Owned by the mafia boss

LIANA

I moved into Vinn’s place.

This was a bizarre dystopian nightmare, ripped straight from my most angst-ridden teenage years. I spent days in total isolation, wandering the empty halls between planning our engagement party. After quitting my job and internship, there wasn’t much to do but explore Vinn’s monochrome house.

Vinn’s chef came once a day to cook dinner, but we ate in separate rooms. The only signs of his presence were the echoes of his gym equipment. When he wasn’t bolting down protein shakes or fixing egg-white scrambles, he pumped iron. He worked out as often as possible, probably because it was the only room I had no interest in checking out. He’d abandoned his other hobbies. He never cracked the photography books sprawled over his coffee table, or touched the antique cameras shoved in his closet. Video games stacked his shelf, but he didn’t play them.

He was avoiding me.

All clues pointed to jealousy. Whenever his gaze landed on my necklace, he darkened like it’d done him a personal wrong. If he’d have admitted his feelings, I would’ve told him the truth, but he had to make the first step.

He had to remember.

I curled up under his thick comforter and flicked through my cell, researching the LSAT. One more year at Bourton, and then I’d finish my undergraduate degree in English. I still had to pick my classes and tooled with taking a leave of absence to think about law school.

Vinn kept the thermostat set to snow, so I spent a lot of time hiding under blankets. It didn’t help that his bed was ridiculously comfortable.

The door yawned.

Warmth slipped into my belly as heavy footsteps thumped closer. He made a sound of pure frustration and ripped the sheets off.

Bruise-like shadows smudged under his narrowed eyes. He apparently resented that I hogged his room, but it wasn’t my fault he was too stubborn to buy a futon.

He peered at my phone. “Are you watching porn?”

I shoved myself upright. “No.”

“That was a defensive no.” He wrenched it from my grip and swiped through my screens.

“Hey!” I bounced off, lunging at him. “Give it back!”

Vinn lifted it out of reach, glaring as he thumbed through my messages. “Who the hell is Adrian?”

“None of your fucking business!”

Vinn dodged my violent swings and scrolled through texts. “Why do you have so many guys on your contacts list?”

That was rich.

He had an encyclopedia of women at his disposal, but if I texted five men, including my brother, that was a problem.

I opened my mouth to hurl an insult and counted to ten. I couldn’t lose my shit in front of Vinn. “It’s twenty-freaking-twenty. I’m allowed to have male friends.”

He smoldered at the screen, ignoring me.

I raised on tiptoe to read the string of texts.

James: Liana, want to hang out?

Me: No thanks. Just got in bed.

James: I could come over…wreck your tight pussy. Do you like eye contact while I’m eating you out?

Me: Error #4352 Message could not be sent because this user thinks you’re a disgusting asshole.

Rage hardened Vinn’s granite-like face. It struck me how disheveled he looked with the beard clinging to his jaw, the evidence of sleepless nights, and the dark curls begging for a comb. They painted a strange picture.

I’d seen him angry, but never upset.

Before I could ask what was wrong, he stabbed the button to block James’s number. Alarm zipped down my spine.

I choked out a laugh. “Vinn, you can’t do that.”

“I just did.”

I gritted my teeth. James could get run over by a train. I didn’t care about him. It was the principle of Vinn blocking people with impunity that mattered.

“You’re overstepping boundaries,” I said with a desperate firmness. “And it won’t work anyway because I can unblock him.”

Vinn rounded on me, his nostrils flaring. “You are never talking to this jamook again.”

My nails bit into my palms. “I can handle inappropriate jerks. I’m doing it right now.”

“This is revolting,” he hissed. “Why do you tolerate his shit?”

“I don’t,” I ground out. “I shut him down every time.”

“Why haven’t you blocked him?”

I shrugged, annoyed with the inquisition. I believed in keeping my enemies close. The occasional lewd comment paled compared to his behavior, which I’d suffered through because I wouldn’t bring drama to our social circle.

I was sick of men white-knighting me. “Stay out of my private life.”

“That no longer belongs to just you.”

“Then give me your phone!” My shouting pierced my ears, but Vinn never flinched. “I want to see your mistresses deleted from your contacts list.”

His left eyebrow rose a fraction. “Why should I do that?”

The silken thread of warning hit my gut like a sledgehammer. Despair tore at my heart at the idea of him giving them any of his attention.

I hated him, and I loathed my vulnerability to him.

“We’re together. You can’t.”

“Our relationship is fake,” he mocked, a dark smile carving into his face. “The one I have with them isn’t.”

My cheeks blistered.

I lifted my chin, meeting his hostility head-on. “You don’t have relationships. You have flings. Stupid, meaningless, one-night stands you don’t even enjoy.”

“How the hell would you know?”

“Looking into your eyes is like staring into a black hole. Any guy who needs that many women to feel fulfilled has a problem.”

He tossed my phone on the bed, yelling. “I like fucking random women just as much as you love pissing me off!”

Too far.

My misery was a steel weight. I bit my lip until it throbbed like my heartbeat.

Vinn’s gaze searched me, and the aggression dropped from his face.

“Li?” His velvet tone was almost an apology.

Fuck him.

I smothered a sob, grabbing his phone from the nightstand. Then I disappeared into the bathroom and slammed the lock shut.

“Goddamn it, Liana.” He groped the handle and twisted. “Open up.”

