Vicious Proposal: A Dark Mafia Romance Read online

  Vicious Proposal

  A Dark Mafia Romance

  BB Hamel

  Contents

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  Trigger Warning

  1. Melanie

  2. Melanie

  3. Nervosa

  4. Melanie

  5. Melanie

  6. Nervosa

  7. Melanie

  8. Melanie

  9. Nervosa

  10. Melanie

  11. Melanie

  12. Nervosa

  13. Melanie

  14. Melanie

  15. Melanie

  16. Nervosa

  17. Melanie

  18. Melanie

  19. Nervosa

  20. Melanie

  21. Nervosa

  22. Melanie

  23. Melanie

  24. Nervosa

  25. Melanie

  26. Nervosa

  27. Melanie

  28. Melanie

  29. Melanie

  Preview: Black Promises

  Also by BB Hamel

  Copyright © 2022 by B. B. Hamel

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover design by Coverluv Book Designs

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  Trigger Warning

  This book contains graphic descriptions of sexual content, explicit violence, and past trauma. These scenes were written to create a more vivid, in-depth experience, but may be triggering for some readers.

  Read at your own risk.

  Chapter 1

  Melanie

  I looked at the house looming in front of me like an axe in the mist and wanted to turn back, but my brother would kill me if I skipped this meeting. I looked down at the paper in my hand, at the address and the time and the name, written in a neat script: Nervosa.

  A chill ran down my spine.

  “We can turn back, you know.” Palmira leaned against the porch railing and looked at her nails. She was tall, wiry, pretty, with dirty blonde hair and a perpetual smirk. She wore jeans and a casual button-down with a gun tucked into a holster at her hip. She didn’t bother trying to hide it. She’d grown up with my brother and they were best friends, and now she was my bodyguard.

  Really, more like babysitter. Except instead of being certified in CPR, she could kill a man fifty different ways.

  “You know I can’t.” I squared my shoulders and stepped forward. “He’ll only see it as weakness.”

  Palmira sighed. “You Oligarchs and your games.”

  “I’m not playing anything. All I want is to be left alone.”

  “And yet here you are.”

  I bristled at that. “Redmond approved it.”

  “Redmond’s the head of the family. He’s got more to worry about than just your safety. That’s my job, unfortunately.”

  “He wouldn’t let me come if it was dangerous.”

  She snorted. “You really think so?”

  I chose not to answer. Redmond was the only person in my life that had ever given a damn. My father was a bastard and my mother was a selfish drunk, which meant I spent a lot of time with my older brother. It wasn’t easy living in a compound in the middle of nowhere with nobody my own age, and Redmond had helped make growing up bearable. I wouldn’t let Palmira ruin that.

  I knocked on the door, heart beating fast. Even if I was safe, Palmira was right to be worried. Nervosa had a reputation, and I was walking right into his lair, like a fly buzzing around a spider’s web. I should’ve taken the out Palmira offered, but I was too stubborn, and besides, my only interaction with Nervosa hadn’t been so bad.

  He answered the door wearing a sleek black suit and a smile plastered on his pretty lips.

  He was tall and broad with a wiry chest and muscular arms. Hints of his colorful tattoos pressed out from the edges of his sleeves and his collar. His hair was brushed back casually and yet looked somehow perfect, and he resembled an investment banker with an ink obsession—except for his eyes.

  Those eyes betrayed what he really was.

  He stared at me like he wanted to take my measure. He weighed me, judged me, and found me lacking in some imprecise way. His gaze was the glare of a predator, one used to living in a jungle filled with other killers. He seemed cold and dispassionate, so at contrast with his attractive image.

  “Didn’t think you’d show,” he said, his voice a soft rasp.

  “I didn’t want to miss the party.”

  His lips quirked. It wasn’t quite a smile. “You brought your nanny.”

  “Palmira,” I said.

  “She stays outside.”

  “Absolutely not,” Palmira said, stepping forward.

  Nervosa held up a hand, but didn’t glance in Palmira’s direction. I raised my eyebrows. I’d never met someone able to ignore her like that.

  “I’m not alone in here,” Nervosa said. “The others won’t be happy if you bring muscle. Even if your muscle is—” He hesitated and grunted. “Attractive.”

  I felt myself flush. I couldn’t decide if it was jealousy or anger or a combination of both.

  “Palmira’s my bodyguard. I don’t come in without her.”

  “Suit yourself.” He turned and began to shut the door in my face.

  “Wait.” I shoved my palm forward and held it open. “She stays on the porch.”

  “Melanie,” Palmira hissed.

  I ignored her and stared Nervosa down.

  He shrugged. “She can wait where she likes.” He stepped back and I followed him inside.

  “Stay here,” I said to Palmira as I closed the door. “Wait for me. I won’t be long.” I hoped, anyway.

  Palmira glared at me, but didn’t move to argue.

