Mountain of the Gods: The Syndicate Duets, #2

By M.E. Clayton

What's worse than sacrificing yourself for your loved ones?

 

Finding out that your sacrifice is all for nothing.

 

Aurelio

As the consigliere to the Sartori Crime Family, Aurelio Provenza wanted for nothing. Without any parents or siblings, it'd been an easy decision to join the Sartoris, even as young as he'd been. With a determination that seeped into his bones, he'd risen in the ranks quickly, and not only was he the voice of reason for the entire family, but the Sartori Boss was also his best friend.

 

With the world at his fingertips, Aurelio can't see how things could get any better. The organization was flourishing under their new reign, and there was even an unofficial understanding of peace with the other organizations at the moment. While some might argue that the only thing missing from his life was a wife and kids, he didn't see things that way. In fact, he'd be perfectly happy if he never had either.

 

Savina

As the only child of Paulo Valentine, Savina Valentine had been raised to respect what it meant to be in the Mafia and to take her rightful place in that world when the time came. Surrounded by men in suits her entire life, she'd known exactly what would be expected of her, and she'd also known enough to recognize that she'd wanted more from life, no matter the cost.

 

With the world thinking that she had it made, Savina wonders how she had ever let things get this far. To the outside world, she was a successful real estate agent, lived in a luxurious brownstone, and was dating the son of a very prominent congressman, making future possibilities endless for the power couple. In fact, looking at her life, she'd be a fool to complain about anything.

 

When the truth isn't at all what it seems…

Just as Aurelio believes that Savina Valentine is out of his life for good, she shows up unexpectedly, seeking him out, but he finds that he really couldn't care less why. After all, no matter how much he might still love her, he has no plans on experiencing heartbreak for a second time in his life.

 

Just as Savina believes that there might be some hope, she realizes that the Aurelio Provenza that she used to know no longer exists, and in his place is a complete stranger. After all, no matter how much she might deserve it, she still prays for a mercy that will probably never be granted.

 

When Aurelio is ordered to find out why Savina is back in Sartori territory, the truth is more shocking than he could have ever expected. After uncovering secrets upon secrets, they both find themselves in a position where they'll either have to fight or walk away for good, and both options aren't good.

 

Note: This book contains adult situations, adult language, sexually explicit encounters, violence, sexual assault, degradation, domestic violence, guns, graphic violence, mention of drugs and prostitution, murder, and cheating (not of main characters). If sensitive to any of the aforementioned issues, please do not purchase.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.E. Clayton
• Release date: Jul 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224475056

M.E. Clayton

M.E. Clayton works fulltime and writes as a hobby only. She is also an avid reader and Pinterest addict. When she's not working, reading, writing, or on Pinterest, she is spending time with her family and friends, or her dog, Boy, or her cat, Seatbelt. She lives in California with her husband and enjoys doing nothing but reading. Seriously. She does nothing but read. However, that's how she likes it.

Book preview

Author’s Note

Just a couple of things before I let you go and get your read on. While I am doing my best to work with better editing and proofreading software, all my books are solo, independent works. I write my books, proofread my books, edit my books, create the covers, etc. I have one beta who gives me feedback on my stories, but other than that, all my books are independent projects.

That being said, I apologize, in advance, for the typos, grammar inconsistencies, or any other mistakes I may make. Since writing is strictly a hobby for me, I haven’t looked into commitments in regard to publishers, editors, etc. My hope is that my stories are enjoyable enough that a few mistakes, here and there, can be overlooked. However, if you’re a stickler for grammar, my books are probably not for you.

Also, I am an avid reader-I mean an AVID reader. I love to read above any other hobby. However, the only downside to my reading obsession is when I fall in love with a series, but I have to wait for the additional books to come out. So, because I feel that disappointment down to my soul, when I started publishing my works, I vowed to publish all books in my series all at once. No waiting here...LOL. Now, the exception to that will be if enough readers request additional stories based off the standalone, such as in Facing the Enemy. At that point, if I decide to move forward with a requested series, I will make sure all additional books are available all at once. As much as this is a hobby for me, I am writing these books for all of you, as well as myself.

Thank you for everything!

Contact Me

I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from you! Now, unfortunately, because I do have a full-time job and one part-time job, plus a family that I love spending time with, I’m not very active on social media. However, for the sites I do participate in, here are my social media coordinates:

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Dedication

For everyone that likes their alphas with a little blood on their hands.

