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If She's Even Here
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Taken by the Mafia King Red-Head in a Cage
TommasoI stalked out of the hotel that night and pulled my coat around me to ward off a sudden breeze. Fucking deserts. The second the sun went down, it was like a whole different climate. But the yelling, crowded streets, and stink of exhaust hadn’t gone anywhere.Napping proved futile. I didn’t know how I was gonna sleep in that damned bed when I finally had to, but I definitely couldn’t with Paige so close I could touch her. Instead, I spent the afternoon fighting with the hotel wi-fi to find and memorize walking directions to the market Ahmed had given me. If I never had to get in a car and traverse the streets of Cairo again, it would be too soon.Heads turned as I walked, but fewer than in the daylight and in Ahmed’s part of town. I still towered over most of the people on the street, but I towered everywhere I went. At least in downtown, I blended in with the other pale-skinned tourists.That wouldn’t last. Like everything I needed in Cairo, the market sat somewhere most touri
Taken by the Mafia King Enemies Closer
TommasoI stormed into Ahmed’s fucking tavern, the noon sun hot on my shoulders. I’d spent the last few hours pacing back and forth in my hotel room, trying to convince myself to get some fucking sleep for the first time since arriving in Cairo, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even lie down.That fucking snake needed to know I shouldn’t be fucked with, not because of the Ricci name at my back but because I knew how to solve my own goddamn problems.I marched up to the bar and the same reedy bartender. The place was even emptier than yesterday, and the few red-eyed men at the tables stared even more. I didn’t care. Last time, I’d been crossing my fingers and hoping for a lead. Now, with my Beretta in my shoulder holster and the laughter of that guard ringing in my ears, I wasn’t hoping for shit. I had come here to get what I paid for.It took a lot to make me angry, but Ahmed had managed it.“Almawyrid yantaziru,” I spat.The bartender eyeballed me for another long moment. He ran his
Taken by the Mafia King On The Scent
TommasoOnce Mr. Dawud left with another fifty thousand—less than a third of the cash I had after my initial payment, without counting the four bank cards sewn into the lining of my bag—I collapsed onto my bed. I felt like I may have been close enough to touch her last night but lost her again. A few hours, a less backstabbing guide, and I would’ve been done.I pulled the Polaroid out of my pocket and stared at it. She looked so thin, so tired. I didn’t know when this picture had been taken, but I didn’t want to think about how she looked now. Not after those women I saw last night.I tucked the picture back away and pulled out my phone. I needed to talk to someone who knew a piece of what Paige was going through, convince myself I hadn’t damned her by walking out of Ahmed’s office. I dialed Sera.She picked up on the second ring. “Tommaso! Do you have her?”“Not yet.” I rolled onto my back to stare at the ceiling. “I’m close, though. I think she may have been there last night, at the
Taken by the Mafia King Dead End
TommasoThe following morning, I bounced into the crappy little tavern and gave Ahmed’s bartender the password with a smile on my face. Whatever the bastard said he found, I had a name to throw at him. I finally had the goddamn upper hand.I stuck my hand in my pocket to fidget with the edge of Paige’s photograph. If this lead panned out, I could be seeing her as soon as today. We could be on a plane home tomorrow. My life spread out before me, glittering and bright.The bartender, for some reason, seemed to regard this with more suspicion than when I came in threatening him with a gun. He let me back eventually, and I headed down the dark hall toward Ahmed. Even the dry, sweltering heat here couldn’t bring me down.As always, Ahmed sat behind his desk with one lamp illuminating the whole room. Four massive goons, at least as big as me, stood along the back wall. I even recognized the one who escorted me to my hotel. One more than yesterday. Had something changed? Did he expect me to
Taken by the Mafia King Shot in the Dark
TommasoI reeled back a step as that weight landed on my chest once more. Dead. Failed to save her by a couple hours, by one unlucky deal, after months of searching. I gripped the back of the chair for support. If he was right, and Paige was dead, I would…I would what? Abandon the rest of my friends and family over a girl I’d never met? She’d consumed my thoughts for the last five months, but I didn’t even know her. I just had the photograph and everything Sera said about her. I’d fought through tougher stuff than this before.But none of that kept a yawning abyss of grief from opening in my chest. If Paige was dead, I may as well have killed her. I got so close and fucked it up right at the goddamn finish line. This would swallow me if I let it.So I just couldn’t let it.“I don’t think so,” I said.“What?” Ahmed stared at me.“You don’t know her.” Technically, I didn’t know her either but whatever. “She’s tough. She’s made it this far. She wouldn’t go down that quickly.”“Mr. Conti
Taken by the Mafia King Deal with the Devil
TommasoZahur laughed and stuck his hands in his pockets. “That is very possible, Mr. Conti. I have a great many things. But why would you wanting one of them convince me not to kill you?”I swallowed. This close, I could see the hard glint in his eye. Zahur Farhat didn’t waste words. When he said he would kill me, he meant it.“I’m the right hand of the mafia king of Philadelphia.” I put my hand in my pocket to grab the Polaroid. “He and I are willing to do a lot to get her back.”Guns rattled behind me. At least five, more than the two guards behind me could hold. No safeties came off, but I doubted a man like Zahur bothered keeping them on. I slowly pulled the picture out of my pocket and held my hands up.“No weapons,” I said. “Just a picture.”“Ah, let him. He knows the mafia king.” Zahur laughed. “For a title like that, I can look at something before I kill you.” He snatched the picture.I watched his face closely. He didn’t lose any of the hardness, but one of his eyebrows twit
Taken by the Mafia King A Light in the Darkness
Paige“How is that?” I peered through the darkness of one of the many interior hallways Zahur made us stick to, barely able to see McKenna’s black eye.“Had worse.” She shrugged. Her English accent rounded the edges off all her letters. “Seen other girls come out much worse.”I nodded. In some ways, Zahur was better than some of the other bastards who had owned me. He let us wear long, thin robes over our naked bodies, let us walk around. Only in pairs and only in the isolated interior hallways he approved, but still.One of the bastards—I only called them the bastards now—had kept me in a cage for damn near the whole month and a half he had me. But Zahur had a violent streak. I came in with another girl, Delia, and he picked her to spend the first night with. I never saw her again. McKenna had taken me under her wing the next morning.“Still.” I shook my head. “You’ve got a cut in there. You should see a doctor.”She laughed, a high tinkling sound. “Mint, and I’ll just head back to M
Taken by the Mafia King So Close I Can Taste It
TommasoIt killed me to leave that place without Paige. But then, Zahur would’ve killed me if I refused, and I was no good to her dead. When I so much as frowned, half a dozen guards poured into the room while he just kept smoking that goddamn hookah. I’d agreed to come back tomorrow, ready to transfer the money, while Zahur did some “looking around.”Just thinking about him, even across the city in my hotel room, made me violent. Someday, I’d crush the smile off his face. For now, Paige came first.I paced beside my windows, overlooking Cairo at night and the door, while I nursed a glass of imported scotch I’d pilfered from the bar downstairs. My room had a minibar, but I needed the tumbler in my hand to steady me.After another long sip, I took out my phone and called Killian. I’d made a number of promises on his behalf.My best friend picked up the phone quickly. “Good news or bad news?”Just hearing his voice across the line, sharp and precise, made me a little less nervous. He wo
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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
