United reign valentino e.., p.1
United Reign (Valentino Empire #3), page 1
United Reign
Valentino Empire Series, Book 3
Kylie Kent
Contents
Foreword
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
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Epilogue
Afterword
Please Stalk Me
Also by Kylie Kent
Acknowledgments
About Kylie Kent
United Reign
Book 3
Valentino Empire
KYLIE KENT
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Copyright ©2022 by Kylie Kent
Ebook ISBN 13: 9780645257243
Paperback ISBN: 9781922816061
Cover illustration by
Stacy Garcia - Graphics By Stacy
Editing services provided by
Kat Pagan – https://www.facebook.com/PaganProofreading
This book contains scenes of sexual acts, profanity, and violence. If any of these are triggers for you, you should consider skipping this read.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
To Nate: Thank you for choosing me to be united in life with you. Xx
Chapter One
I didn’t know, T…
Fucking Al Donatello’s words repeat over and over in my head the whole trip back home. Fuck him and his fucked-up declaration. How the fuck did my mother do this? How is Al Donatello my father? I’m a Valentino. I’m not a fucking Donatello. Everything I know is Valentino.
I’m your father.
Fuck this. I need a goddamn drink. Unwrapping a sleeping Holly’s arms from around me, I make my way out of the bedroom and into the lounge area of the jet. As soon as the seat belt signs dimmed, I brought Holly back into the bedroom and closed ourselves off from everyone. I’m not in the mood to be around anyone else. I’ve been waking Holly every two hours like the doctor instructed, and every time I do, I feel like shit all over again. She blinks back at me, confused. Scared. And then starts crying again. It takes her at least an hour to get back to sleep.
And here I am, stuck with that fucker’s words in my fucking head, while Holly is suffering because I took her somewhere I never should have. I’ll never forgive myself for bringing her to Donatello’s estate. I don’t expect her to ever forgive me either.
Neo looks up as I grab a bottle and a glass from the bar. He stands, walks over, and follows suit—pouring himself one as well. “How’s she doing?” he asks, looking towards the back of the jet where Holly’s tucked away in bed.
“Fucked up beyond repair,” I say, tipping my head back. Is she really beyond repair? Have I managed to break the one good fucking thing I had in my life?
“She’s tougher than you’re giving her credit for, T. She will come out on the other side of this.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.” Another shot of whiskey slides down my throat. I don’t even feel the burn I was seeking.
“How are you doing? You know, it might not be true… Your mother could have been talking shit, or maybe he’s just mistaken—heard her wrong.”
We haven’t spoken about what Donatello said. Neo was there, witnessed the whole damn thing. If it’s true, that makes my cousin the rightful heir to the Valentino Empire. If it’s true, I’m not even a Valentino. The one thing I’ve always been certain of. The thing that has literally shaped my entire existence—that’s been an indisputable fact since the moment I was born. I was the Valentino heir. I would lead the family one day. My father drilled it into me every chance he got. I don’t answer Neo, and instead, I take the bottle and the glass back to the bedroom.
My mother stops me along the way. “Theo, how’s Holly?” I glare at her, and she flinches back from my stare. Good. I’d never actually hurt her, but fuck, I’m pissed as hell at the woman right now. Her face pales and her hands shake. “You know? He told you, didn’t he?”
I see the truth in her eyes, the worry etched across her face. “The real question is: why the fuck didn’t you?” I storm past her seat. I can’t deal with her right now. I quietly enter the bedroom. Holly is still sleeping. Just as I’m about to shut the door, Neo shoves his way into the room. “If you wake her up, I’ll fucking shoot you,” I hiss at him.
He glances at the bed, and I see something unreadable flash in his eyes. “Fine, but you are not going through this shit alone, T. You wanna hit someone, wanna take your anger out on someone, then hit me. I can take it.”
“What I want is for you to get my fucking mother off this plane, in a town car, and far away from me. I can’t look at her right now. I have to take care of Holly. I can’t handle this shit, the implications, any of it… On top of that, my wife comes first.”
“She’s tough, T. Much tougher than you think. She will get through this. What exactly is your plan when we get back to New York? Pretty sure the other families know by now… Word’s probably gotten out that their little scheme—whatever the fuck that shit was all about—didn’t go as planned.”
“I don’t give a fuck about their fucking plans. They sent me on a suicide mission; you and I both know that. The question is why?”
