Seized Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle

Mia

Ihear Lorenzo run from the bathroom but I stay as still as possible until I can’t hear his footsteps in the hall. The only way that I have a chance of this working is if he doesn’t know that I’m okay and he thinks that he can leave me here for a bit.

When I don’t hear him running any longer, I sit up, pushing myself off of the floor, then turn and tear out into the hall, going in the opposite direction that he did. I’m a little lightheaded from going from laying flat on the floor to suddenly being upright and running and I pause at the end of the hall, turning to look behind me.

That’s the direction I should have gone, but I wasn’t about to follow him deeper into the house. I’m only working my way away from the main door but maybe there will be a window or a bedroom patio I can escape to. Anything is better than staying in the house with Lorenzo.

Sure, he’s sexy, but that doesn’t mean that he’s good. I know that he’s evil, I can see it in the way he looks at me, and I have to get the hell out of here.

Turning to the left, I open the closed door and carefully shut it behind me. My heart is so loud as it hammers in my chest that I’m actually afraid that he’s going to be able to hear it and will come find me here. Taking a deep breath, I try to slow my heart, try to calm myself, but I still feel like I’m coming out of my skin.

Turning, I flick on the light to better see the room I’m in. I hate that I have to do that because I’m sure that he’ll see the light under the door, but right now it’s so dark that I can’t see a damn thing.

As soon as I turn it on, though, I wish that I could turn it off. I wish more than anything in the world that I could go back to being stretched out on the bathroom floor waiting for him to come back to me. Because I fucked up. Bad.

My legs feel like jelly and my knees threaten to give out. There’s no way out through this room.

The giant four-poster bed is the main thing in the room. It’s centered under a huge mirror that covers almost the entire ceiling. As strange as that is, and as much as the thought of being on that bed with Lorenzo scares and interests me, that’s not what has really catches my eye.

It’s everything else in the room. It’s the manacles on the wall, the whips hanging next to them. It’s the huge cage that takes up the back corner of the room, the one with metal bars as thick as my wrist and so close together that I’m sure I couldn’t squeeze out between them no matter how hard I tried.

My breath catches in my throat and I bend down, grabbing my thighs and forcing myself to take deep breaths. I saw the swing in the corner of the room, the table with shiny instruments that I don’t recognize.

No, that’s a lie.

I recognize what knives look like, but all of the rest of them are ones that I have no idea what they are. Quite frankly, I don’t want to know what they are.

Where the hell am I, and who the hell is Lorenzo? I knew that the was trouble, knew that he wasn’t one of the good guys, from the moment I laid eyes on him. You’d be insane to look at a man like that and think that he was going to be kind and safe. There’s nothing safe about him.

My stomach twists hard as I think about what it was like when I met him at work for the first time. A week ago? No, that was only yesterday. I think.

I’ve lost all track of time since I’ve been here. So not only is the man who took me from my apartment a murderer, but he also does...this.

A huge sob escapes me and I clamp my hand down over my mouth to try to stop any other sounds from coming out, but I can’ help it. I broke the dam by accident and now tears stream down my face, my core twists, and I can’t stop the sounds escaping from between my lips.

There’s a voice in my head screaming at me to shut the fuck up before he comes here and finds me but I can’t stop. I can’t seem to break free from the horrible cycle that I’m in, from the thoughts that he’s going to come in here and kill me and that there isn’t going to be a damn thing that I can do.

Turning, I reach for the door handle. I’ll just go back to the bathroom, get back in there and apologize. Maybe he won’t even be back from getting his phone and he’ll just be happy to see me. Maybe he’ll understand that I did what I had to do, that I had to try to escape, but now that I’m sorry.

He’ll understand. He’s not the devil.

But the door knob turns under my hand and I realize with horror that I’m not the one turning it. Stepping back from the door, I trip over my feet and fall, landing hard on my ass right as Lorenzo walks into the room.

His eyes land on me for just a moment, then he looks around the room like this is his first time ever being in the space. “You found my room,” he says, mild interest in his voice. “What do you think?”

He expects an answer, and I know that, but I can’t seem to speak. Horrified, I look up at him as he towers over me, his eyes now locked on mine like he honestly can’t wait to hear what I’m going to say.

