Crushing The Mob - Paperback

Screw The Consequences. She Belongs To Me.

They gave me an order and a warning.
If you fail, you die.
My instructions were crystal clear, the threats painfully real if I didn’t deliver.

Find the people who shattered her world.
Keep her safe.
Don’t lay a finger on her.
And don’t even think about falling in love.

That last part was all me.
Mission not accomplished.

CRUSHING THE MOB is the final book in the dark Italian mafia series, RUTHLESS HEARTS, by USA Today Bestselling author Kristen Luciani. This steamy friends to lovers romance features a strong heroine assassin and dark themes with scorching hot bedroom scenes that are intended for mature readers only. This story has a guaranteed HEA and no cheating.

8 Years Ago
It’s amazing how quickly a day can go from being damn-near perfect to something straight out of a horror movie, one that would give you nightmares for the rest of your life…
If you survived it.
“Lil! Come on, do it! You’re always worrying about getting hurt. Sometimes you just need to go for it!” I yell to my sister Liliana, who is positioned on the mat at our gymnastics studio with a panicked look on her face.
She smacks her hands on her bare legs and lets out a frustrated yell. “I hate you, Kat!”
I snicker. “Yeah, yeah. Just throw it already!”
Sometimes I feel like more of a gymnastics coach than our actual coach is. And I feel like I’m the only one who can actually get Lili’s body moving some days.
Today is a really important one, though. We have a big meet coming up this weekend, and Liliana is totally flaking out on her floor exercises. I get that she’s recovering from an injury…one that she never would have had if our dipshit coach had been paying attention…but if Liliana doesn’t get back on the horse now, he’s going to gallop away forever.
“Maybe someone else should go while we wait for the Princess to decide she’s ready,” Tami snipes.
“Shut it, Tami. Give her a second.” I let out a sigh and fold my arms across my chest, turning a glare toward Evie, our coach. She’s staring at her phone, not that it would matter anyway. Tami is her spoiled brat daughter who pretty much gets away with saying and doing whatever she wants. “Let’s go, Lil!” I clap my hands together loudly and stare up to the viewing window where my boyfriend Remy is watching. I shrug my shoulders and roll my eyes in his direction, and he winks back at me.
He knows I always have my twin sister’s back.
I hold my breath as Lil takes a deep breath and starts running from the far corner of the mat. Her feet pound on the surface as she hurls her body into the air, her perfect form launching into a round-off, back handspring, back tuck, pausing only the slightest second before twirling into a double full before her feet hit the mat. A fabulous landing. She didn’t stumble once.
She turns her wide smile to me. “Thank you,” she mouths.
Coach Evie does a slow clap, and I turn away so she doesn’t see me roll my eyes again. I could do her freaking job, for Pete’s sake. I strut across the mat, give my sister a high five, and swivel around to cock an eyebrow at Tami. “Looks like she’s got it. I’m thinking we’re good for Saturday.”
Evie’s lips pull into a straight line. “That’s for the coach to decide, Kat. Not you, even though you make it very clear you have no regard for my authority.”
I flash a sweet smile. “Evie, that’s not true at all. I just want us to win.”
“You think I don’t?”
I tap a finger to my cheek, knowing I’m going to get an earful from John, our head coach. I’m always the one who can’t keep her mouth shut, the loud and obnoxious one who’s always getting into trouble for speaking her mind…the complete opposite of my dear sweet sister. I’m much more like my father. Much more like a lion than a lamb. At least that’s what my mother always says.
And that’s putting it mildly.
I lean in close so only Evie can hear me. “I just think it would be nice for you to coach the rest of us when Tami isn’t on the mat. Last I checked, Lili is the one who’s being scouted, not her. Just saying.”
Oh my God, the look on her face is so worth the crap I’m going to get for shooting off my mouth like that. The color drains from her cheeks, and her mouth drops open a little bit.
Yeah, I said it. The question is, what is she going to do about it?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she hisses, her eyes narrowed like she is plotting my death.
I shrug. “I’m pretty observant. And I think Lili needs to be first string on Saturday. Coach John will be there, too. Don’t you want to impress him with a big win, since you know we need Lili to take first place?”
Evie balls her fists, and if I look really hard, I bet I can see smoke coming out of her ears. “Fine. But if she gets another mental block before then—”
I hold up a hand. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it. I can do your job better than you can.”
Oops. I didn’t mean for that last part to slip out.
“You’re a real bitch, you know that, Kat?”
Um, I take that back. I meant it to come out. One-hundred-and-fifty percent.
My grin widens. “Yeah. I get that a lot.” I pull Lili by the hand and wave at Evie with my free one. “See you on Saturday!” I say in a sing-song voice.
If looks could kill…wow, I’d be sliced up like a pizza right about now.
Speaking of pizza…
I squeeze Lili’s hand. “I’m starving. Let’s get pizza! It’s time to celebrate!”
She giggles. “You’re going to get into so much trouble with that mouth of yours.”