  The door closed and I was alone with Nervosa in a large entryway with a lovely chandelier and emerald green marble floors. The walls were covered in gilding and wood panels, and paintings and statues littered the space. I’d been in rooms like this before, in the homes of rich people looking to impress and cow their guests with the majesty of their collections, and it was all easy to ignore.

  “Come,” Nervosa said, and set off down a side hall.

  I hurried to keep up. “What am I doing here?” I asked softly.

  His invitation had been a surprise. I was starting school at Stanford next week, and I’d been on campus getting used to the area when I ran into him. He’d slipped a piece of paper into my hand with only the date, the time, an address, and four words: Come Find Me. Nervosa.

  I didn’t know what it all meant, but my brother Redmond and I both agreed that I couldn’t ignore his invitation. Nervosa was the head of his family and an extremely powerful man. He was a member of the Oligarchs, a group of the most elite of the elite, the power behind the power, the puppet master that pulled the strings of mafia bosses, heads of state, influential investors, and Fortune 500 CEOs. My brother operated in the Midwest for the most part while Nervosa stuck to the West Coast, but we couldn’t afford to start trouble.

  “You’re my guest,” he said simply. “And I wanted the others to see you.”

  “Who else is here?”

  “You’ll see.” He reached a door and cracked it open, but didn’t enter. He looked back at me with a smile, and it seemed genuine—the first real display of emotion so fa
r. And apparently at my expense. “I think you’re in for a nice surprise.”

  He stepped into a room and pulled me along behind him.

  It was a parlor furnished and set up in an old-fashioned style with the fireplace as the focal point. Books, paintings, and lavish hangings decorated the walls, and the lighting was dim and comfortable. It smelled like cigar smoke and ash from the crackling fire, and three men sat on couches, smoking and drinking brown liquor from finely cut crystal glasses. A young girl dressed in all black stood with her hands folded near the back of the room, clearly a servant or staff member of some sort. I hesitated as Nervosa strode over.

  One of the men caught my eye and grinned. He was young and handsome, with dark eyes and dark hair, his suit black as night. He turned to Nervosa, who took a seat in a chair and crossed his legs.

  “You shouldn’t have, Nervosa,” the man said. “I didn’t think there’d be any entertainment tonight.”

  “That’s not what she’s here for,” Nervosa said. “Relax, Silvano.”

  Silvano laughed. “Sure, of course. Listen, I like you Nervosa, but I’m not sure I’m ready to share a whore together. I’d be happy to fuck in private though. She’s tempting.”

  Nervosa grunted. “You might want to watch yourself.”

  “Have some respect,” another of the men said. He had a square jaw and sunken, dark eyes that looked endlessly sad and exhausted. “She’s not a hooker.”

  “How do you know?” Silvano asked. “Are you an expert on ladies of the night, Liam?”

  “Let it go,” the last man said. He was older than the others, with a gruff beard and a hard expression. “Nervosa, who is she?”

  I recognized him: Griffin Deem. He was an Oligarch like Nervosa and my brother. And so were the other two: Silvano Tense and Liam Quest, all heads of their respective families, and all absurdly connected and powerful. The four deadliest men in the western half of the United States sat in a single room, and I stood ten feet away.

  “Gentlemen, this is Melanie, my girlfriend.” He spoke the lie like it was the most natural thing in the world.

  My jaw dropped open.

  Silvano ripped a laugh. “Girlfriend? You’re joking.”

  “We said no guests,” Griffin growled.

  “She’s here to listen,” Nervosa said. “I’ve been teaching her a thing or two about my business.” He uncrossed his legs and patted his lap like he expected me to walk over and sit down. “Isn’t that right, darling?”

  I hesitated as the four men looked in my direction.

  The bastard. I could call him a liar and stir shit up, but that would only make my life more difficult. Deem, Tense, and Quest clearly didn’t know who I was, and it would be better that way. If they realized that the little sister of a rival Oligarch was attending college at Stanford, they’d send their spies to watch my every move.

  Acting as Nervosa’s girlfriend was my only way out at this point.

  I walked over to him. He watched my every move with hard, but humor-filled eyes. I loomed over him like I might take his invitation and drop down on his thigh, but instead patted his cheek and shifted to stand behind his chair.

  His smile drove me raw with rage, but I kept my mouth shut.

  “I’m learning from the best,” I said with the airiest smile I could manage. I wanted these men to think I was an empty-headed moron there to act as arm candy.

  Silvano waved his cigar in the air. “Sweetheart, do me a fucking favor and go stand somewhere else? You’re lingering and it makes me uncomfortable.”

  “You’re such a baby sometimes,” Liam said, shaking his head.

  “Boys,” Griffin warned.

  I drifted away from the couches and leaned against a side table covered with bottles of expensive alcohol a few feet away. Nervosa looked over his shoulder at me and winked—the bastard.

  “You called this meeting,” Griffin said, waving an impatient hand. “Let’s hear what you’ve got to say.”