Playlist

A Sorta Fairytale – Tori Amos

Runaway – Live

The Girl Can’t Help It – Journey

Don’t Cry – Guns & Roses

Radio Loud – Tori Wolf

I Shall Believe – Sheryl Crow

Whatever It Takes – Lifehouse

Stay the Night – Benjamin Orr

How Long – Hinder

High Enough – Damn Yankees

Prologue

Yeah, suck it, sweetheart, I grunted as the pretty blonde did her best to swallow all eight-plus inches of my dick. Show me how much you like that cock.

If women wondered why prostitution was a multi-million-dollar industry, it was because of the woman that was currently on her knees, choking on my stiff rod, not expecting flowers tomorrow. When it was all said and done, us men were simple creatures, and a woman that didn’t mind being treated like a slut in bed was about as simple as it got. While whores might be looked down upon, they held more power than the world gave them credit for. Too bad they were either too strung out or dumb to recognize just how influential they really were.

As my hand fisted in her sun-kissed locks, I fucked her face, knowing that life really couldn’t get much better than this. I was a thirty-five-year-old millionaire and the Sartori Family’s consigliere to Nero Sartori. Though Marco Sartori still liked to puff his chest out as if he were still the Boss of the Sartori Crime Family, everyone knew better. Nero ran shit, and not only was I his most trusted family member, but I was also his best friend. I had the world at my fingertips, and my dick inside a beautiful woman’s mouth was exactly how I liked to spend my very limited free time.

I stared at the way that tears were streaming down her face, her mascara running, and how her lipstick was already smeared to shit. Sonny was a regular at one of our clubs, and though I usually didn’t mess with chicks that I might have to run into again later, it’d been a while. So, when she had offered to put a smile on my face, I hadn’t put up much of a fight.

Her blue eyes looked up at me from on her knees, and even as pretty as she looked down there, I needed pussy. Yeah, her mouth was its own different kind of paradise, but I knew that I was going to be busy for the next three weeks, so I needed more than just a blowjob, spectacular though it may be.

I pulled my dick out of her mouth, and she just blinked up at me patiently, waiting for my next instructions. We were outside, her obediently following me through the kitchens until we’d gotten to the alley. On our way through the club, I had pulled Swifty (the man had no patience when killing someone) to follow us, so that he could be my lookout while Sonny did her thing. The last thing that I’d ever do was get caught slipping with my dick out.

Lift that skirt up for me, sweetheart, I ordered as I was already pulling the condom from my wallet.

Sure thing, Aurelio, she replied eagerly.

Looking around, I found a stack of boxes and crates that didn’t exactly look sturdy, but Sonny probably weighed ninety pounds soaking wet. Though it wouldn’t be able to hold up my weight, I wasn’t going to be the one bent over the mess.

As soon as Sonny’s skirt was up, I positioned her over the crates, then slid her panties to the side, not wasting any time. I rammed my latex-covered cock in her waiting pussy, and she was wet enough for it to be pleasurable for the both of us.

Oh, God...Aurelio... she moaned, not caring that Swifty could see and hear her. Yeah, fuck me just like that...

Since I wasn’t in the privacy of my own home, I didn’t dare close my eyes, even as good as her pussy felt wrapped around my cock. Even with Swifty keeping watch, nothing in this life was guaranteed, something that I knew very well.

Twenty minutes later, Sonny was screaming out her second orgasm, and I was finally done with the woman. After emptying my pent-up frustrations inside the condom, I pulled out of her, then disposed of the latex, thankful to be near a trash bin.

Thanks, Sonny, I said as I walked back over to make sure that she was okay.

Is that all I’m getting tonight? she asked coyly, though it was too late to act shy now.

I’m sure Swifty can help you out if you need more, sweetheart, I answered. I’ve got other shit to do.

Her blue eyes glanced behind me. Do you think he’ll mind?

Wait here, I told her as I tossed her a wink.

Okay, she murmured quietly.

Walking towards Swifty, I said, She needs more dick, so I told her you were up for it.

Did you cum inside her? I shook my head. Then that works for me.

I thought about how I really had it made as I walked away from the two lovebirds.

Chapter 1

Aurelio~

It was three in the morning, and I was just barely getting home, though that was hardly anything new. Since I’d first been assigned as Nero Sartori’s personal bodyguard fifteen years ago, I couldn’t remember ever sleeping a solid eight hours if I hadn’t been up for three days prior. I’d only been twenty when I’d been assigned to guard the eldest Sartori son, and I’d known that even the smallest mistake would be my life.

