Bought Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle

Natalia

Iscreamed until my throat was raw and I felt like my lungs were going to burst, but nothing happened. It’s not like I really expected him to come back and let me out of the closet, but the space feels claustrophobic and I feel like I’m about to come out of my skin if I don’t get out of here.

Sitting down, I tuck my knees up to my chest and rest my chin on them. I’m done crying. My face is tight with dried tears but no matter how hard I cried, he didn’t come back. Teras have never changed a single terrible thing in my life, no matter what I hoped.

They didn’t bring my mom back after she died. Tears didn’t make my dad change his mind on selling me off to the highest bidder. They didn’t help me get the balls to break out of my house and make a run for it, and they sure as hell aren’t going to help me find a way out of this closet.

All I want is Frank. He wouldn’t be able to help me out of here, but wrapping my arms around him and hugging him has always made me feel better when things aren’t going well.

Even if I told Dane about my dog, I have no reason to believe that he’d let me have him. I want my dog, but Dane doesn’t strike me as the type of guy to care. Someone who cared wouldn’t keep me in here like this.

I heard the bars slide into place when he locked me in here. Even so, I threw myself at the door until I thought that my shoulder was going to pop out. It didn’t matter how many times I hit it, how hard I cried as I slammed into it, how much I swore at the door.

This closet is the perfect place to lock someone you want to keep. Or someone you hate.

My face burns when I think about how I’d gripped his wrist so that he couldn’t pull back from me when I was licking his finger. No, I was sucking it. I wanted nothing more than to make him want me, and just having his finger in my mouth made me think about another part of him that I could suck.

I’ve gone off the deep end. He locked me in a fucking closet and yet all I can think about is how incredibly sexy he is. There’s something seriously wrong with me, I know it. I just don’t know what the hell I’m going to do about it.

It’s not like we could ever be happy, right? Closing my eyes, I try to think about what it would be like to actually be happy to walk down the aisle to him.

It’s insane, I know. I lean my head back against the wall and kick out at the door.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Part of me wishes that he would come and throw the door open just to yell at me. I don’t want him to be angry at me, but I want to know that I’m not alone in here right now. The condo could burn down and I’d fry to a crisp without anyone even knowing that I’m here.

I’m all cried out, but I still feel the desire to scream and rage bubble up in me. It won’t do any good, I know that. All it will do is wear me out even more. Make me more tired. Make it even harder for me to survive this when he does come let me out.

Because I’m not going to go quietly. Dane thinks that he’s the center of the world, but he’s not. What is he? An asshole who has me in a tight spot. Well, you know what? My mom didn’t raise me to be weak. And even though she isn’t alive any longer, I’m not going to sit around and wait on him to take care of me.

As soon as that door opens, I’m out of here.

“I’m going to fight past him,” I tell myself, trying to talk myself up. “Then I’m going to make a run for it and he can go to hell for all I care. I’m getting the fuck out of his condo and Dane can just suck a dick.”

Saying that makes me feel better, but it also makes me think about what he might be packing in his pants. I hate that my mind keeps going there, but being locked up in here is making it difficult for me to think straight. I know that I should focus more on getting out, but each time I stop planning my escape, I think about Dane.

His strong arms. The way his jaw ticks and tightens when he’s not happy with me. The dark pools of his eyes that I could easily get lost in. I shiver thinking about the fact that he saw me naked and yet I’m still a virgin.

I think.

I don’t feel sore. Surely I’d know. Even in the dark of the closet, my face flames when I think about the fact that I don’t know anything about being with a man. It wasn’t like my dad was going to teach me anything about that, not when he was doing everything possible to keep me pure and untouched, but I wish that I knew something.

And without any girl friends, I grew up pretty clueless. I know the general gist of it, and I know how being near Dane makes me feel, but that’s it. Sighing, I roll my neck first from one side, then to the other. I’m terribly cramped up in here and I hate how close everything feels, but there’s nothing that I can do about that right now.

