Mila: The Godfather (Unholy Trinity Book 7)
Mila: The Godfather: When Rian Met Mila

Past

The fucking piece of shit.

Out of all the things this bastard could’ve ordered me to do he chose babysitting a bunch of fucking spoiled brats on this stupid fucking night.

Volpe.

Nicolasi.

Parisi.

The children of the three crime families of Detroit and, as of lately, the banes of my fucking existence. The Volpe heir is a cocky little asshole. The psycho twins are just that, fucking psychos. And spoiled, too. And Satan’s spawns… the Parisi princesses. Two of them, to be precise. Arianna and Kadra. Those are the worst.

Rude-as-fuck, and their ugly-ass attitude just throw me off.

Sure, they’re beautiful, but their mouths are annoying as fuck. Both girls have chips on their shoulders, and who would blame them really with that useless cunt they have for a father.

Every last one of them are worthless.

They think of themselves as Gods among mortals.

Untouchable, so the fact that I, the future leader of the O’Sullivan, managed to infiltrate their families gives me great satisfaction.

I’m among them, and soon I’ll–

Suddenly, I’m thrown back when someone smacks me hard on the back of the head.

Motherfucker.

I fight off the urge to pull out my knife and slit the fucker’s goddamn throat.

“Are you following orders, dog?” I crack my knuckles as I watch Lorenzo Nicolasi pass me by with an evil glint in his eyes and a mocking smile. That fucking idiot is first on my shit list. His brother is weird as fuck and quiet too, but at least he has the good sense to stay out of my way. Can’t say the same about his moronic brother, Lorenzo.

The punk thinks he’s tough shit.

God’s gift to man.

He’s more like the plague.

Contrary to his belief, he is not a God, nor is he a king.

One day soon, I will be more than fucking happy to show him how very wrong he is.

I say nothing and stare. The annoying kid laughs, flips me off, and makes his way inside the Nicolasi mansion.

I stay rooted in place as the guests begin to arrive.

Fuck, this night.

Standing here all night as children party and fuck around.

How fucking lovely.

I could be balls deep inside Cienna, fucking her into the early hours of the morning, but no… I’m stuck doing this shit.

An hour passes before I have had enough, and I leave my spot at the back entrance of the mansion and walk until I’m all the way to the gardens. It’s All Hollows Eve. There’s a full moon tonight and the weather is chilly in Detroit.

I grab a cigarette from my back pocket and light it before blowing a smoke ring up at the sky. “Those will kill you, you know.” A small, childlike voice says from the other side of the garden. Squinting in the dark, I try to make up who the fuck interrupted my moment of peace and quiet. None of the guests are allowed back here. That’s why I chose this place out of the entire mansion, to be alone and not deal with self-entitled brats. Having to deal with the dipshits not only grates on my nerves, but it’s getting harder and harder to pretend I am beneath them all. “Smoking can boost the risk for at least thirteen types of cancers. The earlier you quit, the better. Did you know that, sir?” The melodic voice sounds closer now.

And sir?

So polite.

Leaving my spot near the gazebo, I walk toward where the soft voice is coming from.

That’s when I hear it.

The sound of humming.

As if my feet have a mind of their own, I follow the humming, and there she is.

An angel amongst demons on this unholy night.

The girl is hidden by the shadows of the night, but the colorful lights decorating the gazebo cast a low glow and allow me to see her profile better. The first thing I notice is that she is small and thin. Long and curly hair—resembling golden silk, runs down her back, almost reaching the back of her thighs.

I replace myself transfixed, staring at her because something about the girl feels familiar.

The small girl is dressed as a blue butterfly, from what I can tell. Silver and blue wings decorate her back, and tiny butterflies form a crown at the top of her head.

Butterflies.

How lovely.

The strange girl almost looks unreal. Like some of those stunning and ethereal creatures you see in movies or read about in fantasy books, but not in real life. Not in my world. Maybe I’m drunk, and I’ve made her up. “Who the fuck are you?” I ask, feeling like shit when I notice her tremble. I scared her.

Shit.

“You’re being rude,” she whispers softly. “You should always say thank you when someone shares lifesaving facts with you. Also, it’s just the two of us. You don’t need to shout.” There’s no attitude in her tone which surprises me.

I’ve gotten so used to the spoiled little shits of the three families and the assholes they surround themselves with that I forgot polite people still exist, and this is the first time I’ve come across one that doesn’t make me want to pull the trigger.

This is new.

I am not used to dealing with fragile girls who look like her.

Innocent.

Sweet.

After staring at the girl for a long moment, I speak up. I should turn and leave this kid the fuck alone, but I don’t. I can’t turn away. It’s those damn butterflies. “Something will kill me eventually, won’t it?” I blow smoke rings her way, hoping she turns away and leaves since I can’t replace it in me to do so. I’m acting like an asshole, I know, but something about this girl has me on edge. It could be that she looks so small and defenseless inside this den of vipers.

