by Sam Crescent
Turning her back on her mother, she shook her hair out. She wasn’t wearing makeup, and she wasn’t going to put her hair up. It was bad enough that she was wearing the damn dress that she didn’t want.
She wasn’t wearing any shoes, but again, she didn’t care. For once she wanted to do something for herself. Opening her door, she came to a stop when she saw Donnie on the other side. His hand was raised as if to knock, which took the wind out of her sails, or at least, it almost did.
“Hello, Paige.” He stared down her body, and against her own needs, her pussy grew slick. Most of the morning and afternoon she’d thought about his hands on her body. Would he touch her again? He told her he would, but she didn’t know when. Would he wait until after they were married? Why did she even care what was going on?
You’re attracted to him, you idiot.
Nothing made any sense to her anymore. Her life was becoming complicated, and she hated complications.
“Well, I’m not going to argue with the way you’re dressed,” Donnie said.
“I’m trying to get her to put some makeu—”
Donnie held his hand up stopping Sharon from talking.
“She’ll be the most beautiful woman there.” He offered up his arm.
She hesitated in taking it.
“Do I need to remind you that you owe me, Paige?”
Sliding her hand in his, they turned toward the stairs. “Is that what I have to look forward to? You reminding me every moment that I owe you?”
“No. What you’ve got to look forward to, baby, is remembering that at any moment my father could end your life. Only when we’re really married are we safe.”
She tensed up, chancing a look toward him. “I don’t want to die.” She hated admitting the truth. Paige really wished she didn’t care about living or dying, but she did.
“Then you’re going to have to play along with everything that is happening.”
“How? What do you need me to do?” she asked, turning to look at him.
Death wasn’t something she wanted to look for. If marrying Donnie kept her alive, then she’d take it. He wouldn’t kill her, and she had to believe him.
“Then behave like you’re in love with me. Don’t look at my father with disgust. You may hate him, but don’t show it. The Family will see it, and like vultures they will pounce on it.”
“So I’ve got to act completely besotted with you in order to stay alive?”
“It’s not a hard price to pay for staying alive.”
“I know it’s not a hard price to pay, but I just wished you didn’t have to deal with me.”
He took her hand, shocking her, as he placed her open palm over his cock. Donnie was hard as rock.
“Believe me, Paige. This is no hardship to me. I want you, and you want me. We’ll find a mutual pleasure in each other.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. With this kiss he didn’t linger, but he did make her yearn for more of his touch.
He was going to try to get under her skin, and in that moment, to Paige’s shame, it was working. It was working far more than she would have liked.
Gritting her teeth, she stared at him, wondering if there was anything else he was going to do.
Donnie smiled. “Act happy for everyone and we’ll be good. I won’t leave your side. I promise.”
They made their way down to join the party. The doors were open from the dining room, leading out into the garden. She spotted Luiz, Tonio, and Jake as they were spread throughout the party. None of them looked angry. She noticed Luiz was standing close to Maria. Rafael, Maria’s husband, held onto her arm.
The woman looked thinner than the last time Paige had seen her. The sight made her feel guilty for Maria.
“The woman of the hour,” Anthony said, raising his voice over the noise.
Within seconds the room fell silent as all eyes landed on them. Paige gripped Donnie’s arm tighter. She smiled as best she could, resting her head against his arm.
“I have an announcement for all of you. As you know Paige is the daughter of my current wife, and it would seem love has bloomed between my son and her daughter. In one month, she will be a Martinez, bound to my son and to The Family.” Anthony took hold of her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles, before gripping her face. The threat was still there, and she smiled, pretending nothing was happening, when the truth was, she was falling apart. “We look forward to her joining the family.”
“I have a ring,” Donnie said, presenting a ring. “This is the ring that was passed to my mother, and after she died, it was given to me.”
“Our traditions remain the same,” Anthony said. “The first wife of the eldest son has the ring that has been passed down generations.”
Donnie held her finger, and slid the diamond engagement ring onto her finger. Biting her lip, she did her best to smile. The weight of the ring was shocking to her, scarily so. This was binding her to him for the rest of their lives.
Don’t be afraid.
Don’t be afraid.
He cupped her cheek, pressing another kiss to her lips. The crowd erupted, and they were swarmed by congratulations.
There wasn’t anything she could do.
From that moment on, she was well and truly trapped.
Chapter Seven
Donnie stood with Paige as they made their way around the room. He accepted thanks from everyone, shaking hands, and holding her tightly against his side. She wasn’t leaving his side, not once.
They moved to stand beside Luiz, Maria, and Rafael. Luiz shook his hand as did Rafael. There was going to come a point when that bastard wouldn’t be around. From the look on Luiz’s face, the moment couldn’t come soon enough.
He glanced at Maria and spotted several bruises around her wrists. They were only apparent when she moved enough for the cuff of the dress to ride up. She always wore long clothes that hid as much skin as possible.
