Stolen Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle

Marcelo

Ilistened to Tess screaming for me for a while, but not too long. I’m a busy man with shit to do. Running the family business takes time and effort and there’s always someone you need to deal with to make sure that they don’t fuck you. I pull out of the drive, angry at what just happened.

Never in my life have I been one to question if I’m doing the right thing or not, but there’s just something about Tess that has me suddenly doubting myself. Putting her in that room so that she wouldn’t be a nuisance for a while sucks, but I have to keep her from hurting herself or trying to fuck up more of my shit.

Yeah, what she did in the living room pissed me off, but it was the fact that she could suck my cock and then lie both to me and herself that she wasn’t going to stay with me that made me even angrier.

I just want to hear her admit that she wants me as badly as I want her. I know what’s going to happen. I’m going to marry her and give her lots of babies, but first she has to learn to control herself. She has to learn that she belongs to me and that there isn’t a fucking thing that she can do about it.

My phone rings as I drive and I tap a button to answer it. Salvatore’s voice fills the car immediately.

“I hope to fuck that you’re not balls-deep in your new toy.” Even though his words are lighthearted, there’s an edge to them that I immediately pick up on.

“Not at the moment, no. I’m on my way to check out the bakery and make sure that the new owner understands how this shit is going to go.” It’s not every day that someone gets murdered and their son steps up to take over the family business, but I’m not surprised that things moved that quickly here. Everyone wants a piece of the pie, so to speak, even if that means ignoring that their father got killed for being a dumbass.

“Don’t.” Salvatore’s command surprises me and I raise an eyebrow while I wait for him to elaborate. “The son is asking questions, saying that his father wouldn’t have just picked up and left town and his bakery. He’s opening an investigation into his dad’s disappearance and who the fuck do you think is taking the lead on it?”

My heart drops. “That fucking detective who investigated you taking Arabelle.” Groaning, I turn off of the main road, angling my car away from the bakery. “What the fuck do you think that they’re going to do when they realize that Erick Tallen had ties to our family?”

“They’re not going to. I’m currently doing everything in my power to keep that from happening.” Salvatore pauses, then continues. “But you need to lay low right now.”

The command from my brother doesn’t sit well with me. I hate being told to do anything, no matter who’s giving the command. Salvatore and I have always been equals in running the family businesses and taking care of problems. This is the first time he’s ever told me to back off of something.

“Care to explain why you’re taking the lead on this one? I’m the one who killed the bastard in the first place.”

“You’re also the one who currently has a woman locked up in your house,” he shoots back and I close my eyes for a brief moment, glad I pulled over and stopped the car for this conversation. “What the hell do you think that our little power duo of detectives would think if they rolled up to your house and Tess just happened to choose that exact moment to start screaming?”

I hate that he’s right, but I have to admit that he is. Tess is an even bigger liability than she was before, but she’s still not one that I’m willing to get rid of. If I want to hold on to her this badly then I have to be willing to let some other things slide, like giving up control of this Erick Tallen mess to Salvatore.

“And you’re fine with taking the lead?”

He scoffs and I can just see his face through the phone. “What choice do I have? Of course I’ll do it, because its means that I get to say that I saved your ass.”

This makes me stab at my phone screen to hang up the call. Salvatore is right, as much as I hate to admit it. The last thing that we need is for the detectives to come poking around my house. If they found Tess then everything would come crashing down around our heads.

At the same time, I hate not being in the thick of it.

As I drive home, thinking about what the hell I’m going to do while not dealing with all of the family drama, my phone rings again. When I thumb on the screen, a man’s voice fills my car.

“Marcelo Bonanno?” The man doesn’t sound nervous, but pauses a little before saying the name, like he’s giving it some respect.

“Speaking. Who is this?”

“Matthew Trimmer, the mover. We just dropped everything off at your house, putting it in the garage like you asked. The apartment is completely empty. Is there anything else that we can do for you?”

I forgot that they were cleaning out Tess’ apartment today and a thrill runs through me. Now she really is all mine. There’s nothing tying her to anyone else—no apartment, no boyfriend, no job. “Did you keep the fish safe?”

“Of course. It’s happily swimming around in its bowl.”

“Great. Send me the bill.” I hang up on him and grin to myself as I drive to the house. Tess may not like her current living conditions but when she sees how much better her life can be when she plays by my rules then I’m sure that she’s going to change her tune. There’s just no reason why she’d see what I’m offering her and turn her nose up at it.

By the time I pull into my driveway, the moving trucks are gone and the garage door is shut again. I press a button to open it and step inside to see what Tess had in her apartment. This is going to be my first look at her life before me.

I want to know who my sweet Tess is. I want to know everything about her, including how to get under her skin and make her mine. I’ve wanted to know ever since I met her.

But what I find in the garage is...underwhelming. There’s not a lot of stuff here and most of it is shabby. Her furniture all needs to be replaced and there aren’t a lot of personal belongings. There are just a very few knick-knacks, some chipped dishes, and only second-hand books.

I frown. It makes no sense. I know that she has a good job, so where is she spending her money? It doesn’t make sense for her to be living like this, surrounded by things that are functional but not in good condition when she’s a nurse at the ER.

Or, rather, was a nurse at the ER.

The fish bowl catches my eye and I pick it up, staring at the Betta swimming around slowly. It’s bright blue and red with long fins. Cradling the bowl close to my body, I punch in the code to enter the house, hit a button to close the garage door behind me, and walk into my place.

There’s still so much for me to figure out about her. Even though I knew from the moment I saw her that I wanted her, I still have a lot to understand about her. I want to know what she hates and what she loves.

I know how to make her cum, but that’s easy. I want her body to crave mine the way I crave hers. There’s this need in me to feel her next to me all the time, pressing herself up to me like she can’t stand the thought of not feeling my body right there. Tess is fucking perfection and there’s no way in hell that I’m going to let anything happen to her.

Not only do I want to keep her for my own, I want to figure out how she became so strong. What in the world made her the way she is?

These thoughts swirl though my head as I put the bowl down on the kitchen counter and pull my phone from my pocket. Before I do anything else, I want to check in on her and make sure that she’s handling her transition okay. It’s a big switch to go from living in the lap of luxury to naked with only a mattress on the floor.

In time, she’ll come to understand that I didn’t do this because I wanted to. There wasn’t any satisfaction for me in taking everything that she had. I don’t want to break her, but I do need her to bend a little bit so that I know she’s still mine.

The app takes a moment to load and I turn to look at the fish. At least it isn’t a dog. Or a bird. Those assholes are disgusting and don’t do a damn thing but throw their food and shit on the floor.

A flash out of the corner of my eye tells me that my screen is loaded and I look back at it, suddenly turning cold.

Tess is on her mattress, the bathroom rug pulled up over her body. She’s lying on her back, her eyes wide open as she stares at the ceiling.

She’s not moving.