Marrying the Mob Prince

Evie

I’m grateful that he underestimates how stubborn I can be.

I would not leave my husband.

Tony might’ve convinced himself he was monstrous, but he had yet to prove it to me. He didn’t even know about the baby. I could’ve said something, but I worried he’d push me away even more. He barely let me get a word in before he shoved me toward the guards.

Why the fuck was he doing this?

Did he think I was a shrinking violet after growing up in the MC?

I shoved clothes into a bag I had no intention of bringing. I made coffee. I stalled, ignoring the guards’ vicious side-eye as I flopped onto the couch and thumbed through TV reruns. Tony’s hired security planted themselves in front of the door and wouldn’t budge. Strangely, they didn’t seem to give a shit that I’d stopped “packing” an hour ago.

More frustrating were my unanswered texts.

Me: Look. I’m not going anywhere.

I took a picture of myself sprawled on the cushions and sent it.

Me: See? If you want me out of your life, you’ll have to come here and do it yourself.

Me: I have something very important to tell you.

Me: I just found out I’m

A knock hammered the door.

I abandoned the unfinished text as I sprang upright. The guard stepped aside and opened the door.

I dashed across the floor, growling with relief.

“About freaking t-”

A tall, pale-skinned man stepped into the foyer with an air of superiority that made me want to punch him, despite his great looks. He wore a dark blazer over charcoal pants, immaculate in a way that shouldn’t be allowed. Not one strand strayed from his perfectly coiffed waves, which sparked like copper fire in the light. Two black hooded eyes under a prominent eyebrow bridge. Shadows ran along the corner of his mouth to his high cheekbones, and they curved wildly when his full mouth tipped in a smile.

“Hello, Evie.”

His musical voice pitted my stomach with nausea. Sweat broke over my body as he approached, close enough for me to count the freckles dotting his wrists.

I frowned at the security guys, arms crossed. “I didn’t say you could let him in.”

“They actually follow my orders.” He offered me a disarming smile, so light and innocuous it raised my hackles. “My name is Cainan. I’m here to help you.”

“I don’t want your help.”

“I think you do.”

My stomach hardened as the click of a penlight echoed in my mind, dragging forth images of me bound, helpless, and shoved on an auction block. “You were with Tony. That night.”

Judging by his rapidly cooling demeanor, that was extremely unwelcome.

“You would do well to forget the events of that night,” he said, his gaze clinical. “And my part in it.”

“Then why did you come?”

“I had to see what all the fuss was about. Meet the girl that ruined everything.”

A chill skated down my spine. “Ruined?”

“Yeah, you fucked up my plans. Ever since he met you, he’s been distracted. Sloppy.” Cainan sighed heavily and strolled away from me. “I don’t get it. You’re nothing special-no more than a pretty girl with a nice rack.”

Who was this man and why was he in my house? “Go fuck yourself.”

“And not very good at banter, either.”

“Do you know where my husband is?”

“You don’t have to worry about him anymore. He’s been captured. He’s at the MC.”

Oh my God.

I grabbed my purse and shot toward the elevator. Cainan grabbed my shoulder and held me still.

“You’re staying here.”

“Like fuck I am!”

“It’s what Tony wants. Besides, it’s not safe for you at the MC.”

Shit. He was right.

My pulse shot to the stratosphere. “Can you help him?”Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

Cainan shook his head slowly, pained. “I tried. I did what I could, but…he’s not getting out of this.”

“Then let me help him!” I shouted brokenly, trembling. “He’s my husband. I can’t sit here and wait for him to die.”

“He wouldn’t want me to put you at risk.”

I seized his blazer and yanked, but it was like pulling on a wall. “I don’t give a shit about what he wants! You’ll take me to him right now!”

A flicker of amusement danced in his ebony gaze before it hardened. “I’m trying to do right by him.”

“Please, Cainan. I love him. I’ll do anything for him. Anything. Don’t rip my family apart before it’s barely started.” I sank to my knees as the tears burning my eyes burst free. “I’m having his baby! I can’t do this on my own! I need him. God, I need him.”

