104. Gritting her teeth and summoning the fighting strength that had kept her enduring all those years under Aldo’s perversions, she scooped up her backpack, shoved in the few toiletries in the bathroom, and left the motel room. Her key was on the nightstand, and the maid would find it in the morning—assuming they actually had a maid. She hadn’t seen one in two days. The bus station was less than two blocks away, and she huddled into her hooded sweatshirt, clasped her backpack, and darted down the street. Rain fell from the gray sky, and it perfectly matched her sour mood. Somewhere sunny would be a nice change, and she hoped she could make it in time to catch the bus to Atlanta. It would still take two days to reach the Georgian capital, but she had nothing but time to kill. The bus station was in sight when a chill ran down her spine. Mia turned her head to the side, mouth opening in an O of surprise when she saw Wallace step out from the mouth of an alley. Her heart h
105. Her stomach curled with dread as he went to a large cabinet. The angle wasn’t good enough for her to see everything within, but she saw enough implements of torture to send an icy trickle of sweat down her spine. He returned a few minutes later holding something composed of metal and leather. She eyed it, struggling not to betray her fear at the sight of metal bars, chain links, and leather cuffs. “Take off your clothes, Mia, and I promise I’ll go easy on you for a bit.” Mia shook her head, but she didn’t try kicking Wallace when he entered her cell a moment later. Instead, she pressed her back against the wall and remained passive as he approached. It was surprisingly easy to quell the instinct to resist as he came nearer, and it didn’t take deep self?analysis to figure out why. Fighting Aldo had been a matter of pride and necessity. He seemed to regard her resistance as a nuisance, but he’d wanted her enough to deal with it. Shane had viewed it as a challenge, an
106. Even not knowing exactly what Shane had planned for her, Mia was still relieved to see him when he entered the basement two days after Wallace had taken her from the street. Her first thought was he looked like hell. His normally robust tanned skin was pale, and his face looked gaunt, though he couldn’t have lost much weight in the four days since she’d seen him, even with a gunshot wound. Her gaze darted to the sling encasing his left arm, where she could see the bulky bandage covering most of the left side of his chest and clavicle underneath the thin fabric of his T-shirt. It was insane, but she had to physically bite her tongue to keep from asking how he felt and fretting over him being out of the hospital already. The reality of her position and situation made it easier to rein in the concern. She lay on the cold concrete, naked as the day she was born, with her hands cuffed to her ankles, which were spread by a metal bar. It was an obscene, undignified pose, b
107. Mia slid the garment over her aching arms, wincing as she overextended the strained muscles before zipping the fleece up to her neck. Thank goodness it was old and oversized, meaning it fell to mid-thigh and would provide enough coverage to mostly maintain her modesty in front of the household staff and Shane’s goons. Determined not to look weak or victimized—or betray her fear—Mia squared her shoulders and walked beside Shane. She didn’t meet the gazes of the few people they encountered, but nor did she drop her head with shame. None of them knew for sure that she was being punished, and it mattered to her not to appear weak to them, though she didn’t know why. She let the cool mask lapse a bit when Shane escorted her into his room. She’d half-expected to end up back in the bedroom where he’d kept her confined initially, so it was surprising to be in his suite. A loud meow greeted her, and she bent down carefully, conscious of the stiffness permeating her body, to
108. Mia’s mouth was dry as she tried to explain the sordid history with Aldo Peretti. “I guess you should know I’d never even met Aldo until the day of the wedding. I’d only met Stefania a couple of times at that point.” Shane sat down in his chair, tugging her down to sit on his lap with his legs pinning hers together. She couldn’t move. “I wasn’t thrilled to have a new stepmother or stepbrother, but Vadim didn’t care about my input.” “Your father strikes me as a selfish man.” She had to bite her tongue to resist the urge to point out he shared traits with her aloof father. “It didn’t take me long to warm to Stefania, but I never liked Aldo. He made me…uncomfortable.” “How old were you?” Shane took her hand, squeezing gently. To her great surprise, she found the touch comforting. “Twelve. He was nineteen, so he shouldn’t have had any interest in me, but he seemed to go out of his way to try to engage me in conversation or spend time with me.” She swallowed. “At first,
