Owned by the mafia boss

MIA

My life didn’t flash before my eyes.

I had no epiphanies. I didn’t panic. There was nobody coming to save me, yet a strange calm blanketed my body. It was as though I’d slipped into a spa instead of the wolf’s den.

Did I expect to talk my way out of this?

Fitz wasn’t Alessio. He was a forty-something man with thick ginger hair that he’d combed back. His wide, shapely lips pulled into an irresistible grin, one that probably tricked many women with its false promises. Freckles dotted his pale face. Combined with the pretty smile, they gave him an illusion of innocence which might’ve fooled me if I weren’t familiar with gangsters. I’d never trusted Dad’s men. They were always in my peripherals.

He was dangerous, but I could handle him.

“You’re short.” Fitz sat close, his knees touching mine as he tapped the envelope and its contents. “What am I going to do about this? Janine owes us an extra grand.”

Janine?

Fake name, obviously. “She pushed me out of the car. I’ve no idea what this is for.”

“Drugs.”

That explained the anxiousness, her constant malaise, the running nose. She brought me with her children to pay a drug debt. A ripple of anger crashed against my fortress.

Fitz threw the cash on a table scored with hundreds of lines. “I’m surprised you’re friends with that woman. You don’t have that scattered, junkie vibe.”

“Look, I don’t have any money. My purse was in that van.”

“I believe you.”

“Then I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

“Hold on, darling.” He touched my wrist, and a wave of revulsion churned my stomach. “I want to see if I’m right.”

“Don’t touch me.”

He flipped my forearm. Grabbing the sleeve of my blouse, he pulled. He sighed, and ran a finger over my flesh.

“No marks. Good girl.”

“You won’t think so when I jam my foot in your balls.”

“That’s a pretty rock.” His thumb nudged my engagement ring, sliding the white gold to peer at the sapphire’s many facets. “Could fetch a decent price.”

Not my sister’s ring. “It’s not for sale.”

“Oh? Are you offering something else as payment?” Fitz’s hunter eyes froze me in the chair. “My wife was just like you. Glossy black hair. Soft skin. Blowjob lips.”

“And you were doing so well with the compliments.”

“Would you like me to keep going?”

I want to leave. “Whatever.”

“You’re hot-tempered. My ex, Miranda, was a mouse. I had to teach her how to give head. She was never great at it, to be honest.”

“She dodged a bullet.”

“Not quite. She got unreliable.”

My guts lurched as he leaned forward, looking at me under lashes that were so fair they disappeared.

“Patrick told me my wife was a CI. You can’t imagine the disappointment. The betrayal. My lovely Irish rose was a fucking snitch. So I waited for her at home, in the bedroom with the lights off. I’ll spare you the details, but I made my little raven sing one last song.”

He seemed to reminisce for a moment, staring into space placidly. “Everybody folds, darling. The tough girl act won’t save you. Obeying me will. Give me what I want, and I’ll let you walk.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Which part?”

“Every part.”

Fitz grabbed his wallet, slipping a portrait of a young girl from the bifold. He offered it to me, and I held it to my nose. Time had creased the photo, which split her sweet smile in half.

I handed it to him. “I look nothing like her.”

“You think so?”

“Maybe you find her everywhere. Maybe she’s haunting you because you feel guilty, or maybe the story is bullshit.”

“Nope.” He exchanged a laugh with the man behind me. “Ask him. He was there.”

“What do you want?”

He traced my jaw with his finger, pushing against my bottom lip. “That mouth wrapped around my cock.”

My gut clenched. “Not going to happen.”

“I’m getting what’s owed to me.”

“You’ve got the wrong girl.”

“Don’t care,” he deadpanned. “You’re here, so you’ll pay.”

“You might as well ask your friend to blow you, because I’m not doing it.”

“It’s just a blowjob. I’ll even let you keep your ring.”

“I will bite off your dick.”

“That’ll make it very unlikely you’ll leave here in one piece.”

“Fine. Have the ring, you pervert.”

“It’s not what caught my attention. I’ll have your mouth.”

“Hurt me, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“The people I’m with have a very long memory. If anything happens to me, they’ll make you suffer.”

