Ransom: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Dark Desires Book 1)

by Amy Starling

  He flinched. “That has nothing to do with... this.”

  “What is 'this,' then, you son of a bitch? Answer me!”

  But he didn't. We returned to the cabin; he led me up the stairs and in through the front door. With the lights on, this place looked deceptively homey. Paintings of the countryside hung from cherry-red wood walls. A well-worn couch sat in front of a small TV, atop which was a stack of dog-eared books. Dust lined the coffee table, as if nobody had cleaned it in months. Could this be someone's summer home, perhaps?

  On Alec's other arm, he carried a couple of grocery bags. These he set down, and then looked at me again.

  “If I let you go, can I trust you not to run?”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  He sighed. “That's what I thought. Why must you make this so difficult?”

  He marched me over to the basement door, which he'd sealed with several locks. Each of these he undid, then ushered me down the stairs, back down into the hell from which I had just escaped.

  “Goodness,” he said with a whistle. “You made quite a mess. I left for twenty minutes to get groceries, and somehow, you managed all this.”

  I kicked him in the shin. He didn't even react.

  “I didn't want to have to do this,” he murmured, pulling a coil of rope from the rubble. “But if you're going to keep trying to run from me, I have no choice.”

  I sobbed as he tethered my wrists together. Now here I was, no better off than I'd been before. And I was so close to freedom, too.

  Worst of all was how even now, now that I knew what a horrible man Alec was, my body still reacted eagerly to his touch. Something was seriously wrong with me.

  “Now if I bring you back upstairs with me, you promise to stop screaming so much?”

  “Of course I'm going to scream! You kidnapped me!”

  He shrugged. “So you'd rather stay down here, then? And don't think you'll be escaping through the window again. I'll be making sure of that.”

  I tried to calm myself. If I couldn't do that, Alec would lock me back in here and I'd have no chance of getting out.

  Satisfied that I had stopped crying, he lifted me over his shoulder and carried me back upstairs like I weighed nothing. Then he dumped me on the couch and moved to fetch his groceries. If I even thought about running, the gun he had made me think twice.

  “Tell me why,” I cried. “Why you would do this?”

  He let out a heavy, strained sigh. “Your father made a bargain with mine for a loan. Now he can't pay it back – or he refuses to.”

  “Wait.” I sat up. “This is because of my dad?”

  “Long story short, my father hates when people don't pay back their debt.” He thrust a jug of milk into the fridge. “That's why he had me kidnap you.”

  “So you're using me as ransom bait.”

  “Technically, I suppose we are.”

  I thought hard about dad while Alec put away the food. Yes, now it made more sense. The note he left last night said people would come for him and they might hurt us, too. Evidently, he'd made a deal with the Ciarellos.

  What the hell had he been thinking? I wanted answers – and there was only one man who could give them to me.

  “Roger was big into horse racing, you know.”

  “I'm aware.”

  “I mean, way more than your average guy. Trouble is, he's got awful luck at the track. He lost so much of his own money that he emptied your college fund, and then gambled that away too. That's when he came to us, desperate.”

  My stomach suddenly felt very sick. “Wait. He... He took all the money out of my college account?”

  Alec nodded. “It was quite a large sum, I heard. I think he felt guilty for what he'd done, but it was too late to stop. Figured he'd borrow some from my family, win a few big races, and everything would be okay again.”

  Just one more, he'd said to me yesterday. He swore that was going to be the last race. Unfortunately, Alec's story made too much sense to be a lie.

  How could dad have done this to me? How was I supposed to finish school without that money? The scholarship I had the first couple years wasn't there for me anymore. If I didn't pay, I'd be kicked out. My dream of being a doctor, gone, all because of his selfish bullshit.

  “Hey,” Alec said, gently touching my shoulder. “I swear I didn't know you were his daughter. Not until my father told me to go get you.”

  “So you knew, but you decided it was okay to kidnap me anyway?” I glared and wrenched away from him.

  His face fell. His expression was impossible to read.

