Owning the Mafia Don

A woman slammed into him and Schwartz swore as the phone flew out of his hands. He was about to shout at her when she gripped his arms.

“Please,’ she whispered desperately, digging her hands into his arms, her green eyes filled with terror,

‘Please, you… you have got to help me.’

He raised his brows in disbelief.

But then a man came round the corner, almost running in his haste . Without missing a beat, the woman threw her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to kiss him.

Schwartz felt his gut tighten in surprise. Her lips were soft and warm, sweet and welcoming. He felt a rush of emotion flood through him. She was clinging to him and he became aware that she was trembling.

With an effort, he gently prised her hands away from himself.

She looked at him, her big green eyes pleading.

“Please,” she mouthed, ‘Please.’

Taken in by her distress and obvious fear, he looked up.

He raised his head and met the eyes of the man who had come around the corner.

Paul Worthington.

Schwartz felt his facial muscles tighten in distaste.

Worthington was a member of the Club. But both Delano and he shared a deep disgust of the man who was standing before them now. His well-gelled hair was gleaming, the slight stomach made him look less of the glamour king he would like to have appeared to be. But the look on his face, a cunning manipulative look revealed what he really was. A cheap pimp, who would never hesitate to destroy the lives of anyone who came into his trap.

Paul Worthington had been born into a middle-class family, the son of honest, hard-working parents. He had rejected their way of living and had soon found a career for himself as a pimp. He wanted easy money. And what better way to get it than take to a life of crime?

So he had begun as a small-time crook, a p***ler then had become a pimp.

Somewhere along his journey of climbing to the top, he had turned to making sleazy porn movies. It had been a step towards fame and making mountains of cash. He was always on the lookout for new faces to star in his triple X rated films that involved a lot of rough sex and BDSM.

One such woman who had fallen for his tales of making her great had been Sondra. With her easy sexuality and desire to make it big, she had become a star in his movies. At first, it had been alright to handle her; she was hooked on the dr*gs he gave her and barely objected to the spankings and brutal scenes they had filmed. The movies were much in demand. But then she had gotten pregnant. And things had changed.

After her son was born Sondra had refused to work. Then one day she had run away. And had gone back to her home.

Now he was looking at Sondra’s younger sister, with her slim body and stunning looks, the anger on her face when she looked at him making him feel that she was an ideal candidate for his next, violent sex movie.

Only, the little woman had slipped away and had found herself a Knight in Shining Armour in the form of one of the founding members of the Club. James Schwartz.

Hiding his disappointment, Worthington smiled blithely.

“well,’ he said, his thin lips drawing back in a sneer,'” So she was..’

“Worthington,’ said Schwartz, his voice cold with annoyance,’ This is a private space. Did you need something.?’

The man looked at Schwartz for a moment, his blistering gaze on the girl in his arms. With another sneer, but less confidently now, he turned and walked away.

The two men with him, Big Joe Barron and Leslie Lee stepped up immediately, preparing to pull her off but Schwartz raised a hand and stopped them.

‘Wait,’ he said.

The girl tried to move away, looking flustered and embarrassed. He mused drily that she was behaving as though he had grabbed her and kissed her in such a dramatic manner.

Stepping back, she pushed her curly auburn hair away and said, her voice husky with emotion,

“Sorry about that. And…thanks.’ With that, she scampered across the corridor, disappearing into the area that was used by the staff.

Schwartz stared after her, smiling slightly.

It was a first for him to be grabbed and kissed and then to have the woman disappear.

His lips twitched.

So she was working in the Club, he thought pensively before carrying on to his office. He soon forgot the incident. Delano had arrived and when Lucien Delano was in the building, everyone automatically jumped to action. Including his friend and partner, and now his UnderBoss, James Schwartz.

***

Schwartz entered in answer to his mentor’s urgent summons.NôvelDrama.Org content.

‘Delano?’ frowned Schwartz enquiringly as he entered, his wingmen waiting outside. As always, Schwartz was dressed well, looking sharp in a crisp dress shirt, blazer, and a tailored pair of dress pants, in coordinating neutral colours-white and navy.

Lucien Delano turned to look at his dapper friend and smiled slightly. Lucien himself was a fit two hundred pounds plus, his greying hair and windowpane oxford shirt and chinos along with his sports coat and leather loafers, making him look classy on the exterior. But anyone who looked into Lucien’s cold grey eyes would know he was dangerous, the cold grey gaze taking in everything, missing nothing.