“Sure.” He flashed me a disgusting smirk. “Take off your clothes. Start with your shirt.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

Fitz’s oily gaze slid to the man restraining me, and nodded.

“Don’t you fucking touch me-don’t you dare!”

Rough hands seized my elbows.

“Easy, lass. This doesn’t have to be torture. I’m not planning to do with you what I did with Miranda.” Fitz approached, his oil-slicked grin filling me with bile. “Well, not unless you’re silly enough to give me a good reason.”

He palmed my cheek.

I bit him, hard enough that warmth spilled onto my tongue. Toby dug into my shoulders until I gasped. Fitz jerked out his finger. He smeared his blood over my lip.

“When my fiancé is done with you, I’ll rip out your spleen.”

The distillery boomed with his laughter.

Toby wrenched my arms and restrained me with one hand. I felt like an animal before slaughter. His wolfish smile told me I wouldn’t leave until he’d taken everything. Fitz unsnapped the first and second buttons. When he touched my neck, grazing my shoulder and pushing my bra straps, I lost all self-control.

Just like Fitz predicted, I broke.

Panic surged up my throat. I screamed as the violating hands stole my dignity. Fitz yanked my blouse, the white satin pooling my waist. His appreciative groan poisoned my stomach. Fitz leaned forward, palming my breast.

“Christ, woman. You’re hiding these behind that schoolmarm outfit? Toby, what do you think?”

“I want her pussy after you’re finished.”

I launched my head into Fitz. My skull cracked his nose, and he stumbled off his chair, swearing.

A door opened and slammed. “What the hell is going on?”

I turned in their direction. “Help me! Please, help!”

An older gentleman in a parka stood beside a twenty-something man wearing Oxford shoes and a wool sweater under a jacket. Shock widened his brutally handsome face as he took in my body before meeting my eyes.

“Vinn!” Thank God. “Vinn, please help me.”

He made a beeline for me, but Fitz palmed his chest. Vinn halted, his expression terrifying.

“Let her go.”

“Why?” Fitz barked. “Who is she?”

“She’s Alessio Salvatore’s fiancée.”

The offending touch disappeared from my shoulders. A wave of relief buckled my knees. I wrapped my blouse around me.

“Oh shit. We didn’t know-”

Vinn tossed him aside, losing some of his aggression when he approached. He offered me his hand, but my legs were useless. They trembled violently. I ground my teeth to keep from crying as Vinn’s heavy arm helped me upright.

“Get me out of here.”

“Fitz. Start talking.”

Guilt flashed from everyone in the room. Even I flinched from the awful voice booming through me.

“She never gave me her name. I wouldn’t have touched her if I knew. Honest to God.”

“You worthless asshole.” His rage vibrated into me. “You fucking degenerate.”

“That I am, but nothing serious happened.”

Anger rippled through my numb disbelief, but nobody seemed to buy Fitz’s line of bullshit. The vibe in the distillery cooled as the men exchanged meaningful looks with each other.

Why didn’t we leave?

Vinn resisted my attempts to head out. Finally, he pinned me in a fierce embrace. I struggled, but his arms tightened.

“Vinn, what are you doing?”

His lips brushed my ear. “Stop, or you’ll get us both killed.”

I tensed as he yanked me into an empty office. “Vinn.”

“Calm down.”

“You can calm down. I’m leaving.”

“No. We can’t go.” He thrust me into a seat and shut the door, locking us inside.

I stared at him. “Why not?”

“I’ll explain soon.”

He disappeared for a moment. The lights flared, illuminating a carpeted floor and stacks of paper. He twisted a tap and returned, a washcloth clutched in his fist. Vinn knelt beside me.

“May I?”

I nodded.

Slowly, as though afraid I’d bolt, he dabbed my cheeks, mouth, and neck. He glanced down and cleared his throat. My blouse was open. My shaking fingers buttoned it as Vinn rubbed his forehead.

“Tell me what happened. Quickly.”

“Serena-Michael’s wife-drove us here. She made me leave the car and took off. I think she owed them money.”

“Did you give them your name?”

“No.”

“What’s the blood from?”

“I bit him. Vinn, they would’ve raped me. I want to leave.”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because there are three of them, and one of me. They’ll kill me as soon as I turn around. Same with you.”