109. Nausea churned in her stomach, and a tear streaked down her face. “He told me Vadim had relented and was prepared to sign the marriage certificate so we could get married before I turned eighteen.” Turning slightly, though her legs remained pinned, she curled a bit closer to Shane instinctively. “That crazy bastard was planning to make me marry him within days. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let him keep me, so I went to Stefania.” The tears came faster as she remembered the frail woman lying in the bed. Her stepmother had been as pale as the white bedding behind her, but her eyes had sparkled with anger, and her cheeks had turned red as she had listened without interrupting as Mia confessed years of sexual abuse at the hands of her son. “What did your stepmother do?” “She saved me.” Mia drew in a deep breath. “I don’t even know how she did it exactly, but she helped me escape that house and found me a job with Arvin Lovelle. He’d been her boyfriend long ago, and I t
110. The image of holding Mia underneath him as he took her in the shower that first night flashed behind his eyes, and he cursed. With a vicious thrust, Shane slammed his other fist into the wood, grunting at the mental relief the physical pain provided. He had taken her without regard to her feelings on the matter. Blood spattered from a shredded knuckle when he hit the wood again. Shane had held her down, stroked her to make her wet, and forced her to accept him. Her body had been ready, but clearly she hadn’t. More blood and another squishy thud of flesh against a solid object. He wanted her, needed her, and ached for her. Shane had been obsessed with her for months, but he hadn’t wanted to hurt her. He hadn’t even given it much thought either way. In his arrogance, he had never considered that she wouldn’t want to be taken as his property. Had he imagined she would be flattered by his attentions once she got past the mafia thing? If he’d given it any thought—and he
111. Mia had to bite her lip forcefully to hold in a cry of pleasure when Shane cupped her breast in his hand, tugging gently on her hardening nipple with his thumb and forefinger. It was harder than hell not to react to his coaxing touches She didn’t resist when he turned her head to kiss her. Somehow, Mia kept her reaction minimal, only softening against him and opening her mouth when his tongue pressed against the seam of her closed lips. He probed the depths, but she remained passive. Inside, she was a writhing mass of need, and her panties would be sodden if she had bothered to wear any. He broke away, his hand holding the back of her head in a grip that was a bit tighter than necessary. His dark expression revealed his annoyance. “We had an agreement, Mia.” Shane’s voice was hard, and his eyes dared her to renege. She swallowed the thick lump in her throat. “I know, and I’m trying. I’m not pushing you away.” He scowled. “You aren’t engaging either. I’d rather hav
The doorman said. I don’t think it was the same one that had been here when I’d skulked out on Saturday morning…thank God. “Good afternoon,” I told him. “I was hoping that you could call up to Mr. Romo Romalatti’s penthouse and let him know that Alana is here to see him.” “Yes Miss, I can do that. Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back with you.” I took a seat on one of the plush, off-white couches in the lobby. They were arranged around pretty glass tables with expensive looking vases full of flowers. I sat there and watched all the designer clothing clad people bustle back and forth while I waited. Suspiciously, I wondered how many of them were linked to the mob. “Miss?” The doorman brought me back to reality. “Yes?” “Mr. Romalatti asked me to send you up. He said that he’s in a meeting in the conference room next door but you should make yourself comfortable in the suite.” “Okay, thank you so much.” The doorman put me in an elevator that he said
He was a passive-aggressive son of a bitch. Shooting someone in the eyes meant, “I’m watching you,” in our world. I honestly had no idea who it could be that wanted to send me a message so desperately that they would kill my best friend to do it. “Sit down, Sammie.” Tony told me. I took a seat at the table with the others and Tony said, “Does anyone know of any beefs against us?” Everyone looked around the table and when no one said anything I asked, “Why are the Gambino’s absent?” “Carmine is still put off by the fact I won’t consider that fat fuck christopher for boss. He sent word that he couldn’t make it, made up some stupid fucking excuse so I couldn’t accuse him of disrespect, but we all know why he’s not here,” Tony said. Tony’s voice was getting raspier and he seemed like he had a lot harder time breathing every time I saw him. He was dying of throat cancer….but only he and I knew that. The Christopher he spoke so disdainfully of was the son of Carmine Gambino. Carmine ha
129. I wanted to punch him for calling me sweetheart. What was with all of these suddenly over-familiar men? I picked up the photo and underneath it was another…it was one of Sammie and I walking arm in arm into the Glass Towers. It was stamped with Friday night’s date. The elevator Nate and I were riding in stopped and the doors slid open on my floor. I felt like my heels were glued down and I couldn’t move. To my horror, Nate had to take me by the arm and lead me out of the elevator. I think I was in some kind of mini-shock state. I found myself standing in the hallway, still gaping at the photos in my hand. Feeling sick to my stomach, I picked up the next photo and the last one was the best. It was a photo of me in Friday night’s clothes and a flagrant case of bed-head, getting into the back seat of Sammie’s limousine. The photo was clearly stamped with Saturday morning’s date. “What—Where---Why are you having Sammie followed?” I finally spit out.
