Knight for a Queen

Knight For A Queen A Mafia Romance The International Mafia Series Book Three K. Alex Walker Sage Hill Romance Copyright © 2022 by K. Alex Walker All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. For more information, address: ZachEvans Creative LLC 610 East Zack Street Suite 110-3091 Tampa, FL 33602 [email protected] This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be assumed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. For Rachel and Tammy and Book Kraves and Xavier. Akia and Hlengiwe and Kenya and Keta. Nia and Kris and TJ. Everyone. If I’ve missed you, it’s for you too. With all the love in the world, - K. Acknowledgments Cover Design by Mila. Proofreading by QwertyPen & WritePath Editing Always, always, always a HUGE thank you to my readers, followers, subscribers, and Patrons! Aleia Walker Chilli saucec Treniece Brown Brianna Williams Buffy Miller Lynnette M Shaina Gaspard Rhonda Gomez Ava Nichol Golda McPhee Keisha Cedeno Betty Caswell syllyrab Keya Ramirez Kim Andrea Leah Linda Beata Dowell Kim Terrica Strozier Tammy de Chabert Sheryl Wilder Kayleen Murray QBWL 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 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Epilogue About the Author Also by K. Alex Walker Chapter One Anyssa Brandon looked up from the case notes she realized she’d been staring at, the words echoing in her mind but stopping short of climbing over the fence into comprehension. Her daughter, Jordan, stood in her bedroom doorway, tiny and lovely, with her hair in disarray and her eyes puffed up from sleep. Jordan didn’t appear to have been crying, and unlike Micah, her older brother—older being relative as they were a new-five and an almost-eight—Jordan rarely woke up in the middle of the night. Micah didn’t start sleeping through the night until a little over a year ago. “Did my baby have a bad dream?” She set the book aside and opened her arms, welcoming Jordan onto the bed, but Jordan’s brown eyes continued to assess her from the doorway. “He’s looking for you, Mama.” Instinctually, she looked above Jordan’s head, waiting for her ex-husband to appear. “Who’s looking for me? Your dad?” It wasn’t unusual for Chris to pop in after midnight. Not these days, at least. What a difference a year could make. “No, not Daddy.” “Then who, honey? Is this a dream?” “No. He’s from your other life.” Jordan had started telling people, including random strangers, about their “other lives” since the night of her fifth birthday. According to her daughter, people’s bodies were only shells of who their souls had once been. “When you die, your body goes away, but the thing inside you, Mama? It’s, like, bright and really shiny and kind of looks like a fuzzy ribbon? That thing, Mama? That always stays the same. We just don’t remember. Only some people remember, like me.” “Which other life was this?” Anyssa asked. “Is it the one where I’m a queen whose sister leads an army against foreign invaders?” Apparently, in that life, they were still mother and daughter. As queen, she helped her princess sister mobilize an army to help fight what Jordan had referred to as “the men in the silver hats” who’d invaded their kingdom. A samurai warrior had fought alongside them, which had caught her off guard because she’d had no idea Jordan knew what a samurai was. Chris thought their baby girl needed therapy. The way she saw it, Jordan would make an excellent storyteller one day. Jordan shook her head, her loose, frizzy twists brushing the side of her face. “Not that one, Mama. In this life, you were a bear. Micah and Niko were eagles. Eagle brothers.” “And who’s looking for me now?” “A bear. Like us.” “Is it Daddy?” “No, it’s not Daddy. And this bear is special because daddy bears don’t take care of cubs. Only mama bears do. But I was hurt. And the men with the guns took you away. So the bear took me someplace safe, and then he left me all tucked away in a cave while Micah and Jordan watched over me.” First, silver-hat invaders, and now there were men with guns. When she got the chance, she would talk to Chris about the kids’ movie choices on the days they were with him. Sometimes, he became so engrossed in his work, the world faded away. For all she knew, the kids could be in the living room at his penthouse condo watching movies like Total Recall and Apocalypto an hour before bedtime while he created a new JavaScript framework. “So he left?” Anyssa continued to probe. “Uh, huh. To find you. But he’s coming back. He has to.” “And why is that?” “Because he needs you, Mama.” An unexpected thump struck her chest. Jordan let out another yawn, her tiny mouth stretching at the corners. “I’m going back to bed now, Mama. Good night. I love you.” “I…I love you too, Jordan.” The words barely left her mouth. Most people didn’t need her. Zaraia loved her, but her sister didn’t need her. Neither did Shawn, and her clients only needed her because they’d gotten themselves into a legal bind. Micah and Jordan needed her because she was their mother, but the older they became, the less they’d require their crusts cut off or a butterfly kiss before bedtime. So, it felt strange to hear someone “needed” her, even a hypothetical bear from the backwoods of her