Owned by the mafia boss

MIA

Alessio was the nightmare in my otherwise perfect wedding day.

I married Alessio under a ceiling draped with black fabric, strung with thousands of lights resembling stars. The hotel ballroom had been transformed into a forest of creamy hydrangeas. Flowers formed columns around a demi circle of a snow-white colonnade supporting a classical-style roof filled with rose topiaries. More roses, baby’s breath, and greenery arranged the structure. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t absorb it with any joy.

I’d recreated every detail of my sister’s wedding to honor her memory, but now it felt like a self-inflicted wound. If another person said my sister was here in spirit, I’d have a meltdown. Carmela haunted this marriage, but she wasn’t yet a ghost.

Anger pulsed low in my throat as I choked through our six-course dinner, Alessio beside me at our sweetheart table. Thank God we opted out of a bridal party. I wouldn’t have been able to face Mom and Dad. Looking at them across the room was hard enough.

Alessio’s jacket brushed my arm as he leaned over, frowning at my barely touched plate. “Go easy on the alcohol. There’s nothing tackier than a shit-faced bride.”

I looked him in the eye and drained my cup. “It’s my right to get wasted on the worst day of my life.”

“You are such a drama queen.” Alessio’s pleasantness never flickered, but he cinched my shoulder. “Whatever this is-we’ll deal with it later.”

Forks chimed against champagne flutes. The sound of ringing glass filled the venue, and wolf whistles split the air. Alessio schooled his expression, taking my chin as he shot the guests a bemused smirk. Warmth spider-webbed my cheek as my husband pressed his mouth into mine. He angled his head and deepened the kiss, but where there were butterflies hours before all that remained were charred husks and so much goddamned pain.

After dinner, we had the first dance as a crowd of onlookers swayed to the music. Alessio gathered me in his arms, beaming. He was a dark prince in his wool tux with silk-satin lapels. He’d never been clean-shaven, and the lack of beard transformed him from ruthless gangster to wholesome businessman. Especially when he wore that smile. The fake one that had lassoed me across the party and sealed our fates, almost a year ago.

Liar, I wanted to scream. Bastard.

His jacket brushed my embroidered corset as he pulled me close into what seemed like a loving embrace, another pantomime that crushed my spirit.

“Stop pouting.” Alessio’s whisper cut into my ear. “You will smile. You will shake hands. You will act like a newlywed. Save the rage for when we’re drunk, sloppy, and alone.”

“I’m trying not to strangle you.”

He’d ruined something I’d looked forward to my whole life, and everything was perfect except him.

He tapped my chin. Fire blazed in my chest when I met his narrowed gaze.

“Don’t make things worse for yourself. I have zero tolerance for your attitude right now. If you have any sense, you’ll tone it down.”

“Or what?”

“Ever been fucked so hard you couldn’t walk?”

“Go to hell, Alessio.”

“I’m already in hell.”

The rawness in his words was like a knife between my ribs. The discomfort spread to the hand trapped in his.

“You are not going anywhere.” He resisted my pull, his grip tightening around my waist. “And we’re not having it out in front of our friends and family.”

“You mean my family, since yours disowned you.”

Too far.

His eyes flashed with a promise that hinted I’d pay for that comment.

All night, he introduced me to wiseguys and politicians, CEOs of construction companies, and a whirlwind of people in his professional network. As the evening wore on and ties loosed from collars, he unglued from my side to join the men roaring with bawdy jokes. At midnight, a table rolled out with junk food, and everyone stuffed their faces with Burger King to fuel the nonstop partying.

I was not downing champagne or eating from the ten-tiered wedding cake, whose golden frosting revealed layers of strawberries and Prosecco filling. Alessio tossed back his fifth or sixth drink. He spent the later hours networking and fending off drunk girls. Countless women hit on my husband-my goddamned husband-who rejected them but not before giving them a smile that strangled my heart.

I wiped two small tears as a bitter wind skated across my shoulders, having escaped to an outdoor patio where the heat lamps provided the barest comfort. Solitude should’ve done me good, but alone with my thoughts was the last thing I wanted. I couldn’t stop wondering about my sister-where she was, how she was doing, if I’d ever see her again-

The door swung.

I cursed as a broad silhouette stepped into the crisp air. I dried my cheeks as the man joined my side, his fingers clasping the railing I leaned against.

“Congratulations.”

I faced him, caught off guard at the stiff delivery. My gaze landed on Vinn’s chiseled jaw.

“Thank you.”

It was a relief not to pretend, to bask in Vinn’s quiet strength. He seemed surprised that my tone echoed his deadpan. Vinn peeked at my face, absorbing my grief with the same frigid steel he’d shown at the distillery. And yet he had a pulse. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have offered his life for mine.

