A Bride For The Mafia Lord

Luigi Santoro stared at the stone cold bodies of Lukas and Anita, rage and grief struggling for dominance on his perfect features, his fist clenched tightly and his knuckles, a pale shade of white from the blood loss.

They definitely had not been the best of siblings. Yet, Lukas had been the best there could be for him. Despite his love for painting and art, he had sacrificed that passion to become the next capo after his father because he knew his little brother, Luigi, had wanted no part in it.

"Master, the investigation and forensic teams are here, I can stay with them while they do the proper analysis." A man cloaked in an all dark outfit entered the room with a slight bow, his words left hanging in the air as Luigi made no show of hearing. Until ten minutes later.

"This is murder, Kale, and I would get to the end of it no matter what the forensic and investigation brings here." He said sternly before leaving the room. Lukas would never commit suicide. Not with his twins being not more than two years and some months.

From the cut and scene, he could tell this had been made to look like suicide, but working in the mafia meant your heart was already made of steel. Lukas was too tough to commit suicide with Anita.

Luigi was the younger son of Leonard, the late man had been the head of all the mafia syndicates home and abroad and his death had been a rebellious act of some of his strong subordinates. Lukas had done right by sharing the power while still retaining enough authority to not be disregarded.

Yet, he was laying there with his wife in his own blood. Luigi sighed as he left the room passing by the team of doctors and investigators that he could already guess what they were going to say.

He was going upstairs to take a shower when the heart wrenching cry of Gia reached his ears. Having spent so much time with them, he could tell which of the twins were crying without being close.

The reality that he had just become the guardian of two kids without a wife dawned on him as he raced back downstairs to console the little princess.

"Mama...." She called out as she sobbed while her brother, Santi, was holding her hand. His face was sober and glum and Luigi looked around vigilantly as he wondered if anyone had informed them about the unfortunate incident. "Why are you crying principessa?" He asked as he bent down and cradled her small body in his arms.

Her cries dwindled as her small hand clutched at his shirt tightly as if afraid that he would go. "Mamaa....papa...." Another bout of tears interrupted her words while Luigi waited patiently, his breath caught in a hike as he waited to hear her words.

"Gone." she completed and her large blue irises, similar to the ones that stared back at her, were fixed on Luigi, watching his every reaction to see what he would say.

As much as he wanted to deny and tell her it was a lie so the fear in their eyes could disappear. He couldn't do it. He couldn't lie and say they were still here when they clearly weren't and so instead of saying anything, he pulled Santi into his arms also, allowing the both of them to feel the safety of his strong arms around them.

"Uncle is here." He muttered softly. Perhaps the children could see that he was in as much grief as them as Gia stopped crying and Santi burrowed into Luigi's embrace even more. From now on, he will be their father. And perhaps, their mother too.

Elena winced at the loud voice of her supervisor as he bid her goodnight. She loved working. The part of working with a lousy man? She definitely didn't sign up for it.

However, as a fresh from high school student who was taking a gap year, she didn't have many options and she had to take what she could get when it came to her father.

She was very certain that if Mr Krim knew by any chance that her father owned the whole corporation, she would be counting her peaceful days in the company.

Her eyes squinted dangerously the moment she stepped outside and saw Rocco standing beside one of the numerous cars that her dad owned. This was a small time company, one that dad never paid much attention to. Her main reason for picking it when she had fought tooth and nail to work while taking her gap year.

"Young miss, Boss requests that we drive you home immediately, the air is unclear." He said sternly the strain in his voice was all she needed to know that he wasn't here to play.

Even though he didn't come here, Elena was certain that her papa knew her schedule and knew that her next stop was the library down the street. She sighed as she entered the car and Rocco closed the door after her.

"Is papa safe?" She asked after a prolonged silence in the evening bustle traffic. "He's safe. However, the Santoro's capo has gone down, things might be unsafe in the meantime and he just wants to make sure that his princess is fine." She rolled her eyes at his last statement as her mind wandered to the Santoro's Capo.