A benign smile staggered across his face as he drank in my kneeling position, his hand hovering over my head. He lightly brushed my hair.

“He does have a chance of surviving if you go…but you might not make it out alive.”

* * *

Something wasn’t right.

I called Vinn Costa before we left, locking myself in the bathroom and running the faucets so Cainan couldn’t hear me beg him for help. Vinn’s callous “not my fucking problem” and the abrupt end of our phone call shattered my hope, until Cainan’s black Audi rolled up beside a familiar, chain-linked fence.

The club has Tony.

It was strangely deserted. The few men wearing leather cuts packed their SUVs. People’s expressions seemed drawn and tight. I clawed at my cheeks as I pictured the scene inside the clubhouse, trying like hell not to despair. If anybody could talk the club out of murdering Tony, it’d be me.

Cainan stepped out like a king in the desert, frowning. His guards followed at the rear as we stepped onto the dirt path. Steel chimes jangled from a mobile home. A dampening chill wrapped my limbs as people stepped outside their homes to gawk at me. Eyes fell on Cainan; nothing of his specter-like, immaculate appearance belonged here. A chicken clucked, and Cainan stared at Martha’s birds, their golden feathers ruffled as they preened themselves.

“Charming,” he noted, not sounding charmed at all. “This reminds me of post-Soviet villages in Hungary.”

I ignored him, making a beeline for the clubhouse.

People stared as I headed for the brick building. A door flew open, and a blonde woman stepped out. Jennesy stood on her porch in rubber boots. Her cotton-candy hair streamed as she ran toward me. “Evie! Evie, they have him. He’s inside.”

“I know. Is he okay?”

“Nobody’s allowed in.” Jennesy yanked me into a fierce hug. “And I heard about your dad. I’m so sorry.”

My dad?

I shoved that aside. “I need to get Tony.”

I disengaged from her and left her, concern written all over her features. I joined Cainan, whose hand suddenly sailed up my back. It seemed like a protective, if oddly possessive gesture. When we got to the clubhouse, I shrank from his touch, but Cainan didn’t seem to take the hint. His fingers bit into the back of my neck. He squeezed, hard.

“You will do everything I say,” he seethed. “You’ll obey me without question, or you won’t come out alive.”

I’d never heard a voice darker than my husband’s, until Cainan spoke with that awful gravel.

My flesh crawled. “The only man I obey is my old man, and you sure as shit aren’t him.”

“Well, then. I guess hell is getting two souls tonight.”

Cainan’s fingers bit into my neck as he marched me into the clubhouse. We strode through the bar and into the back, where a prospect peeled back a rubber mat and revealed a trapdoor. Cold sank into my bones as we followed the stairs to a door with a keypad. The air compressed as we stepped through, or perhaps it just seemed that way because this wasn’t the club I’d grown up in. This had to be an entrance to another world. This couldn’t be where I’d celebrated a thousand birthdays.

Rock music pulsed above a dark chamber rich with the scent of blood. Male laughter rebounded off cement whose wall sconces illuminated the space in an eerie glow. A straight-backed man with shoulder-length hair faced a hunched over figure. Chains dangling from the ceiling led to shackles at his wrists. He was shirtless and beautiful, glaring like a vengeful God. He stood dazedly, reeling from a blow. He hissed like an animal. Crazed, he hurled himself at them but missed by several feet. Light bounced off his tanned skin, revealing the ruined flesh, the table of tools they’d used on him.

A lump wedged in my throat.

I knew he would be hurt, but I wasn’t prepared for how it’d make me feel. My legs trembled as Tony transformed into a beast, thrashing at his restraints, throwing himself against the wall, spitting mad like a wildcat. He tore at the bindings with his fingers.

Ghost gleamed from the back of a man’s leather cut. He scratched his head, grinning. “I think we broke his fucking brain.”

Cainan marched me into the thick of the action, disgust layering his voice. “You weren’t supposed to mark his skin.”

“Relax, man. It’s a couple scratches.”

“My buyers expect a blank canvas.”

Ghost pointed at his misaligned nose. “I had to pay him back for what he did to my fucking face.”

