My Mafia Mystery: The Barefoot Princess

Kat POV

I pressed my ear to the door of the suite on the third floor of the Palazzo Hotel, hearing the steady breathing of the occupant inside. He must be fast asleep - just how I wanted him.

"This should be easy," I whispered to myself as I pulled the lock picks from where I had hidden them in my hair.

The hotel had been deserted as I had made my way through the foyer and hallways, as it should be at 3am. Only a sleepy looking desk clerk had possibly seen me, but I think the man was too busy scrolling through reels on his phone to even realise that I had snuck in.

Not exactly the kind of service you would expect to find at a five star hotel, but I was glad for it.

Within a few seconds, I had the door unlocked. With a slightly proud smile, I slipped off my shoes and pushed the door quietly open before I snuck inside. The room was lavishly decorated and my bare feet sunk into the thick carpet. Exquisite paintings hung on almost every wall and I had to stop myself from pulling one off the wall and cutting it from its frame.

One of those would earn me a bonus for sure, but I had to find the necklace first.

I moved slowly and quietly, grateful for the dim moonlight streaming in through the open windows and my ability to see well in the darkness.

"If I had a diamond necklace, where would I put it?" I mouthed, not daring to whisper in case I woke up the sleeping Castello man.

The man in question snored loudly and rolled over, facing the bedside table - and the large, velvet box which sat there.

"It had to be next to his bed, didn't it?" I thought to myself as I padded closer.

My eyes fell on the Castello, his sleeping face making him seem peaceful - well, almost peaceful. The scar which ran across his eye belied the peacefulness of his expression, making him seem like a Viking from the olden days. I could imagine him leading a group of fellow Vikings on a raid, the wind blowing in his dark hair which was slightly longer than the length I usually liked, but it suited him more than short hair would have.

My eyes trailed down his muscular torso, barely covered by the duvet and I bit my lower lip. "A sexy Viking at that," I thought.

It was a damned shame that the Castellos were the enemy. They had been at war with the Milano family for years, and I guess that meant he was supposed to be my rival too. It should be a crime to lust after a man who would probably smile as he slit your throat - but there I was, imagining what it would be like to feel his naked body against mine.

I may have still been a virgin, but I knew enough about the birds and the bees from Giulia. She was extremely open about her work as a prostitute. I just had no desire to launch myself at the Milano men who hung around the house, but that didn't stop me from imagining what sort of man I would like to be with. And the Viking was damned close.

I tore my eyes from the sexy Viking and edged closer to the velvet box. I picked it up and opened it carefully, my eyes watching the man's face for any signs that my close presence had awoken him, but he was still fast asleep.

I almost dropped the box when I looked down at the contents, the diamond necklace shining brightly even in the dim light. The necklace seemed familiar somehow with its zig-zag rows of diamonds encompassing the entire piece of jewellery, but I guess it wasn't so unusual to arrange jewels in that manner. I'm sure I had walked past dozens of jewellery stores and seen that same kind of necklace in the displays.

I lifted the necklace from the box, feeling its weight in my hand as I tried to figure out where the heck to put the piece. I had initially planned to string it around my neck beside my own necklace, but there was no way I could walk back to Mother's house wearing that thing. I would be robbed of it the second I walked through the Palazzo's front doors.

Without a second thought, I pulled the necklace from the box, closed the velvet covered casing and set it back down in the exact location I had found it. I was about to tuck the necklace into my bra - the only option of a hiding place that I had in the tight dress - when I felt something snake around my waist.

My eyes widened with panic as I stared down at the Castello man, his green eyes watching me closely. Before I could blink, he flung me onto the bed beside him, my face inches away from mine.

"Mine," he said in a voice that I can only describe as a growl, before he kissed me.

A strange warmth flooded me, and I found myself pressing into his kiss as his hands cupped my face. I closed my eyes as his tongue swept inside my mouth, igniting a passion inside of me I had never experienced before.

His hand ran down my body and I shivered at the contact, a soft groan tearing from my lips.

The sound was strange to my own ears, and it took me a few seconds to realise that it had come from me. That realisation was like a bucket of ice cold water poured on the flame of passion I was experiencing.

