King of Malice: A Dark Mafia Romance, page 1
KING OF MALICE
PIPER STONE
CONTENTS
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
Epilogue
Afterword
Books of the Kings of Corruption Series
Books of the Sinners and Saints Series
Books of the Benedetti Empire Series
Books of the Merciless Kings Series
Books of the Mafia Masters Series
Books of the Edge of Darkness Series
Books of the Dark Overture Series
Books of the Club Darkness Series
More Mafia and Billionaire Romances by Piper Stone
Books of the Missoula Bad Boys Series
Books of the Montana Bad Boys Series
Books of the Eagle Force Series
Books of the Dangerous Business Series
Books of the Alpha Dynasty Series
Books of the Alpha Beasts Series
More Stormy Night Books by Piper Stone
About Piper Stone
Copyright © 2023 by Stormy Night Publications and Piper Stone
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Stormy Night Publications and Design, LLC.
www.StormyNightPublications.com
Stone, Piper
King of Malice
Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson
This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.
CHAPTER 1
Phoenix
Retribution was a word I knew far too well. My father had used it over the years, often said as a forewarning of punishment that would be doled out only seconds later. He had a way of deepening his voice until the gravelly sound echoed no matter the size or shape of building where he stood ready to wield his brutal methods of punishment.
I hadn’t been immune to his harsh discipline, most of it deserved. I’d been the bad seed, a kid who could hide behind a handsome face and nice smile while picking your pocket. That was when I was five. I moved onto other atrocities over the years, some of which nightmares were made of.
However, after years of facing my inability to temper my actions, I’d finally learned control. But today I was prepared to act on my desire to spill blood.
Yes, retribution was the only thing that would soothe the beast.
I stated the word in passing, almost in reverence to the man who’d taught me how to become vicious in nature, I wondered if the thick vines full of lush grapes disguised the understanding of what was about to occur.
By the look of sheer terror on the man’s face, I could tell it hadn’t.
The other word that remained associated with my world was death.
It was inevitable. You lived. You fucked up your life. Then you died. The lucky few enjoyed the time in the middle even during moments of tragedy and strife. Some people were considered life givers. Doctors and surgeons came to mind. Others claimed lives.
While I was highly educated, trained in several skills considered specialized, I’d never once saved a life. There’d been no need. However, I’d claimed more than a dozen, some bloodier than others.
I’d doled out punishment as necessary, offering what they deserved. There’d been no mercy shown or had there been any remorse.
Today was no different.
I shoved my hands into my pockets, allowing the light breeze to scatter the scent of the swollen purple fruit to my nostrils. With the rolling hills and lush greenery, I had a sense of why my sister preferred living across the country from her family. However, her need to find solace was entirely different than mine.
Maybe I sought salvation.
But that wasn’t possible for a member of the Diamondis family. We’d been forged in bloodshed and violence, accepting our ultimate fate of being dragged to hell with pride. On days like this, I remembered why I loved the life chosen for me.
I took a few seconds to glance at the destruction, vines ripped from the ground, grapes squashed from the heavy feet of police officers searching for illegal weapons that didn’t exist. Mounds of dirt remained where they’d dug holes, expecting to discover hidden bunkers of assault rifles and handguns.
All done carelessly.
All done without regard to my sister’s well-respected reputation.
And all because of the pissant standing in front of me.
My lieutenant stood behind me while two of my soldiers held the treacherous pig by the arms. I’d heard the agony in Elena’s voice when she’d called. I was the only one in the family she’d kept in infrequent contract with, knowing she could trust me.
She also knew I’d be her champion if needed, something she’d been lucky enough to avoid over the years. Not any longer.
My sister might not be a killer, but I was, born and bred into savagery.
There were no second chances in my operation, no apologies acceptable. There was truth. There were lies. The black and white of reality removed the guilt.
I had little time to waste with the first man who’d betrayed her, my sister’s well-being more important. But I could take a few extra minutes to relay my message.
“I’m going to ask you this once, David. Who paid you to falsify information to the police?”
When Elena had called, she’d been hysterical, the police raiding her winery that very moment. By the time I’d arrived in Napa Valley, she’d been placed under arrest. Now I was seething, bloodlust on my mind.
“No one. I did nothing of the kind.” The usual tremor in his voice didn’t surprise me. Only the strongest of men accepted their fate without the annoyance of becoming emotional.
