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Just Another Morning After
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Taken by the Mafia King First Look
TommasoMy mind tore itself in two separate directions as I stared down at Paige.She’s real, the first part of me whispered.Her cheekbones were more prominent than when the picture was taken, but her eyes still sparked with the same fire. Her red hair hung down to the small of her back in waves. That flimsy, half-see-through silk robe hung open to expose her body, but I didn’t look at anything but her face.She met my gaze, and time froze. My heart raced. Whatever had been burning in my chest these long months sang.The second part of me demanded violence, rivers of blood. The whole left side of her face was swollen into one massive bruise. Her hair was long but lank, clearly unwashed for some time. The stitches of a fresh cut cupped the top of one of her breasts. The stitches were so prominent, black against her pale skin, I couldn’t help but see them. More injuries, some older, threaded across every limb.Time seemed to restart. She ducked her head, gathered her robe around hersel
Taken by the Mafia King Freedom?
PaigeI curled into the corner of the taxi seat and closed my eyes. The smell of exhaust leaked in through the windows, and desert heat pounded down on me. Despite the fact that I’d been through this a dozen times now, pointless tears spilled over.The sun hurt my eyes, and every time I looked at the dark-haired bastard, Mr. Conti, something like disgust crossed his face. My skin burned from the double pressure of McKenna’s robe and the awful dress they’d given me.McKenna. She would never know what happened to me. Neither would any of the others, but I’d learned a long time ago that you can only be friends with so many of the other girls. If the bastards start seeing you as some kind of ringleader, it was curtains for you.As we pulled away from the palace, I committed McKenna’s face to memory. Short blonde hair, soft blue eyes, sharp chin. If I ever got away, I’d go to Manchester and tell her Ben what happened.Not that I would get away. Mr. Conti dragged me out of Zahur’s palace an
Taken by the Mafia King Flying The Coop
Tommaso“Yes, Mr. Conti,” the woman on the phone said in a pleasant, accented voice. “I understand you want to leave quite quickly. I am simply going to transfer you to—”“No, no!” Hold music filled my ear again. “Fuck.”I ran a hand through my curls and marched back and forth through the little living room. I’d been transferred three times already because, apparently, the flight I knew about was full, and none of the identically pleasant-voiced women I’d spoken to so far had responded to my not-so-subtle offers of bribery.No, they wanted to tell me about the red eye to New York with no connection, or the flight leaving in twenty minutes for Atlantic City where Paige and I would have to sit on opposite sides of the plane.I couldn’t do that again. The cab ride had been awful. She cried most of the way and never looked at me after that first moment. I didn’t expect her to be happy or comfortable after what she went through, but she was so upset I had no idea what to say.“Hi, I’ve bee
Taken by the Mafia King Bat Outta Hell
PaigeThe chaos of Cairo almost made me miss the small, dark dormitory. Everything smelled. Everyone was yelling, but I didn’t know if it was at me or at each other. A bastard tried to grab my arm, and when I stomped on his foot, he called me a bitch.That, at least, felt familiar.I just had to get somewhere quiet, find a map, and figure out how to get to the airport. Tommaso seemed confident this passport would be enough to get me out, and if there was one thing you could trust a bastard on, it was the ability to move girls illegally. But I had no idea where I’d find somewhere quiet in the market I’d stumbled into to escape Tommaso shouting my name behind me.“Hey, pretty lady.” A man leaned out over his stall. “What you say you come here? I show you the special wares in the back?”I sprinted past him. The sneakers I’d stolen slid around on my feet, at least a size too large. That surprised me. Tommaso seemed like the type of bastard who did his research.Should I have stayed with h
Taken by the Mafia King Into The Fire
PaigeI froze and stared up into the face of a massive, bald Egyptian man I’d just run into. A thick scar cut through his left eye, and the eye itself was hazy white. He grabbed my shoulders like I needed to be caught, like any momentum I had hadn’t died when I smashed into his rock-hard body. My forehead ached a little from the impact, the least of the injuries I’d gotten in the last few months.He nodded. “Miss. I am seeing you, thinking you need help.”His fingers pressed into me, tight enough that even through two layers of cloth I could feel his strength. A threat. I glanced down at his waist to see the sheath of a massive hunting knife poking out of his loose, black pants. I swallowed.“I’m actually okay,” I said. “Just playing a game with a friend.”“Ah, you want friend.” He smiled, revealing a pair of golden incisors. “I want friend also. I am Mahmoud. You can trust Mahmoud.”“I actually want my friend. The one I came with.” I looked around like Tommaso would appear when I sai
Taken by the Mafia King What Has to Be Done
TommasoMy heart thudded unevenly. I’d given up hope of ever finding her. The red hair I’d seen hadn’t been Paige’s, or if it was, she had given me the slip. I used a GPS to get out of the goddamned bazaar. My steps had dragged as I followed it out through the winding labyrinth of stalls to a new exit. That was when I heard the screaming.The biggest Egyptian man, the one holding Paige, turned toward me. “You think you stop us?”His friends laughed. Paige met my gaze and paled. I tapped my M9, but Killian said Egyptian police could be nasty. Better to handle this more quietly.I launched myself at the nearest guy. With the element of surprise on my side, I slammed my fist into his unprotected face. His nose cracked, and a river of blood poured out. He shouted something in Arabic and brought his hands up while the other three guys not holding Paige encircled me.I almost felt sorry for them.I slammed my foot into the front of the first guy’s knee, and he crumpled with a groan. The sho
Taken by the Mafia King A Lot Has Changed
PaigeI tugged on the handcuff. It was stainless steel, the good stuff. There was no point even wasting my time trying to break it.I stared at Tommaso, who was on the phone with the airport again. He’d given me a long-chain cuff, so I could move around a little. My whole body ached even worse than it did when I got up this morning, but I meant it when I said I’d rather take my chances with the Egyptians.I looked at Tommaso again. He’d dropped those bastards like an action star without even breaking a sweat. He’d taken a gun out of a holster under his jacket a few minutes ago and locked it in an under-bed safe. Six enemies, and he didn’t even pull it. Nobody had protected me from anything in a long time, and certainly not like that.All on behalf of Sera Bianchi, who I hadn’t seen since I was eight. I still remembered that day, the very last day we spent as part of Dad’s old world. She’d invited a dozen kids to her ninth birthday party at a nearby park where a little carnival had bee
Taken by the Mafia King Flight Risk
TommasoThe second I closed the bathroom door behind me, the handcuff chain I left lying on the bed to alert me if she got up rattled.Dumb. She clearly didn’t trust me, no matter how many times I told her the truth. Better to find out here than in the airport.I sprang out of the bathroom and grabbed her just as she wrenched the suite door open. She glared back at me, the fire I remembered from her Polaroid burning bright in her dark eyes.“You lied,” she said.“No.” I pulled her back inside. “I went to the bathroom.”“It was a fucking test.” She squirmed in my grip. “That’s not trusting me.”I shut the door. “If you’d stayed put, I would’ve. You lied to me first.”She lapsed into furious silence while I chained her to the bed again.I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Once we get to Philly, I’ll take these off. For now, you’ve left me no other choice.”She rolled her eyes.The haunting rhythm of the five o’clock call to prayer began outside. I walked to the window and stared out over t
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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
