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Away From Home
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Taken by the Mafia King House Hunt
PaigeI shoved my sweaty hair back off my forehead and set the weights back down in the weight rack. Over the summer, I’d gotten in the habit of working out in the basement gym at least once a week, just to keep myself ready. Finally, my muscles were returning to the state I remembered from before my kidnapping, taut and powerful. I padded up the stairs to shower off and wait for Tom to come home.Something thudded on the other side of the wall. Then again. My heart skipped a beat. I knew, now, that the gym and storage areas weren’t the only rooms in the basement. Gamal, the prisoner still living in our house, was down here, too.After a moment, the noises stopped. Tom said he had some of his best guys down there. Gamal probably tried something stupid and got knocked around for it. Served him right.I hummed as I entered the first floor and locked the basement behind me, a habit I’d gotten into since we got our first house guest. Sun streamed in the windows, and I breathed in the feel
Taken by the Mafia King Apologies
PaigeI blinked, trying to stay focused on reality. I was in the bathtub in my old room in the guest wing with Tom behind me, scrubbing a washcloth softly over my back. Dimly, I remembered him barking orders to get the bastard out of his house and all the men disappearing one by one. I remembered whispering to Tom what I’d seen in the window, and a full search of the house while I still sat in the corner of the bathroom, shaking. And I remembered watching Tom start to run the bath in our room, then noticing a spot of blood—mine? The bastard’s?—on the floor. I’d thrown up from the sheer cocktail of emotions coursing through my body.“I’m so sorry,” he murmured again as he dropped a line of kisses along my shoulder.How long had we been here? Had I responded to that before? Everything but those few moments blurred.“It’s okay,” I said with a thick tongue and a dry mouth. I didn’t mean it, but I needed to say something. I needed to know I could.“No, it’s not, and we both know that.” He
Taken by the Mafia King Never Gets Easier
Tommaso“And I will handle Gamal’s guard rota personally,” Stan said.“Like you should have from the beginning,” I bit out in the top room of a commercial building I’d forgotten I owned.Stan nodded, looking chastened, and I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t mad at him. He’d even dug up this old facility of Niccolo Marino’s, a music store that had fallen off everybody’s books with an even more secure set-up than my house. And, in truth, I should’ve been handling Gamal’s fucking guards. He was in my house, where Paige was. I’d just let Marino take over my whole fucking brain.“I’m sorry.” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “I trust you. Thank you.”Stan nodded and left the small top room crowded with dusty instrument boxes. The business owner knew nothing of the cells in the basement or the bug-proofing up here, just that they hadn’t paid rent in a year and weren’t going to say anything until somebody else did. I’d told them they technically needed to pay me something to keep the lease active,
Taken by the Mafia King Shaken Up
PaigeSunday morning, I decided to go into work. I needed to do something other than sit at home and think about the bastard and the blood. Sera had asked about the bandage on my palm, where I’d held the jagged piece of metal to the fucker’s throat, and I’d told her in a whisper, but I wanted to lose myself in other people’s problems. Especially when she told me a story about a similar thing happening to her with a man named Matteo, and how Tom put a bullet in his head. I knew he’d saved her life, but the circumstances were more real now. Now, I couldn’t get the words on my laptop screen to stay in place.Someone knocked on my office door.“Come in!” I called.Hillary, a recent addition to the house on the run from her abusive boyfriend, leaned in. “Um, I’m so sorry to do this, but are we having your group today?”I glanced at the clock on my laptop. My Healing Together group was supposed to start twenty minutes ago. And I hadn’t prepped a damn thing.“Shit.” I leapt out of my chair.
