Seized Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle
Lorenzo
Mia’s wrist twists under my grip but she doesn’t pull away from me. Not yet, anyway.
Her nostrils flare and her pupils dilate as she looks up at me. She’s scared, sure, but turned on and isn’t quite sure what to do with herself.
I can think of about half a dozen things that I would like to have her do. Hell, I don’t even care if the family is watching as long as I get this sweet girl on her knees in front of me. Her cheeks burn hot red as she stares at me and her mouth falls open into a little O.
My cock hardens at the sight.
“You can’t keep me here,” she says, finally tugging away from me. I could let her go, but I want to keep her for myself, and I yank her closer, banding my arm around her back to keep her pressed up to me so that she can’t get away from me.
“You see, Mia, that’s where you’re wrong. I’m an Accardi, and I can do whatever the fuck I want.” My voice is warm and quiet and I lean down to whisper in her ear. What I’m saying is only for her.
“Come on, Lorenzo,” Johnny calls, “we want whiskey, so let her go!”
“I’ll serve you,” she says, her eyes flicking up to meet mine. “I’ll serve all six of you, but then I have to go. You don’t understand. I’ll lose my job.”
There’s real fear in her voice and I nod, finally letting her go. “Deal,” I tell her. I want her, and I’m going to have her before the night is over. Mia may think that she can leave this room and walk away from me, but I’m not going to let that happen. “But you have to come back and serve us throughout the night. I want you taking care of me.”
Her teeth sink into her lower lip while she considers what I just said. I know that she doesn’t want to do it, but I also have a pretty good feeling that Mia will do whatever I tell her to.
“If I lose my job then I’ll lose my apartment.” She tilts her head to the side a little while pulling out five more glasses to fill them with whiskey. The light from the chandelier shines off of her hair making it look more golden than it had before. “I can’t let that happen.”
“Then I guess that you better be quick about it,” I tell her, taking two glasses and leaving the others for her to carry. Johnny and Dane reach for the glasses, their eyes locked on Mia.
“She’s mine,” I tell the group of men. “I claim her.”
“I saw her first,” Johnny points out, which is true, but I don’t care. I know that blood is everything. We had that lesson taught to us this past year and it created bonds that won’t ever break, but I will not back down from this. Mia is mine.
“She’s mine.” I tell him, taking a sip of my whiskey and looking him dead in the eyes. “You can have whoever else you want at this club. Hell, maybe Mia has a friend for you, but nobody touches her.”
“Did my brother finally find someone who makes him want to settle down?” Dane asks me while taking a glass from Mia. She doesn’t say anything but I notice the way her lips press together when she hears what he just said.
I can’t tell if she likes the idea or not, but I don’t really care. I’m going to keep her for my own, no matter what. She can try to fight it, but that’s the thing about me.
I always win.
“I found someone I want,” I say, watching her walk to the door. She opens it and slips out, her face burning hot as she does. “And if she doesn’t come back like she promised that she would then I’ll have to hunt her down and take her myself.” The sound of loud music fills the room for the short period of time that the door is open, then she closes it and locks us all away again in silence.
“Now you’re thinking like a Bonanno and not an Accardi.” Salvatore raises his glass to the center of our group for a cheers and we all do the same, the clinking loud in the room.
The conversation moves on but I can’t stop thinking about Mia. She’s far too pretty to be working the front of this shitty club and I wonder briefly if she’s ever danced. Even though she made it clear that that wasn’t her job, I’m sure that she could bring in a hell of a lot more money doing that than taking people to their tables.
Of course, just the thought of her dancing for another man pisses me off.
“So, Lorenzo,” Marcelo says, pulling me from my thoughts, “it’s just you and Johnny left. You two going to get married anytime soon or is it going to be a while before we see you guys again? It’s nice to have a reason to come down south to visit that doesn’t involve us blowing things up.”
I have to drag my thoughts away from Mia to be able to concentrate on the conversation. “You guys know full well that you’re always welcome here. Hell, maybe next time we’ll make a trip up north to see you guys and meet all the kids.”