Stretching out the best I can, I try to get comfortable. He’ll be back for me soon, I’m sure of it. Whatever he’s doing right now can’t be that important and I have no doubt in my mind that he’ll come for me eventually.

Hell, maybe he’ll even feel bad about locking me up like this.

I doubt it, but it’s a nice thought. Someone like him...hell, I don’t even know if he’s thought twice about putting me here int he closet and closing me in. He’s probably out ruining someone else’s day and I haven’t even crossed his mind. Even as I tell myself that, though, I know that it’s probably not true.

I saw the way he looked at me. I know how he stared at me, like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. Sure, I pissed him off, but he wants me, I’m pretty damn sure of that.

Because it’s so dark in the closet, I have no idea how long I’m locked in it. Hours pass, it feels like, before I finally hear movement outside the door. Someone’s coming down the hall and I push myself to sit up, fear making my heart slam in my chest.

I suddenly have to pee. Bad.

My legs feel weak but I manage to stand up, pressing myself back into the corner of the closet. If it’s Dane--and I can’t really let myself think about the implications of what it will mean for me it if isn’t him--I’ve got to make a run for it as soon as the door opens.

I’ll throw myself past him and run for it. I’m fast. It’ll work.

It has to.

I rub my hands together.

The footsteps slow and stop outside the door and I lean forward just a little to try to listen better. My ears hurt with the oppressive silence of the closet and I suddenly realize why sensory deprivation is considered torture. Any longer in here and it’s quite possible that I will go insane.

I have to get out.

The heavy sound of the door unlocking and bars sliding back thrum through my body. I swear, I can feel the sound vibrations through the air, that’s how quiet I’ve been this entire time. It’s like I’m operating on an entirely different level right now, even though I’m sure that that doesn’t really make sense.

I just have to get out of here.

There’s a tiny crack of light as the door begins to open.

Just a bit more.

More light floods into the closet and I blink hard, holding my hand up in front of my face to try to block it. It almost seems to sear into my skin and I’m completely discombobulated for a moment.

Then I remember the plan.

He’s opening the door slowly, like he wants to be able to really keep an eye on me before he swings it open the rest of the way and I take my chance when I see it, throwing myself through the opening and darting past him.

I’m fast. I’m free. I pump my arms, ignoring the fact that my legs feel like there are pins and needles being stuck into them all up and down my calves and thighs. I have to keep running and I push myself, but I don’t think I make it more than a few feet before a strong hand closes on my arm and whips me around, pulling me back to face him.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Dane’s face is inches from mine, his voice low and dark and I screech at him instead of speaking, thrashing at the end of his arm like a fish caught with a pole.

“Jesus fuck.” He scrubs a hand across his face and pulls me towards him like he’s going to give me a hug but I reach up with my free hand and last out at him, my nails scraping across his face. “Fuck!”

He lets go of me and I stumble backward, falling flat on my ass before I manage to push myself up and turn around. I’m running bent over for most of the length of the hall, trying to pump my arms, trying to stand up, before I finally burst into the living room, my head on a swivel as I look for the way out of here.

There. The front door. It’s unguarded, just sitting there like it’s waiting for me to go to it and open it and I rush to it, grabbing the handle and trying to turn it while I yank back on the door.

It doesn’t move.

“No, no, no!” I scream, the words spilling out of me as I brace my foot on the doorframe and pull. It’s got to open. Sweat trickles down my back as I fight against the door. It’s a losing battle but that doesn’t mean that I’m ready to give up. “Come on, you fucker!”

Pausing, I take a deep breath, ready to throw myself back into yanking on the door. Even as I do, I know that it’s futile. But I can’t stop. I have to try. I have to get it open.

“Are you about finished?” Dane’s voice behind me makes me still and all of the hair on the nape of my neck stands straight up. “You’re never getting out, Natalia. Never.”