  “I didn't want to. I... I still think you're special. When I told you I wanted you, that wasn't an act. I meant it.”

  I laughed bitterly. “Too bad for you I want nothing to do with you anymore.”

  “I'm sure you don't. I wouldn't blame you.”

  Except that was somewhat of a lie. Maybe Alec was a horrible person and a gangster, but that didn't stop my ridiculous attraction to him. I hated myself then for craving his hands on me, for imagining what it'd be like once he got me naked...

  He took a cold bottle of water from the fridge, opened it, and held it to my lips. At first I refused to drink, but he was insistent, and my throat burned terribly from the crying and screaming I had done.

  I sipped, then gulped until water was running down my face and soaking into my scrubs. Alec blotted the rivulets with his sleeve. For a moment, there was something resembling concern written on his face.

  “I hadn't much of a choice to do what I did,” he said, screwing the lid back on. “You see, my dad, Leo, he's the head of the family. Whatever he says goes – or else.”

  I blinked in surprise. “Wait. Your father is the leader of the Ciarellos?”

  “Well, yes. It's kind of in the name, isn't it?”

  I wasn't sure whether to cry or laugh. Of course! Of course the one man I wanted just so happened to be the son of a mafia godfather. It wasn't bad enough Alec was simply part of the mob, but this...

  “If I didn't nab you, someone else would have done it – and I guarantee they wouldn't have been nearly so gentle nor accommodating.”

  “Gee, I guess that makes it all better.”

  “It's not just that. Dad's a very dangerous man when one of the family betrays his wishes. Were I to refuse, things could get ugly for me.”

  My stomach grumbled like a volcano ready to erupt. I had no clue what time it was, but I'd been starving when I left school and now, I was so famished I could have eaten cardboard.

  Alec noticed my distress and went to the kitchen. “You sound awfully hungry. I'm not a great cook, and we don't have much here to work with, but...”

  “I don't want your food,” I said sullenly. “I want to go home.”

  “You know I can't allow that. Not until your dad pays back what he owes.”

  “And how much is that, exactly?”

  “Well, let's see. There's the twenty grand he borrowed first of all, and then the fifty from the other day, plus with interest would be...”

  “Hold on. You're really telling me my dad borrowed seventy-thousand dollars from you?”

  “I told you he was big on racing.” Alec found a carton of eggs and loaf of bread. “And he used some of that to pay your college bill, too. I imagine that's how he got hold of the drugs to sell also. Thought he would turn a profit.”

  I thought I might vomit any minute now. “What? Drugs?” I shook my head in disbelief. “No way. Dad would never touch that stuff. He's a good Christian man. Goes to church with mom every Sunday. He... He brought me up right.”

  Alec set the bread down and gazed sadly at me. “Men do some very stupid things when they get desperate. Doesn't mean he's not a good person. He just made a lot of mistakes.”

  I cried all over again. Not because I was scared, not because I hated Alec for what he'd done, but because I felt I didn't know my own father at all. The man I thought I knew, who I'd grown to respect, was nothing but a facade to hide who he trul
y was.

  Alec said nothing about my tears, just stuffed a couple pieces of bread into the toaster and tossed a frying pan on the old stove. Into it he cracked a few eggs. Soon, they began to sizzle, and the delicious smell of food cooking was enough to calm me, at least for the moment.

  “I'm sorry.”

  “You're sorry?” I sniffled. “If you're so sorry, let me go.”

  “I mean... I didn't intend to make you cry.” He slowly stirred the eggs together with pepper and salt. “If it hadn't been for me, for this, you never would have known about your dad. Some things like this, I believe, are actually better left unknown.”

  For a mafioso, he had his surprising moments of tenderness. I couldn't allow that to make me feel better. He'd kidnapped me, drugged me and tied me up against my will. How could I ever forgive that, no matter how kind he was now?

  “No. I needed to know.” I forced the tears to stop. “God, if mom had any idea about this...”

  “What's she like?”

