Bought Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle

Natalia

When Dane leaves it feels like all of the air gets sucked out of the room with him. I reach back, grabbing onto the edge of the table to keep myself from falling over. My head is dizzy and my knees feel more weak than they did when I first saw him.

I hate my body right now for being such a traitor. Nobody else would have this type of a response to a man like him, but my body craves him. That’s the closest that I’ve ever come to him, the most I’ve ever been touched by any man, and my body wants more of it.

My nipple almost burns with the memory of him touching me. It’s painful, and I cross my arms on my chest again to protect myself before turning and slowly sinking into my chair.

“Did he leave?” My dad stands in the door and glances around the room before coming to join me at the table. “What did he want, Natalia? Did he touch you?”

I can’t speak. Instead, I stare at the remains of my dinner in front of me, disgust growing in my stomach at the sight of the rare steak. It had tasted good before Dane got here, but now I can’t even imagine putting a bite of it in my mouth.

“Natalia, speak to me. What the hell happened?”

My head jerks up when he says my name but it seems to take my eyes a moment to focus on his face. There’s concern in his eyes, sure, but mostly anger slashed across his face. I’ve long suspected that my dad hasn’t liked owing anything to the Accardi family, even if he did willingly enter into the deal, and I’m seeing that on his face now.

He’s seething, even though he’s doing his best to keep me from knowing it. I can tell how angry he is. HIs forehead wrinkles as he waits for me to respond and he’s gripping his knife like he’s just as likely to stab someone with it as he is to cut his steak.

Frank whines and rests his head on my thigh, but I ignore him. Instead of looking down at my dog, I stare at my dad, anger making it difficult for me to focus.

“He just wanted to meet me,” I say, forcing the words out of my mouth. It’s painful to speak but there’s no way in hell that I’m going to tell my dad the truth. I’m not going to tell him what Dane and I spoke about or the fact that his gorgeous face is now seared into my memory.

“Bullshit. He had another motive for coming here, and I’m going to find out what it was.” He looks rattled and walks over to his plate to drop his knife down onto the table. It hits with a loud clatter before coming to a rest.

I wince at the loud sound but if he notices, he doesn’t say anything. “Go to bed, Natalia. You get fitted for your wedding dress tomorrow.” With that, he turns and leaves and I’m alone in the room.

For the longest time, I just sit in silence. My entire life has been noisy, with people fluttering around me reminding me that I need to be careful, that I’m special and set apart from everyone else, that I have to do what I’m told so that Dane will still want me on our wedding day.

I don’t know that he can back out of it, but that seems to be a fear for my father. Taking that thought, I turn it over and over in my mind, trying to look at it from all angles. It doesn’t make sense. My dad isn’t the type of person to enter into a contract without knowing for sure whether or not its airtight.

So why is he so nervous about his agreement with the Accardi family?

The door leading into the kitchen opens and Jules, our chef, walks through, whistling. He’s always whistling, always happy, like he doesn’t have a care in the world, but he stops when he sees me still at the table.

“Oh, Natalia, I’m sorry, I thought that you and your father were done. I’ll come back to pick up when you’re finished.” He gives me a little bow and starts backing up to the door, but I stop him.

“Wait, Jules,” I say, standing up and gesturing at my dad’s chair. “Won’t you sit and talk for a moment?”

He’s still in his chef whites and he twists his apron in front of him, glancing at the other doors leading out of the room. They’re all closed, although he knows as well as I do that someone could burst through them at any time.

Finally he sits, perching right on the edge of my dad’s chair like that will allow him enough time to get up and get out of the dining room if my dad were to show back up. I know that he’s nervous about getting in trouble for sitting on the job, but I need to talk to him.

“How can I be of assistance?” He’s a bundle of nerves, so I’m going to make this quick for him.

“What do you know about Dane Accardi? I mean really know about him. You know that I have to marry him in two weeks, but my dad seems nervous. Why?”

He sucks in a breath and taps his fingers on the table before looking up at me. “Your father is a very smart man,” he says, lowering his voice so that I have to lean forward to hear him. “He doesn’t do anything without first making sure that he’s going to benefit.”

I nod. This is common knowledge, so it’s not what I need to hear. Instead of pushing him to hurry up, though, I bite my tongue and do my best to wait.

“He sold you to the Accardi family to ensure close ties with them, but I don’t know that he realized how close they would be.”

This is interesting and not something that I’ve ever heard before. “What do you mean?”

Jules glances around the ceiling like he’s checking it for cameras. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dad had some hidden somewhere and we just don’t see them.

“They’ll crush anyone who turns on them,” Jules says, slowly standing up. “Your father thought that it would be better to keep his enemies closer, as it were, but sometimes, when you’re too close to your enemies, you end up going down with them.”

“Jules, wait,” I say, standing too and reaching out for him. I want to know more from him, want to hear what else he has to say, but he presses his lips together in a firm line and shakes his head.

“Natalia, you know that I’ll do anything for you and your father, but this is not a conversation that I can continue. I hope you have a good night.” His voice is louder than it was a moment ago and I’m sure that he’s trying to cover his ass with my dad in case he’s somehow listening to our conversation.

Hope sinks in me and I feel myself slowly sinking back into my chair as Jules leave.s He doesn’t take any of the food with him and I’m sure that he’ll just come back later when he knows for sure that I’m gone.

Nobody will tell me anything about the Accardi family and what my dad was planning when he sold me to them, so I’m going to have to figure it out myself.

Dane’s words echo in my ears when I finally stand to go upstairs. I know that he wants me to touch myself and think about him, but I won’t do it.

I refuse to give him any satisfaction that he may get in thinking that he can tell me what to do. He’s going to be my husband unless I can think of a way out of that in just two weeks, but I won’t let him have my soul. He bought my body, but not my mind. And not my soul.

I’m still going to be me, no matter what he and my father may be scheming together.