She had seen him once or twice. And amongst all the capos she had seen, he had the kindest appearance. Yet, her father had told her he was as deadly as a snake regardless of his extremely kind features.

Growing up, her father told her very little about the power play in their underworld struggles. That was fine by her, she didn't want to know what dirty things her father had done or was doing. It would only be naive of her to think that her father had risen to where he was from being a mere subordinate of the first Santoro by keeping his hands clean.

The ride home was lengthy with their house being in the deep heart of Milan and Elena slept a large part of the journey only waking up when the car stopped.

"Principessa! I'm glad you are safe" James Mantini bellowed as he saw his daughter, a mirror reflection of his beautiful wife, step into the house.

Despite their numerous tries, he only had this one child with Stella. Although she was a daughter, making her unable to take over his position, he treated Elena well to the best he could for a mafia man.

"I couldn't go to the library." Elena whined as she pulled herself away from his embrace "Lena, Lukas just died, things would be unstable for now.

"Your papa just wants you safe." Her mother said sternly as she strode into the living room, although her tone was stern, the way she gazed at the two people in the room was nothing short of loving.

"You would have to stay at home for the next one week until this matter dies down. You know I can't let you both know everything that happens in the Cosa Nostra." He said with a helpless shrug and as much as Elena wanted to argue, she knew she would only be pushing her luck.

"Okay papa. I'll stay at home, however, can Rocco follow me to get some books tomorrow?" She asked knowing fully well that she would get to go since she already added Rocco in the equation.

Her papa nodded and watched her go upstairs with a sigh. "Is everything fine?" Stella asked the moment she heard the door to Elena's room door slam shut. Her father had also been one of the Capos and she knew about the matters of the Cosa Nostra to a certain point. "We will only know tomorrow. However, I cannot promise that Elena would not have to do her papa a favor."

He said and left the living room to his study with Rocco trailing behind him. James had no doubt that his wife would understand what he meant. That was how things were run here.

James' office was large, with more than three doors that led to other places. Neither Elena or Stella were allowed here. "What's the latest?" James asked as they entered the study with two more men joining him. "The twins were with Luigi when the attack happened. Currently, Luigi has flown in and is handling the matter of death which has been concluded as suicide by the forensics department." One man said with a slight bow of his head.

"Luigi would of course know it's not suicide. His next course of action is very important to the Costa." James said as he tapped on his table unconsciously. "From what I have gathered, there's no way he would want to stay behind, his multi billion company is completely clean and has no relations to Cosa Nostra or Santoro in any way. He would want to keep his hands clean" Rocco analyzed.

"Just keep watching and let me know if there's any new development. Also, send Luigi a gift on my behalf, after all, I watched him grow also." James said finally as he rested his back on his high chair. No matter how everything looked, he felt like anything could go wrong.

Lukas had done a good job at sharing the power. Yet, he retained more than forty percent while the other Capos shared the rest. If that amount fell into someone's hands at this moment, it would only mean complete eradication or submission for the rest of the Capos. A result no one was willing to see.

After dismissing all of them, James sighed deeply as he brought out a map of where all the Capos were situated. Now was the time to partner with someone to make sure his district could still stand well.

In the Costa, the best way to build ties was through marriage and he happened to have one daughter that was renowned as a heartthrob already.

The more he thought, the more it seemed like there was no suitable candidate, at least, until his eyes fell on one name. He sighed as he looked at the list again knowing very well what people he could really benefit from.

Should he really hand over his daughter to the devil?

"Young miss, master gave us only two hours, if you aren't down in two hours, I'll come up there to get you." Rocco informed her as he opened the door for Elena who nodded in understanding while resisting the urge to just roll her eyes at him as she ran to the library.

While he had promised to let her come here yesterday, they hadn't expected that Luigi would send information late last night that the burial was today and James definitely needed Rocco with him.

For Elena, despite how fast technology was growing, she still preferred to use the library to get her books because she liked the idea of having a time to return it and also having somewhere she could go to clear her head. Today, she just wanted to get as many books as she could while getting enough time to herself.

