Owned by the mafia boss

CARMELA

“Higher, Mommy!”

I pushed Matteo on the swing. The mid-morning sun stroked my face with warmth. Sometimes bits of Michael flashed out in charming ways-the coy smiles, the playfulness-but his daughter was just like him.

Fiercely independent.

Uncompromising.

When Mariette called me Caramel, it was without Matteo’s innocence or Michael’s sweetness. I was the intruder. Matteo barely remembered his birth mother, but Mariette had years of memories. She was still grieving. She glowered whenever she caught her brother calling me Mommy. Michael stopped pretending to give a shit about Serena. It must’ve been gut-wrenching to watch her dad cozy up with a new woman.

“Stop pushing me!”

A pink-and-blue blur ran across the playground, howling as Mariette stood at the top of the slide, arms folded over her sequined tiger T-shirt.

Oh, Mariette. “What did you do?”

“I told her to go home. She’s stupid,” she burst in a scathing tone. “We’re playing pirates. Not cheerleaders.”

“Honey, we don’t use that word.”

“Daddy does!”

“When you’re thirty-four years old, you can say whatever you want. Until then, you’ll follow the rules.”

Mariette’s lip curled, echoing her father’s sneer. She ignored the kids jostling for the slide and zoomed down. Her trainers hit the gravel, and then she stalked to her brother, giving him a push on the swing. The heat bristling my chest softened as she played with Matteo.

At least they got along.

I waved at a three-year-old who crossed my path. Her wide eyes gaped at something over my shoulder.

A shadow rippled over me. Then a man’s body pressed into me. He grabbed my waist and glided up, squeezing.

I smiled, leaning against Michael. “You’re back.”

“I am.”

My entire body went cold and dark.

That voice.All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.

I slid my gaze from the kids to the man of my nightmares.

Nick stood in full biker regalia-plaid shirt under his leather cut, steel-toed boots, the gun half-hidden in his jeans. Sun rays stroked him in warm light. This harbinger of death was so out of place on a playground.

“Did you think I’d give up on you?”

He grasped my jaw.

No.

Nick’s hard mouth crushed mine. He kissed me like a man ravaged with hunger. He shoved his tongue down my throat. Clove spice violated my senses as he swept me in breathless strokes that I didn’t return.

I jabbed his ribs.

He stopped short of mauling me, his grin still intact. He didn’t seem to care I hadn’t reciprocated.

“Nick, you shouldn’t be here.”

“It’s all right, babe. I’m taking you home.” My insides recoiled as his attention shifted to Michael’s children. “You’ll never have to watch his brats again.”

“Leave them out of this.”

Mariette’s fierce glare locked on Nick as she stepped from Matteo’s swing. “You’re not Daddy. You can’t kiss her.”

“I can do whatever the fuck I want.”

“Nick, stop!” I yanked his leather cut, and when that failed, I shook him. “Nick. Look at me.”

“So those are his kids, huh?”

“Nick, you don’t have to do this. Don’t hurt them. I’ll do anything. I’ll go wherever you want, please-”

“Relax, baby. I’m not hurting anyone.”

“Leave them alone!”

Women in the playground glanced at Nick and walked away quickly. He pushed me off him, his eyes flashing as he approached.

“Mariette, run!”

She didn’t budge.

Nick gave me an exasperated look as he reached into his side pocket and fished out a magazine. Then he knelt beside Mariette.

“I’m just giving them a present.”

“Nick, please stop.” I looked for our bodyguard, but he was nowhere in sight. “Please-”

He popped two rounds from the clip. He tucked one in Matteo’s shirt and offered another to Mariette. “This one’s yours.”

You sick son of a bitch.

Mariette held out her shaking hand.

Nick dropped the bullet in her palm, and then he patted her cheek. “Tell your daddy it’s from me. My name’s Crash.”

Agony tore my guts as Mariette burst into sobs.

Nick stood, his face blank. Then he grabbed my bicep. “Now, we can go.”

“Wait. Let me say goodbye.”

“You are such a bleeding heart.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Make it fast.”

I turned to Mariette. “Honey, I have to leave with Nick.”

“Why?” she demanded.

“I need you to be brave. Stay close to your brother.” I pressed my phone into her palm. “As soon as I’m gone, you find an adult. Call your father.”

“You’re leaving us?”

Her broken tone cleaved my soul. I took Mariette’s hand and cinched it on Matteo’s. The phone trembled in her grip. Tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Why are you going?”

“I don’t want to.” I wrapped them in a fierce hug. “I love you both so much.”

I forced a smile. Their last memory of me wouldn’t be tainted with horror, so I swallowed my anguish. I turned my back on them as my stomach collapsed.

Nick beamed at the kids and wheeled around, hands in his pockets. Bikers lounged near the trees surrounding the lively park.

He loped beside me. “Give me your hand.”

When I refused to uncross my arms, he seized my wrist and ripped the ring from my knuckle. A flash sparkled through the air as he tossed it toward the playground, where Mariette and Matteo stood.

A silent howl went through me.

When would be the next time I’d see them?

Never.