Owned by the mafia boss

LIANA

I had to escape.

I could’ve handled faking a relationship, but pretending to be his expecting bride-to-be?

My worst nightmare. Braving the war-torn streets was more appealing than spending weeks attached to Vinn’s arm, belonging to him but not really.

I ran into a room with charcoal walls and ebony furniture, shutting the door. Questions stuck in my throat as I took in the desaturated landscape photos-his bedroom. It was overwhelmingly masculine. My gaze landed on the pile of sweats and T-shirts in a basket, the walk-in closet packed with muted colors, and the bed.

The few times I’d visited with Michael, he’d caught me wandering Vinn’s penthouse, but I’d never had the guts to snoop in here. Now my hands itched to look through his things. My brother’s distant shouts faded to a dull murmur as I glimpsed a familiar picture.

It can’t be.

I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again.

It sat on his nightstand, wrapped in an ugly, red-and-white frame. I seized my Christmas gift to him from years ago as the disastrous party at The Black Cat washed over me. My mouth dried as I fingered the cheap wood.

I’d assumed he’d thrown it away.

He kept it.

My thoughts went blank with that simple truth. Not only that, but he also displayed the thing. Put it where he’d see it every morning. I had no measure of time as I sat, cradling the photo, and then the door creaked.

Vinn’s thick build edged through, his presence filling the bedroom like a heavy mist. The angry mark flushing his cheek and his wild hair suggested he and Michael had exchanged blows.

“Oh my God. I didn’t hear you fighting. Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” He smiled, and it softened his expression. “What are you doing?”

I grabbed the picture. “I was just hanging out, and I saw this. I never thought you’d keep it.”

“I keep everything you give me.”

I met his gaze, and a javelin-like shock ran through me.

Really?

I didn’t believe it-I couldn’t. I gawked at him, expecting Vinn’s deadpan to break into laughter. It jumbled my insides to watch him carefully replace it on the nightstand.

“Your brother’s gone.”

I stepped back, swallowing. “I’m staying?”

“I guess we’re roommates, Li.”

A warning whispered in my ear. This was temporary.

“Which is my room?”

“Here.”

Alarm rippled down my spine. “Where will you sleep?”

“With you. I don’t have guest rooms.”

I scooted away, my anxiety deepening to a white-hot panic. “Why not?”

Vinn shrugged. “I hate having people over. Why give them an opportunity to stay the night?”

“I can’t share a bed with you!”

Vinn rolled his eyes like I was a drama queen. He didn’t understand what this forced intimacy would do to me.

Pretending to be his girlfriend felt just as dangerous as marrying a stranger. He had no idea how much I’d suffered over the years. How could I tell him that without confessing everything?

No.

Never.

He couldn’t find out I’d held a torch for him my whole life. He didn’t feel the same. It didn’t matter, anyway. He’d changed from the gentle giant who chased me on the beach.

But he came for you.

He lied for you.

A swell of hope kicked up inside me, but I shoved it aside. We needed strict boundaries. Otherwise I wouldn’t survive a fake engagement with Vinn. If I walked into this with my heart open, I’d be crushed.

That twisted in my stomach.

“Why do we have to live under the same roof?” I demanded. “You could set me up in an apartment across the hall.”

“I could, but why would I want you out of my sight?”

His seductive tone blistered my cheeks, but I clung to denial like a raft in an ocean.

“Don’t you trust me?”

“No. You’re quite the liability, Li. I haven’t forgiven you. You might pull a stunt like you did with James, and I can’t have my fiancée embarrassing me in front of my friends and business partners.”

“You’re the one who needs to be watched.”

He raised his chin, his eyes stony. “I dial it way back for you.”

“I wasn’t under the impression you did anything for me.”

A ring of fire seized my ankle, and I flew across the sheets. He clawed my leg, pulling me to the edge, where he sat.

“Stop!”

“I’m done treating you like a princess.” He glided up my calf, anchoring under my knee. “From now on, you’re just another girl.”

“Does that mean you’ll break off our relationship in two weeks?”

His mocking smile taunted me. “Still angry about the other women who aren’t in my life?”

