Out Of Bondage (Book #3 Becoming A Riccardi) — BWWM Mafia Romance Series
The series updates have gone amazingly for this series and thank you so much for your support. Eve & Nico’s book has an absolutely unhinged finale that is absolutely perfect if you enjoy organized crime romance books.
There is a creepy underworld of dangerous mobsters and an ultra-protective Italian mobster who you will instantly fall in love with. Nico has been a reader favorite for over five years and this spicy novella finale has twists, turns, and a sex-filled adventure across the Italian countryside as Nico and Eve work against dark and foreign forces to put their family back together.
This book has conspiracies, action, psychological thrills and lots of sex scenes between Eve & Nico. Our supporting characters get happily ever after moments and the book is JUST as steamy as all my others. Want to try the first prologue for free?
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Book #3 - Becoming A Riccardi
PROLOGUE I
Martina and Edoardo sat in the kitchen of their temporary studio after the Savelli conviction had been doled out. Martina hung up the phone, checking in on Eve and Nico one last time before returning her attention to Edoardo. The trial had ravaged him. He’d barely slept and he’d grown even more paranoid. Since the conviction they’d moved over three times. Martina loved traveling and she was easy going enough to put up with it, but she longed to settle down. She longed to have a long brunch at a bistro or to spend time in public without worrying.
“Edoardo,” Martina called to him.
“Mm?” He grumbled, barely looking up from his computer.
He was always on the computer these days, scanning the airwaves for something — Martina wasn’t sure what. She knew her husband and she knew that despite the trial being over, he was still worried about something.
“Look up from that machine for one moment, will you?”
Edoardo looked up from his computer and observed the look of frustration on his beautiful wife’s face. He knew that none of this was fair to her. But he also knew that the alternative would be far worse than what she was going through now. No matter what, it was still his duty to protect her. And while things were easier with the Savellis behind bars, they weren’t in the clear yet.
“What is it Martina?”
Martina folded her arms and pursed her lips. Her dark purple lipstick highlighted the beautiful shape of her full lips.
“You are obsessed. We need to start living, Edoardo. We can’t continue to exist like this.”
“I know.”
“Well, act like it. I’m patiently waiting for things to return to normal, Edoardo, but we can’t live like this. Getting the Savellis behind bars was supposed to make this easy."
Edoardo sighed. He knew Martina was right about that at least. Things were supposed to get easier. Except for the fact that somehow, a demon had found him. Not a real demon, but the man who had requested Edoardo’s presence was as good as a demon, as good as risen from the dead.
Edoardo feared not only for his life and Martina’s, but for his half-brother across the globe. Since Nico was returning to Italy soon, Edoardo wanted all of this sorted out. He’d been keeping all of this a secret from Martina, and that felt wrong.
Martina was supposed to be his other half. He thought things through all the way, sometimes thinking too much. Martina on the other hand used her intuition. Instead of mulling over things, his wife went with her gut.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on, then. But you won’t like it.”
Martina sat down and rested her hand on her husband’s lap. Edoardo was a beautiful man, with gorgeous tanned skin and warm eyes, but he was troubled. Martina had known him to be troubled from the moment she met him, and as she uncovered more and more about Edoardo’s difficult past and dodgy family history, she began to see more depth and strength in her husband.
“Tell me everything.”
“I’m supposed to meet someone tonight… and I’m worried. Very worried.”
“Someone dangerous?”
Edoardo bit down on his lower lip and nodded.
“Yes, someone dangerous.”
Martina knew that she should be more worried about her husband facing danger. But she also knew Edoardo well enough to know that he could handle himself in situations that would make most men tremble.
“Someone who scares you?” She asked.
Edoardo nodded.
“I’ve met dangerous men before, but they’ve been dangerous and predictable. The man who I’m going to meet is neither of those things.”
“But you must meet him?”
Edoardo nodded.
“Yes. I must. And I must go alone.”
Martina wrinkled her nose. Her anthracite colored eyes emanated concern. Edoardo could tell that she was already filled to the brim with questions, but holding back as much as possible. Edoardo marveled at her ability to tell how much he was willing to share and how much he could handle.
“What do you need from me?”
“Prayers.”
“Tell me where you’re going and what time.”
Edoardo told her and then made her promise not to follow him. Martina promised. But she had no intention of allowing Edoardo to die if he was meeting with some strange, unstable, and dangerous man. This didn’t sound like him. It didn’t sound like Edoardo to put himself in danger. She remembered what had happened before Nico had left; Edoardo had warned him against returning to Italy but he’d never been specific about why.
