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Where Only the Moon Can See
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Taken by the Mafia King A Welcome Surprise
TommasoIn my closet, I pulled off my jacket with a grin. When I came home, buzzing from another successful shipment and trying to figure out if Tony was an asshole or a problem, I really had thought Paige was having a nightmare. Over the past week, I’d grown used to listening for those abortive whimpers that meant her sleep had turned on her. But tonight, when I walked up to her door, everything had changed.“Oh, God, Tom,” she moaned in my memory. “Fuck, do that again.”I finished unbuttoning my shirt and tossed it in the dry-clean hamper. Maybe I should’ve left as soon as I heard that, but she moved under the covers, and I hadn’t been able to. I eased my pants down over my hard-on and grabbed my pajamas before padding back into my bedroom. My massive four-poster with its heavy red drapes welcomed me, but I glanced at my bathroom briefly. Should I shower first, try to get this out of my system. I couldn’t let one dream confuse me. Paige might be starting to soften toward me, but we
Taken by the Mafia King A Winter Wonderland
PaigeDressed in a garishly pink snowsuit that seemed to appear out of nowhere in my closet, I followed Tom through the foyer back toward the door that led to the garage. If he expected me to play basketball in this, I was going to kick his ass. He opened the door and led me along the line of cars, instead of directly to the second door that led to the court. I should’ve known. Though his was a bit sleeker and black, Tom wore an equally full-coverage snowsuit. I couldn’t imagine what the hell he had in mind.Finally, he stopped in front of a trio of…well, I didn’t know. They looked kind of like jet skis, but they had actual ski-feet at the bottom. I stared at him blankly, already starting to overheat.“They’re snowmobiles!” He grinned, the piece of spinach from breakfast gone.I frowned at the machines. I never should’ve agreed to this. After last night, I should’ve stayed as far from Tom as possible to keep my stupid subconscious from ever doing something like that again. But my mout
Taken by the Mafia King Status Report
TommasoI sat back in my desk chair and looked out at the snow through my window. I could just barely make out the tracks Paige and I had left. We’d had such a great time before she ran away. I hadn’t seen her since then. I’d cut it way closer on my meeting than I intended to. She had a way of distracting me.“…all to say, my place is looking pretty fucking good,” Carp said.I glanced at the enforcer. He seemed confident, but not so much it worried me. He had a good head on his shoulders.“Fucking A,” I said. “If you’re doing well, I think it’s time to let Lyle into your systems.” I nodded at the reedy IT guy who I hadn’t been able to get through a meeting without yet. Some of the territory I’d taken had no virtual protections, and some of them had so much only Lyle could get into their systems.Lyle typed a few things into the laptop I almost never saw him without. “De Luca’s stuff has been midrange so far. Not too sloppy, not too tough to get into. Mostly gonna be resetting all the
Taken by the Mafia King Everything Is Fine
PaigeI stroked the top of Francis’s head in Lauren’s office. For the first time, noonday sun poured in her big windows. Tom rearranged my appointments permanently to line up with when most people at Henley and Stephenson would be taking their lunch so I missed as little as possible. Part of me thought that was sweet. The rest of me had no idea what to think about Tommaso anymore.“So, our longest break yet.” Lauren smiled. “How was your weekend?”In my mind’s eye, Tom cupped my face gently, somehow both in my dream-bedroom and on the back of the snowmobile. I’d been avoiding him since then.“I did the homework we talked about,” I blurted.“Great!” Lauren scribbled a couple notes in a new color of pen. “Tell me a little about it?”I ran her through the steps, through our loose plans for achieving them. Every time she looked like she was about to ask another question, I invented another detail to tell her to avoid it until I finally ran out.“Wow,” she said. “It’s awesome that you were
Taken by the Mafia King Two Steps Back
TommasoI glanced at Paige in the passenger seat next to me. In the shuffle, I hadn’t had a chance to hire my own driver yet, but the little black coupe I’d bought last year for personal driving seemed subtle enough for the trip. She stared out the window, her shoulders still at perfect right angles like they had been since she walked out of Lauren’s office. Something had obviously happened in there. She’d been awkward, even tense since Friday—with the exception of the snowmobile ride—but this seemed different somehow. Maybe they’d finally crossed the line and started dealing with the hard stuff.“You can pick the music,” I said to break the silence.She looked at the radio where soft pop music oozed out of the speakers. I drove myself so rarely I never even bothered to change the presets. I didn’t recognize the melody, but it had the unmistakable cadence of something that would get stuck in my head if I let it.“You like this?” She shook her head. “I mean, this is fine. I don’t care
Taken by the Mafia King Not A Triple Date
PaigeI picked at the plate of lasagna in front of me and looked around Tom’s formal dining room. He’d said he tried to keep decoration out of the place so people could focus on the food, but that was only half-working because of the company. Killian and Sera showed up as promised, but they brought along Patrick and Olivia, who were also a couple. The four of them walked in arm-in-arm, already chattering, and I’d instantly felt like an ant. I’d never done well in big group events. Or medium ones. I basically hadn’t been to a party since that last birthday of Sera’s, and I never figured out how everybody else seemed to know when other people were done talking. Even inviting over Killian and Sera had been stupid, but on a whim while trying not to fall asleep last night, I’d bought this white dress covered in pink and green geometric patterns, and I wanted to show Sera Bianchi I still knew how to pick out my own clothes.But now here she sat, completely resplendent in a deep blue designe
Taken by the Mafia King Reality Check
TommasoMy brain shut off. Paige’s lips were on mine, moving with that same sinuous grace I’d seen in her body under the sheets. How long had I been dreaming of this? I cupped her face, ran my had through her hair, and she opened her mouth on mine. She tasted like rich, dark fruit and—And wine. Because she’d been drinking at dinner, at least three glasses. On a tolerance so low, she would’ve reacted to a single shot of scotch. I mustered every ounce of willpower I’d ever had and pulled back.Paige blinked at me, hurt in her dark eyes. On the tail of the hurt quickly came the humiliation I’d grown used to. Her pale skin started to turn red.“You’re upset,” I said. “You’ve been drinking.”“I’m upset. I’ve been drinking.” She nodded as though confirming to herself.“I’m gonna go.” I glanced at the door as a burst of laughter floated up the stairs. We—I--still had guests. Even if I didn’t know the wine was making Paige do this, I wouldn’t be able to stay here. “You get some sleep.”“I wi
Taken by the Mafia King Perspective Shift
PaigeI sat back on Lauren’s bright blue couch on Wednesday at lunchtime. Francis sat on the far end, seeming to sense I didn’t want him near me. I didn’t want anyone near me. I’d snapped at Miranda this morning when she accidentally gave me coffee with milk and sugar instead of just sugar, and I’d almost sent a kind of catty email to a client. I just couldn’t stop thinking about that dream, about the fucking kiss, about how close I kept coming to exploding my whole life right when it was maybe starting to become something I could live.Lauren smiled. “So if you want to, there are a lot of ways to try on clothes before you buy them. And if makeup’s a struggle—”“So, are we just never going to talk about what happened to me?” I asked.She swallowed and nodded. I resisted the automatic impulse to wince. I didn’t feel bad. She was supposed to be helping me, and I was just as shitty as I used to be.“Do you want to talk about what happened to you?” Lauren asked.I threw my hands up in the
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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