“Be prepared,” Trevor says with a laugh. “It’s a fucking zoo with all of them running around. But there’s nothing better, let me tell you. I thought that it all was bullshit. Never thought that I’d want to settle down and do the white picket thing.”
“You didn’t do the white picket thing,” Salvatore points out. “None of us have, not really. But we found good women and have good kids.”
“Johnny and Lorenzo will find one eventually,” Dane says, giving me a nod. “Hell, my wife just kinda fell in my lap.”
“You bought her when she was still a little kid,” I point out. “That’s not normal life for anyone else.”
We all laugh and then I fall silent while the other men continue to talk. I know that I should be more involved in the conversation but all I can think about is Mia. She hasn’t come back yet to refill our glasses and while we could do it ourselves, I want to know where she is.
Pushing up from the leather chair, I leave my glass behind and turn to the door. “I’m going to go find her,” I say to nobody in particular.
“Pussy whipped,” Johnny says with a laugh, and I flick him off. Just before I reach the door, however, it swings open.
But it’s not Mia who walks through. A tiny redhead who only comes up to my shoulder struts in, wearing large platform shoes that make her look like a gazelle. She glances around the room and then sucks in a breath when she looks up at me.
“I’m Bethy,” she says, leaning forward to press her body against mine in greeting. “Mia told me to come in here and make sure that you guys were all taken care of. I can get you some drinks and then maybe a dance, what do you say?”
Stepping back from her, I glance down at her. She wears a smirk that tells me that she thinks she’s hot shit and she reaches out to take my hand. “Where’s Mia?” I ask, cutting her off before she can touch me.
“Mia got fired.” Bethy pops one hip out and stares at me like she’s daring me to argue with her. “She spent too long in here and people were lining up outside to get in, which isn’t good for business. She’s gone, but she did one thing right before she left, and that was make sure that I’d come take care of you. I owe her one for that.”
Disgust washes over me. This girl is not what I’m interested in, especially not after I got a look at Mia. Turning away from her, I look back at the table of guys. They’re family and so I should stay with them, but more than that, they’ll understand what I’m about to do.
“I’m going to go find her,” I say, and while Dane rolls his eyes, the rest of the guys nod. Walking past Bethy, I pull the door open and step out into the club.
It’s louder than I expected and incredibly dark. Turning, I slowly work my way back to the entrance where we first met Mia. Just because she got fired doesn’t mean that she’s left yet. I’m sure that she has to gather up her stuff and maybe get her last paycheck before she goes.
A half-naked couple bumps into me, the woman reaching up and looping her hand around the back of my neck. “You’re cute,” she slurs. The man she’s with gives me an appraising nod, and I grab her hand, pulling it off of my neck, then push her into his arms.
“Take care of that.” He grabs her and stares at me as I thread my way through more people and finally reach the entrance to the club.
Where Mia stood before there’s now a man in a suit, a scowl etched across his face. He looks pissed to be out here doing this job and I have no doubt in my mind that he’s the owner.
Walking up to him, I wait for him to look at me before speaking.
“I hope you enjoyed yourself, sir,” he says, his eyes flicking up and down my body before landing on my face. I know what I look like to other men. I know that he’s well aware of the money and danger I brought with me to the club.
“I did, but you fired Mia,” I say, stepping closer to him. Two women walk by on the sidewalk and glance at us, but then they look down at their feet and hurry past. “Where did she go?”
This makes him puff out his chest. “Mia wasn’t doing her damn job like I hired her to do. A business man like yourself has to understand that I needed to let her go. She probably went back to that little shit hole she calls an apartment to lick her wounds.”
Asshole. The fact that he’s talking so casually about Mia being upset pisses me off and I step close enough to him that I can feel the heat radiating off of him. “Where is her apartment, asshole?” I ask, my voice nice and low. “I need you to tell me, quick, before this club becomes a crime scene and they have to come mop you up to have a funeral.”