“Not at all,” I ground out. “I’m identifying the facts. That behavior won’t fly with my family.”

“I think I’ll manage.”

“Can you pretend to be decent?”

Vinn’s gaze roamed down my neckline. “With the right motivation, anything’s possible.”

Meaning what?

A hot ache grew in my throat. My body screamed yes, even though it was like hitting a self-destruct button. Intimacy with Vinn would be the beginning of my end.

He released my leg. He tugged at his shoes, flinging the Oxfords from him in a careless swing. Then he tore off his shirt, his fingers unsnapping the buttons so fast my cheeks warmed. I averted my eyes, but he lurched off and moved into my vision. Shirtless. Gorgeous.

The sight of him half-naked rooted me to the spot. He was a living work of art, beautifully proportioned, his muscles carved in merciless lines. My gaze traveled across his broad shoulders and the round muscle rippling into his bicep. I sucked in my breath at the V of his muscled frame tapering to a trim waist. He still had a soldier’s body. I imagined him thumbing his black briefs and stepping out of them.

The air thinned as he undid his belt.

God, yes. Take it off.

He paused. His head turned as though he’d heard the comment, his eyes sweeping over me in a passionless glance. Then his lips curled into a devastating grin. My heart thumped as he approached, his waist at eye-level. He curved a finger around my chin. I drifted on a cloud at the softness gliding my cheek.

His other hand strayed to his crotch.

“Thought I’d make it easier for you to watch.”

Am I dreaming?

Riveted, I stared at the fingers playing with his slacks. He unbuttoned them with a rough snap as his other hand cupped my face, lighting me on fire. He traced my neck, jolts tingling my skin. My mouth burned as he seized the zipper. He moved it down.

Lightheadedness swept through me.

“Li, want me to keep going?”

My thighs clenched as his thumb skimmed my lips. A feverish wave began at my pussy, claiming my body. My senses spun from the aquatic scent surrounding me.

He zipped back up.

“Yes,” I blurted.

His fingers threaded my hair as he lowered the zipper once again. A gasp escaped me as he rode the waistline of his pants. He pulled them. They clung to his thick legs, revealing an athletic waist, and a mouthwatering bulge stretching his black briefs. His hardness electrified me.

My heart hammered. “We shouldn’t.”

“Why not? You’re my fiancée.”

Boundaries.

We needed them, stat.

Truth was, I could come up with many reasons to avoid Vinn. None of them mattered to the heat flushing around my nipples or the hot ache growing between my legs.

Vinn’s grip tightened. “Touch me.”

His demanding tone sent a current through me.

“I-I can’t.”

“You had no problem following orders last time. Seems like you’ll have a hard time with this arrangement,” he taunted. “Can’t get off. Can’t mouth off to me.”

“What makes you think that’ll stop?”

His thumb pulled my lip, showering me with jolts. “Keep at it, and I’ll give you what you deserve.”

“Watch yourself, Vinn.”

“Or you’ll what? Make good on your promise to ruin me?”

“I could do a lot of damage.” My nails stabbed into my palm as I turned away from his welcoming warmth. “But I’ll settle for quietly making your life a living hell.”

“A few hours alone with me will have you purring like a kitten.”

“You’re blinded by arrogance.” I mastered my shaking voice. “I know you. I could really mess with you.”

“You don’t have it in you.”

My nipples tingled against my tank top, betraying every thought that condemned Vinn. One glance at him and my heart lurched. Even the sound of my name on his lips made me smile. I’d spent so long waiting for him to want me. Now that he did, my thoughts whirled in a thousand different directions.

I needed to resist.

“You don’t want to test me, Vinn.” I cleared my throat and shoved backward. “I’ll tell Michael the engagement is a farce.”

“Then I’ll force you down the aisle for real, and put this whole thing to bed.” He slid over the mattress as he pursued me, and I fought the ripple of excitement. “Speaking of, I never made good on my promise to fuck your mouth. I meant to do it, but never followed through. I got distracted by a kiss.”

My pulse fluttered as he backed me against the headboard, his hand skimming my knee. Sparks jumped across my thigh, his presence so galvanizing it sent a tremor through me.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about it, Li.”

