The Mafia Contract Series

This woman infuriates me all the time I desire–no crave everything about her. I must be going stir crazy because I don’t let women inside my head. I have my fun with them before I leave.

There is never a repeat performance, which is why I’m guessing I’m experiencing something different with her. She’s off limits and attached firmly to my side, which makes me desire her even more. I’m sure that as soon as she is off my hands, I’ll never think of her again.

That’s what I keep telling myself and I’ll tell her what she wants to learn so badly and then revert back to my role as kidnapper and delivery man because the sooner this is over, the better it will be for my sanity.

Pulling on a robe that hangs in a concealed cupboard set in the wall, I drag one out for Charlotte and try not to stare as I wrap it around her soft, velvet body that I physically ache to taste every inch of.

She looks so adorable as she stands there slightly hesitantly with the gentle flush to her face created by the steam. At least that’s what I’m telling myself because I recognize the signs. She’s curious and wants to step into the unknown with me. The trouble is, I’m the same and I’m afraid of the damage that will do to my heart.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

So, I pointedly ignore her and head into the bedroom and say roughly, “We’ll talk here.”

I don’t miss the slight tremble to her lip that makes me want to smash something because I put it there. I’m being cold and unfeeling, and it reminds me that she’s just a frightened woman alone in the world for the very first time and it’s not going to get much better for her.

I sit as far away from her as possible on the edge of the silk-covered bed and note she pulls the fur throw up around her and leans back on the pillows, looking at me from under her insanely long lashes. To be honest, I’m glad of it because having to stare at her curves, that gentle move under the glorious silk of the robe, was blinding me to anything else other than having sex with her.

I get straight to the point and say harshly, “You were born in America, apparently, and your mother died during childbirth.”

Her shocked gasp tells me I should have sugar-coated this a little, but it’s too late for that, so I brutally carry on. “Your father was away and the people who delivered you were afraid. They guessed he would blame you for her death, and the fact you were a female meant you could be in danger.”

I try not to look at her, but catch sight of her reflection in the mirror and the shock on her face doesn’t make me feel any better about this.

“You were exchanged with a friend of mine and then you were sent to England to live with a couple known to the woman who delivered you. They died when you were one year old in a car accident.”

I risk a glimpse and see an emotionless face staring back at me and I sigh inside, knowing I’m the one responsible.

“Your current family, Lord, and Lady Richmond adopted you and the rest, you know.”

For a moment, I let the silence wash away the harsh residue of the reality and then a small voice says, “I’m guessing he found out.”

I turn to face her and my heart lurches when I see her lying on her side with her head on the pillow, staring at me through wounded eyes.

“Yes, the child who you were replaced with discovered what happened and confronted him.”

“That must have hurt, the child, that is.”

It amazes me that she’s considering somebody else at all and it twists the emotional knife a little deeper. She is so beautiful at this moment of realization. As if it’s not really her I’m talking about. I could be telling her a bedtime story and it impresses me more than anything else. Most girls would be crying and screaming and making it more of a drama than I would like, but not Charlotte Richmond.

She is calm, composed and calculating because I can hear her mind spinning from here.

“So, he wants me back, I guess.”

Her sad voice hits me hard and I nod. “We are setting up an exchange. Winter will be sent back to us, and you will take her place. Massimo loses a wife but gains a daughter and I’m in no doubt at all he will agree to it.”

“Does your friend want to be swapped?”

Her words take me by surprise because I have never questioned how Winter feels about Massimo.

I’ve always believed she is a prisoner of his and desperate to come back to us. However, the stories I’ve heard to the contrary make me doubt this for a second as I consider what Charlotte said. Flynn told us that Winter appeared to love her husband, despite looking as if her soul had left her years ago.

Angelo told the same story and I wonder about their relationship.

It makes me snap. “Of course she wants to leave him. She hates him, and rightly so. Anyone would. The man’s a despicable excuse for a human being and I wouldn’t wish him on my worst enemy.”

As soon as the words leave my lips, I know I’ve made a huge mistake because Charlotte sits up and draws her knees to her chest and, for the first time since I met her, she breaks down before my eyes. Gentle sobs wreck my heart as she lets everything out, and for the first time in my life, I have no answer. I have no words because I can’t deal with this. I’m a fighter, a lover and a savage. Definitely not the person this girl needs in her life and yet I’m all she’s got, for now, anyway and I’m the biggest shit of all time knowing I caused her to break.

It’s instinctive to reach out and rest my hand on her back in a show of compassion that she shrugs right back in my face with a tearful, “Don’t touch me.”

I’m so out of my comfort zone I’m falling and yet despite everything, all I want is to comfort her, so with a curse, I pull her back against my chest and hold her shaking body against mine and kiss the top of her head, whispering, “It’s ok malyshka, I’ve got you. Let it all out.”

Her tears splash onto my skin that prickles with desire for the tempting beauty in my arms. It’s not just because I’m attracted to the packaging, it’s the woman inside I crave more than anything right now. My brave, classic English rose that has dealt with this shit in a more impressive way than I would and now I’ve broken the dam she set in place by heartless words and dismissive comments.

She must feel so alone, so desolate, and as if her world has ended and I am the bastard who made it happen. I have never sank so low in my life and it’s not an enjoyable experience.