THE KILLER THAT CLAIMED (A dark, mafia romance)

The girl was shaking so hard I could feel the tremors vibrating through my own bones.

 I kept my arm hooked firmly through hers, guiding her toward her room.

 Poor thing was so fragile she reminded me of a fine porcelain doll ready to shatter.

 "Breathe, Amaya. Just breathe. You're inside now. The walls are thick, and the locks are solid," I said, my voice pitched in that soothing tone I used when I needed to disarm someone.

"He was going to hurt me," Amaya whispered.

Her eyes were wide, the pupils blown out with terror.

 "I know. I know." I led her to her room, taking both of her cold, clammy hands in mine.

 "Look at me. Look at my eyes, Amaya."

 She lifted her gaze, her lower lip trembling.

 "You are a Valak guest. In this house, that makes you sacred. Do you understand? That man was an error. And I promise you, on my life, it will never happen again"

 "Okay" she said quietly.

 I signaled to the two maids hovering near the door.

They moved instantly, like shadows responding to a candle.

"Maria! Sofia!" I barked. The girls jumped.

 "Take Care of Miss Amaya while I'm away. Prepare a lavender bath and stay with her. If she so much as whimpers, I want to know about it. If anyone tries to enter that room without my express permission, you scream loud enough to wake the dead. Clear?"

 "Yes, Signora Regina," they chirped in unison.

 I stood up and headed for the exit.

 I looked back at Amaya and gave her a sharp, encouraging nod and then I left.

 The second she was out of sight, the smiling mask I wore disintegrated.

 I turned toward the hallway leading to the west wing.

My blood was boiling and rightfully so.

I didn't knock when I reached Bane's study.

I threw the heavy mahogany doors open with such force they slammed against the interior stoppers with a crack that echoed like a gunshot.

Bane was sitting behind that monstrous desk of his, a cigar in one hand and a fountain pen in the other.

 Nathaniel was standing by the window, his arms crossed, unlike Bane, he looked surprised.

"Get out, Nathaniel," I snapped, not even looking at the young man.

Nathaniel stiffened.

"I'm in the middle of a briefing, Aunt."

 "I don't give a damn if you're in the middle of a coronation," I hissed, turning my glare on him.

 "Out. Now. I need to yell at your uncle"

Nathaniel looked to Bane who only gave a curt, infinitesimal nod.

Nathaniel shrugged, said nothing more, stood up and excused us.

As soon as the door clicked shut, I marched straight to the desk, slamming my palms down on the polished wood.

 "Is there a reason you're trying to break the furniture, Regina?" Bane asked with a bored tone.

"You're men," I spat, the words tasting like acid. "You're indisciplined, absolute gutter trash imbeciles!!! That's the reason!!"

 Bane set his pen down slowly. He finally looked up, his dark eyes narrowing.

"Explain what you're on about. Quickly please, I have a shipment in Livorno that needs my attention."

 "Oh, to hell with your shipment! One of your guards just spent his afternoon harassing Amaya near the isolation block."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.

Bane's hand, which had been reaching for a document, froze mid-air.

 "Which Amaya?" he asked.

The question was a razor blade.

"YOUR Amaya!" I said, "That bastard grabbed her, pulled a knife on her and said she was spoil of war and spoils should be shared"

"Spoils of war should be shared....."

Bane repeated the phrase under his breath and went unnervingly still.

 It was the kind of stillness you see in a predator right before the killing blow.

 "Who was it? The guard?"

Bane asked.

"I don't have a name yet. All I know is he's some stupid asshat with a pocketknife. He was stationed near the gray bunker. Amaya is upstairs right now, shaking so hard she can barely speak. She's terrified, Bane."

 I paced the length of the rug, my hands flying as I spoke.

"What the hell are you doing, brother? You bring her here, you tell her she's safe, and then you let your dogs off the leash? Is this how we run things now? Are we letting these men terrorize women in our own gardens?"

Bane stood up.

  He was a tall and massive man and right now he looked angry.

He walked around the desk, his presence filling the room until it felt like the walls were closing in.

 He stopped inches from me.

 I looked him eye to eye.

As a big woman who was 5'11, I too, was an imposing figure myself.

 It was a family trait.

"Is she hurt?" he asked.

 "Bruises on her shoulder. A few scratches on her neck from where he pulled her hair." I poked a finger into his chest, hard. "If a man touches what belongs to a Valak, what happens, Bane?"

Bane's face was a mask of cold, unadulterated fury.

The veins in his neck were corded, and his eyes were so dark they looked like pits of charcoal.

Bane's voice was a low vibration that I could feel in the floorboards.

"If one of my own thinks he can touch what I have marked as mine... he has forgotten who I am."

 I stepped back.

"Remind him then"

Bane walked over to the intercom on the wall.

He pressed the button with enough force to crack the casing.

"Captain," Bane barked.

"Yes, Boss?" the voice crackled back, sounding startled.

 "Assemble every guard on the grounds. Every single one of them. In the courtyard right now! If a single man is missing, I'll have your head on a spike next to theirs."

 "Right away, sir."

 Bane turned back to me.

The rage was still there, but it was being funneled into a singular, lethal purpose.

 I smiled and nodded approvingly.

 "That's my brother"