Rafael was a cruel bastard, and Donnie couldn’t wait until he was dead. There needed to be a cull in The Family. No one else had the guts, and all of their fathers didn’t have a clue their own sons were plotting against them. It was unheard of, and that was what was going to make it work. They were not trying to get better than themselves or take The Family down for good.
Luiz, Tonio, Jake¸ and Donnie, were taking over the family with the intention of making it better.
“Congratulations,” Maria said, hugging Paige. He saw her wince and Paige loosen her hold on the other woman.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Maria held her hand, admiring the ring, and doing everything that two women were supposed to do.
He released her arm and stood with Luiz. Donnie hadn’t let her go, and he wasn’t going to let her go now. Rafael excused himself. The coward couldn’t handle the two of them together.
“I swear, I’m going to take great joy in breaking every fucking bone in that bastard’s body before I’m through with him,” Luiz said.
“Silence. We can’t risk anything here.”
“Okay. Can you see Maria? She’s badly bruised, and I got a call from the doctor. Before she came over here, he had to bind up a fucking rib. He’d cracked her rib, Donnie.”
“We will handle it.” He placed his hand on Luiz’s shoulder, trying to give his friend some support. Whatever he said, it wasn’t going to bring him any comfort, not for either of them. “Let’s dance.”
He grabbed Paige’s hand, leading her out onto the garden where several couples were embraced, dancing together. Luiz held his sister lightly, making small movements.
“She’s in so much pain, Donnie. How can you stand it?” Paige asked.
“In this life you learn to look the other way.”
“Do you really look the other way? I don’t see you looking anywhere but at the problem.”
He stared down into her blue eyes, wishing he could take her away from this nightmare. If the men he was intending to kill wouldn’t become suspicious, he’d have taken Paige and
Maria out of the city, putting them both into a safe house. As it was, he could do neither to keep them safe.
“I see the problem, and I need you to trust me, Paige, to handle it.”
“You’re always asking me to trust you.”
“One day you’re going to understand everything that is happening.” He placed his arm on the curve of her back, stroking his fingers over the line of her panties. She tensed in his arms, and he drew her closer to him. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I know how good you are at keeping secrets.” He breathed the words against her ear, watching her whole body change, curving in toward him. “One day, Maria will never have to worry about Rafael again.”
He spun her around so that her back was to him.
“I won’t say anything.”
“Good. When we’re married, I’ll tell you everything.” He wasn’t going to risk it before he claimed her. “Now, forget about all of your fear and concentrate on me. That’s an order.”
She laughed, and he held her tightly, dancing with her. The rest of the night went by uneventfully. He refused to leave her side, and they spent a great deal of time out in the garden dancing.
When it came time for the cake, he stood by her side, holding her hand. She made a wish and blew out the whole eighteen candles. The only time he saw her struggle with the party was when she had to embrace her mother then his father. He imagined in that moment, the loss of her father really hit home. Richard should be the one congratulating her, not Anthony.
Around midnight, the guests started to leave the party, and he thanked them for coming. He kept his hand on her waist throughout the whole experience. When Jake, being the last person, left, Donnie made his way over to the table of gifts that had been left unopened. Paige followed behind. His father was on his phone, barking out orders.
“Are you going to open them?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Not tonight.” Her blue gaze landed on him. “Thank you for making this night memorable, and not in a bad way.” She reached out, touching his arm before her lips landed on his cheek. “I appreciate it.”
He watched her turn away, moving toward the stairs. His future wife, heading up to her room where there was only a wall that separated them. Within a month there wouldn’t be a wall that held him back from taking exactly what he wanted.
****
Paige sat on her bed. She’d taken a shower and placed the red dress in the laundry basket. Tonight hadn’t been a nightmare, and it could have easily turned into one. She moved so that she was sitting on her pillows, plumping them up. Pulling out the photograph album from the top drawer beside her bed, she opened it up on a picture of her with her father.
“Happy birthday to me,” she said, running her fingers across the photo. “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t run away, and now I can’t. I’m not like you, and I do trust Donnie.”
Letting out a breath, she rested her head against the wall, wishing for some kind of peace, or any kind of peace.
“Don’t cry,” Donnie said, coming into her bedroom. She closed the photograph album and stared at him. He held a plate with a large slice of cake. “You didn’t take any cake.”
“I wasn’t exactly in the mood to eat.”
He didn’t hand over the cake. Instead, he reached out, taking the album from her. She watched as he opened it up, stopping on the photo she’d been looking at. “I haven’t seen your dad’s picture for a long time. This you?”
“Yes, it was so long ago. That was taken when I was six, and at Christmas.” She crossed her legs.
“You look happy.”
“I was a kid at Christmas with my dad. Of course I was happy. Haven’t you ever had happy moments?”
“Not as many as you’d think. Being Martinez’s son didn’t come with a lot of happy memories.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that,” she said, meaning it. This man was going to be her husband. “Do you want children?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you really want to have kids when you’re part of a family that kills people? I don’t want that kind of life, not for myself, and not for my kids, Donnie.”