As Jonas moved closer, I noticed his jaw was clenched, eager to carve a piece from the guy’s skin. His knife work rivaled my own. As my second in command, Jonas Kazan had been tasked with performing several harsh punishments, but not today. David’s punishment belonged to me.
When a familiar pungent stench assaulted my senses, I lowered my gaze to the front of David’s jeans, shaking my head.
Jonas chuckled, muttering in Greek.
I nodded to my soldiers, who freed David’s arms. As I walked closer, he was forced to tilt his chin significantly given the height difference. Even his lower lip was trembling. While I doubted that I’d get any information from the treacherous shithead, I gave it one last shot.
While our family had a long list of enemies, several attempts made to destroy us over the years, none had been as egregious as this effort. The person responsible would be hunted down one way or another.
“Who. Paid. You?” The second of hesitation further infuriated me. I yanked the guy’s head by fisting his hair at the scalp.
The stupid son of a bitch had the audacity to smile.
That was the end of my patience.
The hard punch I issued resulted in a loud cracking sound as his nose splintered, the sound like shattering glass. As blood splattered across my shirt, it fueled the rage, the rush of adrenaline coursing through me becoming rocket fuel.
He threw his arms up, howling but his defense was weak. Perhaps he was prepared to accept his fate after all.
I released my hold, throwing four hard punches, snapping his head back from the force of one. He tumbled to the ground, hitting with a hard thud. I raked my hand through my hair then glanced at my bloodied knuckles. The pain coursing through my hand was exactly what I needed. After taking a series of deep breaths, I grabbed him by the shirt, jerking him off the ground and into the air.
His mouth was a canvas of red, yet he still wore the smile.
“Astvads Hogin lusavori,” he struggled to say but I caught it clearly, the phrase one I’d heard a half dozen times.
It was a warning sent to me personally. My sister had been forced to suffer for the war that had been brewing for years.
While I wanted the man to suffer, he was nothing in the world of my enemy, sold a bill of goods that his soul would go to heaven. I knew better. I tossed him aside, immediately reaching for my weapon, firing off three shots into the man’s brain.
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath.
“What the hell did the dude say?”
Exhaling, I scanned the beautiful setting, the kill doing little to abate my fury. “It’s an old Armenian saying when people pass. Let God shine a light on their soul.”
Jonas chuckled. “What the fuck?”
I tipped my head in his direction. “It means the battle is about to begin.”
CHAPTER 2
Phoenix
“I’ll have Elena out on bail in three hours,” Gregory Watson stated with confidence from behind me. He’d been the family’s corporate attorney
The thought repulsed me.
What surprised me was that he’d obviously been working for the Armenians. He’d been vetted by me personally when hired. I’d found zero connection to any organization, law enforcement, or crime syndicate.
“That’s not soon enough,” I snarled, remaining in front of her office, the stark surroundings a perfect representation of the simple life she’d become determined to live. Elena hated everything to do with the family’s powerful hold on Philadelphia, refusing to return under any circumstances. While my two brothers and I were vicious by anyone’s standards, she was the epitome of a law-abiding citizen, which was another reason for my extreme fury.
“It’ll need to do for now.” He shifted his heated gaze toward the front of my formerly white shirt, the dark stains consistent with my usual behavior. As expected, his condescending glare followed. He wouldn’t ask. He knew better.
“My sister didn’t embezzle from her own company, for fuck’s sake. Nor did she suddenly go into the illegal arms trade business.” I chose my words carefully even around the man who’d experienced firsthand the power of my family. I’d been called away during a difficult time, my attempt at avoiding a war vital to the continued well-being of my corporation. I had zero patience for liars or thieves, especially when it came from within.
Betrayal was unacceptable under any circumstances, more so when it endangered the lives of a family member. The organization had its share of challenges, truths hidden beneath thick barriers, but the bitterness existing in my throat had left a significant burn.
Anger swelled deep within, my need for revenge as pronounced as it had ever been. No one fucked with the Diamondis family, especially highly valued employees. When I located the pompous accountant Elena had trusted, he was a dead man.
But he wouldn’t die slowly.
He’d experience the full wrath of my Greek blood for days until he begged me to die. Then I’d start over again.
Gregory exhaled. He knew my temper as well as anyone else inside the family. If I didn’t calm down, Napa Valley would be eradicated in its entirety. I wielded that much power.