“You think they knew? About Donatello? They could have felt threatened, with you being the crowned prince and all now.”
“I’m not the fucking crowned prince. Get that shit out of your head. I don’t want anything to do with Donatello. My father died. You were there; you saw it.”
“What’s going on?” Holly’s groggy voice has both of us snapping our heads back. I walk over to the bed and sit next to her, pulling her into my arms.
“Nothing, dolcezza. Go back to sleep.” I kiss her forehead, on the side that isn’t swollen. Seeing her like this makes me want to shed more fucking blood.
“Holly, how you holding up?” Neo asks.
“I’m… okay.” Her words don’t offer either of us any reassurance. It’s obvious that she’s anything but okay right now.
“Right, I’ll be out there. We’re landing soon, so… you’ll have to come and belt up. You know where to find me if you need anything, Hol.” With that, Neo walks back out into the main cabin, sending one final glare in my direction. What the fuck I did to piss him off, I have no fucking idea. Nor do I care at the moment.
“How are you really doing, Holly?” I tilt her face up so I can see her eyes.
“I don’t know. I feel… numb. But I just… I killed someone, T. I should feel something. Remorse, regret, sadness, anger. I don’t know, but I just feel numb.”
“Never regret fighting for yourself, Holly. You didn’t kill anyone. You put down a fucking monster. That’s not taking a life; that’s sending a demon back to hell. What you did was community service, really.”
“Maybe,” she says pensively. “Are you going to leave again? I mean, when we get back home, what’s going to happen?”
“I’m never leaving again, dolcezza. When we get home, we are going to lock ourselves in our apartment and not come out for weeks. I want uninterrupted time with you, just me and you.”
“I like that plan.”
“Come on, let’s go sit down so we can get to it sooner.”
The moment I enter the foyer of the penthouse, I smell it. Rotting flesh. I pull Holly behind me and have my gun drawn within seconds. Neo stands in front of me, attempting to push me backwards. “Get her out of here, T.” He shoves against my chest. “NOW!” he screams when I don’t move.
“What’s happening? What’s that smell?” Holly asks, trying to step around me.
“Neo, take her to the car. I’ll be down in a minute.” I throw the order at him, intent on finding out what’s waiting for me.
“No, both of you stop talking about me like I’m not even here. I’m not going anywhere without you, T. So either you're coming to the car, or I’m staying right here.” Holly manages to make her way beside me, somehow twisting out of the grip I had on her arm.
“Stay he
I’m torn over what to do. I want to follow him to see what the fuck is going on. But I also don’t want to leave Holly behind, or let her see whatever’s waiting for me just around the corner. And I know if I follow Neo, there is no way Holly won’t follow me. And the last thing I want is to expose her to whatever hell is mere feet away. I should turn around, get her the fuck out, and take her to one of the family’s safe houses.
“What the fuck?!” My cousin’s voice travels down the hall. Instinct has me running towards him. I stop as soon as I cross the threshold into the bedroom. I see a pale-faced Neo… and the scene that’s made him look like he’s about to lose his breakfast.
On the bed, on our fucking marital bed, are two human carcasses. A male and a female. They’ve been here a while, the decomposing bodies a clear representation of me and my wife. Whoever did this wanted them to look like us. The woman’s a redhead… fuck! They wanted us to find this. They wanted me to know they could get to us. Get to her.
The bastards sent a fucking message, and it’s been received. Loud and fucking clear. They want a war. A war I’m going to fucking win.
“Oh my God!” Holly’s gasp shakes me from my internal rage.
“Dolcezza, it’s okay. It’ll be okay.” I wrap my arms around her and bury her head into my chest. I don’t want her looking at this. I don’t want her anywhere near this fucking shit. Not anymore. And not again.
Chapter Two
It’s been two weeks since we landed back in New York. Nothing is the same though. I’m not the same person I was when I left. Theo’s not the same person either; he’s turning into someone I don’t recognize. Then again, so am I.
I can barely close my eyes without reliving the moment when I took someone else’s life. Out of anger. Revenge. I could have let Donatello handle it. I could have run out of the room and not looked back. But, instead, everything in me wanted to hurt that man. I wanted to make sure he’d never hurt another woman like he wanted to hurt me, like he did hurt me. I don’t regret what I did. No, my nightmares are not about killing him. They’re about what would have happened if Donatello hadn’t come into the room to help me… if he hadn’t intervened. Add that to the scene welcoming us back to the city… The bodies. The stench. It all just won’t leave my head. I’m jumping at every damn shadow. Every sound.
