His Kind of Beautiful

By Maia Dylan

Tony Moretto lost the woman he loved, and he has no idea how to get her back...

From the moment he set eyes on Leona Underwood, he recognized her as his, but he let the opinions of his father stop him from acting on it. The familia using her as an informant against a rival family didn’t exactly lend itself to happily ever after either.

Leona was a broken woman. She’d seen a lot of horror in her lifetime. Her childhood sucked, she’d sold her body to survive, but had ended up working for a crime family that actually seemed to care about her. When a way to help them presented itself, she did it willingly, but paid a terrible price. Now she was scarred, both inside and out, and convinced that no one could ever want her now.

When she disappears, it brings Tony to his senses, and he knows he has to convince Leona that she was exactly his kind of beautiful.

**The first story in the Carlisi Familia begins in the Lawless anthology

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight Publishing
• Release date: Mar 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9781773399157

Book preview

Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2019 Maia Dylan

ISBN: 978-1-77339-915-7

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Audrey Bobak

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

Authors would not be authors without the readers and reviewers who tirelessly give of themselves time and time again. So this one is for Rhonda and Tracey, two wonderful ladies I have met on this crazy author journey of mine who have reviewed my work and supported me through thick and thin over the past few years.

HIS KIND OF BEAUTIFUL

Carlisi Familia, 2

Maia Dylan

Copyright © 2019

Chapter One

Leona’s gone.

Two words, and the bottom fell out of Tony Moretto’s world. "What the fuck do you mean she’s gone, Marissa? She’s one of your girls!"

She hasn’t been one of mine for a long time, Tony, and you damn well know that. Marissa’s voice was sharp down the phone line and Tony had to bite back an impatient curse. After all that shit with Angelo, she wasn’t interested in being a part of anything to do with the Carlisi family, and to be honest with you, I don’t blame her.

Tony began to pace the street outside the new storefront for the Holi Cannoli bakery, frustration a living, seething beast within him. She’s one of ours. Period. If you made her feel any different, then you—

"If I made her feel any different? Marissa exclaimed incredulously. Whatever that girl is feeling, and I am sure it’s a lot, it has nothing to do with me or how I treated her."

Tony’s head fell back as he took a deep breath, guilt and pain slicing through him. No. It wasn’t Marissa who had let Leona down, it had been him. And Gavriil Volkov shouldered a fair amount of that blame too. Just the thought of that had Tony fighting the urge to burst back into the bakery owned by Abigail, Gavriil’s woman, and punch the man right in the face.

You’re right, Marissa. It wasn’t you. It was me, and it was Gavriil. And that means it’s up to us to fix this, which we can’t do if we can’t get to her. Do you know where she’s gone?

Silence met that question and Tony’s heart sped up in fear. If Marissa had no clue, then he had no leads to follow, and that was unacceptable. He had to find Leona and bring her back. She wasn’t safe out there. She needed to be back in Carlisi territory. The thought of what could happen to her out there on her own had a dark determination rising within him.

If he had nothing to go on, then he’d do it the old-fashioned way. Threatening and fighting anyone who might know anything, and hunting her down as best he could, because getting her back here with the family was the only option. Leona needed them, and by God, she needed him and she was finally going to listen to what he had to say and let him be there for her.

Tony. Marissa’s voice sounded hesitant, and he knew he was not going to like what came next. Leona wasn’t just one of my girls, she’s my friend. And I do believe that she’s in real trouble. His free hand clenched into a fist. If someone was threatening Lee, then he would rip them apart with his bare hands. She’s withdrawn into herself and nothing anyone says seems to get through. The only person she’s spoken to since she got out of the hospital was Gavriil. He was here yesterday morning, and they spoke. She’s been missing ever since.

Not waiting to hear anything further, Tony disconnected the call and immediately spun around, his entire being turning to ice. He stepped into the bakery, completely ignoring the enticing scent of sugar and pastry, and walked to the back of the store, toward the kitchen. He pressed his thumb to the high-end security pad that would grant him entry and stepped into the kitchen area.

There were three people in