Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31778 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31778 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
He’d loved my mom and me fiercely, and inside our home, it was easy to pretend we were a typical family. But I was a DeLuca, and that changed everything when I walked outside the door.
Just like Gabbi had said, when people heard the name DeLuca, it put the fear of God into them.
Why?
Because they were the fucking Mafia.
It had taken a toll on my mom, so when my father was murdered, she’d had enough. I was ten and didn’t understand why she was taking me away from my life and family, moving us from New York City to Georgia.
My mom had been close to my dad’s sister, Laina. Even after the family had pretty much disowned her for running off with the president of a questionable motorcycle club. They’d been really old school in those days. Which would have been a huge fucking problem for me since I’d chosen a life outside The Family. Thankfully, the younger generations were more open-minded.
The coincidental thing about the whole situation was that Laina and my dad’s brother, Salvatore, had moved to Georgia to take over the Southern branches before he married Giulia. Despite being only a half hour from each other at the most, their families didn’t even speak.
However, Salvatore had brought his wife and kids to New York frequently, so they were the only people who were familiar to me. They were family.
My mom didn’t want me to have anything to do with The Family, so she wasn’t happy that I spent a lot of time with my DeLuca cousins.
I was close with Laina’s family too, though, and as I got older, I knew I didn’t want to be a part of the Mafia. Although I remained close to my family, I distanced myself from the darker side of their life. Sal tried to change my mind, but he didn’t push too hard. Then he went to prison, and Rafa took over as underboss. He fully supported my choice and didn’t even try to convince me to work for him. Not that I didn’t get pulled into Family shit from time to time.
I’d spent more and more time with the Silver Saints, and by the time I was an adult, I saw the “family” I needed in a motorcycle club. I was related to the DeLucas by blood, and that carried a fuck ton of weight to Italians, especially in The Family. But the members of the Silver Saints were just as tightly bound. Even more so in some ways.
They weren’t a brotherhood by blood, but their loyalty to the club and each other was stronger than shared DNA because it was a choice. It was earned. It was a pledge.
Mac tried to talk me into becoming a prospect for the Silver Saints, but I didn’t want to patch into a club where I'd never know if I’d truly earned my place.
The same went for the Iron Rogues MC. Fox, their prez, was tight with my cousin Nic—the head of The Family. I’d always worry that he had secured my cut for me.
Then Onyx convinced me to consider coming to work at Hellbound Studio, making a pitch for prospecting with the Hounds in the process. I hadn’t immediately rejected the idea because, in a roundabout way, there was still a connection to the DeLucas. However, the ties were far enough apart that I could fly under the radar while still having Nic’s approval.
Of course, having a tech genius like Wizard patched meant my background came out the second I applied to be a prospect. But while a few of the officers knew about my familial ties, they’d allowed me to keep it mostly to myself.
But seeing as the two groups seemed to be constantly crossing paths and using each other’s resources, being Matteo “Ink” Donovan—I’d used my middle name as my surname when I applied—had quickly run its course.
The difference with the Hounds is that they didn’t give a fuck who my blood relations were. I was just Ink. A Hounds of Hellfire brother, enforcer, and tattoo artist.
When I came to work at Hellbound Studio with Onyx, my client list quickly filled up. My waiting list was cut off at six months, so I packed some of my days with appointments in order to have lighter ones.
Today was back-to-back, so I left Marco to see himself out. But as I swiveled back toward the table, a voice floated to my ears, making me freeze.
It was sweet while being just husky enough to make it incredibly sexy.
My feet seemed to have a mind of their own, and when I stood, they walked me straight toward the front of the studio.
Onyx was lazily leaning a hip on the reception counter with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.
I understood his disarming demeanor when my eyes landed on the woman he was talking to.