Owned by the mafia boss

LIANA

Three days passed, but the memory of Vinn’s mouth ghosted mine in the shower, pressed into me at work, and swirled my head with doubt. The intimacy of those kisses burned me. As did the ache when I pulled away. Whenever I replayed his flicking tongue and that initial jolt of surprise, sparks flooded my cheeks and spread everywhere.

He’d kissed me like he’d waited his entire life for a taste, and that poked a splinter of hope into my pessimism. Maybe he had feelings for me. People’s opinions changed, didn’t they? Michael had clashed with Carmela before falling for her.

I needed to stop thinking about Vinn.

I had to reorient myself and find the level-headedness that had severed him from my life, but I couldn’t think about dating without wondering if I’d recapture the dreamlike intensity of that kiss.

I clocked in from my lunch break, returning to the glass-walled cafe. It faced Bourton University’s limestone buildings, the grandness a harsh reminder that I’d never afford the tuition. Luckily, Michael footed the bill, but I used as little of his money as possible.

Working as a barista was all right. Occasionally, I dealt with frazzled grad students crying over their thesis papers between wiping tables, steaming milk, and drowning shots of espresso in flavored syrups. The summer job distracted me from my brother’s death, Mom’s chain-smoking, and the danger on the streets. Without it, I spent too much time cooped up in my apartment.

Staying busy was the antidote to a troubled mind. I only wanted to worry about whether I should take Chemistry or Physics to satisfy my physical science requirement.

Someone rapped on the counter.

I beamed at the customer, a lithe man in his thirties who carried himself in a way that said that he’d made it. My gaze slipped over his Adam’s apple to a wide jaw and full lips, which pulled into a thick smirk when I met his sparkling blue eyes.

I studied his tattooed, muscled arms and leather cut. My heart thundered as I read the small white patch-president and Legion MC. A ball throbbed low in my throat.

Not a coincidence.

“Mister President.”

“I don’t know about mister. Seems overly formal.” He leaned over and offered me a hand. “Killian.”

“Liana.” I shook it, my eyes dry from not blinking. “Nice to meet you.”

His powerful grip swallowed mine. Everything about Killian was too much, starting from the sensual flame in his smile, to his friendly touch. I gave him a pointed look, and he released me.

I stopped myself from wiping my hands on the nearest towel.

“You’re cute in the apron,” he murmured. “But I would’ve thought Michael treated his sister better.”

My chest tightened. “I chose this job.”

“So you want to earn minimum wage?” Killian’s lips twitched as his voice took on an oily quality. “Boy, your brother should get a refund on that pricey Ivy League tuition. What are they teaching you?”Têxt belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

Ice touched my spine. “How do you know that?”

“I’m familiar with everybody, Liana. Especially you. I’ve watched you for a while. You run the treadmill every morning at eight in your Allston-Brighton flat. Your favorite pizza joint is around the block. You like hanging out with your friend Queenie. You’re single, and, rumor has it, untouched.”

My creep radar shot to the stratosphere. His hungry stare landed on intimate places. I shivered as though stripped naked.

“I was going to kill you,” he confessed, stunning me. “You were supposed to be retribution for the six guys your brother killed a year ago. I had you in my sights. Almost pulled the trigger.”

I snapped to attention.

All that registered in my brain was the jaunty French music breezing from the speakers, which dissolved into a saxophone cover of “La Vie En Rose.”

“What stopped you?” I said.

“That’s an excellent question. I’m still figuring that out.”

He’d scared me with the dossier of information, the stalking, and watching me through windows. I needed to buy curtains-fuck curtains-I’d move to a high rise like Vinn’s.

This had to be a joke.

“Did you get it out of your system?”

His eyebrows knitted and he pulled back his head.

“Scaring the shit out of me,” I added for clarification. “Order a coffee, or I’m calling the police.”

Not like they’d do anything.

He glanced at the menu and lowered his voice. “I’ll have a steamy twelve-ounce of Italian roast. Don’t need any sugar, but you can kiss the cup for me.”

“Buddy, ask for her number and leave,” a heavyset customer hollered. “Let’s go!”

Killian’s eyes flashed with a deadly arrogance as he glanced at the growing line behind him. His lips yanked over a wolfish smile as he flipped off the man, who cringed, turned tail, and jogged toward the exit.

When Killian swiveled back, his jacket drifted over his waist, revealing a gun.

Shit.

A lump swelled in my throat. My thoughts staggered in a thousand different directions. “Look. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Well, that makes two of us. Meet me there and bring me something sweet.” He slid away, winking. “Besides yourself, I mean.”

The fuck?

He strolled to the tables where he sat, his leather and jeans looking out of place among the students tapping on laptops. Nobody paid him any attention as he lounged there, bumping his knee to the happy music.

What should I do?

Vinn’s warning pitted my gut with dread, because this guy was nuts, and not leaving without me. Beyond the glass walls, chrome winked on the sidewalk. My bodyguard was gone-probably held at gunpoint-crap. I reached for the panic button, hesitating. Calling the police would create more problems than it’d solve.

Maybe I could smooth this over.

We’d done nothing but banter, and he had a calm presence. The president watched me with a small smile. His gaze never left me as I drifted to the espresso machine.

I made a drink with whipped cream and stepped around the counter. His expression lit up as I approached. He pulled out the chair next to him and patted the seat. I sank in the chair, pushing the cup toward him to bring this situation to sane ground.

“It’s an iced mocha.”

“Looks nice. Would you mind?” He nudged it. “You don’t look bloodthirsty, but I can’t be too careful. Nico Costa might force a pretty girl to poison me.”

Whatever.

I rolled my eyes, grabbed it, and drank. Then I sucked the contents from the bottom of the straw.

“Satisfied?”