“Whatever. Evie is such a bitch. And she’s getting fat, too. Next time she picks on you, I’m going to tell her that her ass is way too big for those Spandex pants she can’t seem to stop wearing.”
Lili gasps. “Kat, you can’t! That’s so mean!”
“What’s she going to do? Take me off the team?” I wave a hand in front of my face and pull open the door to the changing room. “We’re the best gymnasts she has, and she knows it. I can say whatever I want to her!”
“You really need to work on your people skills.” Lili snickers, pulling on her sweats.
“I think they’re just fine.”
“I’m not sure the rest of the world would agree with that.”
“People just don’t know how to take me, that’s all.” I giggle. “I tell it like it is, and they don’t like that.”
Remy is waiting for us outside of the changing room with a smirk on his handsome face. “So did you manage to get yourself kicked off the team yet, Kat?”
I snicker. “Not today! But I’ll try again next time.”
Tami sails past us and glares in my direction. “You think you’re such hot shit,” she mutters.
I wink at her. “Damn right I do.”
A snicker slips out of Lili’s mouth, and she claps a hand over it.
Tami glares at her next. “Lili, I hope you can get your crap together for Saturday. You have a lot riding on this meet, don’t you? I’d hate to see you choke and fall flat on your pretty face.”
I clench my fists and shrug off Remy’s hand from my shoulder. He sees what’s coming next even if Tami misses it. “Speaking of choking…”
“Are you threatening me, Kat?” Tami puffs out her chest, her face screwed into a grimace.
“Nope. It’s not a threat.” I step closer, eyes narrowed, and she cowers the slightest bit.
“Guys! Enough!” Lili pushes us apart. “We’re supposed to be a team, remember? Can you please just quit it already?”
My sister, the peacemaker. She can’t stand to see anyone at odds. Just one more way we are complete opposites. It always shocks me to think of how different we are on the inside and how eerily alike we are on the outside.
Tami snorts and flounces down the hall. She’s never been swift enough to come up with a good comeback for me. And, trust me, I give her plenty of opportunities to that she never takes.
Lili groans. “Can we please go now?”
We leave the gym and walk toward Remy’s Ford F-150. He opens the doors for us, and I hop into the passenger’s seat, reclining against the soft leather. I turn my adoring eyes toward my tall boyfriend as he slides into the seat next to me. “I’m thinking pizza for dinner.” My voice drops. “And maybe something yummy for dessert? A little birthday treat?”
Lili makes gagging noises in the backseat. “Oh my God, can you at least wait until I’m out of the car before you start making your disgusting plans? You’re making my ears bleed!”
I laugh, lacing my fingers with Remy’s as he drives toward our house. I turn up the volume on the radio, singing along with Britney Spears. Life is pretty darn awesome right now.
We pull around the back of our house nestled at the end of a quiet street. It’s not a huge house, but it’s the perfect size for the four of us and Stoli, our chocolate lab. Dad always says you don’t ever want to have the biggest house on the block. You always want to fly under the radar. Too much attention is bad. Too much attention means people are watching you. And we don’t like people watching us.
I’m not sure why that is, but he says it a lot.
I think it has something to do with his job, but he doesn’t talk much about that. I ask plenty, but he doesn’t give me answers. Neither does Mom. Sometimes I think she’s as clueless as we are about what he does.
Remy is just happy that Dad spends a lot of time away for work. Dad is pretty overprotective and he doesn’t like guys who like his girls. He definitely wouldn’t like what said guys do with his girls.
Okay, I’m just talking about myself. Lili’s legs are locked at the knee.
I hop out of the passenger’s seat and smile when I hear Stoli’s loud barks coming from the house. Remy stays put, though. I look over at him with a questioning stare. “You’re not coming in?” The corners of my lips curl upward. “I can’t tempt you with something sweet?”
Lili rushes past me into the house, but not before she sticks a finger down her throat and makes more gagging noises.
Remy shifts in his seat. “I can’t today, Kat. But I’ll pick you up from school tomorrow, okay? And we’ll hang out then.”
My brow furrows. He’s acting weird. He was fine at the gym and on the ride home. “Are you okay? You seem a little off.”
He shrugs. “Got a lot of work to do, that’s all.”
Work. Huh. He has a job at a construction site, and as far as I know, he was done at four o’clock.
“You’re going back to the site?”
“Yeah.” He averts his eyes and peeks into the rearview mirror. “Listen, I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you later. Happy birthday.” He drops a quick kiss onto my lips.
“Okay.” I barely have enough time to shut the door before he peels out of my driveway.
Weird. I narrow my eyes.
It’s my sixteenth birthday, for Pete’s sake. I know our party isn’t until tomorrow night, but really? He couldn’t even make time to come inside for a soda? My lips press together as I stare at the back of his truck zooming down my street. He’d better not be cheating on me. He has no clue what I’m capable of, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to find out.
I’m only sixteen, but I’m also Viktor Ivanov’s daughter.
Dipshit won’t know what hit him if he’s actually stupid enough to try.
I walk into the house and slam the door shut behind me. “Hey, Mom. How about pizza tonight for dinner? Dad won’t be home until late, right? I’m tired of grilled chicken and vegetables. Save the rabbit food for him. Let’s party! It’s our birthday!”
