Marrying the Mob Prince

INDIE

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I glanced at the stationary door. Either my visitor was tall or he had a deceptively high knock, and I knew a handful of men with that height willing to break down my door.

Actually, just one.

I stood in my new apartment, hanging outside the bathroom. My hand flew to the towel loosely wrapping me. I pulled it over my breasts as the knocking persisted, my heart pounding. I’d barely unpacked, spending the day in a stated of numbed horror. I would get past this, but not if he showed up to my door. My fragile heart couldn’t take it.

Shit.

I’d taken every precaution. I withdrew from the ATM in low amounts to not draw his attention. I paid my security deposit in cash. I was careful, but he’d found me. Fuck.

I breathed in the shower’s leftover steam and removed the cap from my hair. I undid the knot, the dark curls falling to my shoulder.

Two impatient thuds hammered the wood.

“Indie!”

Cursing, I grabbed my phone and unlocked it. A barrage of messages from my fiance leapt onto the screen.

Knox: I’m coming over.

Knox: I can’t control the way I feel about you.

A twinge of sadness hit my chest as I read his texts. My fingers hovered over Knox’s desperate words as they invaded my body. I couldn’t handle how I felt about him, either. Which was why I’d left. I had to break free of his stifling authority, otherwise my future was shaping into one of those Stepford wives I swore I’d never become.

“Indie. It’s me.” His voice broke with huskiness as it boomed through the door, sending ripples of agony through me. “Indie…let’s talk. Are you there?”

“Yes, I am.” I readjusted the towel, my throat tightening. “I’m here.”

“Good. I want you to open this door.”

“Go home, Knox.”

He let out a ragged sigh.

I bit my lip and forced an iron will on myself. I hated myself for feeling guilty, but the thought of the man I loved in emotional pain pitted my stomach with nausea.

“Open it,” he growled. “Now.”

I wanted to. I couldn’t.

“In-die. Last chance.”

His warning made my heart race. I wiped my slicked palms as I returned to the bathroom, temptation rising within me like the steam clinging to the ceiling. The cheap fan spun, but moisture clung to the walls like a jungle mist. A scraping hit the lock. The sound of a deadbolt sliding open crashed in my ears.

How in the fuck?

Knox stepped inside, his brown hair plastered to his head as though he’d been walking in the rain. A shadow of stubble peppered his dimpled chin. His frowning mouth beckoned for a kiss. His dark and terrifying eyes gave me a thrill.

I shoved my whirlwind attraction aside.

He broke into my apartment.

I froze, stunned by this blatant abuse of boundaries. I couldn’t move. I stared, tongue-tied, as Knox shut the door behind him and tossed his jacket on the couch like he owned the place.

His attention flicked from the furniture to me. He seemed bewildered.

“You planned this,” he said in a lilting voice, his lips curving. “You waited until I left on a business trip.”

A black silence surrounded us as I fought to still my pounding heart. His smile broadened, and the conflict in my body raged. He drew closer, dragging with him a heat wave.

“H-how else could I leave you?”

He shot me a penetrating look. “Why would you do that?”

“Didn’t you read the letter?”

I’d spent hours composing it on my phone before I’d penned it to paper. I’d poured my heart onto those pages, second-guessing every word, crying.

I gathered my towel, even though it firmly wrapped my body. He eyed the hand clutching the fabric, his gaze darkening with hunger.

“I did. That list of grievances has nothing to do with lack of desire.”

My mouth opened in dismay as he watched me with grim disappointment. He didn’t fucking get it? I’d written four single spaced, handwritten pages detailing the reasons behind the breakup, and he’d dismissed every single one.

“Desire isn’t the problem,” I fired back. “It’s everything else.”

He crossed his arms, a muscle ticking in his clenched jaw. “Just because our relationship is unconventional doesn’t mean it’s toxic.”

“You forced your way in here.”

“It’s not a break-in if you have the key.”

How the hell did he get that? I uttered a harsh sound. “I can’t do this anymore.”

I marched toward the bedroom. My shoulder brushed his, and he seemed to take the accidental touch as an invitation. He pivoted, blocking me.

“What is this really about?”

A rock wedged in my throat as he stood there, boldly intimidating. What was this about? His overwhelming presence. How my body reacted to him. That I’d surrendered all authority. His rules. The schedules. I couldn’t even take my birth control without his say-so. It was about him telling the world we were engaged before I’d wrapped my head around the idea of marrying him.

He moved, and I collided into him. He grabbed my hip and yanked us together. My pulse throbbed as he leaned forward and glared, his expression dark and angry.

“Indie, why are you running from me?”

My breathing hitched. “You terrify me.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

That word tore apart my calm.

“You are so-you are so frustrating!” I uttered a harsh sound as he stood there, glowering. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m not rehashing every detail of what you did.

“I realize I’m not like the men you’re used to, but I would never hurt you.”

He still wasn’t fucking listening.

“It’s not that,” I seethed. “You’re-”

“Intense. Yes. I understand needing space.” He gave the suitcase on the floor a rueful look. “But this is a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?”

How did he not understand this?

