Seized Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle

Mia

When Lorenzo tells me to put on my shoes and a jacket because we have somewhere to be, I freeze and stare at him. As relaxed as I was after having sex with him, I honestly can’t believe that he would want to take me somewhere without hurting me.

My heart slams in my chest as I look at him and try to figure out exactly what he’s planning.

“Are you going to kill me?” The question is out of my mouth before I can stop myself and I’m not surprised to see the look of shock appear on his face.

“What?”

“You’re taking me from the house to a secondary location,” I say, showing him with my hands what I’m talking about. “When that happens, that usually means that you’re going to get killed.”

“This is the secondary location,” he points out. “Your apartment was the primary one. And, no, I’m not going to kill you. Jesus, Mia, is that what you think?”

I don’t know how to answer that question, so I just stare at him for a moment, thinking. Is that what I really think of him? Things were rocky here at first, but now...

He almost drowned you in the tub.

I keep forgetting that, or trying to. It’s like my body and my mind want to believe that Lorenzo is a good guy and won’t hurt me. Of course, that means conveniently forgetting the time he tied me up and left me in the tub. Shivering, I run my hands up and down my arms to try to warm up.

“You’re thinking about the tub.” Before I can move out of the way, he crosses the room to me, grabs me by the arms, and gives me a little shake so that I have to look at him. “Thing were different then, Mia. I didn’t have a choice.”

“You didn’t have a choice on whether or not you should almost kill me? I could have drowned!” I want to pull away from him but I can feel the heat form his body and I don’t move.

Obviously I have no self-preservation.

“You weren’t going to drown, darling. You’re a fighter and a survivor. That’s why the two of us are perfect together. Now, are you ready to go?”

“Where are we going?” I ask, nervously running my hands down the front of my jacket. “You still haven’t told me.”

“We’re getting coffee,” he says, turning to look at me. “You wanted some before but it all spilled, remember?”

Honestly, I’d forgotten. When you get all of your sense fucked out of you by a mafia god then it’s a little difficult to remember what you were doing before that happened. Swallowing hard, I nod. “But we have coffee here.”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I wish that I hadn’t spoken. With just the two of us here in the house and without his family coming by, I’ve forgotten how dangerous he really is. This isn’t just some random man I hooked up with. This is Lorenzo Accardi, one of the most dangerous men in town and heir to an empire.

“Would you rather me tie you up here and only let you go when I need to fuck your cunt?” The darkness of his words wraps around me, making me feel like I’m choking. When he takes a step towards me, I back up. “Is that what you want, Mia? You belong to me, but I’m going to let you have a choice.”

“What’s the choice?” How in the hell I managed to speak right now, I’m not sure, but I keep my chin up and stare at him, trying to ignore the fact that all of the hair on the back of my neck is standing straight up.

“Your choice is if you want to be locked up here like a toy or if you want a life with me. I know what I want, Mia. You choose what you’re going to have.”

There are huge warning bells going off right now as I talk to him, but I already know what my decision is going to be. I don’t want to be locked up in this house by myself, left here to rot while the rest of the world spins on without me. Maybe it’s insane to think that the two of us could have a relationship.

But maybe not.

“I want a life,” I choke out, and he nods. Even though I know that I made the right decision—or I think that I did—I still feel worry growing in my stomach.

“Good girl. Let’s go.”

It’s dramatic to say that the sun was so bright that I had to cover my eyes, but I swear that that’s exactly what happened. Lorenzo leads me outside and I pause on the front walk, my eyes darting this way and that as I take in the sights around us. It’s a cute house, one that I haven’t seen from the outside yet, and I’m surprised to see rocking chairs on the front porch.

I just never noticed them through the window. I’ve been so afraid of living in a cage with Lorenzo that it never once crossed my mind to try to look outside of the cage and see what was waiting for me out there.

“You coming?” When I don’t answer, Lorenzo’s face darkens. “Let me warn you right now, Mia, if you run, I won’t show you any mercy. This is your only chance. Be smart about it or you’re going to regret your decision for the rest of your life.”

Once glance at his face and I know that he’s serious. My legs itch for me to try to get the hell out of here but I know better. He’ll kill me, no questions asked.

Or he’ll lock me up inside and I won’t ever feel the wind and sun on my face again. That might be even worse than being dead.

“I’m not going to run,” I tell himself. At the same time, I know that I’m trying to convince myself of that fact, too. “I just haven’t been outside in a while.”

When he opens the door for me, I get in, buckling up quickly as he walks around the front of the car. We pull out of the driveway and my head is on a swivel as we go.

“You look like you’ve never been outside,” he says.

“Not someplace like this. You saw where I lived. I think that I had a three block radius for my entire life. Work, the bodega, my apartment.” I tick the three places off on my fingers. “Sometimes, when I was feeling really rich, I’d grab a cup of coffee from the man who sells it on the street corner, but it was always terrible and I ended up disappointed.”

“How long did you work at the club?” He glances at me before looking back at the road and I take a moment to drink him in before answering.

Everything about him is sexy. From the bit of stubble on his jaw to the way his lips part a little while he’s waiting for me to answer him, I’m shocked when I realize just how badly I want him.

And how much I think that I like him. That shouldn’t happen, not at all, but I can’t help the fact that something about him makes me feel safe. And wanted. And I like it.

“I started working there the night I got kicked out of my foster home. I was walking down the street with my backpack full of all of my things and the bouncer there stopped me, asked me if I needed a job, and gave me one on the spot.” I pause, unsure of how much to tell him. “I actually danced for the first week but I hated it and was going to leave. Someone managed to convince the owner that I should stay on without having to dance.”

“I have a feeling I know who that was,” Lorenzo remarks, pulling into a parking lot. “Taylor Hunt.”

I nod. “I didn’t realize it at the time, and certainly didn’t put it together until much later, but I remember him saying things to me sometimes about how he was the one who made it possible for me to keep working there. I didn’t get it, but now I do.”

He nods and kills the engine. “What I don’t understand is why he waited this long to move on taking you. You were eighteen, you didn’t have anyone to look out for you, and you were willing to turn to anyone to help you.”

I open my mouth to argue, but then shut it before even responding. He’s not wrong, and that makes me mad. Even though I just met Lorenzo a short time ago, I feel like he knows me better than anyone ever has. “Does it matter? I’m fine. I’m here. I’m...” I have to force myself to say the word because I know that as soon as I do, there isn’t any going back. “I’m yours.”

“You are.” Lorenzo turns to me, pinning me in place with his dark gaze. “It doesn’t matter how you came to be mine, only that you are now.”