Now he nodded at Schwartz, indicating that he should wait and turned back to his work, frowning as he spoke to the dealer in Spain.

***

Schwartz studied his friend and mentor, his partner and the man he could trust with his life, in silence. His friend was in his early forties but he looked younger.

Lucien had begun to practice regularly at the huge gym and was personally supervising the creation of the Ring. It would not be a little cage at floor level. Lucien knew the people who came to view the fights would be the people he moved with; the sort of people who thrilled to watch violence. The kind who revelled in the letting of blood.

Oh no. He wanted his audience to enjoy the show. So he had specifically asked for a platform to be built on a higher level. It would afford his entire audience a view of what was happening in the ring. Seats had also been put in, tickers would be sold and he was in talks with two of the country’s best fighters to come for the inaugural show.

But he was planning to have a fight on that day, a demonstration. Proserpina had insisted that she would come although he knew she hated the thought of watching him fight.

He sipped from his drink and settled to discuss matters related to the arms deal they were closing with the Columbians.

***

Schwartz sat waiting, drumming his fingers on the table idly. The Don was busy. Lucien Delano was the face of the arms dealings in this part of the world, personally visiting places in South America and the heart of East Europe to cut deals. He was ruthless in negotiations.

Staring at his friend, he mused that Lucien had reduced his drinking, drastically. Proserpina had been a calming influence on him. He wandered over to the bar and poured a drink for himself.

Schwartz had joined Lucien and Shark late, but he had been immersed in the business very soon. Having been a sniper in the army, he had met Lucien when he had visited the Club and seen the older man fight. Something about those laser cold eyes and his arrogant, dismissive behaviour had intrigued Schwartz. He had been newlywed and his young wife, Fionella had been uneasy about his association with Lucien Delano.

Yet he joined Lucien and became his, Lucien’s trusted friend and associate, going on to become the Underboss of the mob headed by Delano. They had made a good pair, easy-going, dapper, suave Schwartz and the enigmatic, cold Lucien, who had a reputation for being ruthless and a serial womanizer. Women threw themselves at him, only to be cruelly discarded when he had had enough of them.

But that had been before Proserpina entered his life. She had been only eighteen, fresh and young while Lucien in his late thirties, was world-weary, cynical. But once he had met her, Lucien had been besotted by her.

Schwartz knew he owed his life to this man who had protected him, had avenged him when his wife and minor son had been killed by a rival, who had been forced out of business by Lucien’s clever moves. Sipping on his whiskey, he shook his head, ruminating.

Dmitri Rudenko had been a cheap player, not hesitating to use women and children to score points and settle issues. He had decided to get back at Lucien by sending a message. Shark had probably even in those days, had a secret understanding with Dmitri, he reflected.

So he had come after Schwartz.

They had been going on a vacation, his wife, his son and he. A surprise trip to France. His little son had been excited. So much so that he had skipped breakfast. They were going on a vacation after a long while; Fiona had cuddled up to him the night before, smiling contentedly.

“Leave this business, Jimmy.’ She had said, kissing him urgently. She had been a fierce woman and he had adored her. They had met when he was in the army and she had been a nurse. Her toughness and spirit had captivated him and he had wooed her till she succumbed to his charm.

“I will, my love.’ He had murmured, smiling.

And then just like that, they were gone the next morning.

***

Schwartz had been saved because he had been held back by some last issue that required his attention; Fionella and their son had got into the car, along with the bags they had packed for a weekend getaway.

But the car had exploded in a matter of minutes.

Suddenly, just like that. he remembered running out of the house, screaming hoarsely as the car exploded, shrapnel flying everywhere. He had been hit on the arm and the leg but he had tried to get up and run to the burning vehicle, screaming for his wife and little son.

He had been devastated, his wife, his beloved Fiona and their little boy.

Dead.

He had had to have sessions with a shrink, he reflected darkly. He would have gone under completely if not for Lucien Delano.

Inspite of Shark’s obvious reluctance, Lucien avenged the deaths of his family members by killing Dmitri’s brother. Brutally, painfully, forcing Dmitri to see the video of the man’s slow death by torture at the hands of the Boss himself.

Only, Dmitri was now trying to avenge the death of his sibling.

He was out for Lucien’s blood.

But Dmitri was sly.

He would hit Lucien where it hurt most; he would aim at his family, at his wife and children.