Panic surged through me and I pulled away frantically, rolling off the bed on the opposite side of the man. The necklace dangled from my fist, glinting in the moonlight and I could see the moment he noticed it. The passionate haze in his eyes turned ice cold and he lashed out, grabbing the other end of the necklace. He tugged hard on it, but I resisted, pulling in the opposite direction.

There was an audible snap as the necklace broke in two. The look of horror on the man's face was unmistakable, but I didn't wait around to see his reaction. I ran as fast as I could, escaping through the door as fast as I could. The roar of anger behind me told me that the man was following me, so I darted down the hallway toward the door which had a picture of stairs on it, choosing the stairs over having to wait for the elevator and risk getting caught by the Castello.

I heard the ping of the elevator opening and knew that he was planning to catch me in the foyer - something I could definitely not afford to have happen. It spurred me on, bursting out of the stairwell as fast as I could before I dashed through the foyer. I heard the desk clerk shout out in surprise seconds before I heard the elevator open. But it was too late, and I shot through the front door and darted into the darkness of the night.

I didn't stop running until Mother's house came into sight, my heart hammering loudly against my ribcage. Leaning against a nearby tree, I bent down to catch my breath and saw the strand of diamonds still in my fist.

"Darnit! Mother will be pissed if she sees that I destroyed her cousin's necklace," I swore to myself.

I looked down and noticed my bare feet and groaned. In my haste to run away, I had left my shoes behind.

The entire assignment had been a failure. And what was worse was the knowledge that I now had a Castello after me.

Enzo POV

Four months. It had taken four months to track down the necklace and now it was gone.

Well, half of it.

I stared down at the box which held the broken strand of diamonds, and let the growl rip from my throat.

"Fuck!"

"It's not a complete loss," I heard Elijah say as he propped his feet up on the decorative coffee table.

"Fuck you and your 'glass half full' philosophy," I grunted, stalking to the brandy decanter and pouring myself a generous amount.

Eli laughed and stood up casually, straightening his pants back over his prosthetic leg before he swooped in and stole my brandy. I grunted, but didn't fight him for it, pouring myself another glass instead.

Eli - my sister-in-law's twin brother - was probably the only person in the world who had truly understood me when I had returned from my failed mission to rescue the werewolf princess. My wounds had been deep, cutting through my flesh as well as my heart. He knew what it was like, having experienced being a captive of a group who hated our kind, just as I had been.

We had both returned from our experiences as changed men, and I was grateful to him for pulling me from the depression which had engulfed me. I was certain that I would have ended my life if it hadn't been for him.

"What can I say? I'm just a bucket full of sunshine," Eli teased, taking a leisurely sip of his stolen drink as he sank back onto the sofa. "Just tell the King that you were robbed by a sneaky female, and give him what is left of the necklace. It's better than nothing."

"No. I refuse to fail this assignment, not when it was so blatantly my fault," I grumbled before I took a healthy sip of brandy.

He glanced at me with a confused look on his face for a brief second before clarity struck him.

"No, Enzo. Tell me you're not taking sleeping tablets again," he implored, his happy-go-lucky mask slipping to reveal his genuine concern.

"It was just one tablet, so don't get your panties in a bunch," I grumbled as I sat down beside him and took a big mouthful of brandy as if it would magically purge the words from my mouth.

"Fuck man, Enzo. It's a fucking slippery slope. First it's one tablet, then it's one a night, then - when that doesn't work - it's one a night plus half a bottle of brandy. One day you wake up in a hospital having drunk a bottle of tequila by yourself and overdosed on every tablet you could get your hands on."

I grimaced at his words, knowing that he spoke from experience. It wasn't something he ever spoke about - hell, his own twin sister didn't even know that he had overdosed. But it had been the kick in the arse he needed to get his life back together, and he was terrified that I would go down the same path as him.

I patted my friend on his shoulder, grateful that he was always looking out for me. He might have been younger than me by three years, but he had made up for the years with his experiences.