“Very. You’re not what I expected.” He took it back, rubbing at the spot where my lips touched. “I thought you’d be high maintenance, but here you are, slaving away at a cafe. Wiping tables. Picking up chairs. Is this what you really want?”

He’d spent way too much time thinking about me, and his unwelcome frankness gritted my teeth. I didn’t need a stalker, especially a biker who was supposed to kill me before deciding to bulldoze my life and tell me what to do.

“Killian, you seem…decent,” I settled on, skipping crazy, creepy, and odd. “But the truth is I’m just a college student. My brother’s world has nothing to do with me. I have no interest in playing mafia politics. I’d like to take my classes and my internships in peace, so I’d appreciate it if you left me alone.”

His smile grew, and my insides squirmed. “Like it or not, you’re involved.”

My nostrils flared. “But-”

“You’re just what I need. Too good to be wasted as a sweetbutt.”

Whoa.

The heaviness in my gut sank further. What would make him leave?

I stood. “I have to get back to work.”

He caught my arm, locking me in the chair. “Sweetheart, you’re not working here anymore.”

“Says who?”

“Your future husband.”

A violent throbbing began in my throat. “And who the hell is that?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Me.”

This guy was off his rocker, and I wasn’t dealing with it.

“I don’t have time for this. You’re obviously drunk or high, and you thought coming in here and harassing Michael’s sister would be hilarious.”

“Your uncle gave you away,” he growled, fingers digging into my flesh. “You’re part of a trade.”

I tried to keep my heart cold, but the idea that I’d been used for a transaction dipped me in lava. “My uncle wouldn’t do that!”

Killian’s voice smoothed to a velvet caress. “I won’t hurt you. I just want you to be my wife.”

Fear knotted inside me.

What disturbed me more-his words or the earnest hush in which he said them? I shrank from him, shaken by his intensity.

“You’re crazy.”

I shouldn’t have said that.

Killian waved me off. “An arranged marriage isn’t crazy. It’s par for the course for people like us.”

“I’m not marrying you.”

“You’ll get to know me, and you’ll realize I’m not horrible.” He took my hand, but I wrenched from his grip.

“No. I found out what you did to Carmela.”

“That wasn’t me,” he responded coolly. “And I wouldn’t judge us all on one bad actor. Let’s go.”

“No.”

His lips thinned, and he frowned as though I behaved in a way that disappointed him. “I don’t want to have to strap you to my bike.”

“My brother would never, ever approve of you.”

“You’re not listening. It’s not up to him.”

He grabbed me, dragging me past the students gaping at us over laptop screens. We burst outside, and he marched me to a row of chrome.

A black fright swept through me.

“No.” I yanked my elbow back. “I-I don’t want this.”

“Too bad.” He engulfed me in his steel embrace, restricting my movement. “It’s a done deal-”

My chest strained against a bottled scream, killed by my clamped lips. A fist wrapped my guts as he shoved me toward his motorcycle.

“Killian. Stop.”

My joy soared at the graveyard voice. It boomed from a Mustang rolling to the curb. Vinn stepped out, positioning himself behind the vehicle. He draped his arm over the door, his hair mussed, and his clothes wrinkled. He seemed off-kilter, not himself.

“Take another step toward those bikes, and I’ll blow up every Harley dealership in this city.”

Killian laughed, and so did the bikers lined on the street. “What do you want, Costa?”

“To chop off your hands for touching Liana.” Vinn’s slanted gaze shifted, warning me not to interrupt. “There’s been a major miscommunication. She’s my fiancée.”

A horrible thrill shot through me.

“Really?” Killian’s amusement grew as he faced me. “Where’s your ring?”

I wet my lips. “I-I don’t have one yet.”

“How does someone propose without a ring?” Killian quipped.

“Not all women need a diamond, but I guess you wouldn’t know that.” Vinn leaned against the car, arms crossed. “You people buy your wives.”

Killian beamed at him. “You have got to teach me how you nailed this girl down.”

“Persistence,” he said silkily. “We’re childhood sweethearts, and I haven’t had the chance to go shopping with the doctor appointments. She’s pregnant.” His words just about gave me a heart attack. “Nico was just released. He had no idea. Nobody did.”

What the hell is he doing?

Lying through his teeth. He expected me to back him, and I would, but then what? I wasn’t pregnant and wouldn’t be for years.

“Y-yeah,” I stammered, recovering. “I’m a few weeks along.”

Killian huffed. “I’m not buying it.”

Vinn stepped forward, his eyes gleaming like volcanic rock. “I have two police cruisers on standby to raid your cocaine smuggling operation. Let her go, and I’ll call them off.”

Killian’s mouth twisted. None of them would get jail time, but losing all that product would hurt. His pocket chimed a second later, and he laughed at the screen. “Oh, he’s fucking good.”

“Answer it.” Vinn waved. “I’ll wait.”

Killian stabbed the button and held the phone to his ear. “What’s up?” He sighed as a woman’s voice blasted from the speaker. “Really?”

After a few moments, he ended the conversation. A heavy silence dropped between them before Killian broke it. “You won-this time. Shithead.”

I wrenched free of Killian, walking stiffly. The walk became a run as I whirled around the car and flung into Vinn’s embrace. I burst with a relieved gasp and threw my arms over his massive shoulders, squeezing.

Vinn soothed me without words as he drew me close, bathing me in his scent. He cupped my face, and my heart lurched madly. Blood rushed where he touched me. He smelled like the sea, fresh and weightless, like suntan lotion and the countless summers when I played with my brother and his best friend. The images washed over me like a wave lapping my feet.

Vinn’s lips brushed my ear before trailing to my cheek, where he kissed me. Foolishly, I let the heat from it warm me.

“Do exactly as I say. You’re mine now.”