I elbowed Cainan, whose grip loosened on my neck.

“Tony!”

He stiffened as I ran to him. I collided with his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his battered cheeks, his forehead, his mute lips. A blast of air hit my lips with his surprised gasp. His glassy stare skipped over me.

“Evie…Evie, why are you here?”

“I’ll get you out of here. I promise.”

“No,” he moaned, his chest hitching. “No, I don’t want you here. Evie…You can’t be here.”

Tears choked my voice as I stroked the cowlick from his face. “I love you.”

His eyes were wild with terror, begging me to run-to save myself.

I wouldn’t.

I couldn’t.

A rough grip ripped me from Tony, whose outstretched hands stopped short of grabbing me. He snarled, yanked back by the chains.

A mouth whispered in my ear.

“Been waiting for you, Evie.” Ghost’s ruined face broadened with a predatory grin as his hands curled around my stomach. “So convenient of you to show up in a skirt. Let’s see if you’re wearing panties.”

His touch splayed over my thigh.

Tony hurled himself against his restraints.

I huddled against the wall, speechless.

Ghost’s thunderous expression and the menacing presence of the other bikers hinted they were beyond playful banter.

I had one option.

Fight.

“Stop it,” I demanded, my heart in my throat. “My dad will destroy you.”

“Your dad is in jail. Along with half the fucking club. Nobody’s coming to the rescue.” His smile was without malice, almost apologetic. “You have a debt to pay before I turn you into my wife-if I decide the money you’ll inherit when Costa is dead is worth it.”

“I don’t know,” the man behind me croaked. “After Costa dipped his dick in that?”

“Hmm. You might be right, Diesel.” Ghost’s head cocked as he peered at me. “Let’s rip off that shirt and see what’s underneath.”

My stomach clenched tight as they closed in, my only way out blocked by Cainan. Panic quaked through my limbs as he lifted my shirt, my fragile control cracked by one careless movement.

I swallowed hard. “I’m already married.”

“You’ll be widowed before long, and rich as hell.”

“I’m not marrying you.”

“So you’ll be our plaything?” Ghost shrugged, exchanging glances with the other men. “Fine by me.”

“Let me out, now.” My gaze jumped from man to man, searching for a frailty, one weakness I could exploit. “You can’t do this to one of your own. I grew up in the club!”

“I gave you a chance. You sicced Costa on me.” Ghost pressed his mouth to my neck, his voice smoothing like butter on toast. “So now you’ll put that sharp tongue to a sweeter use.”

I couldn’t push him off.

Ghost’s chest resisted my hands like an iron wall. My fists flew at him, and he absorbed every blow with a raised brow, revealing nothing but a vague amusement. He turned at the waist, flashing a get-a-load-of-this grin at the others.

They laughed.

Sons of bitches.

I lashed out like a cornered animal, beating him until acid ate my muscles and my fists were flayed meat. A vivid heat shot up my third knuckle to my elbow.

I gritted my teeth as Ghost balled my hands, pinning them over my head. His fingers were like zip ties. The utter dominance of my body gnawed at my sanity.

I’d never felt so out of control.

Helpless.

Tony thrashed at his restraints, bellowing a wounded sound over and over. A raw grief gripped my throat as Ghost stopped my escape with a fierce pinch of my injured wrist. There was nothing I could do-nothing against three adult men.

“Gentlemen,” growled Cainan in a low warning. “Until my buyers arrive and we make the trade, the girl belongs to me. Hands off.”

What was his angle?

Would he save us?

The ceiling rattled as Tony lunged at him, once again ripped back. Ghost’s low chuckle filled the space as he addressed the others in a playful tone.

“What do you think, guys? Should I let her go?”

The chorus of no bottomed my stomach.

“Three against one. Sorry.” He leaned in so close his breath gusted my cheek. “You’re going to be so much fun.”

I kicked, aiming for his balls.

He blocked me with a raised leg, tutting. His fingers gouged my flesh, shooting fire to my elbow. His brutal strength made my hands whiten, and his eyes flashed with a warning.

I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut.

Block him out, my mind chanted. Hide.