"Don't stress, Eli. I will tell you if I end up needing drugs to sleep. It was just a once off occurrence because my brain kept remembering how Milano reacted at the auction when I won the necklace, and I had to wonder if he knew who it had belonged to."

"Do you think he would have known Princess Katerina? It's not like he has any links with the werewolf kingdom. As far as I have heard from you, he's just some human who deals in theft, extortion and prostitution."

I sighed, having to concede to his wisdom. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I am just on edge."

"How about you describe this thief." Eli switched the subject so rapidly that I almost got whiplash. "I can even draw her."

I ran my hand over my face and groaned, wishing to the heavens that I hadn't taken that blasted tablet. I would have at least remembered a bit more about the woman who had stolen from me.

Eli stood up and fetched a notepad and pen from the desk before he returned and sat on the coffee table. He was bloody lucky that the thing didn't crumble beneath him.

"Okay, what do you remember about her?" he said, sounding so hopeful.

I shrugged and took a sip of brandy before I held the cold glass to my forehead. "I don't remember much about her - only that she was blonde and small."

And that her lips tasted of caramel. I could taste her long after she had left, and I wondered if every woman I had ever kissed had tasted of something - I had just been too preoccupied to notice.

"Well, that narrows it down to a couple hundred thousand women here in Rome," Eli grunted with exasperation as he started sketching on the notepad.

"I know, it's a needle in a haystack," I huffed and took another sip of my brandy, only to choke on it when the incredible artist revealed his masterpiece.

A stick figure. The thing didn't even have hair!

"It's just like her, right?" he joked. "It belongs in the Louvre."

I rolled my eyes at him, "I think you're pronouncing loo wrong. That thing would be better used as toilet paper."

Eli clutched his chest dramatically, "ouch! A shot straight to the heart. Now I know what your victims feel. No wonder why they call you the Dark Prince."

I rolled my eyes at his theatrics.

"Tear out a guy's throat with your human teeth one time, and suddenly you're a rabid monster," I grumbled.

Eli chuckled to himself, "you left a few people scarred by that incident. I'm pretty sure that one guy is still in therapy."

I would be lying if I said that I was proud of my reputation. It served me well, and I made sure that people saw me as the man who was more beast than man.

"I think we need to see video footage. That's the only way we will find out who this nymph is," I said, fetching my laptop and opening it up.

A few clicks later, and I was in the surveillance system which ran throughout the hotel.

"You've been spending too much time with my sister," Eli grumbled, obviously not impressed about the hacking skills I had learned from Eliana.

I ignored him, paging through the cameras before I found the one situated in the corridor outside my room. We watched as the footage played backward until the moment she first appeared on my floor.

At least I got part of her description right. She was certainly blonde, her long hair plaited down her back. I couldn't judge her size properly on the camera, but I was certain that she would be as small as I remembered. She was dressed in a minidress so tight and short that I was pretty sure she had to be one of Milano's prostitutes.

"Let's go and find her," Eli declared.

And I couldn't agree with him more.

Kat POV

I was drowning.

The water flooded my lungs as I tried to scream, my clothing dragging me down into the dark depths as shadows hovered above the water. Bright lights flashed across my vision like fireworks as my lungs burned, and then it all went black.

"Wake up, Kat, it's just a nightmare." I felt a hand press against my mouth and my arms flew out to ward off my attacker. "Stop screaming before you wake up the others!"

Giulia's face was barely visible in the dark room, her warm brown eyes filled with sisterly concern.

I nodded my head and she removed her hand, brushing my hair from my face just like a real big sister would do.

"Was it the same nightmare again?" she whispered, careful not to wake up the four children who slept on mattresses on the floor.

"Yeah," I whispered back, shivering as the cool night air cut through my pyjamas which were drenched with my own sweat.

Giulia tugged the thin blanket up under my chin, looking after me just as she had done ever since that first night. The night she had found me wandering around the streets of Rome, no memory of who I was or why I was dressed in just a tattered nightdress.

"It's fine, I've got to get up now anyway," I sighed and pulled myself from the bed, my eyes flicking to the clock on the table showing midnight. "Have you just come home?"

Giulia nodded with a slight smile on her face, telling me all I needed to know. She'd definitely been to see her secret boyfriend, Fabio.