Panic rose like vomit. I shuddered and gasped. “This can’t be happening.”

“You have to shove your fear aside. Right now. If you freak out, so will they–and that’s when people get killed.”

“Alessio-”

“-Isn’t here. But I am.” Vinn’s clipped tone was hardly comforting, but at least he wanted to help me. “Do what I say.”

“I’ll try, but-”

“We can’t leave until we convince them they’ll be spared.”

“They’ll never, ever buy that.”

“It’s our best shot, so do me a favor and play along. Pretend you’re somewhere else. Do whatever it takes, because if you don’t… we’ll probably die.”

“How the fuck did this happen?”

“Mia, save it for later.”

“I’ll-I’ll try, but what if it doesn’t work?”

“Then I’m going out in a blaze of glory.”

My heart shrank from hopelessness, but then I met Vinn’s determined gaze and his steely resolve gave me strength.

“You can do this.”

“I can,” I whispered. “Yeah, I will.”

“Okay,” he said, his voice like iron. “We’ll call Alessio in front of them. You can’t tip him off. Say you wandered in here, and I found you.”

“Right.”

“Alessio can’t suspect anything. Accomplish that, and we’ll walk out of here. Ready?”

“Yes.”

Vinn positioned me behind his body, as though that would be enough if everyone shot up the distillery. I did what Vinn suggested. I shoved the emotional part of me into a cage. Mentally, I walked away. I imagined darkness swallowing her screaming face.

He opened the door and strolled out.

The three men gathered in a tight circle, guns hanging at their sides. Their conversation halted as we joined them.

“Guys, we’re willing to let this go with an apology.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“Nobody knows what happened except the people inside this room, and lucky for you, Mia is a reasonable woman. She likes living. So do I.” Vinn swiveled to each man, his posture tightening like a spring. “She’ll call her fiancé, tell him a white lie, and we can all move on with our lives.”

“You must think I’m stupid.”

“You know what he’ll do if he finds out. Why risk it?”

Fitz pointed at me. “Because she has nothing to lose.”

“I just want to go home. I miss my fiancé-”

Vinn stopped me with a squeeze. “I’ll make the call.”

“Bad idea, man.” Toby crossed his arms. “She’ll bring the cavalry.”

“She wants to keep breathing as much as you.” Vinn slipped his cell from his pocket, and they stared as if he held a revolver. “He’ll find out eventually. Too many people have seen her here.”

They exchanged nervous looks.

“Fine, but if she slips-”

“Understood.” Vinn dialed Alessio and put him on speaker. “Alessio, your fiancée needs a lift. I’m tied up or I’d drive her.”

“Mia’s with you?” Alessio screamed through static. “Where? Is she okay?”

“She’s in North Dorchester, at 1215 Marsh Avenue. Yes, she’s all right.”

“Let her talk.”

I seized the phone.

Do not panic. Do not sound scared.

“Hey, babe.”

“Are you really okay?”

Practically have a gun to my head. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Thank God,” he said, his voice breaking. “I found your things in Serena’s van. I’ve been so fucking worried. What happened?”

“Serena-she took the kids and drove us here. I got out of the car. Next thing I know, she’s locking the doors and taking off. She stranded me and I have no idea why. So-so I wandered around looking for help. I didn’t have a cell or anything but luckily, I bumped into Vinn.” I glanced at Vinn, who gave me a thumbs-up. “It was an interesting day, but I’m ready to go home.”

Alessio went quiet. Dangerously quiet. It was as though he heard the gaps in my story.

“Alessio, I’m exhausted. Are you on your way?”

“I’m coming, baby.” An engine’s roar filled the speaker. “Don’t hang up.”

“Everything okay?”

“Just stay on the line.”

Fuck.

I marveled at Alessio’s ability to sniff trouble from a call. I wiped the sweat on my jeans, avoiding Fitz’s laser-scope eyes as his companions argued about what they should do. Vinn’s control over the situation seemed to be slipping. He palmed the revolver strapped to his waist and occasionally added his voice to the hissing argument.

“I’m pulling in now,” Alessio roared from the phone. “Whoever’s listening, I want my fiancée. You have ten seconds until I force my way inside, along with the guys I brought.”