I wander over to the stovetop where a giant chocolate layer cake is cooling. Yum. My absolute favorite. The rich scent makes my mouth water. Pizza and chocolate. Life just doesn’t get any better.
Stoli yelps and leaps at me, ready to play after being stuck in the house all day.
“Hey, boy,” I croon, kneeling to rub his belly when he flips onto his back. “How about pizza tonight, huh? Doesn’t that sound good? Sausage and pepperoni…mmm!”
Stoli rolls back over, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, eyes open wide. I swear he can understand English.
Mom looks up from the desk where she’s tapping away at her laptop keyboard. “Okay, Kat. Make the call!”
I rub my hands together. Pizza is the very best thing on the planet. My mouth waters as I imagine biting into the cheesy goodness. Lili warns me that my addiction to bread and cheese is going to catch up to me one day, but I’ll worry about it then. Right now, I’ll enjoy my crazy-fast metabolism. And my loaded pizza.
I grab the phone and dial the pizza place just as the doorbell rings. Stoli goes nuts, barking and galloping across the hardwood floor to greet whoever is waiting on the other side of the door. “Lil!” I call out over my shoulder, grabbing a menu from the top drawer. I don’t know why I look. I always get the exact same thing every time I place an order. “Can you get that?”
Lili pads across the hardwood floor into the foyer and pulls open the door as I put the phone to my ear.
Huh.
No dial tone.
Just dead silence.
I click it off and on again.
Nothing.
Dead.
That was my last conscious thought before all hell broke loose and my life was turned upside down and inside out.
Ironic.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
I twist around when I hear a loud thud by the front door, feeling as though I’m trapped in some kind of alternate reality where my limbs have turned to rubber, and I can’t move. Or speak. Or scream.
All I can do is stare in horror at my dog lying limp and bloody on the floor. High-pitched shrieks pierce the air as two hulking men dressed in some kind of maintenance uniforms come barreling into the house, one grabbing my sister and slamming her against a wall, the other lunging for my mother.
The phone drops from my hand, shattering on the granite countertop, but nobody notices the sound.
Or me.
“Mom!” I yell. But I can’t hear myself say the word. It sounds fuzzy and muffled, like I’m screaming into a hand. My feet are anchored to the floor, immobile. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get them to move.
Tears sting my eyes as I scour the kitchen counter. The butcher block is within reach. I grit my teeth and lunge for it, grabbing a large cutting knife from the wooden slot before either of the men can get to me.
I have to move, have to get help, have to save them!
I drop to the floor and crawl around the island, peering at the men assaulting my mother and sister. The sounds…I know at that moment if I survive this thing, I’ll never forget their horrified and panicked cries for mercy. Fabric is torn from their writhing bodies as they twist out of the grip of the men. But they’re strong…so damn strong. And they have guns. I clap a hand over my mouth, bile rising in my throat.
Help, help, help!
Daddy, where are you?
My breaths come fast and furious as I feel around on the floor for my backpack. A loud yelp makes me swallow a gasp. I peek around the center island to see one of the men grab a Ming vase…my mother’s prized possession…raise it up and smash it.
Right onto my mother’s head.
Shattering her skull.
Lili lets out a bloodcurdling scream, her body now covered in our mother’s blood, as the man wrestling with her fumbles with his belt buckle and tears off her leggings. He forces her legs open and pushes into her. Hard. More screeches as he plunders her. My hand flies to my mouth and the knife clatters to the floor as he thrusts into her, over and over and over. Tears stream down her face and my gut clenches with each push into her. The searing pain of him tearing through her innocence, her terror and anguish…my God, I feel it all.
Every little bit.
It’s torture of the worst kind.
My beautiful, talented sister.
My other half.
Our perfect life.
Destroyed.
Our hopes and dreams.
Shattered.
Our loving mother.
Murdered.
I grab the handle of the knife again and try to settle my breathing. I’m the only one who can help, the only one who can stop these monsters. I crawl out from the island and rise on wobbly knees.
“Where do you think you’re going with that, sweet ass?” A low voice that I don’t recognize hisses next to my ear. I double over, the stench of stale alcohol stings my nostrils. Strong fingertips close tight around my wrist, digging into my flesh. “I think you’re gonna wanna let go of this right now. Otherwise, you’ll end up just like them.”
The knife clatters to the ceramic tile at my feet, and I choke on a loud sob as the hand now closes around my throat, squeezing tight, slowly crushing my windpipe.
I gasp for air, my hands flying to my neck, desperate to pry them away. But he’s too strong…this person behind me. I never saw his face, only heard his threats. That voice…low, gravelly, almost demonic…it thrums against my ear as white spots flash across my eyes.
But they only blind me for a second…not long enough for me to miss the streaks of red that stain my blurred vision.
So much blood.
So much devastation.
So much loss.
My perfect life.
Over.