Martina suspected that this clandestine meeting was directly connected to Edoardo’s warning to his half brother. Something was amiss here. Martina waited until evening time, patiently watching as her husband prepared for his meeting. She mostly ignored him and feigned as much disinterest in his evening activities as she could muster.
When night fell, Edoardo’s agitation raised. He barely ate his carefully prepared dish of dried okra, rice, and stewed chicken. Martina had slaved over dinner, hoping that some good food would calm Edoardo’s nerves. It did nothing to assuage him; he either paced or stared out the window with a furrowed brow as if he were expecting someone to show up at any minute.
Martina retired to bed until she heard Edoardo leave the house.
Edoardo had a sense that Martina would follow him although he prayed that she wouldn’t. He’d been trying to quit smoking recently, but as he walked the path to the abandoned building where he was meeting this man, he couldn’t help but crave a cigarette. His fingers were trembling with anxiety. Edoardo instinctively reached into his pocket for a box of cigarettes. He pulled one out and lit up. After the first drag, he immediately felt a sense of relief.
This addiction will kill me one day if one of these gangsters doesn’t. Edoardo thought to himself.
He continued to smoke and walk, finishing the cigarette in record time. He hoped that Martina would have the good sense to stay away. He was sure he could handle this on his own and if he couldn’t, then he would have to pay the price. As long as Martina stayed out of this, she would be safe. She didn’t know what type of man she was dealing with. Edoardo knew. He knew this man had defied all odds. He knew this man was supposed to be cold in the ground, but he was living, breathing, rage personified. And he wanted vengeance.
Edoardo knew it might be foolish to test a man like this, but he needed to put this man off the trail. That, at least, he felt was his duty. He owed Nico this much, especially after how Nico had endangered himself and his soon-to-be wife for him.
Edoardo arrived at the location early. He never allowed anyone to get one up on him. He had a friend watching the place remotely. If anything went wrong, he’d have plenty of time to get out of there. Still, that didn’t stop the gnawing at his chest or his stomach’s non-stop spinning.
Another cigarette called to him and Edoardo answered, sucking back another cancer stick and then crushing the butt beneath the toes of his boots. He heard footsteps and knew that it was him. He entered the room and his visage hit Edoardo hard. The familiarity of his features was chilling. There was a scar where he’d been cut that sat like a thick worm across the man’s neck. Around his neck, he wore a silver crucifix.
He didn’t smile as he entered the room. His eyes were a chilling, icy blue, as if he had killed before and he would kill again… and again… and again…
“Edoardo. It is good to meet again.”
Edoardo didn’t reply. He kept a rigid expression and kept his body language just as stiff, not wanting to betray a lick of his true intentions here.
“Ask me your questions and I will answer you. Then I want you to leave me be.”
The man chuckled. His laugh wasn’t accompanied by a matching facial expression; the incongruence sent a shiver down Edoardo’s spine.
“May I have a smoke?” The man asked.
Edoardo nodded and reached into his pocket for a cigarette. The man took it and Edoardo lit the cigarette for him. He took in a thick drag that accentuated how hollow his cheekbones were. His gaunt appearance led Edoardo to believe that he’d been suffering in a state of mania, waiting for his opportunity to dig up information on the man he wanted to destroy.
“Where is he?”
Edoardo shifted uncomfortably.
“He’s in America.”
“When is he returning to Italy?”
Edoardo shrugged, “I think never.”
It was a lie. He didn’t know if the man could tell he was lying. If he could, he was sure he’d just signed his death sentence.
“You give these answers too easily. Are you lying to me, Signor Savelli…?”
“I don’t go by Savelli.”
“Now isn’t the time for a change of subject, is it?”
Edoardo sighed, “I am not lying. I have no idea what his plans are.”
“Then why don’t I believe you?”
“I told you where he is, didn’t I? He’s in America. Likely not Boston.”
The man chuckled, “Well thanks for narrowing it down.”
He moved close to Edoardo and bent his lips to Edoardo’s ears. The hairs on his neck stood involuntarily at attention.
“Tell me where he is or I swear to God…”
Edoardo pulled away.
“I’ve told you all I know. He’s too smart to stay one place for long.”
“Last known location then?”
The man reached for his pocket and pulled out a gun, thrusting it into Edoardo’s stomach. Edoardo inhaled sharply. He had no idea what to say. Betrayal wasn’t a part of his operation. Edoardo knew he needed to stall. A droplet of sweat rolled down his back.
