Cute Mobster's Rival: The Mobster's Rival, #2

By Rachel Foster

On the run, they find themselves a home in a small town in northern Wisconsin. But their safety and happiness can't last long. Back in New York a war is raging between their families and contact may change everything for them. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: 3rd Publishing
• Release date: Mar 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215104828

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Cute Mobster's Rival

Rachel Foster

Copyright © 2018 by Rachel Foster

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.

Contents

Cute Mobster's Rival

Cute Mobster's Rival

1

B

ryce

Ma’am, take my seat, I said to a pregnant woman as the bus quickly filled with passengers. She looked at the seat I offered next to Natalie, but shook her head with a warm smile.

That is so sweet of you to offer, but you should sit next to your girlfriend. There’s plenty of room back here, she said as he made her way down the aisle toward the back of the bus.

Are you sure? We’d both be happy to take our seats back there, I called after her. She lifted her hand to show me that she meant what she said, and I sighed as I sat back down next to Natalie. You try to do the right thing, and no one pays any attention to you, anyway.

That really was sweet of you to offer, but I’m glad she declined. I would rather sit next to you than a stranger, Natalie said. She smiled, but it wasn’t a genuine smile. I hadn’t seen a genuine smile from her for a while now. And, it came as no surprise to me.

I wouldn’t be doing much smiling if I were her, either. Though we’d fallen in love, we certainly didn’t meet under traditional circumstances.

In fact, I’d been commissioned to kill her.

Now, we were on the run from my father and the rest of the world.

My father, Stephan Ventimiglia, was one of the most notorious mob bosses in all of New York City. He was known for being ruthless and selfish, only looking out for his own interests and consumed with an obsession for power. His one and only desire in life was to be top dog – the man everyone feared and all obeyed.

But, he wasn’t going to get there for free. There were several other mob bosses in the city, some of whom truly posed a threat to all he wanted in life. One of those bosses, Victor Balducci, had similar goals in life. And, like my father, he was willing to do just about anything to materialize those goals.

Whoever struck first often had the upper hand, and there was no telling when one or the other would strike.

I grew up completely innocent of my father’s profession, largely shielded from the truth by my mother. I couldn’t say she and my father had a happy relationship by any means, but they remained married throughout my childhood – that is, until she mysteriously passed away in an accident when I was around sixteen years old.

I never found out the truth about what had happened to her. My father merely told me that she’d passed, and I had to move on with my life. It was shortly after that I found out the truth about my father, and I had to admit, I liked it more than I should have.

I joined the mob as soon as he allowed me to, which was within a couple of months of my mother’s passing. At first, I didn’t do much but run errands and take care of small jobs he didn’t want to do and didn’t feel like assigning to other members. But it didn’t take long before I started to advance, and soon I was a soldier of sorts.

My cousin, Antony, and I both held the same rank, and we were happy to go out and take care of business whenever my father bid us to do so. But, after several years in the position, I soon found even that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more. I wanted bigger, better. I wanted to be in charge of the others, though still under my father’s rule.

So a few months back, I went to him and requested that he make me capo. I wanted to lead. I wanted to get the experience I would need for the day I could become the Boss myself. Though my father was sitting on the metaphorical throne now, the day would come when he wouldn’t be around anymore.

And that was when I would step up. Of course, I knew there would be all kinds of competition when it happened. Murders, betrayals...everyone grasping at anything and everything they could in order to get the position. But, my plan had been to rise as high as I could, then simply step into the position when the opportunity presented itself.

But that was before.

My father was receptive of my request, but before he would promote me to the position, he had a test for me.

And that test was to murder the daughter of his number one rival: Victor.

From the moment he showed me her picture, I hadn’t been thrilled with the idea, but I was willing to go through with it. I thought it would be easy. I’d get her to trust me, love me even. Then, when the time was right, I’d kill her.

What I hadn’t planned on was falling in love. I wasn’t sure how or when it happened, but it happened, and there was no going back for me. So, when the deadline came to carry out my assignment, I knew we only had one option. Run.

Natalie and I packed our things, and I took all the money I had hidden in my apartment. We got on the first bus from New York to South Carolina, then from there we ended up in Huntsville, Alabama. It was late at night when the bus finally pulled into the station, and we were disappointed to find there weren’t nearly the number of cabs on the street as there were in the Big Apple.

Of course, we should have expected that. This was a far smaller town than New York City, so why would they have cabs running the streets?

What are we going to do now? Natalie asked when we stepped out into the empty street.

We’re going to find a hotel or something and crash, then in the morning we’ll figure out the next step, I said. I put my arm around her, and we started up the street. I knew we could wait for a cab, but I wanted to get indoors as soon as possible. It was incredibly unlikely that my father would have anyone following us so closely that we’d be found outside tonight, but I still felt uneasy.

We stopped in the first motel we could find, and I paid up front in cash.

How long are you going to need the room? the woman behind the counter asked. She eyed both of us with a leery stare, and I was quick to answer.

Just for tonight. We’re going to head out again in the morning, I said. She didn’t reply, handing me the key to the room and we left.