He closed the book with a snap before cutting into the cake. “Here, take a bite. It’s beautiful with a wonderful chocolate frosting just for you.”
Staring at the cake, she opened her lips, waiting for him to feed her. Staring into his dark eyes, Paige struggled to look away. He was so handsome in a cold kind of way.
Licking her lips, she moaned. The intense chocolate flavor exploded on her tongue, making her mouth water for more.
She watched him take a piece, using the same fork to eat some for himself.
“You’re not worried in case I’ve got germs?”
“You’ve not got germs.” He presented her with another piece of cake.
Staying silent, she ate while he fed her.
“We’re going to have a real marriage, Paige.”
“We shouldn’t be thinking about marriage. I’m eighteen, and you’re twenty-one. I’m finishing up the final years of high school. I’m graduating, and yet you’re here talking about marriage.”
He silenced her with another piece of cake. “We’ll have a real marriage, and I’ll allow you to attend college through the internet. I can’t let you leave to go away to a good college. The Family would try and stop it, cause problems. I can’t have you causing problems for me otherwise they’d take action against me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you or cause you pain.”
“Good. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you, but as you can imagine, at this moment in time, there’s only so much I can do.”
Biting her lip, she stared down at the empty plate. It hadn’t taken them long to eat the whole of the cake. “Do you really want to be married to me, or are you just being nice to me?”
“I want to be married to you, Paige. I want you to be mine.”
“Why? You’ve never given me any sign that you’ve wanted me.” She couldn’t help but doubt his intentions. “I mean, you didn’t tell me you were trying to find out information about my father.”
“I told you I didn’t have a choice. I needed to know what you know. I’ve kept your secret. Dad doesn’t know. What I need you to understand, baby, is that I may have been there because my father wanted me to, to start off with, but it changed.”
“How did it change?”
“I thought you’d be like every other woman I’ve come across, loving the life my father could give you.”
“I don’t know your father. I’ve never been into material things.” She shrugged. “I guess I’m strange like that.”
“I can’t offer you love, Paige. What I can offer you is safety, protection, and friendship.”
Paige wouldn’t give into her thoughts. “I guess those are the same things I can offer you. I don’t love you, Donnie. I care, but I don’t love you.” For a split second she was sure that she saw a flash of pain in his gaze. She must have imagined it as his face seemed to close off from all emotion. “I guess in a month we’ll be man and wife.”
She tried to put a brave face on it. The truth was, she was absolutely terrified of the future.
Chapter Eight
One month later
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Donnie turned to his beautiful bride. From the moment she walked down the aisle dressed all in white with her raven hair bound up, and cascading all around her¸ he’d been mesmerized. Luiz stood by his side as his best man with Jake and Tonio standing next to him. Maria was Paige’s matron of honor.
His young bride had used the wedding as a way of keeping Maria away from Rafael. At first Anthony, Rafael, and Sharon had tried to change that until the whole Family had agreed that Paige could pick any woman she wanted as a matron of honor. In turn, Maria had spent several nights away from her marriage home.
Luiz was thankful to her.
Cupping Paige’s cheek, Donnie slammed his lips down on hers, pulling
her close. He knew their enemies must be fearing them even more now. The Family was known for being different. The news that Donnie Martinez was marrying his stepsister, Paige Jones, had hit the crime world by storm.
He already had a reputation for being an evil bastard, and this had added to the rumor of his insanity.
The crowd erupted in cheers, and he took Paige’s hand, sliding it through his arm. Luiz shook his hand, kissing Paige’s cheek, before helping his sister down the aisle. Jake moved ahead of him, always the devoted bodyguard. Donnie hoped when he took over with Luiz and Tonio, Jake would stop considering himself as merely a bodyguard. Donnie would take a bullet for his friend before he allowed anything to happen to Jake.
They made their way out of the church, and moved toward the photographer waiting. Paige was shaking in his arms, and it was the height of summer.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, worried.
“Nothing, I’m just nervous. It’s not every wedding you see men packing guns.”
“The Family has many enemies. Ignore them. They’re here for your protection.”
“It’s kind of hard to ignore them when they’re willing to risk their lives for our protection.”
“They’re paid well for the position they’re in. Soldiers enter into this world expecting death to be their end.”
“Like my father?”
“He knew what he was getting into.” He pulled her close to his body, placing his finger underneath her chin.
“Do you realize there are millions of people out there our own age enjoying the freedom a summer vacation can offer them?” She tilted her head to the side. There were no tears in her eyes, which calmed him.
“Yes, I realize that. You’ve also got to realize there are people out there our own age and younger, who would wish to be in our position right now. I’m a powerful person. Neither you nor I were born into a world that allowed freedom. Even with your father being a soldier to The Family, you’d have been expected to keep our secret.”