A gun cocked.
“Watch yourself, motherfucker.”
Martina walked into the room with the gun aimed directly at the man’s head. He whipped around in surprise and Edoardo knocked the gun out of his hand and pulled out his own. He breathed a sigh of relief as Martina strode into the room wearing six inch heels and an all black outfit. Her gun was aimed at the man’s head and Edoardo knew that she would shoot if he made one wrong move.
The man raised his hands above his head.
“You disobeyed my command to come alone,” He said with a smile, more amused than anything that Martina was holding a gun to his head.
“One move and I’ll shoot.”
The man turned towards Martina and her finger squeezed gently on the trigger, not quite pulling it. He laughed out loud as he saw her edging closer and closer to shooting him.
“You won’t kill me. And when I do get out of here, I’ll come back and find you,” He replied.
“And do what?”
“I’ll make you into my dirty little slave…”
Martina couldn’t take it any longer. She took her elbow and slammed it into the man’s face, knocking him unconscious. He fell to the ground, clearly not expecting Martina to slam her elbow into his face.
“Martina…” Edoardo said.
She used her foot to kick the man and test if he was awake. He wasn’t.
“I’m sorry,” She said to her husband, putting her gun away.
“I had a handle on things.”
“He had a gun to your stomach. I couldn’t let anything happen to you.”
Edoardo sighed, “I knew you were too stubborn to let me go alone.”
“I couldn’t let you walk into this alone. And I didn’t realize who you were meeting.”
Martina looked down at the man who was unconscious and she craved nothing more than to kick him in the face again, beating him while he was down. It was uncanny, how he looked so much like a ghost, lying there on the ground.
“I know. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t think you would approve.”
“I don’t approve.”
Martina didn’t want to chastise her husband too greatly. She could understand why he’d kept this a secret, but by keeping it a secret, he’d opened them both up to more danger than he’d realized.
“Do we leave him here?” Martina asked.
Edoardo shook his head, “We can’t.”
“And what about afterwards. Do we warn Nico?”
Edoardo pursed his lips and thought again.
“I want another cigarette.”
“No more smoking for you tonight. We need to figure out if we should tell your brother.”
Edoardo shook his head. He couldn’t see how telling Nico would help. He knew what his half-brother had just gone through with losing his son and he knew that Eve had her limit of what she was willing to accept when it came to mafia activities. Involving Nico in this was out of the question as far as Edoardo was concerned. He understood Martina’s compulsion to be open, but if that sent Nico off on a journey of vigilante justice, he could hurt not just himself but the people in his life.
“You know Nico. If we tell him…”
“…He’ll come to Italy and try to finish him off.”
“Right.”
“Let’s move his body, and then we’ll get out of town tonight.”
“He could wake up at any time.”
“So we’d better get going,” Edoardo sighed.
“But will Nico be safe? If we don’t tell him?”
Edoardo nodded, “I’ll protect him.”
“How?”
“His wedding. It’s in Milan. 3 months. We got the invitation last week.”
Edoardo reached into his pocket and pulled out the invitation, which he’d folded up. Martina looked the invite up and down. Against Edoardo’s warnings and surely against Eve’s pleas, they were going to be married in Italy. Martina felt a lump in her stomach as she looked down at the man she’d knocked unconscious. If it wouldn’t have been utterly careless, she could have killed him right then and there. But she’d done enough.
Martina prodded him with her foot again.
“We’d better get him out of here.”
Edoardo nodded in agreement. He grabbed the man’s arms and Martina grabbed him by his legs. They dragged him out of the building and down the empty street into the alley. Edoardo propped his head up against a giant trash can and Martina stood over his unconscious body.
“I can’t believe we’re going to let him live.”
“We can’t kill him. We just have to hope he loses interest in chasing down my half-brother.”
Martina gave Edoardo a skeptical look.
“Let’s go. We don’t have much time before we need to get out of here.”
“Back to Egypt?” Martina asked.
Edoardo nodded. Going back to Egypt would give them plenty of time to strategize and figure out how they could avoid Nico’s wedding day ending in disaster. The unconscious man leaning against the trash can looked innocent in his sleeping state. The irony was that he was one of the most dangerous men that Edoardo knew.
“Let’s go,” Martina ushered him.
They walked out of the alleyway together and disappeared into the night.
* * *
This chapter was such a difficult cliffhanger to leave readers with.
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