Quiet Power (Quiet Mafia Book 3) Read online

  CONTENTS

  List of Main Cast

  Quick Recap

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Acknowledgments

  Peek at Quiet Empire

  About the Author

  Books By J.L. Drake

  When Two Worlds Collide

  QUIET POWER

  QUIET MAFIA SERIES

  Copyright 2022 © J.L. Drake All rights reserved

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to, or downloaded from file sharing sites or distributed in any other way via the internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons— living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of J.L. Drake.

  Cover Design by Deranged Doctor Design

  Editing by Lori Whitwam

  Formatting by RedDoor Author Services

  To my dear friends Liz Clark and Jamie Johnson for not only being dedicated readers of mine from the start of my career, but for spending countless hours with me spinning and relishing our love of all things dark, twisted, and evil.

  Thank you!

  Capri Family

  Piero – Don & Elio’s father

  Andrea – Elio’s mother

  Elio – Underboss

  Francesco – Consigliere

  Niccola – Caporegime

  Vinni – Caporegime

  Donatello – Soldier

  Gain – Soldier

  Ernesto – Soldier

  Harris – Soldier

  Bosco – Uncle (brother to Piero)

  Noemi – Aunt (married to Bosco)

  DeSimone Family

  Roberto – Don & Mariano’s father

  Bria – Mariano’s mother

  Mariano – Underboss

  Sides

  Wyatt Burn – Sienna’s best friend

  Gail Burn – Wyatt’s sister

  Aldo – Elio’s trainer

  Anna – Capri family friend

  Aurora – Capri family friend

  Tieri – Capri friend/Santoro Brother

  The Finder – Capri friend/Santoro employee

  Sienna Giovanna – Also known as Alessia Coppola

  Stefano Coppola – Don

  You’ll be introduced to these characters as you read:

  Coppola Family/Friends

  Rosa – Nonna

  Pippo, Betto, and Lotto – The uncles

  Salvo – Stefano’s best friend

  Crossover Characters

  Devil’s Reach Trilogy

  To my readers:

  It’s important to remember who fits where, so let’s break it down, starting with Quiet Wealth.

  Ready?

  Elio and Sienna meet when they are very young, and over the next ten years, they develop a deep and tender relationship. Elio and his family suddenly disappear, leaving zero trace of where they went. Sienna is left heartbroken and alone.

  Present Day

  Sienna, now a journalist for a newspaper in Tuscany, lands an exclusive job with a man named Mariano DeSimone. FYI, we don’t like him. Meanwhile, Elio is running his syndicate with his father, Piero.

  Sienna Giovanna agrees to go to a work party with Mariano as his date and spots his partner, who just so happens to be Elio.

  They meet, and it’s hot. Emotions surge to the surface, and it burns in them both. He tries to get back into her life.

  Moving ahead.

  Dating a member of the mafia brings the wolves out to play, and the best way to take down the Capri underboss is by hurting the one person he loves.

  Now, for the Coppola family.

  They are the second biggest mafia family and rule the mid-section of the country. They play dirty, and the boss is a young hothead named Stefano who would like nothing more than to have Sienna all to himself. Yeah, I know, I know. When you know the truth, it gets icky.

  More stuff happens. They end up in New York where a gangster gets killed, Sienna is involved, and Elio realizes there’s way more to the story about who is trying to hurt his family than he thought.

  A family meeting is held, and they decide not to go public that Elio and Sienna are dating and keep Mariano in the dark on their plans.

  The book ends with Sienna running into her long-lost mother, and guns are drawn. It’s all very dramatic and leaves the door open to more questions.

  Okay, on to Quiet Secrets.

  Elio isn’t feeling good about Sienna’s mother showing up with two other men, Oscar and Ugo. Or the fact that his father’s consigliere, Francesco, seems to know Elenora, which only confuses everyone further.

  Elenora isn’t overly warm or forthcoming with the information her daughter deserves, and right off the bat, that doesn’t go over well. However, she does discover Ugo is her cousin.

  Elio and Sienna keep their relationship quiet while Sienna digs into Mariano’s life, trying to connect the dots on what he’s up to.

  Anna comes on the scene. She is the daughter of a family friend who doesn’t like that Sienna is catching Elio’s eye—not that she has any problem finding other men to play with.

  Stefano Coppola starts to encroach further into Capri territory. Elio calls on an old friend from his past to help take down some people in New York. Trigger is more than happy to offer his help.

  A bomb goes off in the city and knocks Sienna out cold. Yes, the bomb was meant for her. She wakes to find herself in a house with an old lady who tells someone that Sienna’s there and to come and get her.

