by Kiera Silver
He reached for her hand, squeezing gently. “I think it’s a good plan. I don’t want to run away if we can help it. Being on the run and looking over our shoulders all the time is no life for us, and certainly not for Lucas.”
“It’s better than a life where he has to visit his father once a month in prison, and I’m raising him alone.” Tears came to her eyes, and though she tried to blink them back, they streamed down her cheeks. “I don’t want to live without you either, Armo. I love you.”
He pulled her closer, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead. “I know, and I love you too. Living without you and Lucas would be the worst thing imaginable. I’ll do anything to keep us together.”
“I’d do anything to protect our family too.” She cleared her throat. “I even strongly suggested that Larenz make Adams suffer.” Katie still felt no shame for having done so. “I wanted you to know I understand now how things… happened with Parsing.”
Armo gave her a tender smile. “Larenz mentioned something about that, and I pieced it together. I figured you understood now what I was feeling that day.”
She nodded. “I guess I’m weaker than you though. I’m glad Larenz and Dante dealt with him, so I didn’t have to. I wanted him out of the picture, and I wanted it to hurt, but I’m relieved I wasn’t the one who had to do it.”
He nodded. “I’m glad you didn’t have to live with that either, love.”
She cuddled against him, smiling and grimacing at the same time when Lucas swayed her way and pressed his open mouth to her cheek. Unfortunately, it was full of slobber that left her skin slightly sticky. She wiped it away absently. “How confident are you in Larenz’s plan? Because even though running isn’t a great life, we’d still be together.”
Armo hesitated for a moment. “I’m cautiously optimistic, Katie. I promise you that if it seems to be going south, we’ll pack up and leave. We’ll do whatever’s necessary to protect Lucas and our family.”
She liked the sound of that. Katie laid her head on his shoulder, squeezing his hand as their baby babbled between the two of them, one hand burrowing into Armo’s whiskers, and the other grabbing hold of a handful of her hair. She winced when he tugged, but ignored the discomfort as she basked in the glow of her family.
She was frightened of what might be coming, but she was placing her trust in Armo, and he trusted his brother. She just hoped Larenz had a solid plan, one that wouldn’t necessitate uprooting their entire lives and starting over. Having done it once before, she had no desire to do it again. At least if it became necessary this time, she would have Armo beside her to help. She was determined the three of them would stick together no matter what.
Sneak Peek: NEGOTIATION
Lily Thompson has watched over her little brother most of her life, so when he gets in trouble with the mob, she approaches Dante Moretti about settling his debt. He isn’t interested in her first offer and negotiates with a counteroffer—one that has her in his bed and at his mercy. She may be in over her head, but it’s her heart she has to worry about as she starts to warm up to the seemingly ruthless mobster, who finds her equally compelling. Can there be a happy ending for a Mafioso underboss and a sweet nurse, or is their negotiation destined to end in bullets and heartbreak?
CHAPTER 1
Lily struggled to hide her fear and a creeping anxiety as she stared up at the human wall in front of her. The bouncer was a bulging behemoth of muscle, but with an undersized head, only made more obvious by his lack of hair. “I insist on seeing Dante Moretti.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, and she couldn’t help realizing how barrel-like they were. “This is a private club, lady. Get the fuck out of here.”
She took a deep breath, reminding herself what was at stake, and smoothed a hand down her stomach in an attempt to calm the colony of butterflies taking flight there. “I’m aware that it’s a private club, but I have an invitation of sorts.”
He smirked at her. “Yeah? Let’s see it then.”
She licked her lips. “Well, I don’t have an actual invitation. I guess you could say that it’s more of a referral.”
He cocked his head slightly. “Yeah, really? Who referred you?”
“Shawn Thompson.”
His expression lost some of its sneer, and he reached for his cell phone, blindly stabbing at the screen but clearly knowing the number he was dialing. A moment later, he spoke into the device. “Boss, there’s some broad here you might want to see. Shawn Thompson sent her.”
After a moment’s conversation, the massive bouncer moved to the side to allow her access to the door. “Go on in and straight to the bar. Mr. Moretti will find you.”
She inclined her head. “Thank you.”
The bouncer laughed harshly. “I doubt you’ll be thanking me for long, Little Miss.” With those ominous words, he stepped up behind her, making it clear there was no backing out now.
Lily had been tempted to run, but she knew it wasn’t really an option. Licking her lips, she walked down the dim corridor until it opened into a large room. It was tastefully furnished with discreet illumination from an occasional overhead light, and there wasn’t a tacky disco ball in sight.
She spent a moment looking around; somehow unsurprised the clientele was almost exclusively men, aside from some strategically draped female arm candy. This place was bad news and was certainly no place for a nurse. She had the urge to turn and flee, but knew she couldn’t.
“You were supposed to go straight to the bar,” The timbre of the deep voice in her ear was rich and smoky, and sent chills down her spine.