“Alessio, stop with the threats. I’m fine.”

“I’ll believe that when you’re in my car. Until then, I’m assuming you’re a hostage. Ten.”

Which caused everyone to panic.

“I told you this was a stupid idea!” screamed Toby, waving his gun at us. “Fucking Christ!”

Vinn started forward, but Fitz blocked the exit.

“We’re not letting go of our only leverage.”

“You don’t have any, you moron.” Vinn forced me behind his body. “It’s three against however many Salvatore has.”

“Nine,” barked the speaker.

“Grab the girl. Use her as a shield.”

“Do that, and I guarantee Salvatore will hang you on meat hooks and yank out your insides from your asshole. We can still walk from this.”

“Eight.”

Fitz waved at Vinn. “What’s in it for you?”

“Keeping the peace is more important than evening the score.” Vinn tightened his grip on my hand when I pulled. “Nico understands that. He calls the shots, not Alessio.”

“Seven.”

“Fitz, let us through. Don’t ruin what our bosses planned over a misunderstanding.” Vinn’s voice went taut with rage as Alessio counted. “The longer you hesitate, the worse your chances are for getting through this alive.”

“Five,” said the phone. “He’s right, I’m pissed.”

“Let’s blow him away. Fitz, what are you waiting for?”

“I’m not spending the rest of my life being tortured by Nico’s dogs. Patrick will give us up like that. What’s a couple drug dealers to him?”

“Mia,” Vinn hissed. “When I say go, hit that.”

I spotted a large red button separating the doors. Vinn had been inching toward it, and the idiots hadn’t noticed.

“Okay.”

“Three.”

“Go!”

He flung me. I crashed into the wall and immediately hammered the button. Vinn threw a table on its side. Bullets slammed into metal. He grabbed my belt and yanked me to the floor as the door shuddered. Daylight seeped into the distillery.

Freedom.

I dove for the widening crack. Vinn caught my arm.

“Do not fucking mo-”

Shots dented the steel. Vinn returned fire. The older man’s head zipped back. Blood sprayed gray walls. Vinn ducked. Pellets launched into our protective barrier. Plaster exploded. Light fixtures sparked. The garage door reversed its direction. Vinn’s pistol locked open.

Empty.

He tossed the gun aside. “Fuck.”

A deep fear swallowed me whole.

“Get up, bitch.” Fitz croaked amidst the chaos. “I don’t want to put buckshot in that pretty face.”

Vinn balled me against his chest. A gunpowder scent washed over me as I plunged into his arms. His fingers sank into my skin.

“Hey! You fuckers hear me? Stand up, or I’ll cut you in half!”

I detached from Vinn.

“No,” he barked.

“He’ll kill us anyway. Right?”

“Nobody’s dying.” Vinn’s glacial eyes seemed to search for a way out, but everywhere was blocked. Shouts and fists battered the exit.

Vinn wrenched a knife from his boot, but I seized his wrist.

“Don’t! You’ll die.”

“Let me go. Mia-”

“I’m almost there,” Fitz growled, his voice much closer. “Last chance.”

“Stop,” I screamed. “I’ll come out.”

“Do it slowly. Hands first.”

Vinn swore as I hastened to obey. He ripped me behind him.

Fitz aimed a sawed-off shotgun at Vinn. Blood soaked his left shoulder, and the distillery echoed with his harsh breathing. Toby was slumped on the floor. The other man lay in a pool of crimson.

So they were all incapacitated, except for Fitz.

Fitz’s pained grimace widened. “Step aside, bro.”

“Take me instead.”

No, don’t!

I squeezed Vinn’s hand, and he returned the slightest pressure.

“Are you deaf? I want her.”

“No.”

“I’ll kill you both.”

“You won’t. You’ll put that gun down and release us.”

“The girl and I have unfinished business.” Fitz grimaced, the barrel dipping before he recovered. “We have a date, sweetheart. We’ll do it in the office.” Fitz jammed the barrel under Vinn’s jaw when I didn’t comply. “Come, or I’ll blow out his fucking brains.”

I pulled away. “It’s over, Vinn.”

“No,” he roared. “Don’t you dare move.”