Thank God, Natalie breathed when we walked through the door. We dropped our bags on the floor and fell into the bed, too tired to talk. Neither of us even took off our travel clothes as we crawled our way up to the pillows and lay down. Natalie slipped her arms under the pillows and sighed, closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

I wanted to put my arm around her, but I decided against it, rolling over and facing the other way. There would be time for us to think about our relationship later. Right now, we both needed one thing and one thing only: sleep.

Natalie had been through an incredibly trying period of time; she had to be exhausted. And, as I suspected, it wasn’t long before I heard her soft breathing filling the air. I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake me, as well. It was difficult to stop my racing thoughts, but I knew I had to get some rest.

We still had a very long road ahead of us.

Room service? I asked with a raised eyebrow. It was a habit I had, only raising one of my eyebrows when I questioned something. My father had the same habit.

It was practically the only thing he and I had in common.

It would be expensive, Natalie replied. I saw a grocery store just down the street.

Yeah, but it’s late, and we’re hungry now. At least with room service, we’d get a meal, I argued. She sighed.

If we have the money, that’s fine, she said at last.

I’ve got enough money to spare a meal. If I didn’t, we’d be in a lot more trouble than we already are, I replied.

I don’t see how that’d be possible, Natalie commented. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t blame her for being scared. I was scared, too. But, I wasn’t going to let that fear get the best of me. If there was one thing I’d learned from all the time I’d spent in the mob, it was that fear was the first step to panic, and that’s when all Hell broke loose.

I ordered room service, and Natalie crossed her legs, sitting on the bed Indian style. She had pulled her laptop out of her backpack and now browsed the internet. I didn’t know what she was looking at, but I was struck with her beauty as the light of the screen reflected off her pale skin.

What’s next? she asked after I’d gotten off the phone.

What do you mean? I replied nonchalantly.

I mean, I’ve never had to be on the run for my life before. What’s the next step? she pressed.

Well, we aren’t staying here. We’re still too close for comfort, in my opinion. It’s not going to take my father long to figure out we’re gone, and he’ll set to work tracking us. No doubt, he’ll be able to track the bus to South Carolina. Then, he’ll just play a guessing game until he tracks us here. The more stops we can put in between him and us the better off we are, I explained.

She looked tired, but determined. Well, I’m not going to spend the rest of my life in hiding. I want to find some small, sleepy town he won’t think to look and start working.

Working? I asked in surprise. Doing what?

I don’t care. I’ve spent too much of my life working to become a nurse. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life hiding in some house and drifting from town to town, she replied. I knew she didn’t mean to be as short with me as she came off as being. We were both under a lot of stress, but I still thought it was a bad idea.

The more we’re in public right now, the bigger the chance we’re going to be found by my father, I warned.

I’m not saying that we’ve got to stay here or that we’re going to be anywhere near here. But I do want to find somewhere I can work, she insisted. I was about to argue further when the food arrived, and I let the topic go by the wayside. There were more pressing matters at hand, and we could talk about it later.

The first thing we need to do is change our identities, I said. She looked up from the laptop with an inquisitive expression written across her face, so I continued. They know what you and I look like, so we’ve got to change enough that they don’t give us a second glance on the street.

How? she asked.

Hair, glasses, shit like that, I replied. It’s time I ditched the suits and started wearing street clothes. You can change up your style, too.

I can get it cut, she said, looking at her long, brunette locks.

Cut and dyed, I said. I’m going to do the same with mine and get rid of the contacts in favor of sunglasses. We can’t change how we look altogether, but we can change enough that they just skip over us and hopefully move on without realizing who we are.

Great, she said. Her tone was dry, and I dared not press the matter.

In the morning, I’ll go out and get what we need, then I’m going to try to find someone who can help us with our IDs, I said.

Our IDs?

Of course. They are looking for us, so obviously they’re going to ask anyone they can. We need to become new people, Nat, I replied. She said nothing, turning her attention back to the computer. I could see in her face she didn’t like any of this, but knew she had no choice.

If we were going to survive, we had to adapt, and I knew just how to pull that off.

That’s really all there was to it.

2

N

atalie

Aliya,

I don’t want to tell you too much in the event things go wrong, but I want you to know we are safe for the moment. I’m not going to tell you where we are or where we are headed, but know that so far, everything is going well.

This is a drop email, and from now on I want you to contact me on this. It’s far more secure than our regular email addresses, which will keep us from getting hacked and tracked.

I’ll check in with you again as soon as we are settled in a new location, plus I’ll be sure to update you along the way. I miss you and hope all is well with you. Stay safe, and keep out of this as much as possible. Remember, they don’t want you, but you can get tangled up in things if they feel there is a way they can get information out of you.

I love you, and take care,

Natalie

I sent the email and sat back on the bed with a sigh. There was a part of me that felt badass sending a drop email. A thrill of sorts ran through my spine when I saw the sent message pop up on the screen.

Years ago, when I found out my father was a notorious mob boss, I decided to learn as much as I could about organized crime. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was that he did, but I knew without a doubt I didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

It was a difficult time in my life. I grew up being primarily raised through the help of friends and loving family members. My mother had passed away from illness when I was very young, and though I still remembered bits