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Fire or Ice
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Taken by the Mafia King A Hairsbreadth
KillianI shot one of Zahur’s men and ducked behind an overturned couch. Either Zahur was even more paranoid than we’d thought, or he was scared of Paige. Four men had been patrolling the hall outside the door to the fucking suite, and there were at least half a dozen behind the door when I’d stormed in. I’d dropped several but lost a few in the suite. Fuck being a crow; I needed something far more dangerous to get to Paige in time. I reloaded my gun and lunged up from behind the couch to sprint for the one open door I’d spotted earlier.Bullets rattled through the hotel room. One of them caught me in the vest like a punch to the fucking chest, and I dropped. My breath wheezed in and out of me. Sera would be furious when she saw the bruise. I grabbed a bloodstained throw pillow off the floor and tossed it up over the couch. More gunfire. But this time, I listened. The windows reverberated. One of them shattered. The quick click of the trigger releasing came from the far corner of the
Taken by the Mafia King Clean
PaigeI scrubbed my hands in the hotel bathroom sink, holding my own gaze so I didn’t have to watch the water turn crimson. A bubble of manic laughter expanded in my chest. So long hiding from mirrors, and here I was clinging to one to keep my wits.But I couldn’t laugh. I couldn’t anything. Because as soon as I started feeling, I’d have to think about everything that had happened, and I needed to flee the country, not break down.My hands still clung to each other stickily. The sink wasn’t doing enough. And Zahur’s blood covered my chest. I switched on the shower and paced.Killian kept watch outside the door. Another odd, almost-funny thought. The Mano Della Morte guarded my back. I trusted him to do so. But I did. Something had come over his face when he said Tom was injured, something I’d seen a whisper of in our conversation about the plane. I didn’t know what kind of person Killian was, but I knew he loved Tom more than anyone in the world except Sera, and he’d die to keep Tom s
Taken by the Mafia King Ricochet
CoraI squeezed Allie’s hands and sucked in my first breaths of free air in a year. Someone in the back row cried softly. I wasn’t going to let my guard down enough for tears, but fuck, I could relate. In the end, we’d found thirty-three women in the fucking rabbit warren of that house, and I still didn’t know if that was all of them. Thirty-three. And I only knew four of their names.God, and Allie had immediately started telling all of them I was an undercover cop. An ex-undercover, I corrected, but nobody had listened, so they all flocked around me. I glanced at the front seat where an older man drove us as smoothly as he could manage through the streets, headed for the airport. He’d said his name was Stan, and he had a decent energy about him. Fuck if that didn’t make me feel so much worse.I’d stabbed the guy who led everyone here to rescue us. Nobody would give me a straight answer, especially not that guy who introduced himself as fucking Carp, but I saw how the doctors hovered
Taken by the Mafia King Divided
PaigeI stood in the middle of a sea of women, nearly as many as we’d found in the basement of the Mansion. All of them were overwhelmed with emotion, dirty, sobbing, bleeding, and laughing with delight.“What did it feel like?” someone asked.“Are you sure he’s dead?” another yelled.“Why did you wait so long?” a third demanded.I didn’t bother trying to answer their questions. Yet another van of women pulled up, this time from the ambush planned on Rahim’s warehouse. Those women were in rougher shape because the suitcase of supplies got taken to Zahur’s house. I watched as the team of doctors swarmed over and began tending to the women there. Through all of the chaos, I just kept looking for Killian. In the middle of the drive, he’d gotten a call I couldn’t really overhear, then pulled off to the side of the road, switched one of the other men into the driver’s seat, and called himself a taxi. When I demanded answers, all he’d said was, “Tommaso,” before sending us to the airstrip.
Taken by the Mafia King Not Alone
TommasoRhythmic Arabic bounced off the walls of my brain. Everything hurt, my chest worst of all. The last thing I truly remembered was the monster dragging me down, but somewhere in my mind, I knew I’d been hearing rushed, frantic Arabic for some time.I opened my eyes. Bright, white light poured in, and I shut them again with a groan. Someone said something with a cadence that sounded like I should be able to understand it. I peeked one eye open, barely made out the face of someone with long hair, and realized I still couldn’t make sense of anything. The monster opened its arms for me, welcoming me down, and I dipped into darkness once more.The next thing I heard was beeping. Infrequent, but constant. Remembering the blare of light last time, I eased one eye the slightest bit open. Brilliant white, but I could just make out a few details. Angular lines on the white, like ceiling tiles.“Thank you,” a woman said next to me. “I can keep an eye on him.”Not a woman. Paige. My heart l
Taken by the Mafia King Out of the Woods
PaigeI leaned against the wall in the waiting room and sucked in what felt like my first deep breath since I’d heard Tom was hurt. The doctors here were so talented I could barely keep up with what they were saying, even when they spoke English, but even though they’d promised yesterday that Tom would wake up soon, I hadn’t been able to believe them. I’d fiddled with my phone. I’d texted Sera and Lauren that I was okay, that Tom was hurt but getting care, and I’d been receiving message of support since, but I hadn’t answered any of them. I couldn’t until I knew Tom was really out of the woods. Now, as my adrenaline finally started to taper off, I wanted to hear a friendly voice. I stood and walked to an out-of-the-way hall I’d found then called Lauren. It was midday in Philly, so she’d be at the shelter.She picked up almost instantly. “Paige! I’m in the middle of a session, can I call you back?”I smiled tiredly. The work came first. “Course. But when you do, can you grab Sera? I do
Taken by the Mafia King Packing Up
TommasoThe doctor I vaguely remembered from the haze on Zahur’s lawn, Dr. Awad, checked the bandages on my shoulder, then my ribs.“Your healing is progressing nicely,” she said.I offered her a half-smile. “Nicely enough you’ll spring me from this joint?”She chuckled. “I suppose.”“Ha!” I started to punch the air in celebration, but Paige’s hold on my hand kept me anchored. A good thing, too. I’d probably have torn something and gotten another week inside. As nice as the hospital was—and it really was, rivaling some of the more prestigious places I’d seen in Philly—I was more than ready to get out of here. Hospital food could only sustain a man for so long.Dr. Awad smiled indulgently. “That is, with a few conditions.”I groaned and slumped back against my pillow. “What?”She pulled out a sheet of paper covered in, thankfully, English. Paige took it before I could and studied the contents.Dr. Awad addressed her instructions to Paige. “We’re sending you home with two medications, a
Taken by the Mafia King The Life
PaigeBefore the first hour of the flight passed, Tom fell asleep. Between the last bit of pain medication the doctor had given him before we left and his injuries, I was honestly surprised it took him that long. I dropped my head back against the seat and let the quiet flow over me. In the cluster of four seats across the plane from Tom and me, Killian watched a black-and-white movie using headphones, and Carp and Stan bickered quietly over a card game I didn’t recognize. It was nothing like the rambunctious flight to Egypt, when I’d spent half the time clinging to the arms of my seat to keep from freaking out.Not least because the dragon I came to slay lay dead behind me, just as I’d hoped. Well, not just as I’d hoped. If I could do it all over again, I’d skip the part where Zahur almost got me again. And the one where a scared woman nearly collapsed Tom’s lung. I flexed my fingers and remembered the smell of the bastard’s blood, of Tom’s blood when we landed in Lebanon.“If you’re
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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