Taken by the Mafia King Ramping Up
TommasoI kicked my feet up on my desk as the sun set behind me and smiled. In the days since I spoke with Killian and Stan about next steps, I’d been calling Mostafa almost daily. The phone rang, and rang, and he finally picked up.“I was starting to think you didn’t like me anymore.”Mostafa sighed. “May I speak to my son tonight?”“Not a chance,” I replied. “But I think we’re getting real close to that point. You owe me an update.”“Yes.” Mostafa shuffled some papers on the other end of the line. “Khaled is expecting a delivery from Zahur tomorrow night.”My grin stretched so wide it hurt. Mostafa hadn’t wanted to agree to broker a deal between the two men, but it only took a few insinuations to get him on board.“I knew you could do it,” I said. “Tomorrow your time, yes?”“Yes.”I ran my free hand over the arm of my chair. Good business sense dictated I nailed down the last details of the plan, not that I hung up and sprinted upstairs to tell Paige the good news, but my legs itche
Taken by the Mafia King Normal Enough
PaigeI drifted from the common room across the hall to the dining room. A couple of women circled the long table, laying out plates and cutlery for lunch. I nodded at them then glanced through the doorway to see Andi in the kitchen, swinging her hips in time with a dance beat blaring out of her radio. Everything looked normal. Everything looked good. I smoothed my hands down my pants and tried to make myself actually believe it. Of course, that caught the cut on my palm, still healing after almost a week because I kept accidentally opening it back up. A few dots of blood oozed up, and I wiped them away.Almost a week, and I was still jumpy. I was starting to feel ridiculous.The front door swung open, and I turned. We weren’t expecting anyone.A woman in six or seven layers of clothes stumbled in, and I sprang into action. Clearly, she needed our services. Judging by how many clothes she was wearing, I’d guess she was living on the streets. I grabbed my phone, texted Lily and Lauren,
Taken by the Mafia King Bossy
TommasoI looked at the crumbling rowhouse Stan had directed me to then at him.“He joined up because he needed money,” Stan said. “His mom’s a firecracker, but she’s on disability, has been for years, and his younger brother got a partial scholarship to his dream school. Jer’s covering the difference with the money he makes with us.”I groaned. “Could he possibly be more perfect?”Stan shrugged with a smile. “You can’t make this shit up.”“Fine.” I fixed my hair one last time, grabbed the food we’d stopped for on the way, and climbed out of the car. “Let’s get this over with.”“That’s the spirit.” Stan chuckled as we walked up the path and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes, Jer answered.“Hi.” His eyebrows shot up as he looked from me to Stan and back. “I, uh, didn’t—”“Think we’d be by to see you?” Stan filled in. “You got the wrong organization. We brought a couple trays of lasagna from the best chefs we know for you and your family.”I hefted the three lasagnas Rosemary and P
Taken by the Mafia King Haunted
PaigeTom and I sat at the kitchen counter as Miranda delivered steaming plates of a squid-ink pasta she’d been dying to try out.“Thank you,” he said. “Now please, take the rest of the night off. I know you worked through your break for this.”Her cheeks turned pink. “But—”“I’ll text you my review.” I smiled.After another split-second of hesitation, Miranda hurried off, and Tom and I waited until her bedroom door shut behind her to laugh.“Man, I feel like a dick, but this food looks cursed,” he said.I stared down at the pitch-black pasta. “It’s definitely spooky. But she busted her ass. We have to give it a fair shot.”We both gathered forkfuls of pasta, and Tom held his up to me as if to cheers. I knocked my fork against his with a smile, then took a bite.“Holy shit,” Tom said.I nodded. “Wow.”It was leagues better than most of Miranda’s dishes, the flavors complex and beautiful. We ate in silence for several long minutes, just enjoying the food and each other’s company. Then,
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Taken by the Mafia King Epilogue