I bit my lip. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Act like nothing bothers you.”

Vinn stared. His pupils swallowed his midnight irises, reflecting endless, dark tunnels. “Easy. I accept that I’m already dead.”

What the hell had happened to him?Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Vinn, that’s horrible.”

“It works. And you might need to lock away the part that hurts to survive a marriage with Alessio.”

His presence filled me like a cold fog that weighed my insides. Everything he said was so heavy.

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. And it’ll get easier.” He patted my shoulder and squeezed. “You’ve survived worse than Alessio Salvatore.”

Not much.

I kept my mouth shut, determined not to drag him into my issues, but my silence must’ve spoken volumes.

Vinn’s hand fell. “Mia?”

“You should go.”

His discomfort seemed to grow as he hesitated, plunging his hands into his slacks.

I stepped away. “Do me a favor and forget this conversation.”

Vinn refusal to budge told me I’d only piqued his interest.

Fuck.

I fled his side and burst indoors. My waterproof mascara was holding up, but I couldn’t hide the fact I’d spent the few minutes crying. My gaze skipped over darkened columns until it landed on Alessio.

His glare was like a skewer. “Why are you upset?”

Pick a reason, asshole.

“You have sulked through this whole goddamn wedding. I should’ve expected nothing less from a pampered princess who always gets her way. You’ve been AWOL for fifteen minutes.” Alessio stiffened like a big cat stalking prey. His brows knitted as he glanced from me to Vinn’s shadow. Something clicked in those hazel pools.

“You and Vinn.”

I gaped at him. Did he mean what I thought he did?

“You’re seeing him. Aren’t you?”

He really was that stupid.

“As if I’d trade one damaged mobster for another.”

“Then why do you look heartbroken?”

“Because I fucking am.”

I spoke around a rock-sized lump as I dragged my attention from Alessio’s silk lapels up the skin ghosted with blue stubble to the eyes that once watched me with aching tenderness.

“I am crying over you. Not Vinn.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Don’t you?”

He balled his hands into fists. “You’re drunk.”

“I’m sober enough to see you clearly.”

“You’re not making any sense.” His cold gaze swept me up and down before he grasped my bicep. “We’re leaving.”

Carmela.

A ball of white-hot rage threatened to explode from my chest.

“You never gave a shit about me.”

“Then why did I take my time with you? Why did I make sure your needs were always met before mine? Jesus, Mia. You need to visit a shrink if you can’t get how good I’ve been to you.”

I yanked my arm away, disgusted by my body’s response to his touch.

“The hell is wrong with you?”

You burst in my life, ripped my dreams to shreds, and set them on fire.

“Tell me his name, or I’ll drag you upstairs and rip it out of you the hard way.”

There was nothing more dangerous than an envious gangster, and I’d made things worse by not coming clean. Setting him straight was impossible without throwing Carmela under the bus.

What should I do?

When I didn’t answer, his brows narrowed until the round pools became menacing slits. He was jealous of a man who didn’t exist, and I couldn’t reveal the truth.

There was no getting out of this.

HE BROUGHT me to our hotel suite decked out in silver and cream-the colors of our wedding. A bucket of champagne sat in ice next to an overflowing basket of pale roses, and a letter written by the governor, wishing us congratulations.

Alessio moved behind me. He hadn’t raised his voice, or given any indication he was furious beyond the tight pinch in my shoulder as he escorted me. His demeanor had shifted the moment he locked us inside. The heaviness in his gaze was different.

“Bedroom.”

His baritone was like a finger dragging down my spine.

I could’ve resisted the hand sliding into mine, but its warmth soothed my nerves so much that I obeyed the soft pressure. Alessio led me into a room with a king-sized bed and mid-century modern furniture. He hit the lights, bathing us in the darkness that felt unsafe, like the shadows in a parking lot. Then he nudged me forward until I faced the mattress.

I’d avoided thinking about this all night. Our first time together wasn’t supposed to be infected with anger. What would he feel like? Would I enjoy it? What if he was rough?

My heart begged me to save myself, but I wouldn’t stop him.

Alessio’s waist pressed into my backside as he palmed my stomach. He nuzzled my neck and unpinned my hair. Then he kissed the shell of my ear.

“You make a beautiful bride.”

My breathing hitched from the unexpected compliment, but it was as poisoned as every honeyed word that spilled from Alessio’s mouth.

“I had so many plans for our wedding night. I was going to make you come on my tongue and hands. I would’ve been gentle. Taken my sweet time before ruining any other man for you. But you took a sledgehammer to that the moment you fucked around.”