The Sartori Crime Family was the largest crime family in Port Townsend, Maryland, and they owned the entire coastline, making our import/export endeavors very successful ones. Once upon a time, Port Townsend had been divided by five families, but the city was now controlled by only three organizations, and our power had reached all corners of the state, making Maryland ours entirely.

Last year, Nero had killed Emil Shultz and every member of his syndicate for kidnapping and shooting his wife, and though the Germans hadn’t controlled much being boxed in by us and the Irish as they’d been, Emil had still had enough to divide what’d been left between us, the Irish, and the Russians. The only other family that’d had skin in the game had been the Milanos, but when Nero had married Kasen, that union had united the families, making our numbers larger than any other syndicate by almost a thousand.

The Russians were the second largest family, but only outnumbering the Irish by a couple of hundred, which could easily be sacrificed on a bad night. While we had the entire coastline and half the southern state, the Irish had the northern part of Maryland, though some of their territory bled into the westside of the state. The Russians had the rest, mostly the central territories and what was left of the southern border that we didn’t own. Right now, everyone was behaving rather civilly, but that could be because everyone was still leery about Nero having killed an entire bloodline. At only thirty-two, he’d shown everyone exactly what he was capable of, and for the moment, everyone was paying attention.

Granted, all anyone had to do was the math to recognize that things were fine just as they were. Since the Russians outnumbered the Irish, the Irish would never get into bed with them. Not only would we still outnumber both syndicates, if by some miracle they could eradicate us, Avgust Kotov would turn on Declan O’Brien, and Declan knew that.

There was also the fact that Declan O’Brien, the head of the Irish, had a thing for Kasen. While it wasn’t a romantic interest-or he’d be dead already-The O’Brien held the Sartori wife in very high regard, and whatever respect that he had for her, it was genuine, much to Nero’s irritation.

Even before the bloodbath that had taken out the Schultz family, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that hadn’t been or wasn’t impressed by Nero Sartori. The man was in a different league than those around him, and as much as it bothered Marco Sartori, even he couldn’t deny the truth about his eldest son. I could see it when I’d first been assigned to Nero, and there was no mistaking it now.

Nevertheless, I still owed some thanks to Marco Sartori for the life that I had now. I’d been living on the streets for about three years when five guys had tried to jump me for the nothingness that I’d had in my pockets, and though it’d been five on one, I had ended up killing every last one of those sonsofbitches. While not ideal, I’d had the perfect setup for self-defense, but it hadn’t come to that. As chance would have it, Marco had been doing some business in the same back alley, and he’d been so impressed that he had made the bodies disappear, then had recruited me to become a part of the Sartori family.

Now, while I’d known who he was, it’d been a no-brainer. My parents had been junkies, and I had run away from home at the age of thirteen because the dangers on the streets had been no less damaging than what’d been going on in my parents’ house. Arturo and Anna Provenza hadn’t ever had any business having kids, and I could only thank God that they’d stopped with me. Well, that I knew of. The day that I had taken off, I had hit the pavement running and had never looked back. If they weren’t already dead, they were still dead to me and that was good enough as far as I was concerned.

Luckily for me, I’d always been a big kid, so lots of people had left me alone during those early years. It hadn’t been until I’d joined Marco Sartori that I had learned how to hone my talents, and it wasn’t bragging when it was the truth, and the truth was simple; I was the best shot in the entire Sartori Syndicate. Not only was I built like a warrior with the stamina of a racehorse, but I knew guns better than most military experts. I was the perfect killing machine, and I’d been enhancing each of my skills for five years before Marco had assigned me to Nero as Nero’s eighteenth birthday present. It’d meant that Nero could finally get his hands bloodier than normal, and the rest was history.

Now, I wasn’t sure when we’d gone from bodyguard and charge to best friends, but we’d had, and my loyalty to Nero superseded everything else, including my loyalty to his father. By all accounts, Marco was owed that level of dedication, but Nero had more integrity than Marco did, and that mattered in the world that we lived in. Trust was everything, and Marco was too self-absorbed and vain to be trusted to that degree. Elio was a lot like him, but thankfully, Nero hadn’t let any of that shit rub off on him.

Nonetheless, despite our friendship, in public, I treated Nero with the respect that he deserved and had earned. I spoke to him like he was the Sartori Boss, and I only got flippant when we were in private. In private, I could speak to Nero however I wanted, and he appreciated my honesty enough to allow that kind of leeway. Whenever I called him Boss, it was usually to knock him down a peg or two when he was getting stubborn. Granted, the only thing that he was ever unreasonable about was his wife, but still.

