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“What?” Lara asks indignantly. “You can’t do that! I need privacy. What if I need to change?”
“There’s a bathroom attached to your room. Change in there.”
“You can’t leave me alone with a man locked in my room,” she protests as I toss her inside the door.
“Trust me, none of my men are going to lay a hand on you.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
“Because if he does, I’ll slice his hand off.”
Lara tries to ask me what the hell is going on, but I need to cool down before I talk with her. If she hadn’t snuck out of my place, this all might not have come to a head yet. Although maybe it’s not a bad thing that things are blowing up in the open. At least now I know where Valentino Ricci’s true loyalties lie. They sure as hell aren’t with me or his own children.
As soon as two of my soldiers arrive to keep an eye on Lara, I turn to leave. “Christian!” she calls out.
“I need to talk to my crew about how to handle this conflict,” I say, noticing her look of desperation out of the corner of my eye. I’m sure that seeing her father there in league with the biker gang was a shock to her as well. We all knew that Valentino is a jackass, but I don’t think any of us knew exactly how bad he really is. “I’ll come talk to you later,” I say, closing the door behind me as I leave. I must admit that Lara Ricci is the most spirited and determined woman I’ve ever met, a quality I’m finding surprisingly attractive.
7
LARA
I pace around the room like a caged animal. Who does he think he is, leaving me locked up in here with one of his soldiers, as if I’m some sort of criminal? “What happened out there tonight?” I ask, trying to press the soldier guarding me for answers. But he doesn’t tell me a thing. He just sits and stares at me without saying a single word. “As long as we’re stuck in here together, we might as well talk,” I urge. But my softer approach doesn’t work either. This guy is as stoic as a statue. Christian has apparently trained his men well. That, and they’re all probably too afraid of him to dare cross him.
After an hour or so, I break down into tears. I’m mad at myself for being weak enough to allow myself to cry so many times in this room. I feel guilty for having run off and gotten kidnapped, because it seems to have caused me and my brother even more problems, not to mention Christian. I don’t even know why I care whether or not I cause Christian any trouble, but I do. The way he came to rescue me like a knight in shining armor puts butterflies in my stomach. And even though I absolutely hate my father, I still can’t believe he’d go so far as to make an alliance with a rival biker gang. No wonder my brother headed off to a different family years ago. I wish I’d been able to defect too.
When the door opens, I am sitting on the bed, wet-eyed and red-faced, as I look up at Christian walking in. “You can go,” he says as he dismisses the guard.
I don’t give him even a moment before launching into him. “Idemandto know what has happened,” I say as I step in front of him and frantically press my chest up to his before he can even think about sitting down.
“Well, you ran off and got yourself kidnapped,” Christian sighs as he looks down at me with chocolate eyes I’ve never noticed before. “Then we both found out that your father is even more of a treacherous snake than anyone gave him credit for. Then me and my men slaughtered a few bikers on their own turf and wounded their leader. So now we’re at war,” he says plainly.
“So you’ll be turning me back in to my father because I’ve become too much trouble,” I say bitterly.
He looks at me and frowns while reaching his hand behind the small of my back in a tender motion. “No, of course not. You’re a part of myborgatanow and under my protection. If your father tries to come for you, he’ll have to get through me first.”
My lips part in surprise and a sigh escapes. I hadn’t thought he would react that way, and I try to fight how warm I instantly feel. “Will the Giottis be joining in?” I ask, trying to shake myself free from my sudden feelings of attraction.
“No. This is a battle I need to fight myself. I don’t want to be responsible for the deaths of anyone else’s men.”
“That’s just downright dumb,” I retort. “If there’s help being offered that could change the outcome, it’s simply stupid not to accept it.”
“It’s not stupid to me,” he argues. “It was my reckless actions that prompted this dilemma, and I’ll be the one to take responsibility for it.”