Me either.

Despite my fear, an awful joy swept through me. My stomach churned, half anticipation, half dread.

“Why did you have to cross the line?”

“I should’ve done it a long time ago.” He hooked a strand behind my ear. “I had no idea you and me could happen. I never knew, Liana.”

My troubled spirits quieted.

His hands dove into my hair, and his mouth covered mine. A shock jolted my lips as he pressed into me. He angled his head, his gentle strokes burning me. The kiss sang through my veins, urging me to respond. His feather-light kisses scorched my jaw before he returned to my mouth, claiming me with a savage intensity.

I gasped.

He left my mouth to mark my body with wet kisses. Shivers of ecstasy followed as he pulled the tank top. An ache balled in my throat as he nuzzled my neck and breathed a kiss there.

My heart stalled when he pulled my tank top over my breasts. Softly, his hand outlined their curves, my skin blazing with the intimacy. I arched into his palm, and his lips crashed on mine. He claimed me with a demanding mastery, thrusting his tongue, sucking, biting.

I moaned, locked in his embrace. I relished in the feel of him, his vitality, the burn consuming my body. The instinct to surrender. I was only a virgin in the strictest sense, but kissing Vinn made me breathless and confused, like an eighteen-year-old girl. I had no idea how to handle a man. I tasted him with a flick of my tongue.

His tormented groan invited more, so I caressed the strong tendons in his neck and the broad panes of his back.

My emotions whirled as his hard body slid over mine, my breasts tingling with his hair-roughened chest. He caged me with his arms as he descended, devouring my mouth. My calm shattered with the hunger of his kisses.

He lit up with a carnal grin that pressed into my throat and traced my breasts’ curves. My belly twitched as he descended, claiming my nipple with a wet stroke.

A lightning bolt of desire struck me.

I’d felt nothing like it before.

My fingers dove into his thick hair as he licked, sucking me into his mouth. Arousal slicked me as if his mouth was between my legs, and then his legs moved over mine. His lips teased my nipples into hardened points. His hands roamed my breasts, squeezing.

My thoughts spun. This was amazing, but way too fast.

Stop.

Shock wedged the word in my throat.

His hand slid from my breast to my taut stomach, where he fingered the button on my jeans. If I let him continue, I wouldn’t be able to put on the brakes.

“Vinn.”

His gaze flicked at me. Then he pushed himself closer, cupping my face with his giant palm. “What is it?”

“Too fast.”

Vinn smoldered. Then he shifted the straps of the tank top over my shoulders, the rosy glow in his cheeks the only sign he was affected.

I readjusted my necklace, burning.

Vinn frowned, as though it had stopped him from getting off. “No more other men, Liana.”

I flinched. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what I mean. You have somebody you’re stuck on.” His glare dipped, boring into the necklace. “The other Vincent-whoever he is-he’s gone. He’s dead.”

Did he not remember?

I let out a choked laugh. “Vinn-”

“I’m not joking, Li.”

His interruption cut off the truth-he’d given me the damned seashell. I’d made it into a necklace. Vinn’s jealousy might’ve been hilarious in a different light, but the wicked irony sliced open the healing wound.

He really didn’t remember.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

My resentment of him swelled into a tidal wave. Horrible thoughts consumed me as I spiraled into a bleak pit. I’d clung to that day on the beach for years. He’d given me the shell before he was deployed. How could he forget? A desperate ache surfaced like old rot.

I gazed at Vinn in despair, my vision clouded with tears. I ached to tell him the truth, but selfishness made me retreat. Hearing him admit he didn’t recall the moment that defined me would rip me in half.

I wasn’t ready.

I couldn’t let him go.

His expression turned grim as his eyes flicked over my face and clenched hands. “He better not be in your life, Liana.”

As usual, he’d drawn the wrong conclusion.

A hot tear rolled down my cheek.

“He’s not,” I ground out. “And never will be.”

“Remember who you belong to,” he said, his tone chilling. “I won’t show mercy to anyone who touches what’s mine.”

I flinched at the callousness.

Then he left, slamming the door.