I started undressing as I thought about this past year. Nero marrying Kasen had changed a lot of things, and when she’d gotten pregnant, that had really turned things upside down. Her sister, Fia, had moved to Italy to help get over a miscarriage and lost love, and being their mother’s favorite, Sonya Milano had gone with her, and they were still there, which Renzo Milano didn’t mind. Kasen was his favorite, and he’d never hid that fact from any of the other women in his family. Still, it was rumored that Fia had met someone and was healing, and considering that she’d wanted to kill Nero at one point for costing her the love of her life, I’d say that her finally moving on was a good thing.

There was also the fact that Elio had gotten married out of duty, and just like the spoiled brat that he was, he didn’t bother with his wife much. Yeah, he’d grown some as far as the family business was concerned, but he was still young minded and entitled, and it showed. As far as I knew, only two months into their marriage, Elio and his wife, Condie, pretty much stayed out of each other’s way. I’d even seen Elio with some redhead at The Den two weeks ago.

After I was done undressing, I got in the shower, then turned the water on to damn near scalding. It was a bad habit that I hadn’t been able to shake, even though I’d been off the streets since I was fifteen. However, those three years of homelessness were never far from my mind. I knew what it felt like to have nothing, and that’s why Nero said I didn’t fear death, and he wasn’t necessarily wrong. I mean, when a man didn’t have anything to lose, what was there to be afraid of?

At any rate, hot showers were my guilty pleasures. I’d never forgotten what it’d felt like to go days without bathing, brushing my teeth, or even combing my hair. It was one thing to feel hunger, but it was quite another to feel dirty. As despicable as my parents had been, we’d still had running water, electricity, and heat. It’d never been a secret how they’d been able to pay for those luxuries, but they’d had, and anyone that didn’t believe that water, electricity, and heat were luxuries was a stupid sonofabitch. When your wellbeing was at the mercy of your parents, you’d be surprised at how much in life really was a luxury versus a necessity.

Once I felt clean enough, I dried off, then walked into my bedroom with a towel wrapped around my waist. I lived in an upscale condominium building with the entire top floor all mine. The building was a Sartori building, and only members of the family were allowed to live here. The structure was ten-stories high, and only Marco, Elio, Nero, Kasen, and I knew that the ninth story held a private arsenal. The rest of the place had four condos on each floor, the first floor being the lobby and mailboxes. However, you needed a code to get past the first floor, and the first floor was littered with cameras everywhere. In fact, every Sartori building had massive amounts of security, and even though I didn’t sleep much when I did, it was still good to know that my home was protected as much as possible.

Heading towards the dresser, there was no denying that the tenth floor was too big for just one person, but the penthouse had been designed around my personal tastes and business needs. Nero and I were also the only ones that knew about the secret staircase that led to an underground tunnel that came out a block away on Acer Street. While it could be argued that the contractors also knew of the tunnel, they knew better than to say anything about it.

Putting on some black joggers, I walked over to the bed, wearing clothes to sleep my only regret in life. While I preferred to sleep in the buff, that wasn’t pragmatic in my line of work. The last thing that I wanted to do was engage in any kind of fight or ambush with my dick hanging out.

I checked my phone one last time before getting comfortable, knowing that I was going to be awake within a few hours. When my head hit the pillow, I stared up at the ceiling, refusing to close my eyes until I no longer had a choice. However, as soon as I did, there was her face.

Like fucking always.

Chapter 2

Savina~

When your life felt out of control, you ended up obsessing over the things that you could control, and it didn’t take years of therapy to understand why. Because of that, anyone looking at my office would think that I had my shit together, but I didn’t.

I really didn’t.

At thirty-four, I was a successful real estate agent, and if you were on the outside looking in, you’d think that I had it made. I had a lucrative career, amazing home, devoted boyfriend, glamorous online presence, and I was even in good health, considering. My smile was plastered all over the place, so why would anyone think differently?

However, in truth, the life that I lived now was a far cry from the life that I’d led less than five years ago. I’d gone from one world to a completely different one, and I’d been naïve in believing that the grass was going to be greener on the other side.

Living in Port Townsend, I’d been raised around organized crime from as far back as I could remember. The city used to be divided by five families, though it was run by only three now. As an Italian, I’d been raised around the Calvettis, Milanos, and the Sartoris, knowing to keep my hands and feet out of the O’Brien, Shultz, and Kotov territories. Despite the Italians having always had higher numbers, no one had wanted to be the cause of a war because they’d been too stupid to know better.

At any rate, my mother and father had done their best to make sure that I’d always known where my place was. My father, Paolo Valentine, was a Sartori