PaigeI stood in the vestibule outside of the chapel, clutching my flowers, my heart hammering in my chest. Organ music belted through the doors, and I was just waiting for my cue.We all were. My two bridesmaids, in simple maroon dresses, stood ahead of me. Like she could feel my eyes, Lauren turned back and winked. I smiled. The dress looked spectacular on her, and I’d promised up and down that Tom would invite enough handsome men for her to go home with a date. This, of course, had been complicated by Tom choosing Killian and Stan as his two groomsmen. While I liked the older man, and he kept Lauren laughing, I didn’t exactly see the two of them as a couple.Mom stepped up next to me with a smile. Her mother-of-the-bride dress, a deep burgundy gown with gold accents, caught the light and sent it dancing. “Are you excited?”I inhaled sharply. “I kind of can’t stop thinking about the seating chart for the reception. Who have I become?”She laughed. “Your father.”Tears beaded in my e
Taken by the Mafia King Old Time's Sake
KillianI sat behind my desk and looked out over my men. Tommaso took his usual seat. Adrian hovered in the corner like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself yet, just like he had at the beginning. Patrick was still laughing about spilling his wine. Just like old times. I stood and started pouring everyone drinks.“So,” I said, “do you have an update on the warehouses, Adrian?”He started toward my desk, then paused. An odd moment passed. It wasn’t really my desk anymore. I’d left the hunk of wood behind because I had no need for it on the island, and he’d loaded it down with computers in my absence. Despite that, I’d never seen anyone sit behind it but my father besides me.I offered Adrian a drink. “Sit.”He nodded. “Didn’t want to step on your toes. The situation is pretty simple, all told, but I can tell there’s a certain amount of grace I’m supposed to be handling this foreman with, and I don’t—”Tommaso joined me at the bar to pour. “Do you remember that foreman in the so
Taken by the Mafia King Big News
PaigeI tucked my arm through Tom’s and straightened my long, floral romper. He kissed me on the cheek, then knocked on the door. Joyce swung it open.“Hello!” She welcomed us both in with hugs. “Mr. and Mrs. Ricci are in the drawing room. Please, come in.”We let ourselves be bustled through the door, the wine we’d brought carried off to the kitchen, and our coats taken to some closet somewhere in the mansion. Adrian used it as a base of operations when Killian and Sera weren’t home, so I’d been here a few times since the wedding, but I’d never felt comfortable here. Finally, we were led to the closed doors of the drawing room, and Tom opened them with a smile.Inside, we found not only “Mr. and Mrs. Ricci,” but also Olivia and Patrick, Adrian and Penny—who still wouldn’t even talk about their dance at the wedding—and Sera’s mother and brother, as well as Lauren. Sera leapt up to greet us, and Killian followed a few paces behind. I threw myself into the hug just as much as Sera did—I
Taken by the Mafia King Checking Up
SeraI folded a T-shirt and put it into Killian’s suitcase. “Are you sure we need to leave so soon?”He chuckled and took the T-shirt back out, then replaced it with a suit shirt. “Very, unfortunately. Adrian is in the middle of a difficult situation with one of the warehouses, and he needs a steady hand to guide him through.”My stomach churned at the thought of leaving the villa. We’d only been here for a couple of months, and we’d promised everyone we’d return, but dammit, I wasn’t ready yet. Lazing around the villa and having sex whenever the mood took us was way too fun to stop after only a few months.“But we’ll be back soon, right?” I asked like I didn’t already know.“Cara mia.” Killian took my hands. “What is happening in that head of yours?”I sighed. “I don’t know. The thought of leaving just make me kind of sick. We just got away from all that. I don’t want to be scared again.”He studied me for a long moment. “You do look a little pale. How sick is this making you exactly
Taken by the Mafia King Humdrum Excitement
PaigeI squeezed Tom’s hand in the car on the way to the airport.“Sad to be leaving?” he asked.I smiled. “Always. It’s so magical here.”He laughed. “Not just saying that because we’ve spent most of the vacation in bed?”I ran my free hand up his leg. “No, we have weekends for that at home.”“Fair enough.” He kissed the back of my hand. “I do like going on these little vacations, though. It’s a nice escape for a few days.”I nodded. I really was going to miss Paris, but I wouldn’t have wanted to stay much longer anyway. Lauren had been texting me updates about the shelter, especially the new one as women settled in. I kept thinking about how much I was missing, how much they needed me there. And I knew Tom was feeling the same. Apparently, Lyle had his sights set on someone new, and Tom was itching to pull the trigger. Anybody else would probably think we were freaks, desperate to leave a luxury vacation to get back to our grueling jobs. But those people didn’t realize just how much
