A Family Affair: Long Live the King, Florida De La Cova Crime Famiglia

By Nicole Banks

Long live the King...until a Queen takes the reign.

In a Cuban crime family run by men, nothing was more disappointing than Claudia’s birth. Outcast by her father and shunned by her brother, she spent a lifetime plotting, never forgetting what should have been hers by birthright.

She bided her time, waiting for her unworthy brother to screw up his leadership. He did one thing right: he produced an heir. But nothing could save him from a tragedy so great, it caused the De la Cova heir to skip town...putting Claudia right where she belongs—in position as the Queen.

Finally, under her leadership, she takes the family business in her direction, shaping the organization to her satisfaction...until her nephew returns wanting the throne he believes is his.

Claudia has a shock for him, though. She isn’t giving up her empire without one hell of a fight, and if that means spilling family blood to keep it, then so be it. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nicole Banks
• Release date: Nov 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005808211

Nicole Banks

Nicole Banks graduated with a Bachelor’s in forensic psychology from John Jay College. She was born and raised in New York. She loves writing, music and dancing. Shattered started as a school assignment for one of her free writing college courses and it has morphed into so much more. She is currently working on Volume 2 of the Shattered Series. Nicole's book won the 2012 Professional Publications Facebook Writing Contest.

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Copyright © 2021 by Nicole Banks.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, events, and products are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Printed in the United States of America.

Editing by: Rosemi Mederos

Formatting by: Champagne Book Design

Cover Design by: Jessfx

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Preview of M.D. Stewart's Her Three Bears

Author Information

Acknowledgments

Five years ago

The sound of a woman’s heels against the concrete floor in the warehouse made Maceo Sr.’s blood run hot. Claudia, his older sister, had no business here, and yet here she came, confident as ever in black slacks, a blood red button down to match her blood red shoes and their father’s signature ring, which she stole the moment their father took his last breath. It was a family heirloom that had been passed down to the head of the De la Cova family, a title that she thought belonged to her, but she could never be the head of the family business.

Women in the De la Cova family were meant to keep beds warm and bellies full and to be a bargaining chip if necessary. Their father had never been able to marry Claudia off. Though, there never was a need for it. De la Cova was a stronghold in Miami, Florida. Their enemies were kept at bay by the sheer strength of the De la Cova name, and everyone was eager to work with the family because it meant more money in everyone’s pockets.

Maceo, Maceo, Maceo. Claudia’s voice was like acid, and it made him reach for the gun at his hip. She was flanked by two of his men as she approached him.

Why do you insist on having these meetings without me? she purred, her eyes looking at the men Maceo had with him. Where’s my nephew?

Maceo shrugged. Probably balls deep in one of his girlfriends. Only Claudia laughed. Why are you here? You know pops never liked including you in the ongoings of the business.

The narrowing of his sister’s dark eyes was the only acknowledgment Maceo had that he hit his mark. Claudia hated that their father hadn’t been able to see her as being capable of running the organization.

Welp, she looked down at her sharp nails—talons Maceo had once called them, our darling father is no longer breathing, and what he said about the family business is no longer valid.

She took a step toward him, and warning bells rang off in Maceo’s head. He reached for his gun, and one of his men grabbed his arm.

Claudia tsked under her breath and a sinister smile splayed across her face—she looked so much like their father. Some days, Maceo wondered how their father had ever denied Claudia a place in the family business.

"I’d say I’m sorry, bro, but you should have never accepted a role that wasn’t meant for you. Our old school Cuban father was wrong and stuck in his ways. Como se dice, ah, the future is female."

The sound of an explosion going off in the rear of the warehouse knocked everyone on their asses. Maceo expected his people to usher him out of the warehouse while shooting at his sister, but as smoke clogged his nostrils, he was left horrified as every single man in the warehouse was now scrambling behind his sister, who quickly righted herself and pulled out a gun.

The clip of her heels was the only thing he heard over the ringing in his ears. He wanted to say he was surprised, but he knew the second Claudia voiced her birthright to be next in line in the De la Cova organization, he would always have a target on his back. They never got along, fought often if only to show their father Maceo’s weaknesses, and according to Claudia, there had been many to expose.

Claudia squatted down in front of him. Seriously, Maceo. Where is my nephew? Weren’t you supposed to show him the ropes today? Another fucking male taking what doesn’t belong to him.

Maceo looked up, trying to keep the worry off his face. His son and Claudia had a cordial relationship. It was the only time he’d seen his sister show any resemblance of love, but staring into her eyes now, he wasn’t sure she wouldn’t kill him to secure her place as the head of the De la Cova organization.

When did you become such a treacherous bitch? Maceo wondered how he’d gone so long thinking his sister wouldn’t do something like this. She always wanted what their father denied her.

When you and pops bonded over your shared interest of having a penis. The words easily fell from her lips as Maceo tried to reach for his gun.

Ah-ah-ah. Her gun was out faster, and she didn’t even hesitate to pull the trigger. Hot searing pain hit his stomach, and he looked back toward his men standing behind Claudia, unmoving. How the hell had he not seen this coming?

Claudia stood to her full height as the smoke in the warehouse thickened. "Mi hermano, you should have turned Dad down. You never had the strength for this."

And you do? Maceo snapped, still in disbelief that this was how it would end. Death at the hands of his own sister.

Claudia waved a hand around the burning warehouse as if the answer was always obvious. "Soy la hija de mi padre. I’m not the one about to die, Maceo." She aimed the gun at his head and Maceo let a peace settle over him. He couldn’t fight this; he just hoped his son wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

"Larga vida al rey, Maceo."

Claudia’s smiling face was the last thing Maceo saw as his world was bathed in darkness, a prayer for his son, the last whisper to leave his lips before his heart stopped.

Claudia walked out of the warehouse with her men behind her. It was time Florida met its new queen of the De la Cova organization.

Five years later

The bass from the music drowned out the lyrics to whatever song was blaring through the speakers. Smoke wrapped around Maceo De la Cova Jr., or as everyone here called him, Malcolm, Mac, Gonzalez. The two blondes in his lap passed a blunt between them before he felt a pair of wet lips wrap around his cock. He let a rehearsed grunt slip from his lips as he tried to remember why he was ever into this shit. It was always the same.

Maceo, Tristen, and Big Pete’s bachelor pad off of Florida State University’s campus rarely stayed empty. He couldn’t remember the last time he had these walls to himself. There was always an all-too-eager girl willing to suck him off before class or Tristen was balls deep in two or more people in the living room. Tristen fucked a lot. Maceo knew it was his friend’s way of chasing his demons away, but even for Maceo, these nights were starting to get old. It didn’t help that he was lying to them about who he was.

You’re not enjoying yourself, Mac. Tristen grabbed one of the blondes and pulled her into his lap. He made quick work of putting on a condom and sliding his dick inside of her. He slapped her on her ass—his way of telling her to do all the work—before he looked over at Maceo. That girl is practically choking on your dick and you look like you’re doing the accounting for Ms. Rivera. Bitch is hot as fuck, sweet pussy too, but dull as a houseplant outside of the bedroom. Tristen’s laugh made Maceo roll his eyes. Tristen didn’t discriminate who he stuck his dick in. As long as he got his nut, he didn’t care who helped him along the way.

Tristen’s family had come from money like Maceo had. Tristen’s family could have rivaled the De la Cova family had either of their father’s sought out more power—to rule over Florida as a whole instead of in sections. They were both born princes to an empire they couldn’t claim. Maceo was presumed dead, and thanks to an overeager FBI agent, Tristen had no empire to rule over.

Tristen glanced over the blonde’s tits, which