128. After about an hour of that, I made myself a pot of coffee…it was going to be a long day. It had been three days since Alana had walked out. I had made a grave mistake by allowing myself the pleasure of making love to her when she was too drunk to have the capacity to consent. I truly hadn’t meant for that to happen. I tried to tell myself that I was beyond the point of rational thought as well, but truthfully I wasn’t drunk, at least not from the alcohol. I was intoxicated by her. I’d been researching her and watching her for so long…every fantasy I’d had for the past year had been wrapped up in Alana. I had just completely lost my mind the moment I was actually allowed to touch her. The fact that she was allowing me to, and even encouraging it had really sent me over the edge. It was wrong though…I was wrong. I knew from the time I’d spent watching her that she wasn’t a big drinker, and she definitely didn’t sleep around. I should have had more respec
127. Sammie had stood there looking at me after I’d pulled back. I remember that he had this really sexy grin on his face and instead of being angry, I was turned on. I had smiled back….I think and then I’d put my hands around his neck again and pulled myself back up to continue the kiss. I slid my tongue back into his mouth and that time he sucked on it. It was erotic. His hands were all over me and as I washed my body and slid my palms along my sides and across my breasts I shuddered at the memory. We started stripping each other at that point, a little at a time while we kissed. I could feel his erection pressed up against my hip and I remember that when I moaned he had whispered in my ear so close that I felt his hot breath: “Just you wait, Bella. I’m going to make sure that it’s the best you ever had.” The sound of his voice and the feel of his breath against my ear sent me into another frenzy. In the shower, my hand drifte
126. “We would act as a couple so that no one wondered about my meetings with a reporter, and we could avoid the fear of getting caught if we tried to sneak around and communicate secretly. You could also be a part of “family” events and get to see and know the people that we’ll be “talking” about first hand. This won’t be a week-long process, Bella. This organization was hundreds of years in the making. It’ll take years to break it open.” I was glad I had finished my meal already…I would have choked on it. Years? This guy was nuts if he thought I would agree to be his fake fiancé for years. I stood up and picked up my purse. Sammie stood up as well. For a second, remembering where I was and who I was with, a dagger of fear stabbed me in my chest. He must have seen it on my face because he stepped to the side, clearing my path to the door. He wasn’t going to force me to do this. I was ashamed of myself for putting myself in a position where t
125. “With clothes on,” she said. I laughed and said, “Yes, I’m going right now to get dressed, then I’ll order breakfast.” She only nodded, but she hadn’t let go of the doorknob. I half expected her to be gone when I got back, but to my delight and relief, she wasn’t. I found her sitting on the sofa looking out the window. I sat down in the chair across from her and smiled. She shot me a look that should by all rights have set me on fire. “Was this all some big pick-up game to you?” she asked. “A pick-up game? No, Bella. We both had too much to drink. I’m not normally a heavy drinker and last night I was looking for some liquid courage. Once you report what I have to tell you, life as I know it is going to implode. I wouldn’t have had the audacity to expect that a woman like you would ever want to be with a man like me.” She raised an eyebrow, obviously not convinced. I wish she could see inside of my head because I meant every word. I know what I am. I’ve known sinc
124. I woke up in a strange place, in a strange bed, next to an extremely hot – and gloriously naked – strange man. …What happened last night? My mouth tasted like cotton and I had an icky sweet taste in my mouth that literally made me want to vomit. My stomach felt bloated, my head was pounding and I couldn’t hold my trembling hands still if I tried. There was light streaming in from the giant windows that surrounded the bed and it was doing nothing but making my head pound worse and darkening my already foul mood. I sat up slowly, not wanting to wake the strange bedfellow next to me. I tried to shake out my hair, but it was a tangled mess. The motion of sitting up had made me nauseated and once again I had the feeling that I was going to throw up. I looked around me, wondering where the bathroom was. I was humiliated enough just waking up here, the last thing I wanted to do was hurl all over hot guy. I needed to get the hell out of here. I slipped out of the bed and st
123. Even not knowing exactly what Shane had planned for her, Mia was still relieved to see him when he entered the basement two days after Wallace had taken her from the street. Her first thought was he looked like hell. His normally robust tanned skin was pale, and his face looked gaunt, though he couldn’t have lost much weight in the four days since she’d seen him, even with a gunshot wound. Her gaze darted to the sling encasing his left arm, where she could see the bulky bandage covering most of the left side of his chest and clavicle underneath the thin fabric of his T-shirt. It was insane, but she had to physically bite her tongue to keep from asking how he felt and fretting over him being out of the hospital already. The reality of her position and situation made it easier to rein in the concern. She lay on the cold concrete, naked as the day she was born, with her hands cuffed to her ankles, which were spread by a metal bar. It was an obscene, undignified pose, b