“You lack boundaries,” I shouted, hand on my hip. “You are obsessed with control.”

Knox said nothing. He watched me intently. His posture was relaxed, as if he was flirting instead of breaking and entering.

It pissed me off.

“Knox, get the fuck out.”

“Make me, Indie.”

I bit my lip and looked away from his challenging glare. It was as though he wanted me to fly off the handle. Doubt clogged my mind. “I will call the police.”

“Go ahead. It’ll be a waste of taxpayer money. It’s not like I committed a crime.”

“Once again, you broke in!”

“I let myself in.” He played with the set of keys, dangling them in front of me. “I own the building now, so I guess I’m your landlord.”

I wished I could accuse him of bluffing, but Knox had a reputation of snapping up real estate around Boston at a second’s notice. Honestly, that was the least of his crimes. This was the worst thing he’d done. He knew I’d never let him in, so he’d bought the apartment building.

I tried to throttle the dizzying current racing through me. “You’re crazy.”

“I can’t control the way I feel about you.”

Something inside me crumbled, because that sounded like I-love-you but it was more accurately I-am-obsessed-with-you. That doused the unexpected warmth surging through me.

“You have no right to dictate where I live!”

“I have every right. It’s called capitalism.”

I shook my head at the sheer nerve of this man. “This is stalking.”

“Call it whatever you want,” he murmured, his expression softening with his tender voice. “I can’t let you stay in a rundown shack without twenty-four/seven security.”

God help me. I had to conquer my involuntary reaction to his gentle, loving eyes and the way he spoke to me.

“Knox,” I pleaded meekly, “it’s over.”

He grabbed my hand. “Then why are you wearing my ring?”

Because I want to come back to you.

My cheeks blazed as he brushed the diamond on my finger. “Because I-I still have feelings for you. I don’t want to take it off.”

Knox softened, his palm closing over mine. “Get dressed and come.”

I wanted to. Every cell inside me urged to rush into his waiting arms, but I needed to hold firm.

“I’m not going with you.”

“The hell you aren’t. We’re engaged!”

His broken voice sawed at my resistance. A spark leapt in my breast at the idea of listening to him, and then a heavy weight slammed into my head.

You have to leave him.

But if he stood in front of me and begged, I would cave. I would submit to his touch as I always had. I wanted him, but I didn’t want our life together anymore, and the confusing push and pull was pure hell.

My eyes burned with unshed tears. “Knox, I need some time alone.”

I tightened the towel around me, the cotton taut against my breasts. I imagined him brushing aside my protests and peeling it off me. I pictured him pushing me against the wall and entering me with a hard thrust from behind. My breasts tingled with the anticipation of the rough plaster grazing my sensitive skin.

“Knox. Please.”

He just watched, an infinite pool of patience as I worked myself into a frenzy. “Did you find someone else? Is that it-there’s another man?”

My throat closed up. “God, Knox. No.”

Apparently, his pride couldn’t withstand the possibility.

He rushed past me like an inferno, throwing the bedroom door open. My heart pounded an erratic rhythm as he searched the apartment. I followed him into my bedroom as he rifled through my closet.

“Jesus, Knox. Do you mind?”

He lowered his head, frowning. “I…I had to be sure.”

My jaw ached from my clenched teeth. “You want to look in my underwear drawer, too?”

He stared at the empty racks filled with swinging hangers and then glared at me like it was my fault. “I’ll turn this whole place upside down if I have to.”

The fracture in his voice stabbed my chest.

“Th-that’s insane.”

He abandoned his search and stepped close enough to inhale his spiced cologne. The fragrance hammered me with images of Knox, naked in bed after sex, wearing a lazy smile.

Knox brushed his knuckles on my cheek. “You’ve made me crazy, Indie.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. I wiped it away. “I don’t make you anything.”

“You disappeared. I came home early and your clothes were gone. My assistant texted-said you’d moved out.”

“I-I’m sorry, Knox,” I whimpered. I needed to stop apologizing. “I really need this. I have to be on my own for a while, for my own sanity.”

I clutched the towel as he cornered me against the wall. His deep blues probed mine as he caged me in his arms. “I don’t like you staying in this dump.”

“Where I live is not up to you.”

He smirked. “Everything involving you has been my decision for the last six months.”

“I’m staying.” I lifted my chin, my voice wavering. “I need you to accept that.”

Knox’s stare drilled into me. He looked unlikely to accept anything but my unconditional surrender, but after a few beats he seemed to calculate that the odds of me going quietly were slim to none.

Tell me you love me.

I begged him silently, the hope swelling in my chest like a hundred violins. I got through to him. He’d promise to change. He’d beg for my forgiveness. He’d tell me how much he loved me.

Knox cupped my cheek, and my pulse skittered alarmingly. Suddenly, his embrace was warm and sweet.

“One day, you’ll be mine forever.”

Pain edged his baritone, attacking the walls I’d built around myself. It throbbed in my chest as he leaned in to kiss me. My mouth parted in anticipation, but he ghosted my jaw until he reached my ear, whispering.

“Enjoy your freedom while it lasts.”