Another wave of guilt washes over me and I can feel my face grow flush. It’s actually my fault that all of this has happened, not his. “I’m sorry, Christian,” I sniffle, resisting the sudden urge to bury my head in his chest and begin crying again. “It’s my fault that all of this happened. I shouldn’t have run off. It’s just that I’ve been fighting for my freedom for so long, I didn’t think of what it might cost you if I left.”
He reaches for my chin and lifts it so that our eyes meet. “As I told you before, you’re under my protection, and that’s what I intend to do, no matter what it costs me.” I’m completely taken by surprise for a second time, and so shocked that for a split second, I don’t know what to do, aside from stand there in a motionless stupor of disbelief. No other person in my life has ever been willing to sacrifice themselves for me except Loreto. I give in to the underlying angst that’s been building between us ever since the moment he showed up to collect me from my father’s apartment. I reach up and grab his face, pulling it to mine, and begin kissing him. At first, his body remains stiff, most likely a result of shock that I’ve gone from fighting him and running away to now passionately pressing my lips to his. I have to admit that at this moment, I’m shocked myself.
I can’t seem to stop the intense longing to give myself to Christian. He’s ready to go to war to rescue me even though all I’ve done so far is push him away. I don’t understand this gesture of loyalty he’s offering me, but it’s stirring something inside I’ve never felt toward a man before. Until now, all my potential suitors were only there to use me as a bargaining chip for a leg up in the mafia, and Iwho only hoped to get a good fuck out of me. Christian agreed to marry me with no benefit to himself, and has now spent the last several days paying for my mistakes. He hasn’t even lashed out in anger at me the way my father has my whole life. As I run my hands through his hair my mind keeps coming back to the same surprising thought: “Maybe I could be happy staying here with Christian.”
I can’t seem to break away and after a few moments, Christian decides to kiss me back. He pulls me closer to him and my lips part, giving him permission to explore. His mouth envelops mine and our tongues begin to dance. His right hand moves from my back down to my thigh, then slowly finds its way up to my hair. When his hand slides back down my body, tracing the curve of my breast, I can feel his cock swell against me. At that moment, I snap out of my unbridled passion and pull away. I look down and shake my head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It’s just been such a stressful day and I wanted to run away, but then I got kidnapped again and my father is in league with the Hell’s Devils ,and then you came to rescue me and…”
“Lara, look at me,” he interrupts. “That was one hell of a kiss. You won’t hear any complaints from me.” He cracks a smile. I feel my face get hot and I know it must be bright red with embarrassment. “I know you’re under a lot of pressure right now,” he continues. “You didn’t get a say in any of this, and it sounds like you’ve never had the power to choose. I want to give you that chance right now. I know this started as a favor to your brother but even in this short time, I’ve grown to care about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you. And that’s why I want to marry you as soon as possible. If you’re my wife, then you’ll be under the mandated protection of the entireborgatenetwork of crime families. And with the conflict escalating with the biker gang, I want to afford you as much protection as I can before I get further embroiled in this brewing situation. I know we don’t know each other that well yet and I wouldn’t expect you to marry me for love. In the mafia we don’t always get that fairytale. But I can promise you that I’ll never abuse you and always do everything in my power to keep you safe. We don’t even have to share a bedroom; you can live your life and it can be more of a contractual marriage if that’s what you prefer. Although I have to admit, I am attracted to you and I’m growing rather fond of you.”
I’m overwhelmed. I thought I’d have more time. I still want my freedom, but Christian isn’t the only one who has developed feelings between us. And this is different. An arranged marriage is a purely transactional agreement, but this almost sounds like a proposal. “Can I have a day to think about it?” I ask, realizing how underwhelming my reply sounds.
He tips his chin to look down at me and I can tell that he isn’t too happy about my hesitation. He wouldn’t be so disappointed if he knew I’m falling head over heels for him. I’m just not sure I’m ready to give up on the idea of trying to get free from mafia life in the city. I need time to think.
“You have twenty-four hours,” he says, almost sounding a bit cold about it. And with that, our steamy moment is over. “Get some rest,” he says as he turns to leave and closes my bedroom door behind him.