  She escapes, Elio finds her, and more secrets are revealed, but more questions come to light.

  Elio’s Nonna Greta seems to know who Sienna really is and wants her gone from the family, like, yesterday. So, yeah, Nonna knows something you don’t. Nonna doesn’t like Elio having a mind of his own now and tries to manipulate him into seeing Sienna as someone bad.

  Not to mention Elio’s Aunt Noemi (who is married to his Uncle Bosco, and they are also Niccola and Vinni’s parents) seems lost and is living with Nonna Greta. So, you know that can’t be fun.

  Elio, who is being led down a very dark path by Nonna Greta, starts to doubt who Sienna is. You must remember, she is his grandma, after all, and grandmothers are supposed to help mold their grandkids and hand off wisdom. After a lifetime of loving and learning from her, he would never suspect her of lying…not right away. I know you’re mad at him, but try to see it from his angle too.

  Elenora leaks some secrets here and there (A beyond frustrating woman. I sometimes want to throat punch her, too.) but leaves the biggest one to the very end.

  Sienna hands over proof to Elio that something big happened with Nonna Greta. He goes to his father and Francesco and explains what’s going on. Things turn bad quickly.

  More stuff happens…I’m flipping the pages and scanning…

  Oh, yes, here we are. Now for the ending. Ready?

  Sienna comes face to face with Mariano, who now knows she was lying about being with Elio.

  Mariano stuffs her into a car with the help of Greta’s consigliere, Abramo.

  Greta tells Sienna she knows who she really is, gives her a train ticket to leave, then dumps her on the side of the road.

  Elio tries to find Sienna but gets tricked and ends up being jumped by Stefano’s men. He arrives home and finds out something huge.

  Sienna gets picked up by Ugo and her mother. Elenora reveals that Sienna is actually the daughter of Theo Coppola Oh, yeah, by the way, he’s dead, from long ago.

  Plot twist!

  Sienna tries to go back to tell Elio her huge news and finds his entire family at his house.

  Somehow, they already know who she is, and Andrea confronts her with it.

  Sienna, devastated, leaves a note, calls Ugo, and goes to a hotel. She needs time to figure out what she wants to do with this new information.

  And breathe!

  Now you are caught up. You are about to get one hell of ride in this next story.

  So, hang on, go somewhere quiet, take notes i
f it helps, and enjoy!

  We called it the boomerang effect, the kind of love that couldn’t be broken. It could stretch and bend but always returned to its rightful shape.

  Two Weeks Ago

  Sweat dripped down my face, and my body begged me to quit. Aldo, my trainer, even threatened to leave if I didn’t slow down. But I wanted this, needed this. After the shock of finding out that Sienna was a Coppola, and that I had been manipulated by my own beloved nonna, my world had flipped upside down. All through my childhood, my nonna had taught me what I needed to know about my world. As she helped my father groom me to take over the family business one day, she shared her knowledge and gave me the confidence I needed to be the man they needed me to be. It was all those things that made the level of betrayal that coursed through me so untamable. If I stopped, I knew I’d snap. I was not going to leave this ring until I could no longer feel.

  “Boss,” Niccola called, but all I could see was dust as I kicked, punched, and jammed at the eighty-pound bag that swung from the ceiling. “Elio!”

  “He’s not listening,” Aldo panted. “He wore me out, and now he’s determined to fight his way through the bag.”

  I blocked their chatter and used my arm to swipe at the sweat that dripped from my brow.

  “Great,” Niccola groaned. “Well, I’ve got a reason for you to stop.” He paused. “Mariano was sighted near the dockyard.”

  Good.

  “I have Gain and Donatello tailing him.”

  I’ve been planning my kill.

  I saw him glance at Aldo out of the corner of my eye. “All right.” He stepped closer. “Sienna left.”

  My punch wavered and the bag swung out to the side in a twist.

  “She left a note, too.”

  That stopped me mid-punch, and I ripped the tape from my swollen hands. I tossed the sticky ball on the floor of the ring as I ducked under the ropes and dropped to the floor. Aldo tossed a towel at me as I grabbed my water, downing nearly all of it.

  “When?” I grunted.

  “The camera showed five-fifty, sixteen minutes after Nonna left.”

  “Note?”

  “It’s in the kitchen at the Hill House.” Niccola nodded. “She also wrote something in flour, and I’m not sure what it means.”

  I nodded once, grabbing my keys, and headed out the door to the Hill House.

  Once behind the wheel, I steadied my breathing and allowed my mind to slip back to memories of the night before.