Where did she come from? I wonder.

“Yes, that is true.” For a moment, I think she decided to leave by the silence that follows but then she opens her mouth again and surprises the fuck out of me. “You can die at any given moment. For example, did you know the odds of dying in a car crash are one in one hundred? Or that it is unlikely that you could die in your sleep unless you suffer from heart problems or sleep apnea?”

This girl…

Something I haven’t done in a while happens. I smile. “Huh.”

“Huh?” From the tone of her voice, I can tell she’s displeased with my answer. “I am sorry. I don’t understand what that means.”

The way she speaks.

She sounds young, but something about her feels timeless.

“Who are—” Before I am able to finish my question and replace out the name of this fascinating creature, an annoying and cold voice interrupts me from doing so. “Mila!”

Oh, I know that voice.

That god-awful infuriating voice.

It belongs to Arianna Parisi.

Taking a long drag of my cig, I stand back and watch as the scene before me unfolds.

“I’m here.” The young girl whispers as she moves my way, and I’m able to see her clearer now as she’s able to see me.

“I told you to stay close.” The other girl, Arianna, says darkly while her eyes narrow, shooting daggers my way.

“I told you I was bored.” The girl with the facts shrugs and keeps walking to where I’m standing, still enjoying my smoke while trying to make sense of this. The Parisi brat said the young girl’s name is Mila.

Mila…

What a pretty name.

And who is the polite kid to that god-awful teen brat?

“Stay away from my sister.” The frosty voice sounds closer now, coming from my left. I didn’t even notice how close to me she had gotten.

She can fuck off.

I don’t take orders from her.

The only one that gets away with that shit is the Nicolasi Don, and the only reason I obey is for a greater purpose.

Without looking at the sweet kid on my right, I turn to her sister.

Smiling, I blow smoke rings toward Arianna Parisi, taunting her and making her cough.

I have nothing to say to her. I also have no business getting caught in the middle of whatever this is.

Fucking kids.

I give her my back and silently walk back to my spot to continue my watch duty until midnight.

I think of the girl all the way back to the main entrance.

The one with the sweet and melodic voice.

Blonde hair, butterfly crown, and useless facts.

Mila.

As it turns out, the youngest Parisi sister.

The one I didn’t even know existed.

There are three Parisi sisters, not two like I first believed.

The youngest one is being kept a secret, and I wonder why?

What could possibly make a parent hide the existence of his child?

Now I know one of the Parisi secrets and the girl?

She has caught my attention, and that’s a very dangerous thing.

It’s fucking with my head how a small part of me, and I mean a really fucking small part, felt something towards the kid just by having been in her presence for a few minutes. Something that feels a whole lot like protectiveness.

So many questions run through my head.

Why haven’t I ever seen her with her sisters before or with her parents whenever they visit the Nicolasi family? Why is the kid hidden away like a dirty secret?

She’s young. That was clear.

Her mind and soul might be a thousand years old by the way she speaks and carries herself, but she’s still a kid, and because of that, I shove the memory of her to the back of my mind. Locked. Forgotten by the following morning.

Or so I thought.

Life is never that simple.

At least not mine.

Present

Ring, ring, ring.

The sound of my phone blowing up pulls me away from the memory of her and brings me back to the present.

Fuck.

What is it now?

I answer the call after checking the area code.

“I need something from you, soyuznik.”

The Russians.

Nothing good happens when the Soloniks call.

“What is it now?” I listen to what the bastard has to say out of courtesy to the bonds between us, but I’m tempted to tell him to fuck off. But then he mentions her name, and that’s when everything changes. “Will you be able to do it, or should I contact someone else?”

“I’ll do it.” I bark.

“You seem very eager to take this one when you’ve been rejecting my offers left and right. What is it about this one job that made you accept it?” The dark and sinister voice would scare any man. It’s like the asshole can see through your soul without being in your presence. I’m afraid of no man, and this twisted son of a bitch knows it, yet he tries to push my buttons every time he calls.

This time is different, though.

This is no ordinary job.

“I’ll be in contact,” I say nothing else and hang up the phone.

Fuck, kid. What have you gotten yourself into?

Knowing things are about to change, I make a choice, knowing there’s no going back from it.

Because she put herself on the line of fire. She put herself on the path of every motherfucker who wishes to see Detroit fall and erase the Parisi name from existence.

Yeah, there is no going back because she’s mine.

Since the moment I first laid eyes on her, she stole a part of me for herself, and now that she’s all grown up, there’s no need for me to keep her safe from the shadows.

The time is now to claim what’s mine, and no one fucks with what’s mine and gets to walk away with their lives.

No one.