“Who are you?” I squeak out. It’s not an answer for him but it’s the best that I can do right now.

“Who am I?” Bending down, he scoops me from the floor. Adrenaline spikes in my body when I realize that he could take me to the bed. He could do anything to me here, hurt me and make me bleed, and nobody would ever know. He killed a man and left the body in my apartment for anyone to find, so I’m sure that he doesn’t give a fuck about what he does in private.

“I’m Lorenzo Accardi,” he tells me, carrying me out of the room. I should be relieved that we’re not staying in there, that he obviously doesn’t want to hurt me right now, but I’m still terrified of what he’s going to do to me. “I’m the man who saved you from your horrible life and will give you a much better one. I’m the man who will get to fuck you for the first time and will knock you up. I’m the man you’re going to marry.”

“Never! I won’t!” It honestly feels like his words push me over the edge and I come to my senses. Bucking in his arms, I try to wiggle out of his grasp, but he just tightens his grip on me. holding me so tightly that I’m not sure I’m going to ever be able to take a deep breath again. “I won’t,” I gasp again, but he just chuckles.

The vibrations of his laugh move through my body and I shiver at the feeling of them in my bones.

“Oh, Mia, you have no idea how this works, do you? I always get what I want, and I want you. You should feel honored.”

We’re back in the bathroom and he kicks the door shut behind him before putting me down on the floor. I want to run, want to push past him and escape, but there’s no way that I can do that. He has me cornered here, and he grins at me before speaking, the tip of his tongue darting out to run over his lower lip.

My core tightens at the sight.

“Strip.”

One word, but it rushes through me, filling me with more fear than I’ve ever felt, and I shake my head.

“Not a chance, asshole.”

“Strip, or I strip you. Your choice, Mia, but you’re really running out of times that I’m going to give you a choice in what’s happening. Make the right one, darling.”

He’s serious. It’s obvious from how he’s holding his jaw tight, how his eyes never leave mine. I don’t want to do what he’s telling me to, but I don’t have a choice.

Angrily, I rip my clothes from my body, throwing them on the floor while avoiding looking at his face. The last thing that I want is to see what he thinks about me stripping down. What if he likes it? What if he thinks that I look good, or that he wants to touch me?

I don’t think that I can bear seeing that on his face.

When I’m naked, I turn to him, still looking over his shoulder at a spot on the wall. Even though I’m not looking directly at him, I see how he bends down and pulls a length of rope from a drawer by the sink.

“This won’t hurt as long as you don’t struggle,” he tells me, pulling the rope tight between his hands. “But you have quite the fighting spirit and I need to break that if you and I are ever going to be happy.”

My mind is screaming at me to run but my feet are stuck to the floor. He wraps the rope around me, tying my arms to my torso, tying my legs together. I’m terrified, like a deer in headlights, completely unable to do anything that might save me.

“You’re being so good,” he coos, his words sending goosebumps up my spine. “So good, my Mia.”

The last knot tightened, he steps back and looks at me. I’m fully exposed, unable to move an inch in any direction. Reaching out, he runs his fingers across my nipple and it springs to attention. I keep my mouth tightly shut to stop any moans from escaping. When I don’t respond to his touch, Lorenzo picks me up, cradling me against his body for a moment before he lowers me into the tub.

The water is freezing and I can’t help but scream as it flows over my naked body. He holds my head up for a moment, then lets it go, letting the water lap up over my cheeks and my chin.

“If you fight it, you will go under,” he tells me, grabbing my chin and turning my face so that I have to look at him. “I’d recommend not fighting it so that you can keep breathing.”

“Fuck you,” I whisper, terrified to move a muscle. The cold is painful, it’s already getting into my bones, making it so that it hurst to breathe. “I fucking hate you.”

“You’ll love me. The next time that you think you want to escape, just fucking don’t.” His tone is deadly serious and he watches me like he’s waiting for me to try to break free from the rope. “Now, I had made some delicious food for us to share before you pulled this little stunt. I’m going to go eat. You can have yours later.”

He stands and turns to leave the room. I can just see his shoulders and head over the edge of the tub. “Please,” I call, hating myself as I speak. “Please, don’t leave me.”