As much as I’m trying hard not to show how affected I am, Theo sees straight through my façade. He’s said so… countless times. But he’s stressed; he’s barely getting three hours of sleep a night. I know something is going on. I can feel the tension in the air. I’ve overheard conversations between my husband and Neo. Things I’m not meant to hear. A war is coming. But every time I ask either of them about it, I get the same vague answers: It’s nothing for you to worry about… We have everything under control…
If it were nothing for me to worry about, then why are there so many more men in suits roaming around us than I’ve ever seen before? Armed men. And why has my husband had a distant, detached look in his eyes for the last two weeks?
I want to help him. I want to do whatever I can to make this situation better, though I’m pretty sure I’ve just been making it worse. I’m something else he has to protect and look after. If I wasn’t here, would it be easier for him to fight whatever this is? Reilly has been begging me to return home to Sydney. She doesn’t know what’s going on here. I haven’t told her what happened in Italy, but she’s aware something happened. She knows I’m not okay right now.
I’ve considered taking her up on her offer, but every time the thought comes to mind, I immediately dismiss it. The idea of being that far away from T again sends an indescribable ache to my heart. Would my life be easier if I went back to Sydney? Yes. Would I be safer back in Sydney? Also, yes. But I wouldn’t be living. I would rather stay, stand beside my husband, and fight through the depths of hell before ever going on without him. Because a life without T would not be a life at all.
It’s literally my worst nightmare. I know because I lived it, just a few weeks ago when I thought Theo had been blown up in that house. For three days, he let me think he was dead… and for what? Nothing has been resolved from what I can tell. He still has enemies coming after him. After me. Everything we’ve been through over the last couple of months is only the kindling on the fire that’s about to blaze through this town.
I need to find a way to get T to be present. Here. With me. To get him to confide in me, let me take away some of his worries and help him. We’re a team. We should be united in this fight. This isn’t his war. It’s ours.
With renewed determination, I jump out of bed. A bed I’ve been lying around in for weeks, not doing much of anything at all. I head into the bathroom first. I need to handle some much-needed maintenance. When I look in the mirror, it’s no wonder T has been treating me with kid gloves. I look like a mess. I don’t even recognize the woman staring back at me.
After spending an hour in the shower, I blow dry my hair out, and for the first time in two weeks, I put some makeup on. Well, I apply some mascara and lip gloss, but that counts. Now, to find something to wear. I want Theo to notice me. And not for being the frightened, scared, helpless woman I’ve been for two weeks. I want him to look at me with desire. I want him to want me again. I’m about to pull a dress off the hanger when a thought comes to mind. What if he doesn’t want me anymore? After what happened in Italy, does he see me as damaged goods?
I collapse to the floor of the closet. I’m in a house I don’t know. Surrounded by people I don’t know. Waiting for a threat I know nothing about… After Sonnie, I’ve avoided getting close to any of the men working for Theo. It’s easier to not learn their names, to not know if they have families who will miss them when they take another bullet meant for me. We haven’t even had a funeral for him yet. Where is his body? Were his loved ones told what happened to him?
I bury my head into my knees, my tears falling freely down my cheeks. So much for my five minutes of bravado. My hands pull at the ends of my hair. I feel like I’m losing my damn mind. My thoughts are jumping all over the place, and there’s an endless list of questions left unanswered because I can’t bring myself to ask them.
I couldn’t tell you if I was sitting in the closet for a minute or an hour. The instant I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me and tug me from the floor, I was drawn out of my thoughts. I buried my head into his chest and inhaled the familiar musky scent.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you, dolcezza.” His voice is hoarse, choked up with emotion.
“But do you still want me?” And I instantly regret letting the question slip from my lips.
T pulls back, lifting my chin until my watery eyes meet his dark ones. “There isn’t a second that goes by that I don’t want you, Holly. You are my whole fucking world.” He sighs and then leans in and kisses my forehead while smoothing my hair back. “I know I’ve been… preoccupied since we’ve returned. But I never want you to question your place here. I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel unwanted. I fucking want you. If I could get away with having you handcuffed to me 24/7, I fucking would.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” I whisper. What was I thinking? I’m meant to be helping him, not adding to the burden he’s already carrying.