“Nope,” I shouted, disguising my shaking voice. “I’m going through your contacts.”

“You better fucking not!”

“Oops. Too late.” My pulse skyrocketed as he wrenched at the doorknob. “Oh, look at that. Girl B sent you a naked photo. You didn’t reciprocate. You are a gentleman and a scholar.”

“I never claimed to be decent.”

“Yeah. I should be happy you respond to my texts, unlike Girl C, who you ghosted months ago.”

He pounded the door. “Stop reading my shit!”

“Oh, you don’t like it? I’m so sorry!”

Vinn smacked the wall. “Open up, smartass.”

“Not yet. After I block them. Wow, you have a lot of mistresses. I wonder, what happens when you reach Girl Z? Will you use a number system?” I snorted, pretending to mull it over. “That’ll be challenging for them. I wouldn’t want to be Girl One Thousand Seventy-Three.”

“Can you have a meltdown over my sex life somewhere else?”

“I’m not having a meltdown,” I said, the lie burning my chest. “I’m giving you a taste of your own medicine, and I’m setting these poor girls free.”

Vinn huffed. “I never heard any complaints.”

“Yeah, well. You might after I block them.”

“What are you doing?” He thumped and banged, rattling the doorknob. “Liana, do not fuck with my phone.”

“You should lock your cell.”

“Liana, open this door.”

“I’ll let you in soon. I’m sending them all a little message. I’ll read it out loud.”

Vinn: I apologize for being an asshole. You deserve better.

Vinn: P. S. I’m engaged. Don’t contact me again.

I hit Send.

Then I blocked them, one by one.

Vinn’s laughter boomed from outside, curdling my stomach. “They’ll never believe that’s from me.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I don’t owe them an explanation. They’re not girlfriends. They’re women I use to get off. When I cut ties, I stop responding.”

“That’s cold.”

And yet, it made me smile.

“They’re using me, too. I don’t see the big deal.” His body slid along the wall, vibrating with another laugh. “You’re just fucking jealous.”

I kicked the door. “I’m not.”

“Keep repeating it, sweetheart.”

“I’m angry at how callous you’ve gotten. You don’t care about anybody’s feelings.” I stared at the door, boiling. “As long as they’re not threatening your ego or your bottom line, they can go to hell.”

“What about everything I’ve done for you?”

“Forcing me to be yours is not doing me a favor.” Pain swelled in my throat. “You don’t understand how much it hurts to be around you. I trusted you! I would’ve shifted the moon for you, and you stabbed me in the back.”

“What did I do?”

Pure frustration leaked from his tone, and that sent me in a frenzy. “How can you not know?”

“Jesus Christ, Liana. Just tell me.”

He jammed something into the doorknob, and the lock popped. The door swung. He staggered inside and ran his fingers through his ebony locks. He was beautiful, but it echoed in me hollowly. It was like looking at a stranger. I no longer recognized him.

I hated him for that, too.

He’d ruined what helped me see past the darkness.

“You killed Daniel.”

Vinn’s gaze scanned me, taking in my state like a soldier assessing the situation. “Ignacio did it, not me, but yes. I signed off on his murder.”

Tears blinded me, his presence tormenting me. He seized his phone and pocketed it. Then he grabbed a tissue box, held it to his waist, and released.

It thudded near my feet.

“I couldn’t have stopped him from dying any more than you could’ve prevented gravity from making that fall.”

“Is that a joke?”

“Daniel was a rat. We kill rats.” Vinn backed against the counter, crossing his arms. “And I loathed him. I have no problem admitting I never liked him and wished him dead, many times.”

I balled my fists, reliving the pain of Daniel in the hospital, shutting off life support, and his coffin sinking into the ground.

“What did he ever do to you?”

“Nothing,” he admitted, softening. “It was what he did to you and Michael.”

“Like what?” I could barely hold back the venom. “Keep us safe? Feed us?”

“You have a very selective memory.”

His glare pierced my chest. As I approached him, his olive-black eyes dimmed to a soft smolder.

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Liana. The man was sick.”

My cheeks blistered. “What are you talking about?”

“He hit you both, especially Michael. You were so young. You used to cry when he walked into the room.” Vinn’s burning gaze stripped me bare. “You don’t remember?”

My head throbbed with a dull ache as echoes from the past resurfaced-my skull bashing into a wall, my body thrown into rooms, stewing in my bedroom with a raw cheek.

“I-I remember some things.”

“He was fucked up. He stabbed Michael once.”

“That’s a lie!”

“Ask him if you don’t believe me. I was eight. I saw the whole thing.” The gravel in his voice disappeared into a hush I’d never heard before. “Michael bled all over the kitchen tiles. He almost died.”

I turned away from Vinn, shaking.

No. It must’ve been an accident. Daniel wasn’t a maniac. Sure, he’d been rough. At times, too harsh. Most men in the life had issues.

Right?

“I didn’t know you were that upset.” Vinn’s hand rolled over my shoulder, its weight reassuring. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

Are you kidding me?

I gaped at him, wondering if this was a bad joke. “That’s the problem. You have so little self-awareness. You hurt people all the time, and you don’t even realize it.”

“As long as you’re safe, hate me all you want.”

The same words he’d given me about Michael.

My mind worked overtime to parse that out.

He squeezed my chin and dropped a small felt box on the counter. “We leave for our engagement party in a few hours. Be ready.”

For what?

Why am I doing this?