Merciless devil sons of.., p.1
Merciless Devil (Sons of Valentino #2), page 1
MERCILESS DEVIL
SONS OF VALENTINO, BOOK 2
KYLIE KENT
For Assunta
May every dark alley lead you to a Matteo of your own.
xx
CONTENTS
Untitled
Please Stalk Me
Foreword
1. Savannah
2. Matteo
3. Savannah
4. Matteo
5. Savvy
6. Matteo
7. Savvy
8. Matteo
9. Savvy
10. Matteo
11. Savvy
12. Matteo
13. Savvy
14. Matteo
15. Savvy
16. Matteo
17. Savvy
18. Matteo
19. Savvy
20. Matteo
21. Savvy
22. Matteo
23. Savvy
24. Matteo
25. Savvy
26. Matteo
27. Savvy
28. Matteo
29. Savvy
30. Matteo
Epilogue
Epilogue
Soulless Devil (Excerpt)
Also by Kylie Kent
Acknowledgments
About Kylie Kent
Copyright ©2023 by Kylie Kent
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-922816-40-5
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-922816-55-9
Cover illustration by
Sammi Bee Designs
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.
PLEASE STALK ME
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Blurb
Savannah
Have you ever loved someone so much it physically hurts?
That’s how much I love my best friend, Matteo Valentino.
It’s also the reason I’ve done everything I can to make sure he’s firmly rooted in the friend zone.
I’d rather keep him at a distance than ruin what we have by giving into the attraction constantly sparking between us.
That is until I wake up next to him with no recollection of how I ended up in his bed.
Matteo
When you’re the prince of one of the five families of the New York mafia, nothing is off-limits.
That is until the one thing you want is your best friend.
Savannah St. James is everything light in my dark world.
She’s strong, fierce, and more loyal than any made man I know.
She’s also my best friend, and that makes her untouchable.
However, when I wake up next to her in Vegas after a night out together, I’m not about to let her go as easily as she may think.
She’ll find out just how merciless I am when it comes to keeping what I want.
And what I want, what I’ve always wanted, is her.
1
SAVANNAH
I have found the one whom my soul loves.
— Song of Solomon 3:4
Some people spend their whole lives searching for their soul mate, their one true love. I found mine when I was only seven years old. I didn’t know it at the time of course; all I knew was that the boy who stuck to my side like a shadow was different.
He wasn’t like the other kids our age and I thought he was just silly. He liked to make people laugh. As we got older, I discovered that there was a lot more to Matteo Valentino. A lot more than he showed most people. And so much more than the happy, carefree persona he presented to the world. That version was all an act, an act the man deserves a damned Oscar for, because he plays that role so damn well sometimes even I forget it’s fake.
Until we’re alone, and the mask comes down. He never has to pretend with me, because no matter what, I will always have his back. We’re more than just best friends; we are soul mates. Although I think the only one who had fantasies of us growing old together, getting married, and having babies… was me. Matteo is not the settling down kind of guy.
Even if he were, he’s not the kind of guy I want to settle down with. The life he leads… well, let’s just say I understand why my daddy tried to keep us apart when we were in grade school. It didn’t work, obviously. Matteo and I have always been inseparable. A lot of people have tried to come between us, but that boy is nothing if not loyal.
I knew the extent of his loyalty when Johnny Valerie kissed me in the first grade. I tried to push him away but I wasn’t strong enough. Matteo came up and tackled him, and seconds later, Matteo’s older brother Theo was on top of Johnny too. The kid was left crying and bleeding on the ground. Without even a backwards glance, Matteo took my hand, walked me up to the corner store, and bought me a bag of candy.
He sat down with me and said, “Don’t cry, Savvy. I’ll never ever let anyone hurt you. I promise.”
I shake my head, clearing the thoughts of the past from my mind. Yes, I have found the one my soul loves, but it’s not someone who will ever be anything more than my best friend. Not that we haven’t ventured down a path of being more. We have. We were fifteen when we made a pact to lose our virginities to each other. It was a one-time thing, clumsy and awkward. And after the fact, I knew Matteo had the power to absolutely destroy me, break my heart into a million pieces, leaving nothing but an empty cavity in its spot. So to prevent that from happening, I ran.
I ran before he woke up the next morning. Ignored his calls all day until he broke into my bedroom window that night and forced me to talk to him. I made up some bullshit about how we had to stay friends and nothing more. Ever since then, I’ve pushed down my feelings for Matteo. I’ve told myself, and everyone else within earshot, that we are nothing more than friends. Best friends.