Taken by the Mafia King Perfect Fit
TommasoWhen I told Paige I’d set everything up for another two days in Paris, she’d immediately insisted we spend a day shopping. I put up a cursory front of complaints, but in truth, I was perfectly happy following her from store to store and carrying her bags. Even better, she loved it when I made jokes about some of the worst, frilliest, most French things we came across. She laughed and joined in. For years, I’d heard men complaining about shopping with their girlfriends—fiancées—saying it was the most boring thing in the world, but even if we weren’t laughing up a storm as we paid our way through the most expensive boutiques in Paris, I still would’ve been having a ball. The sun was shining, she kept looking at the ring I’d put on her finger with a soft wonderment I’d never seen in her eyes anymore, and my face hurt from smiling. Paige and I could’ve made a hell of an afternoon out of reading the phone book.“Stop!” she said.I froze, my free hand twitching toward the gun I’d hi
Taken by the Mafia King Beginning of Forever
PaigeI didn’t know how long Tom and I lay there, listening to the fireworks and seeing the very top of their arcs through the sliver of windows accessible from the floor. I pillowed my head on his chest and enjoyed the steady beat of his heart. Engaged. The last time I was here, I’d been on the cusp of recovery, just starting to make strides toward the person I was today. Now, I wasn’t done—I didn’t know if there was a done for traumatized people or people in general—but I was so much better, stronger, happier than I had been.The last time Tom and I were in Paris, I’d thrown myself at him and chickened out. As much as I could stay at a private view of the Eiffel Tower, I wanted to show him just how much had changed. Just how much I meant the “yes” that had fallen so easily from my lips. I rolled on top of him.“What do you say we take this back to that hotel room you picked out?”Tom grinned and pulled me down for a kiss. I pressed myself against him, feeling every line of his body.
Taken by the Mafia King The Only Ones
PaigeI sat across from Tom in an empty, stunning restaurant in the middle of the Eiffel Tower with my head spinning like the three sips of wine I’d had with the appetizer were enough to make me drunk. He’d really rented out the Eiffel Tower. And not one floor, the whole thing. We’d ridden an empty elevator, the two-Michelin-star chef kept coming out to tell us why he’d selected particular dishes based on the information Tom had given him about our preferences, and I couldn’t hear anything but the soft classical music over the speakers. It felt like a dream.Tom took my hand. “So?”“So what?” I asked.“Was the surprise worth it?” He grinned.I looked over his suit, a forest green that brought out his eyes, worn without a tie. His dark curls tumbled into his face. I’d never seen him look so perfectly put together and so casual. He looked…well, he looked exactly like the man I’d fallen in love with. Nothing like the one who’d scared me so badly all those months ago in Cairo.“I get the
Taken by the Mafia King Peace Time
TommasoDespite how much I wanted Paige to keep that little black dress on, we had a few hours before the Tower officially emptied out for our use. I talked her into putting on something a little more walkable and keeping the lingerie on. As if to punish me for my restraint, she picked a pair of tiny, wide-legged shorts that showed the tops of the garters attached to her stockings every time she moved and a fitted blouse. I changed and somehow convinced myself to leave the hotel room instead of stripping everything off her and spending the hours in bed.She took my hand as we stepped into the lobby. “I should’ve known. When you plan a surprise, it’s never just one thing. Where are we off to first?”“So nosy.” I smiled.“You’re right, I’ll stop asking.” She slid the room key out of her pocket and fiddled with it for a second, then dropped it. With a small smile, she bent at the waist to pick it up, exposing those garter straps again.I grabbed her waist and hurried her the final few st