Today was Lukas Santoro's funeral and she was sure that her papa would want her safe at home before going. And with that thought, she ran quickly through into the library and to her favorite section.

Unfortunately, she had only just started reading the blurb of a book when she heard a child's cry from somewhere in the library. She frowned in dissatisfaction. Who would bring a child into a library? Although it was still early and the library was basically empty, there was no reason to make such a mistake.

She tried hard to focus on her blurb to decide if she wanted to loan that book but the baby's cries only increased making her drop the book and storm over to where the cry was coming from.

"How dumb could you be by bringing a child into the library!?" She scolded the moment she saw a man backing her and trying to pacify the crying baby. She loved kids usually especially since she wasn't lucky enough to have a younger sibling but to disturb her limited time in the library? She definitely couldn't take that.

"I'm sorry. We will be on our way soon." the man said, turning around and Elena felt her breath hitch up the moment he turned. He looked like a character stepping out of her favorite book. Not only was he tall, he was well built and ripped that even beneath that black shirt that was hugging his body snugly, she could see his bulging biceps.

However, his body wasn't the main catch. She had seen too many built men in the world she lived in that she considered it normal. His face however? That was definitely not something she saw every day.

He had the most beautiful eyes that they seemed to draw her in and his full lips were set in a pout that her literary mind couldn't help but imagine what those lips could do to her in that split moment.

She would have remained transfixed if the baby hadn't broken into another bout of tears that made her snap out of her daydream, Elena didn't doubt that she could have been there the whole afternoon.

Growing up, Elena had always avoided taking long glances at men or boys. She was very clear on the fact that her father had full control over her marriage and was saving herself some heartache.

This man however made her feel like she deserved a right to be with someone she loved. Unfortunately, he was married with a child already. "Okay. Next time you can leave her outside" she said before another wail broke out making her look down to see another baby, a similar copy to the one he was carrying and she resisted the urge to laugh at him.

Although she had come there angry and willing to chase them out. His helpless expression while he tried to pacify the girl and the boy who was clutching at his feet crying made all the anger vanish as she bent down making sure she was eye level to the little boy and reached out for him.

"What's wrong little prince?" She asked with a smile, her eyes lighting up at how attractive the kids were. They had blue eyes, similar to their father's eyes. Santi looked at Elena, his guard loosened with her attractive features and kind smile.

Without any thought, he stretched his hands out to her, passing across the message that he wanted to be carried. Elena chuckled as she carried the little boy and was surprised at how light he was.

"I guess he just wanted to be carried." She said to the man with a shrug and a little bit of gloating. He signaled at the girl that was still crying even though she was being carried. His clueless expression on that cold face made her feel like the child was probably just crying at his lack of warmth. To prove her thoughts, she went closer to him and patted the girl's hair.

"Principessa, you shouldn't be crying." She whispered as she used the back of her hand to wipe the tears that had stained her attractive face. Her soft voice made Gia stop crying as she looked at her with curiosity. Seeing her brother with the girl made her relax even further as she stretched her hand to Elena.

Without wasting any moment, Luigi moved Gia to the girl's second arm while staring at his niece and nephew in surprise. They had cried all night making him rush out early to get them some more coloring books and play books from the bookstore section of the library since he felt they had all the toys in the world already.

It had been a good idea since they had kept quiet the whole ride here. Unfortunately, the moment they got to the task of selecting the books, all hell broke loose with Gia and then Santi. What he hadn't expected however, was then keeping quiet the moment they saw this girl.

One glance at her face was all he needed to know that she was a young girl. An attractive one however, since despite how many women he had seen, he couldn't recall one that had looked this attractive while being plain faced.

He watched as she whispered from one twin to the other and the giggles from Gia made him feel like he was in a dream. "Please would you mind helping me with them while I pick out some books for them?" He asked hesitantly.

After all, he had seen how angry she was when she stormed over. However, Elena who was already taken by the two kids nodded immediately without another thought, that she had been given just two hours to spend in the library already at the back of her mind.