Judging by the six-foot-two solid mass of muscle currently sleeping in my guest bed while reeking of a brewery, we’re also best friends who really shouldn’t be sharing spare apartment keys. Those were my nice sheets, damn it. I’m probably going to have to burn them. If it wasn’t for the empty bottle of Jack Daniels, the contents of which spilled onto the mattress, I could have salvaged the linens.
I kick my foot out, aiming for the leg that’s hanging off the end of the bed. “Matteo Valentino, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I shout way louder than needed.
He groans, bringing a hand up to his face while squinting one eye open. He looks at me. “You’re really pretty, Savvy.” He closes his eye again. “But, fuck, why do you have to yell so goddamn early in the morning?”
“You’re sweet talking is not getting you out of trouble, Matteo. You owe me a new bed.” I walk out of the room, leaving him there to drown in whatever misery he’s gotten himself into this go-around.
I didn’t see any blood, no open wounds, so he’s fine. The first time he turned up to my house with a bullet lodged in his thigh, I freaked out. I wanted to call his dad and demand answers as to why he’d let his fourteen year old son get shot. I was strongly advised not to yell at the infamous mafia Don by Matteo and his brother Theo, who had followed him to my house.
Their warnings should have been enough to stop me; they weren’t. I dialed Matteo’s father and yelled at him, told him exactly what I thought. Within minutes, a dozen blacked-out SUVs pulled up on my street and Matteo’s dad was storming inside.
Even with a bullet embedded in his leg, Matteo jumped up and threw himself in front of me, preparing to fight his own father to keep me safe. He didn’t need to though. Mr. Valentino just instructed all of us to get in the car, strongly advising us to call him first next time. He thanked me and said I’d make a better made man than anyone else he knew.
I don’t think he realized just how afraid I was that night. Not for my own safety. No, I was terrified of losing Matteo. And that fear’s never left me.
Even now, as I make coffee for the drunken idiot and contemplate how I’m going to make him pay for ruining yet another one of my mattresses, I wouldn’t change a thing. I would rather him turn up at all hours of the night and sleep off his demons than be anywhere else. At least, when he’s here, I don’t have to wonder if he’s still alive. I don’t have to pray to God, asking him not to take my person.
Matteo walks into the kitchen and wraps an arm around my shoulders. I duck and pull away from him. “At least shower your whores off before you touch me with those hands of yours.” I screw up m y face.
Matteo smirks, grabbing the outstretched coffee mug I’m offering him. It takes everything I have not to ogle him, not to stare at his bare chest and abs, as he stands in my kitchen in nothing but a pair of slacks with the top button undone.
“So what I’m hearing, Savvy, is that if I go shower real quick, you’ll let me touch you with these hands of mine? What would Dr. Jerk think of that?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Not likely. But if you shower, I’ll let you stand in my kitchen a little longer. As for Dr. Jerk, he won’t be coming around anymore.” I open the refrigerator, not because I’m hungry but because I need to distract myself.
“Why? What’d he do?” he asks a little too casually, although there’s a hint of his usual I’ll kill him if he hurt you vibe in his tone.
“He didn’t do anything. We just weren’t compatible.” I shrug. I can’t exactly tell him that I broke it off with the hot doctor because the man just didn’t light a candle to my best friend, that no one seems to be able to.
“You know you want me to touch you, Sav. Admit it. You know I can bring you all kinds of pleasure... the likes of which you’ve never seen before.”
Shutting the fridge, I turn and glare at him. “Trust me, Matteo, I’ve seen it. I remember it, and it really wasn’t that good.” I walk out of the kitchen and head to my bedroom. I need to get ready for the day. I have to get to work.
“Come on, Sav, we were fucking fifteen. I’ve gotten a lot fucking better since then. I demand a do-over.” Matteo stands in my doorway, leaning against the frame.
“Not happening. I gotta go to work, Matteo, and you need to—I don’t know—do whatever it is you do during the day.”
“It’s not daytime yet, Savvy. It’s still the middle of the fucking night. I’m going back to bed. Wake me up when you get home.”
Before I can remind him that he has his own home and bed to go to, he’s gone. And I hear the door to the guest room slam behind him.
2
MATTEO
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
“Argh!” Really, again. My head pounds in rhythm with the banging currently sounding on my front door. I’m about to shoot whoever the fuck thinks knocking on my door at this hour of the morning is a good idea.
