Her expression momentarily went from scared to curious, putting up a wall so fucking high that God himself would have had trouble looking through it. Being born into the underworld prepared her to act all classy but remain cold at the same time. Just as she had to in order to survive. For women that was just as important as for men. Maybe even more.
"Hello," she regarded him, about to extend her hand and break free from her father’s grip.
Noah chuckled, seeing as she wasn’t able to do that. And rightfully so. He had no intention to hurt the girl, but he wouldn’t allow his own daughter to approach another mafia man from outside the Famiglia as if it was a common thing to do either. Maybe not even the men from within the Famiglia. Whether the teenager was a reckless idiot, or stupidly brave, was still to be determined.
"Go wait for me outside, Avyanna. I’ll be done in a moment," groaned Emilio, urging his daughter to leave them alone. After a few failed attempts of struggling, the girl gave up and walked out. However, she couldn’t resist giving Noah one last look.
Avyanna.
It was a strange name. Not a common one; definitely not Italian. Which was something unexpected given that the older man was a faithful and eager believer of the mafia world and its origin, yet he chose not to give his child one of their ancestors’ names. Because there was no woman called Avyanna in the family; that much he was damn sure of.
Noah’s eyes lingered on the closed doors for a second longer.
"Don’t even think about it. My daughter is not wife material," Emilio seethed.
Such an idea hadn’t even crossed the Capo’s mind. Neither was he anywhere near willing to get married nor would he choose a girl from the Seattle Famiglia. Too much dirty blood for his taste. Betrayal, cruelty beyond redemption, without a single ounce of morality. And if Avyanna inherited any of those flaws, he wouldn’t be able to live with someone like that. He was a bastard himself. A fucked-up man who cared about close to no-one. But there were a few things he couldn’t go through with. And there was no fucking way he would introduce anyone with as much as a slight possibility of carrying any of those unforgivable traits into his family.
"If you as much as try to approach her in any way, no fucking help from above will be enough to save you."
"My idea of help from above is a sniper on the roof," said Noah. "I will send my men to take care of the percentage deal once I’ve looked through the files. And don’t ever threaten me again because it will be the last thing you do," he added, leaving the office before he acted on his anger and ruined the peace between Seattle and Las Vegas.
One of these days.
CHAPTER 5
He punched the sandbag at full force without breaking a sweat. His muscles were flexed. Eyes dilated in a wave of excitement. Yet it didn’t provide the same rush as hitting another person would. A Bratva member preferably. Noah was dealing more and more with their gun smuggling, not only in Palermo, where his business flourished but also in Las Vegas. Especially there.
Ever since he’d become aCapo dei capi he’d decided to make Las Vegas the central city for his dealings. He had lived there for nine years already and knew everything there was about it. When he got initiated he needed to move to the States to learn business, and later oversee a couple of sources of the Famiglia’s income. And being a teachable person, he not only took care of the existing businesses but also gained new ones. He had started by looking after a few casinos and slowly went into the real estate sector to break his way through it. Because of that, moving the organization to Las Vegas was more affordable and kept boosting the revenues.
There had been rumors spreading about the things Noah was a part of even before his father died. Keeping in touch with the 'Ndranghetaand trading with them was no easy task. Especially since shipping should be consulted with the Capoand he wasn’t one at that time. But Marco’s soldiers were becoming more and more dissatisfied with their boss’ performance. He was slow with broadening their business, even though Noah had told him more than once that they should focus on that as well. They had the time for that, or so Marco had thought. But he was too scared of Severo Selvaggio and his wrath to actually focus on the Famiglia. His deal with Luca and Isabelle Venas was the final nail in his coffin.
Noah Falcone stepped up his game and made it official that he had every intention of taking over his father and expanding the business. He wasn’t one to settle for less, and he didn’t have to. With the 'Ndrangheta by his side and his own Famiglia at last, he made sure to live up to his last name and make everyone respect him without looking at him as his father’s son. He was much more than that. He was better.
The bag swung under the hard kick Noah did. He was sweaty but full of energy. With a heavy sigh, he backed away, taking the towel from the wooden bench, and dried up his face and naked chest.
"Boss, there is a girl here for you," said Cristian, coming into the gym. Noah nodded, knowing exactly who it was.
With his soldier’s leave, Inéz came into the room. Eyeing up her figure, a smirk reached his face. She was wearing jean shorts and a red t-shirt tugged into them. It was uncommon for her not to have a dress or a skirt on. From the social media accounts that Noah followed over the years, that was her usual style. The