Our gazes clashed like lightning on water. Vinn’s hard exterior seemed to splinter, revealing his youth.

“Vinn.”

His hold slackened. I thought he’d given up, but then a shadow crawled the walls. Behind Fitz, a man emerged from the darkness, and I almost screamed relief. Alessio didn’t make a sound. He was like condensing mist. His features flickered as the lights guttered. Suddenly, he stood at Fitz’s shoulder.

A blast tore apart Fitz’s skull. He exploded, sprinkling the air with thousands of red droplets. Blood covered me. I stared. The world shrank until it was like looking through the wrong end of a telescope. Loud bangs vibrated through the floor. Vinn had grabbed Fitz’s gun and fired on Fitz’s corpse.

Again. And again.

He wheeled to each fallen assailant like a spring-loaded machine and emptied every round, and then he used the shotgun like a club. And somehow, this violence was second to my horror at the blood on me.

Someone cradled my face. Everything remained a pin-sized picture in which I connected to nothing, but it slowly returned with a twitch of my palm, the echo of my name, a man’s frustrated sigh. A flash of light stabbed my heart with fear. I ripped from his embrace, hitting the wall in my haste to run.

The thick hands bound me like ropes. He pulled me through the open doors. I stumbled into a jog, my ears ringing from gunfire. Cold stung my cheeks as a bright blue sky rolled overhead. Alessio didn’t make a noise until he’d pushed me into the backseat of his BMW. He slid on the leather seats, slammed the door, and seized me.

“You’re safe.”

Finally.

The crushing vise on my lungs disappeared as I sagged into his arms. I screwed my eyes shut and cried. It was an ugly, hysterical cry, but I couldn’t give a single fuck about how I looked because I was alive.

He’d saved me.

I clung to him as though I still sat in the distillery. Alessio shifted positions, and a primal part of my brain took control. It had latched onto safety, and it wouldn’t let go. He pried me off his collar, so I grasped his waist. I tried to focus on his reassuring touch and not my violent shaking.

“Don’t leave me. Please.”

Alessio paused his search of my body to nuzzle my ear. “I’m not going anywhere, but I have to check for injuries. Are you hurt?”

Everything hurt.

Tears slid down my cheeks. I felt pathetic when Alessio shushed me like a child. When I allowed him to separate an inch, he peeked under my blouse, palmed my back, and ran his fingers over my legs.

“Good. I don’t see anything. Hold on.”

Alessio grabbed tissues and drenched them with water from a bottle hidden in the door’s side pocket. He wiped me, as Vinn had done. Unlike Vinn, he apologized when it trickled onto my lashes. He was so gentle, he could’ve been a member of my family. Then the tissue disappeared, and his burning palm soaked the moisture.

My gaze slid from his lapels to his eyes, which smoldered with hazel fire. Alessio seemed to exhale pain. He rested his forehead against mine. He cupped my face. His nose trailed my cheek, my only warning before his lips claimed me.

Blissful heat pressed into my mouth. Lips softer than velvet kissed me in a slow, long, melting stroke that seemed to transfer his aching relief. His nails raked my skin. He exhaled hard, pushing me into the leather. Warmth blossomed from the fear, drawing the poison coursing my veins.

As I kissed him, the atmosphere heated. He took my hip. He angled his head and chased my sigh. Alessio rolled me underneath him, his elbows caging my head. His tongue swiped me, and I gasped from the unexpected connection. More teasing parted my lips. Our kiss amped up into a lip-biting, tongue-clashing frenzy.

Our first kiss.

I’d imagined this moment so often before my sister dated him. When our few encounters left me breathless with angst. When it was safe to indulge in a world where I wore his engagement ring. I’d detached the monster from the man and fantasized.

Sometimes they were all that kept me going.

And I’d pictured stealing clandestine kisses in my room and entertained visions of us marrying in a Tuscan villa, but I never saw him saving me. Even before I found out Salvatore meant death in certain parts of Boston.

A violent tremor went through me with a shockwave of fear.

Alessio jerked back, fingers tangled in my hair. He was far away again, like a balloon drifting further into the horizon. He patted my cheek several times, his voice sounding as though it came from a gramophone.

“Take her to the hospital.”