Her nipples hardened in response to the sound of his words, she was in trouble already and she hadn’t even seen the man’s face. As she turned, she prayed that the man behind her would be old and ugly. “I’m sorry. I stopped to admire the place for a moment.”
Nope. Dante Moretti was neither old nor ugly, which made him even more irresistible. He was young, probably around thirty, and handsome, with black hair, brown eyes the color of whiskey, and scratchy stubble on his cheeks that made him look sexy and dangerous. She had a feeling he needed no help in the last department.
Moretti was clearly appraising her with equal interest, taking in her light-blonde hair, baby-blue eyes, and the general air of sweetness that she was certain she projected, especially when contrasted with this place. Under his scrutiny, she was suddenly painfully aware of her wardrobe. Maybe she should have changed out of her work slacks and button-down shirt, especially since she was now also self-consciously aware of the splotch of yellow paint at the hem of her shirt.
She licked her lips again, but abruptly stopped when she saw Dante Moretti’s gaze following the path of her tongue. It was a nervous habit, and certainly nothing she had ever cultivated to drive men wild. Not that she believed she had actually driven Dante Moretti wild with the harmless gesture. She was the girl-next-door type, not the sexpot type—which made her proposition all the more ridiculous, but what choice did she have? She had to try, or do, something.
“May I buy you a drink?”
She nodded, realizing she could use some liquid courage, along with something to lubricate her dry throat. She was surprised when he extended his arm in a chivalrous gesture, and she slipped her own through it cautiously. She walked beside him as he led her to the bar, and she started to climb on a stool, but his arm clamped tighter around hers, preventing her from moving away from him. She looked up at him questioningly.
“I have a feeling we’ll be talking in private.” He leaned closer, his voice lowered. “Besides, I don’t think I want to share you with anyone out here.”
Her stomach tightened with a mix of anxiety and apprehension, and perhaps a tinge of excitement. She knew why she was here, and she was encouraged that he found her attractive, but it was still scary.
After acquiring their drinks, something amber in a cut crystal glass for him, and an aromatically sweet white wine for her, he led her through swanky bar and down another corridor,
this one also dimly lit like the entryway. He turned into a doorway on the left, pulling her inside before closing the door.
He locked it with an ominous click before gesturing toward the arrangement of furniture in the large office. “Have a seat, mystery lady, and then you can tell me why you’re here, and what your connection is to Shawn Thompson.”
She was tempted to take the lone armchair, but that wouldn’t fit in well with her plans. She took a sip of the wine as she sat on the couch, surprised when he sat down on the leather beside her. He was close enough that she could feel the heat of his body seeping into hers, but far enough away that they were not quite touching. It was still an appropriate distance for strangers, but the air was fraught with the possibility that there wouldn’t be any distance between them for long. Or was she imagining it? Had she become practically hysterical with nerves and hint of arousal?
“My name is Lily, and Shawn is my brother.”
His expression tightened, going from flirtatious to cool. “So you’re related to that sack of shit?”
She frowned at him. “He’s not a sack of shit. He’s a young boy.”
Dante laughed, but it wasn’t a sound of amusement. “He’s over eighteen, right?”
She nodded. “He’s twenty.”
“He’s an adult and responsible for his actions. Your little brother stole from me.”
She blinked, her stomach fizzing with renewed anxiety. “That’s not what I heard.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, wondering if she had bitten off more than she could chew. Why hadn’t she had the forethought to doubt Shawn’s story? “He told me he lost a shipment. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but he told me he was in serious trouble.”
“He lost the shipment by diverting it to the Lithuanians with the help of his idiot girlfriend. He was entrusted with my guns and decided to sell them, but didn’t even have the common sense to get out of the city after ripping me off. I’ve dealt with the girlfriend, but your brother has gone to ground. And now he sent you here to face his punishment? I’d say he’s a huge sack of shit, Lily.”
She nibbled on her lower lip. “Actually, he didn’t send me. I pieced together what he told me and figured out that you must be here. I was hoping to work out a payment arrangement or something with you.”
He started. “You expect me to let your brother pay me back a hundred thousand dollars? It would be one thing if the Lithuanians had stolen it from him, but the little fucker handed over the crate and stole from me. A hundred grand is small change, but the lack of respect is what he has to pay for. This was his audition, and he blew it in a big way. I can’t let that go unaddressed. You might not understand our ways, but surely you understand that I’m in charge of this operation, and I can’t appear weak to anyone. Your brother undermined me.”
She nodded. “Yes, I think I understand that. I’ve watched those mob movies.”
Dante laughed at her, and his flashing white grin made his already devastating good looks even more charming. Her heart fluttered in her chest, and she hated that she was attracted to the mafia man that was threatening her brother’s life.