My head filled with pictures of a sunny day at the beach, tiny grains of sand sticking to my feet, kelp wrapping my ankles. The images doused water on the blaze in my throat.

“My buyers are here.”

“Tell them to come on down.”

Cainan opened the door, and three men in suits descended into the room. He shook hands with them and gestured to Tony. “There he is, just as I promised. And the girl.”

Ghost ignored their conversation, his fingers skating the edge of my waistband. “I’m holding back, Evie. I’ve got no idea why. Maybe I’m a greedy fucker and I don’t want to share you, but that can’t be it. I’ve shared women with my brothers before. Never gave a fuck.”

“L-let us go. You’ll never see us again.”

“Why would I want that?” he quipped, his nose trailing my cheek. “You have no idea how often I fantasized about destroying your cunt. Your father cockblocked me at every turn.”

My stomach sank even lower.

I need to get out of here.

He gripped my head and twisted so that my cheek flattened on the wall. Then his lips touched my ear.

“I’m taking your pussy.”

A flicker of potent terror shot my heart. Fear gripped my throat, slowly robbing me of air. I tried to inhale. My lungs wouldn’t cooperate. Everything had retreated within the spiraling black mass inside me.

“The devil inside me wants to do it now.” Ghost pressed his lower half into me, rolling his hardness onto my thigh. “Unless you give me a reason to wait.”

I sputtered around the lump in my throat, not missing the suggestion in his voice.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been laid,” he drawled. “Not much opportunity in the hospital. I guess I can wait a little longer.”

I choked on air, my lungs seizing as I connected that hardness with the space between my legs. Then he held a finger to my face, stroking my cheek. I recoiled against the shiver of loathing, snapping away from his touch. He grabbed my jaw and twisted it around, away from Tony’s mad attempts to reach me, to the bikers and the traffickers’ eager staring.

My teeth chattered, and then a ripple of fury swam underneath my panic.

“I am not yours,” I burst in a hoarse voice. “I am not a fuck doll. I am not a receptacle for your dick or whatever insecurity makes you attack women. Fuck off.”

Ghost shoved me. My knees struck the ground, and he fisted my hair. He ripped at his jeans. Down went the zipper, but I didn’t see anything but the blue of his shirt. Dimly, I heard Tony’s enraged roar.

“You’re not going to bite me, are you?”

“W-what?”

He grabbed my hair and tipped my head. “You’ll take it like a good girl. Everyone will get their turn, and then, angel, we’ll share your pussy.”

Just the thought of it shattered me.

I recoiled violently. “Please don’t. Please-”

“There is no bargaining when you’re a club whore.” He worked his thumb in my mouth, hooking it behind my teeth. “Unless you want to be my old lady.”

“Why the fuck would you want that?”

“I want Costa’s money. After he’s dead, you and I are walking down the aisle. You’ll sign everything over to me. Say yes, and this stops.” Ghost watched me, his smile deceptively warm. “I won’t let them touch you.”

Biting him crossed my mind, but his closed fist nudged my chin, as though reminding me. I flinched as he opened his hand and slapped me, the sting bursting over my cheeks. I barely kept it together.

My mouth went dry as I pretended to consider his suggestion, searching for a way out. The ceiling rattled violently with Tony’s desperation. Blood ran down his wrists in torrents-God, I couldn’t look at him while this happened to me.

My breath seemed to solidify in my throat, lodging like ice. I opened my mouth, but there was no sound. My ears filled with a violent buzzing. I turned my head as a plea wailed in my chest. I searched the other men for doubt, finding only ravenous hunger.

“Don’t look at them. They’re hoping you say no.” His smile twitched. “So am I.”

What should I do?

No help was coming.

Warmth trickled down my palms, blood swimming where my nails dug. I shook my head, tears blinding my vision.

“You sure pride is the hill you want to die on?” he said as he teased his finger in my mouth. “You don’t give me the answer I want in five seconds, and we’re all taking you.”

“Wait.”

“Yes or no?” Ghost slipped from my mouth, his fingers gouging my arm as he hauled me upright. “Marry me or get fucked by everybody in this room.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I-I can’t.”

