente, age twenty-four. Known as “Charmer” because he’d charm any man or woman to death, sometimes literally. Kyle Valente was also Nathan Salerno’s best friend and confidante, which was why he was expected to take the role as consigliere when Nathan Salerno took the role as boss. He was the eldest son of Cesare Valente, who was the current consigliere and best friend to current boss, Angelo Salerno.

Kyle came down the stairs of the private plane dressed in a navy blue Armani suit, with his shoulder holstered Glocks on display and his jacket in hand.

“Yeah?” Gianni answered leaving Lucca and walking over to Kyle.

Kyle stepped down off the last step. “You’ll be driving Carter and I to the apartment and to the office once their ready for us.”

Gianni thought, but he didn’t say it out loud, nor did he show his excitement. Of course he wanted to drive the girl. Then he could determine for himself whether or not she actually is Spook’s daughter.

“
Spicciati
Carterina!”

Gianni looked up to the door of the private jet at the sound of the underboss calling for the girl. Nathan walked quickly down the steps of the plane in his black Armani suit, with his cell phone in hand.

Nathan “The Russian” Salerno, age twenty-four. He is the son of Angelo Salerno, boss and founder of the Salerno Organized Crime Family. Nathan Salerno is the current underboss, but has been groomed his entire life for his future position as boss of the massive empire when his father steps down. He is the feared and powerful leader of “The Five” a highly dangerous group of men known in the criminal underworld. There are some in the criminal world that are still unaware that Nathan Salerno and “The Russian” is the same person.

“I don’t speak Italian, but I’m pretty sure you just told me to hurry up again. To which I will reply, again, don’t rush me, Nathan!” a woman’s voice yelled from the plane. Gianni assumed that must be Carter.

“Get your little ass out of the plane, then I won’t have to rush you,” Nathan yelled back.

“Screw you, Nathan. I have to make sure everything is in my purse. I would be very sad if I forgot something.”

“You’re stalling.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. Now bring your ass out here or I’ll carry you out.”

Gianni heard Lucca chuckle and he looked over to see the man had come forward. Gianni was sure he had only seen Lucca laugh a few times, and that was only when he was sitting with the rest of “The Five.” Other than that the man always had a permanent scowl on his face. Gianni looked at Lucca shocked.

“Carter, sweetheart, everything will be fine. He’s not a monster, I promise,” Lucca yelled up to Carter, who was still on the plane.

“I’m not afraid,” she pouted.

“Aren’t you?” Nathan asked. “Isn’t that the reason you’ve been drinking champagne nonstop since we got on the plane?” he said looking down at his phone.

“I didn’t drink that much.”

The five men chuckled.

“Shut the hell up guys, I didn’t drink that much.”

“Carter lets go, baby. The sooner we do this the better. He just wants to meet you. Our fathers were good friends for over twenty years, it will be fine.”

Gianni was mildly amused that the girl was so nervous to meet Angelo Salerno, but he also understood. Angelo was an intimidating man. She definitely wouldn’t be able to get out of meeting him. When Angelo summoned someone he always made sure they were there when he wanted them.

Just when Gianni thought the girl would never come out of the plane, she finally walked out onto the first step. His breath caught in his throat and he stared wide eyed. Spook Steele’s daughter was fucking hot! Gianni stared at the stunning beauty as she worried her bottom lip.

“Holy shit,” he muttered. Lucca looked back at him and rolled his eyes.

Gianni looked around to see if the other men that came were staring at Spook’s daughter too and they were all drooling as much as he was.