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He Wanted This Life
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Taken by the Mafia King I Can't Argue His Price
SeraMy father.What the fuck was my father doing here?He sat with one leg crossed over the other, a cigar hanging from his fingers as he looked me up and down, and then at the plate of cinnamon rolls I’d made as a peace offering to Killian.“Got her in the kitchen, huh? I never took you as a traditionalist, Ricci,” Andre Bianchi smirked as he lifted his cigar to his mouth, his golden rings gleaming. “Smells delicious.”I felt like a deer in headlights as I stared at him, unable to move. Unable to make my mouth work. My mouth was full of cotton as I finally stumbled back through the doorway.“Sera.” Killian’s voice held a hint of surprise at seeing me, as well as a warning, as if to say I didn’t need to run away. Hearing him say my name broke me out of the trance I’d fallen into. My eyes darted to him, noticing the guilt shadowing his usually icy features.“How’s my girl?” my father said, but he didn’t really sound like he cared. I never anticipated a loving reunion between us. It h
Taken by the Mafia King Tommaso's Betrayal
Killian“What the fuck is her problem?” Andre Bianchi laughed as he sat down in one of the leather armchairs in front of my desk. His cigar continued to stink up the room. “What’d you do to my sweet girl?”“Where were we?” I sat back down feeling like someone had punched me repeatedly in the gut. Maintaining my composure at the moment was nearly impossible, but it had to be done. I looked at Mattia, holding his gaze for a moment before I picked up where I’d left off when Sera came into the room and everything went to shit. “I want to know more about Seraphina’s childhood.”“Eh, she was a kid.”I eyed Andre dubiously. “Obviously.”“What do you want to know? What her Barbies’ names were? When she learned to ride a bike? Or how much I spent sending her and her fuckin’ mother to Italy every summer?”“Italy,” I replied flatly. “Sera was eight when her mother died, right?” I knew this information already. I’d been at Caterina Bianchi’s funeral, standing beside my mother and father while the
Taken by the Mafia King Cheating on Killian
SeraKillian’s eyes bore into Tommaso as if he were already dead, like he’d buried his best friend in the backyard, and all he had left to take care of were the technicalities of actually committing the crime. I pulled back but Tommaso’s grip around me didn’t loosen enough for me to actually put any space between our bodies.“Get off her.” Killian’s voice was so strained and violent, I felt a chill run down my spine as if someone had dragged an ice cube over my skin.Tommaso didn’t move. He stood rigid beside me, his hand hovering over my lower back. What was he doing? Why wasn’t he arguing against what Killian assumed had just happened between us? Why wasn’t he defending himself? We’d done nothing wrong. In fact, the only person in the wrong here was the one acting like he’d been slighted. I narrowed my gaze at Killian, shocked at his audacity. Who was he to accuse of anything? Turning back to Tommaso, I tugged on his sleeve. “Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t argue with him.”I felt rath
Taken by the Mafia King Men in Love Do Things They Regret
KillianOlivia screamed at me, but I couldn’t make out a word she said. The room was spinning, my head throbbing, and my eyesight darkening at the periphery. I steadied myself, my hand groping for something to use to help myself to my feet, but I came up empty.I felt Tommaso next to me, lying on his back and panting hard. I turned to look at him and everything shifted. He looked like fucking shit. His face was barely recognizable, battered and bruised, covered in blood. His suit was torn, and his white shirt bore spots of crimson, likely more his blood than mine. He looked like grim death.I’d done that. I’d beaten the shit out of my best friend.Immediately, I shifted my gaze to Sera. She was hurt, too. Sitting on the floor with glass shards sticking out of her arm, pieces of glass wedged into the bare skin of her legs. “Fuck,” I muttered. I’d done that, too.“Get away from her,” Olivia warned in a tone I’d never heard her use before, at least not when she was speaking to me.“Ser
Taken by the Mafia King I Don't Care About Him
Sera“Miss Sera?” Joyce’s voice tickled my ear as I stared at the room. Chaos. That was the only way to describe what I had seen, what I’d felt. Now, I felt myself going numb. I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t break out of the trance I’d fallen into. Glass covered nearly every surface, and wood shards from the bookshelves mingled with the plaster that had fallen from the walls during the worst physical fight I’d ever witnessed in my life.“Sera, darling?” Joyce touched my arm, and I jolted with shock, meeting her kind, worried eyes.“I’m all right,” I said shakily, swallowing hard past the painful lump in my throat.“You’re bleeding and covered in glass,” Joyce replied with a quick, motherly smile that had my chest convulsing with a sob I desperately tried to keep hidden. She patted my hand. “Come, let’s get you cleaned up.”She walked me into the bathroom, the only area in the entire space that hadn’t borne the brunt of violence. She washed my bloody hand in the sink while the sounds o
Taken by the Mafia King Sera's Last Stand
SeraKillian’s office door was closed, but that hadn’t ever stopped me before. I yanked it open, stepped inside, and slammed it shut. One look around told me the door had already been slammed so hard it had nearly come off its hinges. Killian’s office looked a mess, and several paintings had fallen off the wall, their frames shattered.“That’s fine,” he said from his desk. I turned my head and found him staring at the wall, his phone pressed to his ear. “I can meet you there at ten. Thank you, Robert.” He hung up and leaned back in his chair.He looked like shit, but I didn’t say anything as he turned his gaze toward me, looking surprised to see it was me and not someone else. Maybe he expected Tommaso to slam the door like that.The bruising on his face had set in deep, purple blotches along his jaw and cheeks. I expected to see certain smugness on whatever was left of those beautiful features I’d grown accustomed to, but for the briefest of moments, his eyes flashed with shame.He q
Taken by the Mafia King We're Even
KillianThis wasn’t the first time I’d had to apologize to Tommaso, and it likely wouldn’t be the last. In my defense, I’d grown up with him. We’d fought like brothers our entire lives. Roughing each other up and throwing punches over women should have ended in our twenties, however, and I had been inexplicably in the wrong for nearly killing him over Sera.I hesitated at the door to his room, my hand raised to knock. What could I even say? Sorry? That felt like nothing compared to what I owed him now.The last time we’d fought like this had been the same night I’d gotten the news I’d just become the boss of the Ricci family. I’d been hellbent on dying to avenge my father’s murder. Sera wanted to hear all about it after being informed of the story by Joyce, but in all honesty, I could barely remember what had happened. Tommaso had almost killed me that night trying to save my life.Shuffling sounds drifted from behind the door. I knocked, and the shuffling stopped, followed by a grunt
Taken by the Mafia King Memories of an Uncle
SeraI did, in fact, watch Dr. Enstrom stitch Killian’s face back together and enjoyed every minute of it. Enstrom hadn’t been gentle. He’d spent twenty minutes reminding Killian he was in his forties, and not an invincible young buck with nine lives yet to live. Obviously, Enstrom didn’t care that Killian was the Hand of Death, and watching Killian get put in his place by the wiry doctor had me hooting with laughter by the end.But then it was my turn, and my laughter immediately stopped, replaced by pathetic sniffles and tears as he sewed the wound on my arm closed. Killian excused himself to make good on the promise he’d apologize to Tommaso, and after the doctor took his leave, I sat alone in Killian’s office for only a few minutes before wandering back upstairs.I avoided Tommaso’s rooms. Who knew what was currently happening in there? They were either making up, or killing each other, and after what I’d witnessed earlier I had no desire to watch them destroy any more rooms. Or e
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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