His rage passed through me as he fisted my dress and unzipped me. The cool air might’ve stung if Alessio hadn’t kept me close. He rolled the straps off my shoulders and tugged the embroidered corset. Whispers of his touch teased my skin-his breath on my collar, the fingers tracing the lace. I was a living torch when he reached my thong. His lips grazed my thigh. Then he snagged my panties with his teeth.

Hot.

The contact dragged out a hiss as he pulled it off. Then he removed my heels, and I sank onto the carpet. He clasped me to his body, his heat melting through the jacket. He ripped it from his arms, and the warmth doubled. I swallowed hard as his thick erection pressed into my backside.

“Alessio.”

“There’s nothing you can say.”

Except the truth. “I don’t want to hate you.”

“And I don’t want to duct tape your mouth.” Alessio took my face, angling it toward him. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”

The silky caress in his voice said otherwise, and my heart skipped when his softer mouth pressed on mine. Desperate to bring this somewhere safer, I closed my eyes and kissed him back. It was a sweet lie, just like every other kiss since tonight.

He broke away, breathing deeply.

“Alessio, take a step back. Calm down.”

“I’m not calming down. I’m just getting started.”

“Let’s talk before you do something you regret.” I searched his gaze for an ounce of restraint, but my fear seemed to embolden him. “Alessio, I wasn’t cheating on you, I was-”

“I don’t want to hear you speak.”

An unraveling sound split the air. He’d taken a roll of duct tape from the nightstand.

Good Lord. “Alessio, no!”

He tore a strip and slapped it over my mouth. “Much better.”

I seized the edge, but he pinned my wrists. A second piece plastered over the first. He flattened the sides over my lips, his eyes gleaming as he traced his handiwork. It flayed my nerves as though he’d kissed me, and then he pushed his mouth into the imprint of mine. My legs clenched. The swarm of buttery warmth chased away my nausea.

I screamed Carmela, but it broke out in a muffled groan. Apprehension hung in a pungent cloud, and his nostrils flared as though he breathed it in.

Shit, shit, shit.

I struggled to break free. He restrained my arms with more tape. An electrical current zipped my spine. Then he fisted my hair.

“Never thought in a million years you’d play me. I underestimated you.” He caressed my shoulders, and my body remembered the other times he’d held me, and the fear ebbed. “I looked at you and saw a future wife. You looked at me and saw a man you could manipulate. And it worked.”

I angled toward the door, but he barked a warning.

“Don’t. I’m not above tying you to the bed.”

Alessio, please.

Nothing came out but mumbled whimpers.

He yanked me into his chest. Cotton glided over my hammering heart as he cupped my breast. He tweezed my nipple, sending a lightning bolt of pleasure between my thighs, and I moaned. His hardness dug into my ass. His lips smoldered a path from my neck to my ear, the skin puckering where he kissed.

I backed into his waist, seeking more of him. He unzipped himself, and a hard length slipped into my bound hands. Holy shit. He was like velvet stretched over steel. My thumb rolled a drop around his head as he thumbed my nipple into a stiff point. He released me and pulled away.

“Let’s get this over with.”

What?

A crack split the air. I turned, wide-eyed. Alessio snapped his belt, and a horrible foreboding filled my chest.

Don’t even think about it, bastard.

“Bend.”

No!

He stroked my backside, and sparks seemed to fly into my body. “I’ll enjoy this way too much.”

The belt touched my cheek and drifted down. It was like a flame-tipped finger, seductive, sensual. He traced the curve of my tits. I shut my eyes, seduced by it, and Alessio’s hand fondling my breast.

“Don’t move.”

Part of me dared to push him further. I was scared to rebel, but everything he did teased my sexual frustration from embers into a glowing fire. The belt skated across my abdomen, down my belly, to where I was already wet and aching. He rubbed it into my clit, and I groaned. The leather lifted and tapped my pussy. The light smack jolted me with another fierce bolt of ecstasy. Desperate for more, I twisted in his arms.

“Told you not to move.”

I froze, caught in between fear and lust. I’d never done this before. Men didn’t raise their hands to Ignacio’s daughter if they wanted to keep their limbs.

He seemed to interpret my hesitation for defiance. He palmed my back and pushed, lowering me roughly onto the mattress. My face pressed into the comforter. His appreciative sighs washed over me with warmth.

“Gorgeous. And all mine.” His silky caress became a firm kneading. Alessio pressed his cock into me. “Can you feel how bad I want you?”

He stepped away, and the unforgiving touch of the leather returned. It dragged up my thigh, riding the swell of my bottom before it disappeared.

And struck me.

And struck me.

And struck me.

The white-hot band seared me. He held me still, raining hell on my ass-swift, brutal agony. I gritted my teeth. Tears slammed into my eyes before he stopped, flinging the belt aside. Then he replaced the ache with a soothing stroke. He lifted me upright, cheek pressing into mine. He cradled my ass. The pain smartened as he gouged into me.