  When the house finally settled after the shock of Sienna’s news, I was left with my head still spinning as I relived the night’s events one by one. I’d left Nonna in the kitchen with Abramo making calls to ensure we had extra protection. We were unsure of just what the repercussions would be once the news of who Sienna really was got out. Nonna firmly believed the Coppolas might be heading this way and that they’d planted Sienna in our lives to spy all those years ago.

  “I thought you could use this.” Mama handed me a glass of rum and sat down beside me, nursing her own drink. It wasn’t often that Mama dipped into the hard liquor, but tonight was a different story.

  “Elio, I—”

  “Her face told me everything.” I cut her off, needing to let her know where my head was. “She found out who she was and came back to tell me.” I shook my head, unbelievably disappointed in myself. “She tried and tried to show me she was loyal, and because I’d been so well schooled by Nonna in the importance of the family and our oath, I couldn’t see it. Now…” I swallowed hard, “she’s up there in turmoil while I’m down here with Nonna’s eagle eyes watching my every move.”

  “I’m so proud of you, Elio.” I turned to face her head-on, wondering why on Earth she would say that now.

  “I also believe Sienna had no idea who she really was, and so does your papa. Shame on Elenora for withholding such a secret, and shame on Nonna Greta for behaving in such a way.” She reached for my hand. “I’m just so proud you can see this for what it is and not turn your back on someone who needs you now more than ever.”

  “I love her, Mama.”

  “I know you do, and that’s why we are going to make this right, but it will require you having some distance from her.”

  “I’m not sure I can do that.”

  “Trust me, son, the last thing you need is your nonna meddling any more than she has.” She gave me a knowing look, and I found myself wondering if Nonna had ever crossed Mama before. “I think it’s best for Sienna to take some time away from the house, to clear her head. She needs time to digest this news even more than we do. Surely it can’t be sitting well with her.”

  I nodded my agreement but loathed the idea of her leaving the house without me. I shifted my gaze out the door and caught Nonna watching me while she spoke to someone. Her gaze, which once brought me so much comfort, now brought only anger.

  “Can you distract Nonna long enough for me to go talk to her?”

  “No, figlio.” She set her glass down and angled herself, so her face was hidden from Nonna’s view. “Your nonna needs to think you’re finished with Sienna. If she even suspects for one moment that you’re not going to listen to her about her fears, who knows what she’ll do. Don’t underestimate her. Let me go to Sienna. I’ll tell her what we’ve discussed, and as soon as there’s an opportunity that’s safe, you can go to her. But for now,” she stood and ran a soft hand down my cheek, “stay away.” I gave a slight nod of agreement and forced myself to sit back in the chair.

  I’m not sure how many times I tapped the screen on my phone to check the time. With every minute that passed, I felt my chest growing tighter, my blood pumping harder, and my foot vibrated against the floor.

  Fuck it.

  I texted Gain in spite of the fact I knew he was working in the garage. I’d sent him on a mission to set off Nonna’s car alarm. Gain was a particularly trustworthy soldier and never asked questions, just did as he was told. Moments later, I heard the alarm, and the kitchen was instantly illuminated with flashing headlights. Abramo shot up from his chair and went racing outside with Nonna hard on his heels.

  I hopped to my feet and charged down the hallway, up the stairs, and into Sienna’s room. Mama shook her head in defeat as I burst into the room, then smiled at me.

  “I’ll leave you two be, then,” she said but leaned in as she passed me to speak quietly into my ear. “A plan has been hatched. Don’t waste time discussing it, just reassure her that you love her. No more than five minutes.” She eyed me as she said that.

  Once the door was shut, I locked it and quickly moved across to her. I was glad the room was dark. She didn’t need to see the pain and hate I was carrying on my face. She sat with her back straight and her legs over the side of the bed. She sniffed and wouldn’t make eye contact with me. Her hair fell all around her face as I knelt in front of her and found myself unsure what to say. Instead, I took her hand and slid my family ring onto her ring finger then moved her hand to my chest, covering it with my own.

  “We’ve spent a lifetime getting to right here, I will not let a name change that.”

  “I swear,” she croaked, “I swear I had no idea.”

  “I know.” I cupped her cheek with my free hand. I hated to see her hurting and how much this situation really did change things. She flinched slightly at my touch but didn’t pull away from me. “I’m so sorry for everything, Sienna. I trust you more than anyone in this world. I was momentarily blinded by all our family rules. I want to spend the rest of my life making that up to you.”

  She let out a sob and leaned into me and pressed her lips to my neck. I wrapped my arms around her, wanting nothing more than to hold her tight.