“There’s the charge of money laundering as well,” Gregory said more softly than before.
“That’s fucking bullshit and you know it.”
“That may be the case, but Mr. Canfield outplayed her.”
Yeah, so had the vineyard worker she’d hired six months before. I’d been the one to discover the man’s treachery while on the plane. It was obvious my sister needed more protection than she’d been willing to accept. Theodore Canfield. I kept the traitor’s name on the tip of my tongue.
Seething, I rubbed my forehead, the pain behind my eyes becoming more intense by the minute. There were two things that could dull the ache.
Alcohol.
And more violence.
Gregory had warned me over the years to keep my rage in check. He was handling me again, which pissed me off even more. The worst aspect of the crime against my family was that Theodore had stolen pertinent information, details that the family used or would use to blackmail various politicians, law enforcement officers, and people in influential spaces. Everyone had a dirty little secret and it had taken years to discover the ugliness hidden beneath the murky waters of people who could either become an issue or allies.
And the file itself had been wiped clean, no backup. Given Theodore’s clearance, he was the only person other than Elena who’d been given access. Goddamn it. If placed in the wrong hands, every scrap of information could be used to destroy us.
That wasn’t going to happen.
“Where is he?” I asked my lieutenant, turning to face him when he didn’t answer right away. “Where the fuck is he, Jonas?”
“He’s dead, boss. His funeral is tomorrow.”
I cocked my head, waiting for an explanation.
Jonas knew better than to hold back on me. “He had a heart attack.”
After a few seconds, I burst into laughter. “So the man who tipped off the police is dead of natural causes. This calls for a celebration. Get Elena out of jail, Gregory.” I took long strides toward the bar, realizing that at least my sister had excellent taste in liquor, the single expensive perk I’d noticed. As I grabbed a bottle of OVAL Swarovski, I could hear Gregory’s continued heavy breathing. “What’s wrong, old friend? Not in the mood for a quick libation before heading to the courthouse?”
“It’s not that simple, Phoenix. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
I added two ice cubes and continued pouring a glass, not bothering to offer one to the two other men in the room. “Meaning what?”
“The prosecutor threw in my face they have an open and shut case against her, black and white evidence as in doctored numbers and God knows what else. The kind that it doesn’t matter if Theodore Canfield is dead or alive.”
I wrapped my hand around the dense crystal before glancing over my shoulder. “Where is this evidence? In the prosecuting attorney’s hands?” I knew the answer myself. If that was the case, bail wouldn’t have been allowed. The police had been fucking with my family in both California and Pennsylvania since our arrival from Greece twenty years before.
Gregory scratched his chin, a twinkle finally forming in his eyes. “I’m not usually a betting man but given their reluctance to tell me anything, I’ll take an educated guess they don’t have it in their possession. But I’m willing to bet they think they know where it is. James Buckley is a tenacious prosecutor.”
I leaned against the bar, too hot under the collar to play a game of semantics. “What are you talking about? Either they have some tainted evidence, or they don’t.”
“They’re not telling me anything, which means they’re doing what they can to buy some time.”
“For what reason?”
When my attorney glanced at my lieutenant, my anger clawed through the surface. I was known by my enemies as a suave savage, a man who’d enjoy a fine meal five minutes after digging out the heart of a man with my bare hands.
“Answer me.” I pounded my fist on the bar, the force sending two glasses crashing to the floor.
“Calm down, Phoenix,” Gregory insisted.
I turned my attention to my lieutenant, someone I also considered a friend. “Did you dig up every scrap of information you could find on Canfield?” From what I’d been told, the man had no wife or family, no real friends that Elena had mentioned. Theodore lived alone in a small house, even though my sister had paid him a small fortune for protecting the winery assets while laundering money for the family’s other businesses. She’d made a fortune in her own right, parlaying her wealth into two other legitimate businesses.
Her frantic call had put me on the first flight out of Philly. But it had been too late.
“I can’t be privy to whatever method of revenge you’re determined to use, Phoenix, but as your attorney, I’m going to tell you to take it easy. Whatever the Feds think they have, they’ll use as a bargaining chip against your family. Your sister is merely a pawn.”
I knew what he said was true. “Make certain she can leave the state.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he said then snorted.
“Make it happen.” My growl rumbled in the room. “Elena needs to be surrounded by family. This is just the beginning of what the Armenians are going to do.”
