Novels by Angelina

Rafael I tossed my keys to the valet and strolled into the hotel. The elevator ride was short, and as I stepped into the conference room, the cold breeze hit me first. Only the Don sat at the head of the table, Enzo by his side. "Sorry I'm late," I grumbled, sitting in the next seat beside the Don. "Late" meant that I didn't arrive before the Don. But we were the only three in the room, waiting for all the capos. The only sound in the room was the tapping of the Don's shoes against the marble floor, and Enzo breathing like a fucking dog behind him. If he was scared of what I showed him last night, then he wasn't even ready to face the truth. Like clockwork, all the capos filed into the office as if they came together. The old men bowed their heads as they entered. Tardy motherfuckers. Now I understand why the famiglia was this fucked up. I mean, what could I expect when all the leadership were old, cranky dudes? "I would ask why we're late, but I will believe you all have vali

Rafael I sat in my car, gripping the wheel like my life depended on it. I was about to reverse when I spotted a figure standing behind my car. Adalfieri. He rounded to the front and knocked on the passenger window. A smirk lined his lips as he waited. I wanted to continue on my way, drive away and leave him there. That wouldn't help any of us, especially not me. I needed answers, and this motherfucker could also be a good source. I clicked the button by my side, unlocking the door. "Good choice," he sang as he entered the car, settling into the seat. "What do you want?" I stared forward, not bothering to look at his smug face. "I thought you needed a reminder of the offer I made you." "What offer?" I feigned ignorance. I remembered. He wanted me to help him kill the don. If I ever did that, it would be of my own accord, for things I knew the don did wrong—not allying with some power-hungry bastard. "Don't tell me you've forgotten so soon?" He gasped dramatically, raking his e

Rafael I scanned through the files. Each file carried the name of every capo by its borders. The vibration of my phone in my pocket startled me. It was Alex. Bile rose to my throat, and my hands shook. My hand never shakes. I swiped right and held the phone to my ear. "We'll be at the manor shortly; don't make me wait. I have too much work, so be there." I didn't say a word as he hung up. Shit, shit, shit. I paced around the secret room, rubbing the back of my neck furiously. Fuck, fuck. Taking out my phone, I started taking pictures of all the documents and their contents. The sheets of paper on the table, every picture of everyone on the board, every writing on that board, and every face marked with an X. I slid back out and shut the door, the regulator light going red at the click. Just as I twisted the key and locked the Don's office, a voice rang through the house. "Where's Enzo?" He walked hastily into the house past me and into his office. "Not here yet," I sai

Rafael I sat gazing over documents like I'd been doing for the past three days. Except this time, I was barely grasping the numbers and letters that filled the papers. Three days I had worked, relying on only caffeine and sheer fucking luck. I shook my leg, waiting for the next round of complaints from my secretary. I found it quite surprising that just as the Don leaves for Nevada with his lackey, my company gets all kinds of complaints. The press release I made less than 12 hours ago on the position of the company in light of the leaking of highly confidential information still sat on my mind. The same information that caused the FBI to initiate a raid of the headquarters. It was a big blow to our reputation, and now investors were pulling out. A few were wise to hold on to us. We were suffering a loss. Great as it was, I didn't think it was something we wouldn't be able to come back from. There had been no other arbitrary complaints of leaked client information or any new with

ELENA I paced around in my room, tapping the marker over my left palm. My hand must have been numb from the endless tapping, because later, it felt weird when I held my fork to eat. I had called Rafael about an hour ago. I had shamelessly called him and yelled at him to come to the manor. What was I even thinking? I didn't even know where I got such guts from. I mean I was still upset with him, wasn't I? Who was I kidding? He wasn't going to come. Who was I to boss that macho man around? A knock came on my door. I swallowed hard, eyeing the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, I twisted the knob and as soon as the door opened, Rafael slid in. "What's wrong?" Concern was etched all over his face, his brows furrowed. He was slightly panting like he ran all the way here. Wasn't he upset that I had yelled at him? scratch that, strands of his hair were glued to the sweat on his forehead and he somehow looked hotter. He reached out to hold my hand. "I'm sorry for yelling a

ELENA I pulled the door open. The road to the kitchen couldn't have been more blocked. Closing it shut, barely avoiding the sound of the click, I breathed heavily against the door. On the other side of the door, across the room, the Don stood with a man. Talking. I saw the Don's face—how had he managed to look even older than he actually was? I peeled the door open an inch to look. The man he was talking to had his back to me, his shoulders broad and wide. He was quite tall. The back of his head was coated with strands of grey hair, some black at the ends. The Don started coughing violently and the other man patted him on his shoulders. Was that his brother? He seemed concerned. Oh, he killed his brother, damn. So who is that? After what seemed like a while, the Don hurried into his study. I stood perfectly still, watching from the sliver of space I had opened in my room door. If he caught me, I'd be dead meat. I was about to close my door when he came back out, this t