Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War (87 page)

The day she’d met twenty-four-year-old Nathan Salerno was the day she met herself. She found herself when he found her. Nathan pushed her to realize who she truly was, then he helped her learn to love the complex, crazy, silly, charismatic, sweet, kind, sadistic, hot-tempered, cry baby, killer that she was. She grew with Nathan. She became a woman … a friend, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, and an individual of great power and influence. Her life had changed drastically. What once had been a life she wanted to end, had now become a life she was hopeful for; a life that she cherished, and one that deserved to be protected.

This was all because of him. All because
he
found her.

The war, pain, and all of the fighting was over now, and it was time to begin anew. This was only the beginning, Carter felt it. Something was coming, but unlike the other times, Carter felt no dread for the coming events. She anticipated them… The change coming was going be exciting, dangerous, and beyond epic …

Carter could hardly wait to embrace every second of it.

Epilogue … One Year and Six Months Later …

It was truly amazing how much things could change in just four and a half years. Once a brooding, twenty-four-year-old underboss holding tightly to the past, and now an exceptionally happy almost twenty-nine-year-old don, husband, and father of three rambunctious little boys.

Life was perfect. Nathan would not want it to be any other way.

Slipping into the role as boss of the Salerno Organized Crime Family had been easier than Nathan had ever imagined, but it had come with its hardships. His father had been right, though; Nathan had pretty much already been doing the job give or take a few huge, fucking fantastic differences.

Being a boss was intoxicating; it was addictive. One could try, but they’d never be able imagine how it really felt to have so much power. Nathan found out very quickly that being a boss was drastically different than being the underboss. In some ways it was easier, and in other ways challenges were presented.

In the beginning Nathan had involuntarily leaned on his father throughout the transition. He had still gone to him for approval of pretty much everything. His father had had to remind him more than a few times that he was the Don now, not the other way around. Nathan was the decision maker, the rule creator. The Salerno Organization was his to take in whatever direction he’d wanted to. Nathan could no longer go to his father and depend on him to make decisions for the family anymore, he could only go to him for council, for an opinion, and to talk. The ultimate decision was in Nathan’s hands alone.

After realizing that, Nathan took a reluctant step back from leaning on his father, who had found Nathan’s clingy behavior amusing. The asshole.

This part was made easier by none other than his wife. Carterina Anastacia Salerno had this amazing ability to make Nathan see in himself what she saw in him. All it had taken was a few words one night while they were eating dinner with the boys and their—at the time—unborn son in Carter’s belly. Nathan had told her of his fears and she’d given him the perfect response.

She’d sat back, rubbed her round, pregnant belly and sighed as she’d rolled her eyes. “Nathan,” she’d said with exasperation. “I’m sorry for being insensitive, but I just don’t get you right now. You used to go on and on about how you couldn’t wait until you were boss so you didn’t have to get the okay from your father every time you made a decision that you knew was right, and now all of a sudden you don’t want to make any decisions?”

Nathan was man enough to admit that he’d pouted a little … Pouted in the manliest of ways of course. He hadn’t wanted his sons to think he was a bitch or anything. “You’re my wife, Carterina. Aren’t you supposed to be sensitive to everything I go through?”

“Do you want me to baby you?”

“I want you to support me.”

“I do support you, Nathan. There has never been a second since I met you that I haven’t.”

“Then support me. Tell me what to do. Tell me how to fix this, or maybe you could possibly … fix it for me or something. Do a little of that clean-up work you love so much?”

Yes, Nathan had asked his wife to fix something for him. It hadn’t been his shining moment, but Nathan had spent the first two months of his career as boss scared shitless. Carter had given him the response he’d needed to hear.

“That’s babying you, Nathan, and I’m not going to do it.”

Nathan had been shocked that she’d told him no. Carter had been his angel since the moment she’d came into his life. She’d been spoiling him, doing some of his work, and making shit easier for him. It was cruel of her to make him addicted to her treatment then snatch it away.

Nathan had admittedly been a little bitter after that. “Fine then,” he muttered, cutting through his steak a little hard than needed. “Forget I said anything to you. I don’t need you anyway. As a matter of fact,” he’d dropped his fork on his plate, “I have some work to catch up on. I’ll just finish my dinner in the office.”

“Will you?” Carter asked.

Nathan hadn’t even looked at her as he gathered his plate. “Yes,” he answered angrily.

“Da-da going?” Aleksandr asked brightly. “Sit down, ee-eat, Da-da.”

“How about we play a quick little game before Da-da leaves us in here at the dinner table, shall we, babies?”

Aleksandr and Maksim cheered at the mention of a playing a game.

That was when Nathan’s eyes had lifted and locked on Carter’s furious hazel eyes. It had been utterly terrifying. She had the sweetest smile on her face for the boys, but there was a raging fire going full blast in those expressive eyes, and that rage had all been for Nathan.

“Nathan, will you play the game with your family? There’s a valuable lesson in it for you, honey, so I think you should play.” She took a sip of her non-alcoholic wine, never removing her eyes from his. “It’s a problem solving game. It will help you learn how to make the right decision quickly.”

Nathan released a deep breath and sat back in his seat.

“Perfect,” she said brightly. “You three are on a team, and I’m on a team by myself, okay?”

“Okay, Ma-ma,” Maksim and Aleksandr answered.

Carter nodded to Nathan. “We are two very powerful crime families. You three are the Nathan Salerno crime family. Nathan you are the boss and your sons are your advisors. I’m the Nathan Salerno’s pregnant hormonal wife crime family. I don’t need any advisors on my team because I always win. We’ll just call both families Nathan and Carter for short, okay?” she asked, keeping her tone light for the sake of the boys.

The kids cheerfully agreed with their mother.

