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Missing in Action
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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Taken by the Mafia King Killing Time
PaigeI perched on the edge of the couch in the common area, trying to convince myself not to check my phone.“…And then Amalia says, honey, I grew up in Philadelphia. If you think I won’t break your wrist to get the last dahlia on Mother’s Day, you’ve got another thing coming.” Sam grinned at me.I chuckled. He’d been regaling me and the rest of the security team with tales of his wife ever since I returned to the common room, slowly coaxing me away from the window and involving me in the conversation. Amalia seemed like an incredible woman, and I couldn’t wait to meet her when we got home. Maybe she’d want to help out at the shelter.But, like always, the thought of returning home turned my stomach.“I’m gonna go make some more tea.” I stood.Sam held up his mug. “Coffee, if you wouldn’t mind.”I shook my head. “I understand why your wife breaks wrists.”He laughed. “Then, I’ll have tea.”I took his mug with a weak smile and headed for the small kitchenette, slightly walled off from
Taken by the Mafia King Repaying the Favor
KillianI slammed into the driver’s seat of one of the rented cars and took off down the street. Carp had proven himself a good guy a handful of times, but Tommaso looked like he was on death’s door. I didn’t know if a good guy would be enough. So I raced through Cairo at night like a bullet, dodging and weaving through the endless traffic. The hotel Paige was staying in was ten minutes away as the crow flew, and I tried to turn the bulky van into that crow.Someone leaned on their horn, and I flipped them off as I jutted through another tiny break in traffic. Diesel poured in through the air conditioner vents, thick enough to cut with a knife. Months ago, I’d been rushing across my city to save Sera, and Tommaso had been there. Now, he needed me. And I always repaid my debts.I screeched around a corner. Especially when I’d been the one to stack the cards against us. I shouldn’t have said a goddamn word about Paige coming with us. Tommaso would still be bleeding out on some Egyptian
Taken by the Mafia King The Darkness
PaigeI stared into Sam’s blank, lifeless eyes, just visible past Zahur’s legs through the crack in the cabinet door, and tried not to breathe loudly. Maybe him walking over here was a fluke. Maybe he didn’t know where I was. I huddled smaller in the darkness.“Come out,” he crooned. “I will find you, azizati, but I promise you will find me better mannered if you turn yourself over.”His legs disappeared again, and I exhaled shakily. I had a moment, a second to get myself together. What would Lauren tell me to do? Breathe, obviously. In for three, hold for three—The air gasped out of my lungs as Zahur barked an order in sharp Arabic. Even the sound of the language cast me back to his house. There, guards had yelled to each other constantly, maybe checking positions, maybe just keeping us aware they were there. But somehow, they still managed to sneak up on me sometimes. The muscles in my arm tensed as I remembered the furious grip of one who caught me accidentally wandering too close
Taken by the Mafia King Gasp
TommasoI blinked. The world was black around me.“—twelve ccs of—”“—son of a—”Voices swam in and out of focus. I blinked again. The blackness receded just a little. Night sky above me. No stars, like I was in the city. The fronds of a palm tree leaned into the edge of my vision. Details filtered back in. Cairo. Zahur. I drew in a gasping breathing and choked on the thick scent of diesel in the air.“Doc, he’s—”The world dimmed again. I swam through a nothing space, almost a dream, but it didn’t have any shape. The blackness threatened to swallow me. I fought, not like the man I thought I was when I last opened my eyes, but like the boy I used to be. Kicking, scratching, fighting dirty. No holds barred.When the world grew bright once more, Carp leaned over me. Oh, shit, I was in the middle of a raid. I needed to get up.My legs didn’t react when I moved them. Tied down, then.“Hey, Tommaso, there you are,” Carp said.More pieces clicked into place. The woman with the knife. Killia
Taken by the Mafia King Fire or Ice
PaigeI scrambled for purchase on the plush carpet as Zahur dragged me through the suite by my hair. Pain and fear raced through my body. Oh, God. Rico. Harry. Eddie. Dead. Dead. Dead. My feet slid in their blood.His goons followed us through the suite to the door of the bedroom Tom and I shared. The bastard only paused long enough to kick the door down before grabbing me under my arms and tossing me onto the bed.I tumbled through the air in slow motion. The knife under the back of my bra pressed cold and sharp against my spine. If I landed wrong, it was all over. I was such an idiot. All this fighting, and I was going to die by my own knife.A small, bitter voice in my head suggested that might be better than letting him touch me again.I landed on the mattress on my side. The razor-sharp knife scratched the bare skin of my back, but I barely had time to notice that before Zahur flipped me onto my back and loomed over me.“My little redhead,” he said. “I’ve been dreaming of you.”H
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
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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