If I wanted to fucking talk to anyone, I’d be talking to them. Not trying to get some goddamn sleep. It’s not until I pull myself up and out of bed that I look around and realize I’m not even in my own house. I’m at Savvy’s place. In her guest room and not her actual bed, unfortunately. A vague conversation about owing her a new mattress comes to mind, and as I look around, I can see why. There’s an empty bottle of Jack beside me, its contents pooling in each of the divots in the pillow-top.
The banging on the door intensifies. “Fuck off!” I yell as I throw my shirt over my head, pick up my piece, and check that the chamber is loaded. I don’t know who the fuck is banging on Savvy’s door but they’re about to get a piece of my goddamn mind.
My head aches. It feels like little jackhammers are digging into my brain as I make my way to the foyer. Without bothering to look through the peephole, I pull the door open and aim my pistol at the fucker standing with his fist raised midair, as if he’s ready to knock again.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I growl at my older brother. I don’t lower my gun. I should. We both know I’m not going to fucking shoot him. Maybe one in the shoulder would be okay though. He wouldn’t be able to pound on my fucking door with a slung arm.
“Put that away.” Theo runs his eyes up and down my disheveled frame with a look of pure disgust on his face. “And put some fucking shoes on. We got work to do.”
As much as I want to tell him to go and fuck himself and whatever jobs he deems more urgent than my much-needed sleep, I don’t.
Why?
Because like Sun Tzu says: when you know when to fight and not fight, you’ll always win. Judging by my brother’s face right now, I know it’s time to lower my weapon. Both literally and metaphorically.
My older brother’s always been a tense bastard. I’m sure if you Googled the words grouchy asshole, you’d see a photo of Theo Valentino III right beside the definition.
Yep, you heard that right, the third. The first Theo Valentino was my grandfather (my dad’s stepfather). I never met the man, but I’ve heard stories of the unforgiving, ruthless mafia Don. The second Theo Valentino is the current reigning boss of the Valentino family, AKA Pops. My old man. And, well, let’s just say I’m his favorite son and even I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side.
Then we have my eldest brother, Theo Junior—even though he’s actually the third to carry the name—next in line for the throne so to speak. I forgive a lot of his assholeness for that reason. He has a lot to live up to when he takes over the family businesses. Definitely not a job I envy.
The way I see things, Theo’s the heir and I’m the spare. And I’m fucking happy to avoid the title. Not once have I had my eye on the position my brother holds. If anything, I’ve pitied him for the path he’s destined to walk. I might be the second son, but one day I know I’ll be in Theo’s current position, the underboss. However, that’s still a long way from heading the entire family.
I get to have somewhat of a normal life. I was able to choose what I wanted to study in college. Theo didn’t have that luxury; it was always going to be an MBA degree for him. As many illegitimate businesses and dealings we dabble in, we have just as many (if not more) legitimate businesses that need a competent CEO running them. That job falls to my father and Theo.
Once I’ve shoved my feet into my boots, I walk back out to find Theo looking around Savvy’s living room. “Still haven’t upgraded from the guest room, I see.” He laughs.
“Fuck you,” I growl. I don’t bother giving him any other response as I stomp out the door. He knows that I plan to marry Savvy. I’ve always known she’s the girl I’ll spend the rest of my life with. And that life will begin just as soon as I can convince her of the same. Convince her we belong together. Something I’ll be able to do the moment I finally get inside her head and figure out what her hold-ups about us are.
As well as we know each other, that is the one thing I’ve never been able to dissect.
I will marry her though. I’ll make it my mission to ensure she’s the happiest wife to have ever existed. It won’t be anytime soon, but it’ll happen. I feel it in my soul.
“What are we doing here?” I ask, peering out the car window at the rundown warehouse. A warehouse I know all too well. It’s the one we use when we’re looking to get our hands dirty.
“Sammy Donaldson,” Theo says, and the name alone tells me what I’m about to do.
“Fucking Sammy D, you couldn’t have warned me? These are my fucking good jeans, Theo.” I look down at my two-thousand-dollar pants, which are about to be covered in fucking blood before I have to burn them. Such a fucking waste of designer clothes.
“I’m sorry. Would you like me to wait so you can go and get yourself a mani-pedi too? Oh, and while you’re there, might as well look for your fucking balls.” Theo jumps out of the car.