“Very good. Listen closely so that you can make the right decision for your family. The consequences for making the wrong decision in this situation are dire.”

Nathan nodded for her to continue.

Carter nodded in return. “Nathan and Carter have been very tight allies for a while now. They’ve fought many battles side by side, fought through some taxing trials as any allies would, and even produced some exceptionally beautiful and promising prospects for the future of both families.”

“So what’s the problem?” Nathan asked.

“The families have clashed.” She took another sip of her drink then sat back in her seat. “Nathan is upset with Carter because Carter refuses to bail Nathan out every time Nathan asks. Carter refuses to entertain Nathan, refuses to enable the family’s behavior because Carter knows better. Nathan doesn’t need help, the family is just being lazy, fearful, and spoiled … So when Nathan tells Carter to take the lead on a certain decision that could alter the standing of the Nathan family, Cater says, ‘No, do the research and negotiations then make the decision on your own.’ This angers Nathan. To express this anger, Nathan says a few choice words to Carter then threatens to leave the table at dinner time, one of the few times of the day where both families get to spend some quality time together. Carter tells Nathan that she considers such a move an act of war, and now Nathan is faced with a decision. Does the Nathan Salerno crime family suck it up, make nice with the Nathan Salerno’s pregnant hormonal wife Crime family, and make the decision himself? Or does he leave the dinner table, thus starting a very, very brutal war between the two families …”

She stared him down until he almost looked away from the intensity in her eyes.

“Maksim and Aleksandr, advise your father, please.”

“Ma-ma win the game, Da-da,” Aleksandr laughed as he stuffed another chicken nugget in his mouth.

Maksim was amused greatly by his brother’s eating. He laughed uproariously, agreeing with his brother that his mother had won the game. He then began stuffing his mouth with food just like his brother had done.

Carter smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. “Boss. You’ve been advised. The final decision is yours … Will Nathan go to war with Carter?”

Nathan had just centered his plate on the table and picked of his fork and knife. He cleared his throat. “Nathan will not be going to war with Carter.”

“Excellent decision.” She nodded. “You’re a very smart man, Nathan Salerno. If you didn’t possess the ability to be a boss the position would have never been given to you. You need to remember that. You needn’t fear anything … except me.” She gave him a wink. “No decision you make would ruin you as much as pissing off your hormonal wife would.”

Nathan nodded as he cut into his steak again. “I’m hopelessly in love with you, woman.” And he meant it with all of his fucking heart. Carter was the perfect woman. Only she could turn a game that they played with their children at the dinner table into a threat on his life. God, he fucking loved her …

“Mmmhmm,” she nodded as she cut into her chicken, “I know you do. And I love you, too.”

The make-up sex that night had been one for the Nathan and Carter books. Nathan would never forget the confidence he went to work with the next day. He’d made decision after decision after that without bothering his father, and every single decision did nothing to damage everything his father spent most of his life building.

“Boss, we’re almost there,” Ryan said next to Nathan, effectively bringing him from his thoughts.

Nathan nodded his head. “Very good,” he replied calmly as he tapped his foot to the music playing softly in the background. Listening to Bruno Mars always helped Nathan center his mind before a fight. The man was a fucking musical genius.

Soon the SUV came to a stop and Nathan’s door was opened. He stepped out of the car in good spirits with a smile on his face and straightened his suit jacket. The cool breeze of the sunny summer day greeted him, making him think of his sons and how wonderful it would be to spend some time playing with them on the playground he’d had built in their backyard when he got home. Being the boss meant that Nathan got to go home a lot earlier than he used to. He’d just let Lucca— who had become acting underboss—finish out the day while he went home.

“Were you just listening to Bruno Mars, Nathan?”

Nathan looked over to his underboss, who had just exited the car behind him. Lucca handed off his suit jacket to one of his men, then smacked the man in the head when he’d almost dropped it. The man noticeably fought not to glare at Lucca as he instructed him to
‘Put the jacket in the back of the fucking car’
. After hitting the man once more, Lucca glanced over to Nathan with a big Salerno smile on his face.

Nathan chuckled. He had once never thought he’d see his cousin in an Italian suit—the man lived in jeans and a leather jacket—but after Nathan had made him acting underboss, and he’d reluctantly accepted, both of their fathers told Lucca that if he didn’t wear a suit to work that they’d break both of his legs. Nathan had found the whole ordeal quite amusing.

“I’m not ashamed, Lucca,” Nathan replied. “Did I badger you when you were addicted to that one band back in high school? What was their name—”

Lucca pointed at Nathan in warning. “Say one more word I’ll tell Nonna Salerno that you and Carterina fornicated before you got married.”

Nathan laughed. “You petty fucking bastard …”

Lucca shrugged and raced to catch up to Nathan, who had begun walking to the restaurant in the middle of Manhattan where he would be going to beat some Bonaducci ass.

Right as they made it to the front entrance Nathan spotted Kyle, Mickey, and Dante walking toward them from the opposite direction. He knew they were just coming from a meeting they’d attended with Kyle, who he’d asked to attend. Kyle was fitting perfectly in both his role as Nathan’s consigliere as well as an advisor in the Stone crime family.

“Were you two really going to do this without me here?” Kyle asked, jogging to them quickly. “Nathan, wait.”

Nathan and Lucca stopped walking and rolled their eyes. Kyle was so damn annoying with all of his fucking peace shit. He and his father were always trying to calm somebody down.

“Kyle, this is the last straw. They hid it from me for nearly a year and I intend to make sure they understand the way I run my shit,” Nathan said calmly when Kyle finally made it to them. “They need to be taught this lesson.”

“They need a foot up their fucking asses is what they need,” Lucca snapped. “This is some disrespectful shit. If they have the balls to fuck with Nathan, then they need to be prepared to get fucked up!”