“All right.”

His soft tone tricked me into believing I was safe, the momentary relief scoured by a tongue on my cheek. He licked me, from my jaw to my ear, which he bit hard.

I was like a meat he savored. Disgust pitted my stomach, mingling horribly with a climbing dread. Acid shot up my throat. I swayed, fingers scraping his leather cut.

Fingers.

I had weapons, too. Ten of them.

My thumbs shot into his eye sockets. I gouged them hard. He shouted, rearing back, teeth flashing, but I gripped his skull like a barnacle, shoving my fingers as deep as they’d go.

Someone grabbed me in a chokehold. A fat, hairy bicep squeezed my throat, ripping me off Ghost. The room exploded with my voice as Ghost recovered, rubbing his eyes.

“You’re not touching me ever again! I’ll blind you before I let you fuck me. You hear me? You sick, disgusting, pervert.” My gaze bounced from Ghost’s red-eyed menace to the dipshit beside him. “Try it again, you fucking-”

The arm pressing on my throat cut me off.

“Thanks,” said Ghost to Diesel. He lowered his tone as he faced me. “So you have some fight in you. Good.”

“You all right?” Diesel asked.

“I’m fucking fine, just surprised.” Ghost tossed his head, glaring at me. “Who taught you to fight like that, you little cunt? Was it your dad?”

Being lectured on violence by this piece of shit was really rich. I wanted to call him out on it, but the arm crushing my windpipe prevented any speech. My lungs burned as I fought to grab him, sinking my nails into his flesh but barely gaining air.

I gasped, clawing his arm.

Even if somebody outside heard the screaming, they’d be slow to call the police. You didn’t rat on Legion MC and expect to live.

Ghost glanced at the door. Shrugging, he turned back to me. “There’s no help coming. None that I can’t destroy, anyway-Diesel, ease up on her throat. I don’t enjoy fucking cadavers.”

Air streamed into my lungs as the pressure on my windpipe disappeared. I sucked in greedily, the world spinning back into focus as Diesel traced the underside of my breast.

Heat flared in my cheeks. I tried to contract, a vain attempt to shield my body from their roaming eyes, but Diesel’s iron grip prevented even the slightest struggle.

I closed my eyes, my shame unbearable.

“I like ’em bigger,” quipped Diesel. “I wouldn’t marry a woman with no rack.”

I imagined my face burning a vivid scarlet.

My blood pounded as Diesel’s hand slipped to my breast. He seized a handful and squeezed, the sensation nothing like my husband’s touch. It was so violating I had to clamp my lips shut. A rush of acid surged up my throat.

“But the plus side is they don’t get in the way while you’re fucking,” he said, tweezing my nipple. “I’m more interested in her pussy.”

Ghost’s condescending glare dared me to object. Then he palmed my breast, and rolled his thumb over my nipple. He inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes, as though drunk on the scent of my fear.

“I call dibs on her pussy.”

“You fuckers are forgetting me,” the man by the door chimed.

“Plenty of her to go around,” Ghost soothed, his blue eyes impaling me. “She’s got a mouth, doesn’t she? You and Poison can share while I take her pussy. How does that sound, Evie?”

How do I escape this?

“Let’s put her on the table.”

I dug my heels in the carpet, my mind a snarling mess of fear. I leaned back and kicked Ghost, my heel slamming into his stomach. He grabbed my foot, apparently unfazed by the blow. He yanked hard, ripping me from Diesel straight into his arms.

A malevolent gleam had replaced the lust shining in Ghost’s eyes.

My pulse rocketed.

“Hold her still.”

Terrified of the dark promise in that command, I cracked my head into his skull. I tore at his face, whirling, kicking, and screaming. I wouldn’t stop until they killed me.

“I hope you’re on the pill.” He planted a nauseating kiss under my jaw. “Otherwise you’ll never know who gave you the baby.”

A shooting pain hit my chest, crumbling my last reserve of calm. It was like he’d stabbed me. Then it burst out of me-“No! I’m already pregnant!”

Tony’s inhuman snarling stabbed into my head. A gunshot-like crack sliced the air.