  I scoffed. “You just knocked me out and snatched me off the street, and now you're trying to make small talk about family with me? Seriously?”

  He dug into the fridge again, muttering something I couldn't hear, then produced a brick of yellow cheese. I licked my lips, almost salivating, as he grated some into the eggs.

  “It's just conversation. If you'd rather sit there in silence, then fine.”

  No, I guess I wouldn't. The quiet was too much for me right now. It was too easy to let those depressing thoughts creep into my head. At least Alec distracted me from them.

  “My mom,” I began. “She's... very religious. Catholic. That's how she raised me, too.”

  “You and I have something in common, then.”

  “Mobsters go to church?”

  He smiled. “The good ones do, or so said my grandma. She came here from Italy many years ago. Church was such a big deal there, I guess she passed that onto my mom. So that's where our family was every Sunday, and you only ever missed if you were on your deathbed.”

  I hated how curious I was about him. His life was just so unlike mine, so interesting, that I could talk to him about it for hours.

  But I refused to do that. No, I wasn't here to make friends with this jerk.

  “My mom can get a little unhinged when things go bad,” I continued. “Just this morning, she found out dad ran away somewhere – to avoid getting captured by you, I'd imagine.”

  Maybe if he hadn't been thinking only of himself, I wouldn't be in this predicament right now. What kind of father abandoned his family when they needed him most?

  “So I don't know how you plan to get this insane sum of money from him. Even if he did have or could find it, no one knows where he is. He'll have no idea I was taken, and therefore has no reason to send your dad the cash.”

  He slid the eggs and toast onto two plates. “Don't worry about that. We'll track him down soon enough. It's never that easy to run from my family.”

  My stomach rumbled as he set a plate and fork on the table before me. I tried to reach for it, for a moment forgetting the rope around my hands.

  “You expect me to eat like a dog?” I wriggled my wrists. “Or maybe you're going to feed me.”

  Our eyes met. He licked his lips. Clearly, we both had the same thought just then. A very naughty thought, one among many.

  “Uh, no. I'm not that cruel.” He reached for the binds. “But no trying to run, or hit me, or any of that. Got it?”

  “No promises.”

  He sighed as he deftly untied the knot. “If you throw that hot plate in my face, there's gonna be consequences.”

  “Thanks for the idea,” I said. “Although I'm too starved to waste food.”

  Soon as my hands were free, I lunged for the plate and wolfed down every morsel of eggs and each breadcrumb. I didn't even care that Alec watched me, stunned.

  “Wow.” He stabbed his eggs with the fork. “We Italians have big appetites, but I've never seen anyone just inhale their food like that.”

  “I was at school since this morning and haven't eaten.” I gave him an annoyed look. “You'd probably know that since you seem to have been stalking me around campus.”

  “Hey, no offense meant.” His hand settled on my back. “A woman who loves to eat is a plus in my book.”

  I tensed at the warmth of his touch. Why the heck did this feel more like a dinner date than a kidnapping?

  “So what happens now?” I asked. “You going to throw me back in the basement?”

  He squirmed. “I don't feel I have a choice. If I let you stay upstairs, you have too many chances to run away. I can't let that happen again.”

  “Why not? Afraid your daddy will be pissed at you for letting me escape?”

  “Not that.” He spooned some more eggs onto my plate. “If you run, then there's no guarantee I can keep you safe anymore.”

  Safe?

  That's how I felt the moment we met, when he put his arm around me at the hospital. But now, after what he did, how could I ever feel safe with him again?

  The answer came to me while he went to wash the dishes. The mafia was after my father, and things were going to get worse until they got what they wanted from him. Alec, then, was my only hope at making things right with them.

  Like it or not, I would have to put my trust in him for now.

  But if he thought I'd just sit around here like a helpless princess, he was dead wrong. I refused to be imprisoned. I was getting out of here.

  All I had to do was play along until the next opportunity struck, then I would be free.

  Chapter 8 - Alec

  I was not a nice guy.

  You could ask anyone, and they'd all tell you the truth: Alec Ciarello is a real grade-A dick.