"Mother will have your head if she finds that you've been fraternising with the enemy," I whispered, slipping into my work clothes. "He's a Castello!"

Giulia's smile faltered and she crossed her arms over her chest. "He's just one of the soldiers. It's not like I'm dating the Capo!"

I bit down on my lower lip, preventing myself from commenting further on the relationship which could very likely get the only person I loved killed by the Castello family. The Castellos and the Milanos were rival families, and because we worked for Mother - aka Sofia Milano - we were considered to be part of the Milano family too.

If there was one thing that I learned about mafia families it was that loyalty is everything. And Giulia dating a Castello would either see her beaten and put out on the streets, or killed for being a traitor. It was a definite no go zone, but apparently love had made her blind.

"You need to be more careful," I muttered as I tugged on my boots, ignoring the feel of the piece of necklace I had hidden there.

I had been too scared to tell Mother that I had been distracted from my assignment by the Viking Castello and his intoxicating kiss. So instead, I had lied and told her that the Castello had woken up before I could get to the necklace. Running for my life and abandoning the necklace seemed like a much less heinous crime.

Not sparing Giulia another glance, I slipped quietly from the room and left her and the children to their own devices.

I strode down the hallway to the kitchen where I knew I would find Mother, the scent of the cigarette smoke making it pretty damned easy to find her. Just as I thought, she was sitting at the gigantic kitchen table sharpening her knives, her cigarette hanging from her lips, her satin dressing down wrapped tightly around her, and her dyed black hair arranged in curlers on the top of her head.

"Mother," I said as I entered the room.

"Good grief, child!" she exclaimed, slamming the knife she held down onto the table and pressing her hand to her chest. "Do you want me to have a heart attack? You're as silent as a fucking ghost."

"Sorry Mother," I replied, struggling to keep the smile off my lips.

She snorted and picked up her knife again, using the blade to tap the chair beside her. I understood her wordless command, sitting beside her.

"You failed me, child. You have put me in a difficult position with my cousin, and I now need you to do something to make up for your failure."

I turned my head to her, awaiting the orders I knew would eventually come. She loved taking her time when she gave assignments, as if she enjoyed knowing that she lorded over us. Without her, we would all be living in a ditch somewhere. And while most capidecina (better known as lieutenants in the mafia) were men and had soldiers beneath them, Mother had ignored tradition and had created her own branch within the family, and was honoured in the exact same way.

"How long have you been working for the family, child?" she asked, changing the subject completely.

"Almost four years, Mother," I replied without hesitation.

She nodded thoughtfully as she turned the knife around and used it to clean underneath her nails, the cigarette dangling loosely between her thin lips.

I waited patiently, even though I would really have rather grabbed the robust woman by her shoulders and shaken her until she coughed up what she wanted to say. She continued to fiddle with her knife and I started counting the flowers spread across the outdated wallpaper on the opposite wall - anything to keep me from showing my frustration with the woman.

"There is a fundraiser at the Capatoline Mueseums on Saturday evening. Do not make any plans," she said casually.

My eyes shot back to her. "That's a high society event."

"Yes it is," she responded dryly, and I went back to counting flowers.

"Your failure cost my cousin a lot of money - money that I will need to make up to him. I'd like this resolved before my cousin returns from Sicily," Mother emphasised the word "cousin" every time she said the word, as if I didn't realise that she was emphasising the fact that she was related to the Boss of the Milano family.

She looked me up and down briefly, shaking her head. "You'll never get through the main doors looking like that, though."

The middle aged woman stood up, the chair scraping loudly against the kitchen tiles. She disappeared through the doors to her private chambers, leaving me alone with her knives. Her many, many knives.

I eyed the knife Mother had been playing with and wondered if it was the knife she had killed her husband with. Or, at least, that was how the stories went. Apparently, Mother was sick of him being late for dinner, so she slit his throat and then ate her dinner beside his corpse.

But that was just a rumour.

"I don't seem to have anything that will fit you," she grunted, glaring at my slender body. "You're going to have to make enough this week to buy your own dress for the event."

Great. Just great.