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Taking Care
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Taken by the Mafia King Saying Godbye
PaigeI walked into the Haven the afternoon after the auction at the Mansion with Lyle at my side. I’d really meant to be in early, but after falling asleep at sunrise, I hadn’t been able to get myself out of bed until after noon.“Okay, I’m going to set you up in my office,” I said. “We need to be able to check the information with you, but there are still a lot of women here who aren’t recently kidnapped mob daughters, so I’d like to keep you out of sight.”He nodded, and I thought he looked a little relieved. Lyle was awkward at the best of times, and no matter how good his intentions were, I didn’t really want to know what he’d have to say to a bunch of very recent sex-trafficking victims. It seemed he didn’t either.Sera and Lauren stood in the common room with most of the women we’d rescued last night, clearly collecting information. Lauren looked a little puffy-eyed, like she’d stayed up the rest of the night and come in at her normal time, but otherwise, she seemed okay. I nod
Taken by the Mafia King Fallout
PaigeI opened and closed my mouth a few times. How did I answer a question like that? Why did her grandfather sell her? Sophia just stared up at me, nearly as frozen as she had been but with her thin, cold fingers clamped around my wrist.“Your grandfather was a bad man,” I said awkwardly. “An evil one.”She didn’t move. That wasn’t nearly enough, and I knew it. With a sigh, I sat down on the couch next to her. She didn’t release my wrist, just shifted with me.“Riccardo Marino had been in the mafia for a long, long time. And”—I shrugged—“I’m not a lot older than you, but I’m old enough to know that when you keep doing the same thing, it starts to seem like the only thing you can do.”Memories of keeping all my emotions locked up tight in my mind, of my shame and fury when my reactions to my trauma broke loose, poured through my mind. Only tons of work with Lauren, and continuing work with my new therapist, had broken me out of that rut.“If I had to guess, I’d say your grandpa neede
Taken by the Mafia King Closing In
TommasoI readjusted the chair at Marino’s desk for the third time and swore to myself I’d get an interior designer in her before I turned it into anything. The old man had crap taste, especially in squeaky wooden rolling chairs for desks. His office was huge, but so comically dark it looked like it was waiting for a fairytale princess to come open the curtains for the first time in a century as a metaphor for warming the prince’s heart, and it was starting to grate on me.Or maybe what was grating on me was the mountain of paperwork in front of me. Riccardo had resisted joining the new millennium as much as he could, and aside from the elements of the business Niccolo had been involved in, like tracking the details of the women, his records looked like they hadn’t left 1980. I’d figured out that he had less money than I’d anticipated and almost nothing else yet. At this point, half my job was organizing the papers to be digitized.My phone rang, and I snatched it up with a sigh of re
Taken by the Mafia King Slaying Dragons
PaigeI sat at the table in the group room across from my office at the shelter with the final two women rescued from the Mansion that we didn’t know if we could release.Daniela, a woman a few years older than me with short, pitch-black hair, crossed her arms. “I know I agreed to stick around until you figured this out, but I’m telling you, my family wouldn’t do this to me. Your guy is running into a clerical error or something, probably for both of us.”I nodded. “He definitely might be. If we had concrete information either way, you’d know.”Luci, the brunette who’d first asked me if she could call her family back in the basement, swiped tears from her eyes. “I’m not so sure. My brother was really quiet the week before I was kidnapped.”“Don’t say that.” Daniela whipped toward her. “They’re missing both of our information, and that’s probably for a good reason, so since my family didn’t do this to me, yours probably didn’t do this to you.”Luci shrank, and I put my hands up.“There
Taken by the Mafia King Fire Power
TommasoI sat—blessedly—in my own chair in my home office and stared across the top of my desk at Stan and Killian, whom I’d called in for a top-secret planning meeting once I’d gotten off the phone with Mostafa.“The rumors worked,” I said.Stan raised a to-go coffee he’d brought in with him in a small “cheers.”“Has Zahur taken the bait?” Killian asked.“Exactly as I planned.” I smiled a wide, hungry smile. The bastard’s ego was going to be the death of him if I could help it. His ego, and Paige.“So do you have a timing or location of the deal?” Killian leaned forward, a small sparkle in his eyes. Zahur hadn’t touched Sera, but in the past few months, Killian had grown to like Paige as our sporadic double-dates became a little more regular. I didn’t know which of them he wanted revenge for more, after I dropped Marino.“I told Zahur to name his price, but there’s a small wrinkle.” I leaned back in my chair and eyed the two of them. “He never participates in deals in person.”Stan b
Taken by the Mafia King Relaxation
PaigeWhen I arrived home after work that day, I didn’t find Tom in his office, or the gym, or the bedroom. Eventually, though it was early for dinner, I checked the kitchen and couldn’t help laughing. He stood in front of the stove wearing one of Miranda’s aprons, already smeared with something red.“What?” he said as he turned. “You don’t think this is sexy?”“Maybe if you had nothing underneath.” I pictured the tiny apron stretched over his bare frame and started salivating.“Noted.” He grinned.I wandered over to the stove. “What are you doing?”“Spoiling you.” He kissed me. “For me, the Mansion was a coup. For you, it was a nightmare, and I didn’t do enough.”I shook my head. “You did—”He covered my protest with his mouth. Desire kindled in my gut.He pulled back and stirred the sauce. “That’s what I thought. I have one step left before this simmers for ninety minutes. What do you say you go upstairs and get ready for a massage, and I’ll be up soon?”I swatted him. “Now you’re j
Taken by the Mafia King Away From Home
TommasoI crossed my arms and leaned against the wall as a few of my men collected the last of Julie Marino’s things in the foyer of the Mansion.“That’s it.” Carp swiped sweat off his forehead.“Good.” A mountain of crates and boxes, all crammed with clothes, furs, jewels, and a few art pieces with her name on them towered almost to the second-floor balcony. Paige said Julie seemed trustworthy, at least on the matter of Sophia, so I was less resentful about how much goddamn time I’d spent finding all her shit than I might be, but less definitely wasn’t zero. This would be the third and final courier trip, and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.“Wait!” Teddy called from a hallway.I turned.“Found another bag.” He hoisted a pink and purple duffel over his head as he rounded the corner.I sighed. “Julie’s?”He shook his head. “Sophia’s, if the sizes are anything to go by.”I winced and had him add it to the pile. We’d found a few other caches of Sophia’s stuff hidden around the house,
Taken by the Mafia King House Hunt
PaigeI shoved my sweaty hair back off my forehead and set the weights back down in the weight rack. Over the summer, I’d gotten in the habit of working out in the basement gym at least once a week, just to keep myself ready. Finally, my muscles were returning to the state I remembered from before my kidnapping, taut and powerful. I padded up the stairs to shower off and wait for Tom to come home.Something thudded on the other side of the wall. Then again. My heart skipped a beat. I knew, now, that the gym and storage areas weren’t the only rooms in the basement. Gamal, the prisoner still living in our house, was down here, too.After a moment, the noises stopped. Tom said he had some of his best guys down there. Gamal probably tried something stupid and got knocked around for it. Served him right.I hummed as I entered the first floor and locked the basement behind me, a habit I’d gotten into since we got our first house guest. Sun streamed in the windows, and I breathed in the feel
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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