What just happened?

“You will never run out on me again.”

I screamed a dozen insults he couldn’t hear, but Alessio seemed to get the gist. Then he ripped the tape off my lips, parting with it what felt like a layer of me.

“You fucking bastard!”

His anger stabbed me with every sharp movement as he manipulated me to where he wanted. Alessio took my ankle and yanked me across the mattress. The fabric burned my already raw backside. Hands bound, I was powerless as Alessio climbed over me.

He fisted my mane. His mouth crashed into my lips. It was violent, as though he made up for the sensual pecks at the wedding. He nipped, claimed, and sucked until my bottom lip hurt. All the kisses until now were child’s play.

I ached from the need to touch and kiss him, but I could only squirm and grapple at nothing, so my thighs glided over him. He noticed the change with a feral grin and kissed my knee. Warmth shivered across my skin as he canvassed my body. He didn’t part from me as he made hickeys up my leg, his hair like feathers, teasing-so fucking teasing. But he seemed to be sick of taunting me. He slid closer, dragging his stubbled cheek on me like a wild beast. Then he reached between us, and a thrill leaped into my stomach. A broad pressure caressed my clit, slipping in a river of my arousal. As he rubbed my slicked pussy, I strained against the tape.

He pressed his forehead to mine. He met my gaze.

Meeting his intensity head-on stole my breath.

With a brutal stroke, he shoved inside. Pain slammed into me with enough force to make me arch. My walls seared agony as he bulldozed through my barriers. It was like he’d fucked my lungs, too. I couldn’t inhale. It was losing my virginity all over again. Stop rested on the tip of my tongue, but the shock melted away.

He slowed his strokes. He reeled back and slowly filled me.

I couldn’t breathe. God, it was so deep. He wrapped me in an embrace that kept pulling us together with each aching thrust.

It was like sinking beneath the waves. The surface rippled above, but I didn’t care. I could’ve drowned in him-in the ecstasy of our bodies joining and the sweet magic of his sighs. Scorching heat washed over me, like the wave after opening an oven door. My spine arched as he smashed through all my defenses. He drew me in his mouth and sank his teeth. I claimed every corner of his lips, heart pounding when he shoved his hands into my hair.

His kiss was a punishing bite that said he was still angry. His thrusts increased, and then he growled as though I wasn’t giving him enough.

My world swam as he pulled out and flipped me. His knees nudged mine apart, and then he seized the tape binding me. He jerked. The edges seared into my flesh as I flew backward, pinned against his warmth. His chest billowed.

“Why did you stop-ow.”

He’d fisted my tresses, and I grimaced against the needling pain. He cupped my breast.

“Show me how badly you need me.”

Holding my ponytail like a leash, he dragged until his hardness pierced me once more. He sat and watched me. I dropped, captivated by his palms rolling over my breasts and his determination to have me.

A swift slap burned into my raw wounds, which I absorbed with a whimper as I ground into him, my only balance tethered to my bound wrists. Alessio glided to my waist as his hips met my downward motions, and he was like a beast-grabbing my ass, slapping it, and biting my neck.

He pushed me forward, and then yanked on my bindings to break my fall. He drove into me. He’d given me something I didn’t know I craved. Now I needed him fucking me until he was spent and weakened. I wanted his face pressed into my neck. The ache between my legs swelled. Faster. Just a bit more.

Alessio tensed. Then he rammed into me with a jolt I felt in my ribs. A groan burst from his lips. Molten pleasure coated my walls, which clenched and milked him of every drop.

“More,” I begged.

His growl billowed my skin as he shoved his hand under my thigh. He plunged and rubbed my clit until electricity skated my body in wide arcs, pleasure radiating to my lips.

And then I panted into his arm, unraveling with an orgasm that seemed to shake the foundations like a quake throwing shockwaves into the floor, the ceiling, everywhere. I sighed with a primal satisfaction as relief rippled over me. He held himself tight, pushing his seed deeper as I dissolved into a pool of joy. Alessio breathed hard, his feathery strokes like rippling waves. We kissed as he unraveled the tape.

As soon as he freed me, my fingers dove into his thick hair. I touched where it throbbed with his pulse. The bliss had knocked me out. I wanted to wake up tangled in his arms.

Just like this.

Alessio hovered above, slick with sweat, beautiful, and pensive. He flashed a disarming smile. It took a while to remember why I loathed him.

He’d tossed Carmela aside. Used me.

God, he’d filled me with his darkness. My hope evaporated as he dropped to an elbow and leaned in, close enough for me to count those caramel swirls.

“Tell me everything.”

I couldn’t look at him. The fortress I’d summoned was already crumbling.