Bought Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle
Dane
My phone rings as I pull into my parking deck. Throwing the car into park, I pull it from my pocket and swear when I see that it’s my security company calling me.
“This is Dane Accardi,” I say, pocketing my car key and getting out. The slam of the car door is loud in the empty parking lot and I leave my car behind as I hurry to the building.
“Mr. Accardi, this is Jenny Davis. We noticed that you’ve had an alarm going off at your home for a while and nobody has stopped it, so I wanted to reach out to you and see if everything’s okay.”
“What do you mean there’s been an alarm going off?” I pull my phone from my ear and look down at the screen. Sure enough, there’s a blinking red light letting me know that something’s wrong at the house. How the hell I missed it, I have no idea, but I hurry as I walk faster to the elevator.
“Your front door has been open for an extended period of time. Would you like me to go ahead and notify the police?”
“No.” I shake my head and slam the heel of my hand into the button to go up to my condo. “Don’t call the cops. I’ll handle it.”
“Okay,” Jenny says, her voice light and breathless. “If there’s anything else, Mr. Accardi, please don’t hesitate to let us--”
I hang up on her. “Come on, you piece of shit,” I say, hitting the doors when we finally reach the top floor. They open slowly and I sprint out, hurrying to my condo. The door isn’t wide open and I pause outside, pulling my gun from my holster and holding it in front of me as I toe the door open.
Right away I see what the problem is. There’s a small piece of wood in the door to block it and prevent it from closing all the way. Warning bells explode in my head as I wonder how the hell this happened.
Moving quickly and carefully, I clear the condo, my eyes and ears peeled for any sign of a person in the house. Nobody’s here, not even Natalia, and I feel my blood pressure rising.
I’m going to kill someone.
Grabbing my phone, I dial the wedding dress company. The owner picks up on the first ring, her voice way too happy for me.
“What the fuck happened at my condo?” I growl into the phone, squeezing it so tightly that I’m sure I’m going to crack the screen. There’s a slight pause then I hear her swallow hard before answering.
“Mr. Accardi? I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about. We brought the dresses, your bride chose one, and we left. Nothing happened. Is there a problem?”
“She’s gone. Someone left something in the door to prop it open. You all know how important it was to me that the door stay closed after you left. Who the hell fucked this up?”
She sucks in a breath. “I have no idea. Honestly, the only staff I sent were all fully vetted. They knew the importance of making sure that the door locked behind them. I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Accardi.”
I hang up. For the second time in a row, the person on the other end of the line is pissing me off. They’re not going to help me find Natalia, which means that I have to find her on my own.
The lobby. No matter if she left of her own accord or someone took her, that’s where she’ll have gone. I hurry back to the elevator, shoving my gun into the holster right as the doors open up. It’s busy today, with lots of people coming and going, but a porter hurries right over to me from the front desk.
“Mr. Accardi! What can I do for you today? Your guest just came through here and--”
He stops talking when I grab his shoulder, pulling him to me. “Was she alone?”
Fear flits across his face and he forces himself to nod. “She was, sir. Is there a problem?”
“Where did she go?” I don’t have the patience for this right now and he must see it in my eyes because he responds faster this time.
“She went out the front door, sir. There was a man waiting there for him and he helped her into a waiting car.”
Her father. It had to be her dad waiting around to try to take her back. It’s not going to fucking work. Natalia belongs to me and there isn’t a chance in hell that I’m going to let him take her from me. Shoving the man away from me, I stalk to the front door and step outside, looking in both directions even though I know she won’t still be here.
As I look for her, I pull my phone from my pocket to check the tracking app. I’m not surprised when I see that there’s apparently an asshole convention across town or that Helm’s tracker shows that he was here just a short while ago. Swearing, I turn and run back into the building to get to my car as quickly as possible.
Lorenzo picks up on the first ring and I tell him what happened without wasting any breath. He swears, but an incoming call cuts us off.
“Salvatore,” I say, my words clipped. “I hope that you and your guys are in town because shit’s about to get real.”
“Good news.” He’s smiling, I can hear it in his voice. “We decided to fly instead of drive so we could get here a little faster. What’s going on?”
I fill him in as succinctly as possible as I tear out of town. “I don’t know if there will be any Wicked Bastards there, but these are the assholes looking to take over with them. We have to stop them.”
“You have no idea how much fun we’re all going to have.” He turns and says something to another person, then speaks back into the phone. “I need an address, Dane.”
When I hang up, I stop at a stop sign and text it to him before pressing down hard on the gas again. Even as I do that, I know that it doesn’t really matter how quickly I get there--I need to wait for all of the backup to arrive. They have Natalia and that means that they could hurt her.
I have to play this smart. My fingers itch to pull my gun and go in blazing, ready to take down any asshole who stands in my way, but the best way to keep her safe is to play this smart. I know that, and that’s why I park in the back of the parking lot, away from the building.
They would be able to look outside and see me, but assholes like them will be too involved in what they have going on. I’m counting on it.
Soon the parking lot fills up with cars. Lorenzo and Johnny are the first ones there and when a black rented SUV pulls smoothly up next to me, I get out to speak to the Bonannos.
It’s like looking into a mirror. I knew that we were tied together by blood, but knowing that and seeing it in person in front of your face are two entirely different things.
“Salvatore,” I say, reaching out to shake his hand. His grip is warm and tight and he smiles at me before turning to introduce me to the two men with him.
“This is my brother, Marcelo, and our cousin, Trevor. You had to have known that this was going to be a family affair.”
“I’d have expected nothing less. It’s nice to finally meet you guys.” Lorenzo and Johnny walk over to introduce themselves, then the six of us turn to look at the building.
“You don’t want more backup?” Marcelo asks, a note of concern in his voice. “We’ve dealt with these assholes a few times now and they always seem to scrape the bottom of the barrel when they’re looking for help. The last thing you want is to go in without enough fire power.”
Lorenzo shakes his head and answers for me. “We have no reason to believe that they have more than just a few men in there. Steve Jacobson is our mayor, and he won’t want anything to get out about him having such shady dealings. It’s one thing for his brother, Mark, to work with your Wicked Bastards, but another entirely for his name to get drug through the mud.”
“And the lawyer’s Teflon,” I say, giving my head a little shake. “He’s been playing both sides, and finally got my girl’s father involved in everything. We have to stop them from hurting her.”
“Oh, we will.” Trevor’s eyes are bright and he rubs his hands together like he’s warming them over a campfire. All of the Bonannos look thrilled about the prospect of bursting into the building and getting Natalia back and I can’t help the flash of excitement that courses through my body.
After this, Natalia will really be mine. She won’t have a choice but to rely on me for everything. I’ll be the one who saved her, the man that she needs to keep her protected and take care of her, and she’s going to belong to me.
“How do you want to play this?” Salvatore asks, and I glance at him before looking back at the building.
The problem is that we don’t know where in the building they are. It’s tricky to see in thanks to all of the framing that’s being completed. Even though there aren’t full walls yet, it’s going to be dangerous to walk through it.
“We move slowly,” I say, fighting every urge I have to race into the building and hurry to find Natalia. “She’s our main priority. I know that we all want to take down the Wicked Bastards, the mayor, and Helms, but we’re not going to do that at Natalia’s expense.” I shoot a glance at our out-of-town family. “Do you three understand that?”
Trevor chuckles. “You’re preaching to the choir, Dane. Trust me. We won’t do anything to put her in danger. Let’s go get your girl, but I am going to kill anyone who might think about coming north to try to move in near my family.” He glances at Salvatore. “No offense.”
His brother shakes his head. “None taken. They all die. Everyone but Natalia.”