  I led girls on and broke their hearts. When someone pissed me off, my fists did the talking. I'd lied, stolen, blackmailed, and extorted. I had no sympathy for people who fucked over the family.

  But watching Ceci sleep moved me in a way I never felt before. It made me... uneasy.

  Exhausted, she had passed out in her basement bed right after dinner. I went up to barricade the window in case she tried anything funny in the night.

  Moonlight streamed through the window, a full moon that lit up her beautiful face and made her look like an angel. It took my breath away.

  More than that, too. Damn, I'd never been so hard for a woman as I got for her.

  What I really wanted to do was unlock that basement door, storm down those steps, strip her naked and make her mine.

  Instead, I shook it off and focused on covering the window so she'd not pull another of her adorable little escape attempts.

  She hated me right now. Trying to seduce her would just earn me a kick to the balls. No, I wanted her to want it, too.

  And that would eventually come. When I lusted for a woman, I got her – and that was that.

  The ringing phone woke me next morning.

  “Lucas,” I mumbled, my voice groggy and deep. “You bastard. I was having a real nice dream about Ceci.”

  “Probably ain't wise to be fantasizing about the chick you're supposed to kill.”

  My eyes bolted open. “Killing her won't be necessary.”

  He chuckled. “Hope that you're right, for both of your sakes. Anyway, good news. Nico and his boys were able to track down our friend Mr. Trenton.”

  That was good news. Sooner we got his debt squared away, the sooner Ceci's life could go back to normal.

  Whether she'd have anything to do with me by that point, well, that was yet to be decided.

  “Great. Where is he?”

  “They found him in a motel outside of Tucson. Looks like he was trying to make a run for the border.”

  “Hopefully Nico put a stop to that.”

  “'Course he did. The guy's a professional, you know that. He broke into his room while he was out eating and left a real nice message in blood on the wall.”

  “Blood? Really? Could he be anymore melodrama
tic?”

  “Take it easy; it wasn't human blood.” He hesitated. “I don't think, at least. Anyway, he basically told him to stay put until further notice or we'd gut his daughter like a fish. Looks like he's still there, so it must've been effective.”

  Okay, so we had him right where we wanted him. I got the motel's phone number that'd connect me straight to Roger's room. Time to give dad a call.

  Dad cursed when he picked up the phone. “Whaddya want? I'm in the sauna and don't want to be bothered, ya dipshit.”

  “Dad, it's me. They found him.”

  He quickly turned down the noisy opera song. “That so? Well, it's about time. I want my money back.”

  I glanced at Ceci through the peephole in the basement door. She was still passed out, kind of snoring in a way that was so cute, it made my stomach feel funny. I swallowed hard and made myself look the other way.

  “I'm not sure you're going to get anything back. This man is broke and totally pathetic. Where do you expect him to come up with seventy grand?”

  “Ain't my problem. I'm sure he'll find inspiration real quick once he realizes we got his little princess.” He bellowed for Janet to bring him a cigar. “If you got his number, let's make the call. The both of us will wear him down fast.”

  I set up the three-way call, then dialed Roger's motel room. God, I hoped we got this conversation out of the way before Ceci woke up. Last thing I wanted was for her to hear me threatening her father.

  After a single ring, Roger picked up.

  “W-who is this?” His voice was high-pitched, like a frightened girl's. “Why can't you people just leave me alone? I told you I don't have any money!”

  “Hello again, Mr. Trenton,” dad growled. “So much for your pony being a sure bet, eh?”

  “Now wait just a minute. You can't blame me for his losing! I was... uh, lied to. Yeah, that's right,” Roger stammered. “The trainer swore on his life Pied Piper was gonna win. The drug was a guaranteed golden ticket.”

  “Yeah, except that ain't what happened. I don't give a shit about this trainer, son. Only thing I care about is you just lost fifty grand of my money – not to mention the rest of what you owed. And on top of that, you're such a pussy you turn tail and leave your wife and daughter to suffer the consequences.”