Saved Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle

Gavin

It felt really fucking good to fall asleep after getting Clara moved in to the basement last night and now I’m starving. Talking with her worked up a number of different appetites, but I have a pretty good feeling that she wouldn’t be thrilled if I tried to get a taste of her perfect little cunt.

I can only imagine how sweet it is, though. She thinks that she’s tough, all fire and twisted metal, bravery wrapped up in some of the most delicious curves that I’ve ever seen.

But I know better than to think that she’ll just open for me right now. Not yet, and even though I’d love to go back down and force her, that’s not how I’m going to do things. First, I’ll get something to eat and make sure that she’s not hungry. Then I need to check in with my brothers.

I’m sure that Sean let Freddy know what the hell is going on but Freddy will want to hear it from me himself. Yawning, I hit the button on the coffeemaker as I wander into the kitchen then go straight to the fridge to look for something to eat. Nothing looks good, and five minutes later I have two pizzas ordered.

I shower while they’re being made, and when I get out and finish my cup of coffee, the doorbell rings.

“Mr. Marleno?” The pizza guy is skinny and pimply and I tip him well before sending him on his way and locking the door behind him.

I’m sure that Clara probably feels like she’s starving right now. She’s too damn thin, all skin and bones, like she hasn’t had a really good meal in a few months. All of that is going to change now that I have her here for myself. There’s no way that I’m going to keep her for myself and not take care of her.

I’ll get some meat on her bones and get her to trust me. When it’s all said and done, there isn’t any way that wild horses will be able to pull my sweet Clara away from me. She belongs to me, and that’s all there is to it.

When I make my way downstairs, she’s still sitting on the bed, but she stiffens when she sees me coming. The blanket is wrapped so tightly around her that she almost looks formless, but when I hand her a piece of pizza, she relaxes a moment and then takes it.

“Thank you,” she says, watching me as she takes a bite. “I was really hungry.”

“You look it.” Instead of sitting with her, I stand and eat. I want to really be able to keep an eye on her. The longer that I keep her down here without breaking her, the more likely it is that she’ll try something stupid. She has a fire in her that I love and noticed the first time that we met, but that fire will push her to try to escape, I just know it.

“We need to talk,” I say after she’s finished her third slice. She eyeballs the pizza on the bed next to her but doesn’t take another piece, instead turning her face to look up at me. “About what you’re so afraid of.”

Immediately, her face hardens and she gives her head a little shake. Whether she’s shaking it at me or at herself, I’m not sure, but I wait to hear what she has to say.

Finally, after a few minutes have passed, she speaks. “Someone is going to come looking for some money that I owe them,” she says, looking at a point directly over my head. She obviously doesn’t want to make eye contact with me. “They’ll want their money and I’m supposed to pay them today.” A slight frown crosses her face. “What day is today?”

“The first,” I confirm. “I brought you here during the night, so you slept away part of the day but still have a few hours of daylight left. Why don’t you tell me about these people who want you to pay them money?”

This makes her hesitate. She’s picking at the hem of the blanket she has wrapped around herself like she’s not sure if she can trust me or not. I’m patient, though. I have all day. All week. All month.

It’s not like I’m planning on letting her go anytime soon. Or ever.

Before she can speak, however, my phone rings. Glancing down at it, I’m surprised to see Lorenzo’s name pop up on the screen. Without saying anything to Clara, I hurry up the stairs and close the door before answering.

“Do you miss me that badly that you have to see me again so soon?”

He doesn’t laugh. “What the fuck did you do?” He asks, his voice a low growl.

“You mean besides help you destroy the Jacobs brothers? I’m not really sure what you’re talking about, so maybe take some time and spell it out for me instead of growling in my ear like a fucking lion.”

Lorenzo sighs. “Listen, Gavin, I know you took the girl and I don’t give one shit about that, you know that. If you think that she’s the right one for you then you have to do what you have to do. But the town is buzzing with gossip.”

“I hate gossip. It’s the currency of old ladies and schoolchildren.” Turning, I lock the basement door so that I can talk and walk. “Cut the shit, Lorenzo, you know that you and I don’t play like that. What the fuck is going on?”

“Looks like the girl you took was betrothed a while ago to some asshole. Nick Prince. He’s an bastard of a human and she ran away, changed her name, and fell in with the wrong crowd for protection.”

Nick Prince.I know that name, I’m sure that I do. I can’t remember where I’ve heard it before, but I’m sure that if I ask my brothers, one of them will have an idea of who the fuck it is.

“So her protection detail wants money, is that it?” I see how all of the pieces are fitting together, but I don’t like it. I don’t want to think about Clara owing anyone anything.

Except me.

“Yeah, they want money or they want her. They’re raising cane around town looking for her. I caught wind of it just a little bit ago but it took me a little while to put two and two together.”

“I get why some people might not want me to take her, but what I don’t get is why the fuck I should care. She’s mine, Lorenzo, and there’s not a damn thing that anyone could say to me to make me change my mind. You understand, I know that you do.”

“I get it, Gavin, believe me.” Lorenzo sighs and I hear the sound of someone yelling in the background. It sounds like a kid and I’m sure that he’s at home making this call to let me know what the hell’s going on. “But I thought that you’d want a heads-up of what’s coming for you.”

“Message received,” I tell him, turning to look at the basement door. It looks innocuous enough and I’m sure that most people wouldn’t look twice at it. That’s the point. Clara may be the first person that I’ve ever had locked down there, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t take my time and plan everything out. The basement is designed to keep someone for as long as I want them. She probably didn’t notice the manacles on the wall behind her.

I doubt that she has any clue how fortified the basement is, or the fact that she could scream all day long and nobody would ever hear her. It’s the perfect place to keep her, at least until I get everything figured out.

She might think that she hates me right now, but I’m going to change all of that. I’m going to make sure that she falls in love with me just like all of the Accardi wives fell in love with their husbands.

Clara is perfect for me and I don’t make mistakes. Bringing her here was the right thing to do, no matter what I have to handle to keep her here.

“Thanks for the info,” I say, already itching to talk to Freddy. I’m sure that he’ll be able to get me more information on who Clara owes money to since she obviously doesn’t want to come clean with me.

“Just be safe,” Lorenzo says, and I grin.

“Okay, mom.”

“I’m serious, Gavin. And don’t think for a second that you three have to hand this on your own. You’ve all come to help us out enough that we’ll be here if you need us. We might not be related by blood, but we’re family.”