  Silvano sat forward, his elbows on his knees, and looked at his fellow Oligarchs. “Gentlemen, I know you’re all aware of what my chemist has been producing.”

  “We’re aware,” Griffin said. “The string of dead bodies is hard to ignore.”

  “Immaterial,” Silvano said. “The product’s good. It’s pure, it’s high quality, and we can manufacture it right here in the United States. Once we get the dosage down, we’ll be able to flood the market. I propose we send a few dozen shipments east and see what the soft-bellied deer over there think.”

  “You want to hook a bunch of people on pills just to fuck with our eastern brothers?” Griffin asked. “That’s a bold move.”

  “I’m sick of this coastal nonsense. Why should there be some invisible dividing line?”

  “It’s how things have always been,” Nervosa said.

  The others glanced at him. Silvano frowned and shook his head. “How it’s always been isn’t a good reason to keep doing something. The eastern Oligarchs have been busy killing each other for the last few years, and now I think it’s our turn to flex our muscles.”

  “You have no muscles,” Griffin said, “and you’re insane if you think they’ll let us flood their territory with designer drugs.”

  “He’s got a point,” Liam said, sounding exhausted. “This is how we expand.”

  “Insanity,” Griffin said. He leaned back, shaking his head. “Nervosa, talk sense into them.”

  Nervosa said nothing. He watched his fellows with a quiet, hawk-like stare. The room chilled under his withering glare and I shifted toward the exit like a rabbit cornered by foxes.

  There was something about Nervosa. The others looked to him like he was their leader, though they were all equals. Nervosa had a weight and a bearing to him, like a general at the war table. Except Nervosa was young and had only come into his family in the last few years.

  Though those few years were long enough for him to gain a reputation for ruthless violence.

  “We vote,” Nervosa said. “Speak your last piece, Silvano.”

  Silvano nodded assent. “Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, the time has come for us to make a move, as they say. We can sit by and idly watch our competitors in the east kill each other and grow weaker, or we can push them aside and take what they’ve gained and destroy what they’ve built. I say we take and we destroy, and so I propose we begin by flooding their strongholds with drugs. A little creative destruction.” He finished and sat back.

  “Griffin,” Nervosa said.

  Griffin shook his head and took a long drink from his glass, draining it. “This is madness. The Oligarchs have been around for generations because we don’t fight each other. I see no reason to start now.” He sat back as if finished.

  “Vote then,” Nervosa said. “Silvano?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Griffin?”

  “No.”

  “Liam?”

  He sighed and rubbed his face. “Yes.”

  Nervosa nodded to himself. “And I vote no. That leaves us with a tie.”

  Nobody moved. The room was filled with a thick tension. I glanced toward the staff girl but she’d fled already. Smart decision.

  “You’re making a mistake.” Silvano stood abruptly. He stubbed out his cigar in a crystal ash tray and absently slid his drink onto the table. Some liquid sloshed out and dripped down the side of the glass. “You of all people should realize this is the right move, Nervosa.”

  “I said no,” Nervosa said, staring Silvano down.

  Silvano grunted and shook his head. “Coward. You’re all a bunch of fucking cowards.” He walked to the door and left.

  Silence descended. Liam stood up next. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “Why bother?” Griffin asked. “You can’t talk that boy into having a damn brain.”

  Liam glared at Griffin for a long breath. “Easy, old man. You won’t be around forever.” He walked after Silvano.

  “Well, shit,” Griffin said softly. “
I’m only forty-four. I’m not that old.”

  “You’re ancient.” Nervosa stood and looked over his shoulder. “Melanie. Shall we?”

  I blinked at him before peeling myself from the wall. I slipped my hand through his arm and he led me away.

  “Be careful,” Griffin called out. “Those two aren’t going to accept this. Silvano especially, but you know Liam.”

  “Stubborn,” Nervosa said and we left.

  The hallway was empty. I heard whispered voices nearby, but nothing else. Nervosa stood, staring down the hall, until the voices disappeared.

  He began to walk.

  “Why did you bring me here?” I hissed in his ear. “What the hell was that? Designer drugs? Flooding the East Coast? Are you insane? My brother—”

  Nervosa turned and shoved me hard against the wall. I gasped in surprise as my breath was shoved from my lungs and he pinned me there, gripping my wrists, the sudden movement faster than I would’ve guessed. He was a massive animal and the smell of him assaulted my nostrils: grass and leather and hot asphalt.

  “Quiet,” he said, his lips an inch from my ear.

  The staff girl from before walked down the hall. She kept her head bowed—but her eyes glanced in our direction. Her lips flattened and she hurried her pace.

  Nervosa’s body was hard against mine. The girl disappeared around the corner.

  “Let. Me. Go.” I stared at Nervosa and shifted my knee. “Or I will make sure you never have children, you prick.”

  He didn’t move. “You asked too many questions. Narrow it down.”