“Sweet Lily, those are movies, and my life is a lot different. I guess they did get the respect thing right though. Your brother fucked up, and he’s going to have to die.”
She licked her lips again, freezing when she remembered how much he seemed to appreciate the gesture. After a second, she finished the motion, but moved slower. “If you take something of greater value, won’t that settle the debt?”
He snorted. “It would have to be exceptionally valuable for me to risk appearing to be going easy on a little shit who stole from me. I highly doubt Shawn Thompson has anything that valuable.”
She gathered her courage, swallowing the lump in her throat. “He has me.”
He arched a brow. “Unless you’re an heiress, Lily Thompson, I don’t think you’ll be able to cover his debt.”
She’d hoped that he would be able to gather her meaning, but apparently she was going to have to be blunt instead of subtle. “If everyone thinks you’re taking his sister to repay the debt, that will satisfy the revenge aspect, won’t it? Then there’s just the matter of paying you back the hundred thousand dollars? He said it was just a small shipment, and he didn’t think you would notice it had gone missing.”
“I notice everything, but especially when it’s the first time I entrust something to a new associate.” His gaze seemed to bore through her. “So you’re offering to whore yourself out to me in exchange for your brother being given leniency?”
Her eyes widened. “No, of course not. I just thought that if you were seen with me in public a few times, and people thought you had taken me to satisfy his debt, that would be the end of it. I don’t have a whole lot of money, but I can sell the jewelry that my grandmother left me and cash out my retirement savings. I could probably scrape together at least seventy thousand now, and then work out an arrangement for the other thirty thousand…”
He turned slightly, pressing his knee against hers as he looked directly into her eyes with his hypnotic stare. “What do you do, Lily?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m a nurse.”
He chuckled. “Of course you are. Let me get this straight, just to make sure I understand what you’re offering. You want to… what? Pretend to be my mistress in public while you pay me back privately for your brother’s crime? In return, I let the little shit continue to breathe. Is that what you want?”
She nodded, hoping there was some decency in him. “I know it’s a lot to ask, Mr. Moretti, but you appear to have a generous side. I researched a bit before I came here tonight, and I know you donated a wing to the hospital, and you also provided a grant to the Head Start program.”
He shook his head “No, that was the Moretti Foundation, which was founded by my mother. I support their work, but my brother Armo is in charge of that. I had nothing to do with it.”
Her heart sank a little in her chest, but she forced her expression not to betray her disappointment. “Even still, you support the deeds, so you must be a good person deep down.”
He chuckled starkly. “Very deep down, Lily. Would you like to hear my counteroffer?”
She licked her lips again nervously, bracing herself to hear something outrageous, like a hundred thousand dollar-interest charge on top of the hundred thousand her brother already owed him. “Yes, Mr. Moretti.”
“If I’m prepared to indulge this insanity, and I haven’t committed to the idea yet, there will be nothing pretend about it. You would be my mistress, which is an old-fashioned word, but applies perfectly well to our arrangement.”
She gasped, opening her mouth to protest, but he pressed on before she could speak.
“I’m not going to take your 401(k) or your grandmother’s jewelry, but if we negotiate an arrangement, what I will take is every inch of your body at my bidding. You do what I say when I say, and for how long I say.”
Her eyes widened. “You want me to be your sex slave for an indeterminate amount of time in exchange for letting my brother off the hook?”
He scowled. “Shawn isn’t off the hook. There’s nothing you can negotiate with me to make that happen. What I’ll do is send the little shit far away. He’ll get another shot with a different branch of the family, which is more than he deserves, and they’ll watch him like a hawk. If he fucks that up, he’s dead. You’d better emphasize that to him.”
She clutched the strap of her purse tightly in her hand. “What will you do to me if I agree to this, Mr. Moretti?”
He stared at her in that appraising fashion, but now there was a predatory gleam in his eye. “You have this whole innocent sweetness vibe going on. I have to admit, it’s pretty damn sexy. I especially love the idea of ruining it, wrecking you, and leaving you looking like a wanton slut instead of this virginal nurse sitting in front of me.”
She took a gulp of her wine, uncertain if admitting it wasn’t a persona would be beneficial to the situation
or not. Perhaps it was though, since he seemed to like the whole idea of ruining her. If she revealed he would be completely ruining her, it might be incentive to get him to capitulate and stick to the agreement, or perhaps even set a timeline.
If she could go through with the agreement. In the back of her mind, she had considered the idea that the gangster whom her brother was in trouble with might want more than just a pretend arrangement, and she tried to brace herself for the possibility, though uncertain that she could really go through with it.
Now, sitting so close to Dante Moretti, with her nipples pressing against her sturdy white bra, and her panties damp at the idea of having the dark and dangerous man beside her stripping all vestiges of innocence from her, she was utterly convinced that she could do it. That part scared her far more than actually making the agreement, but she was still troubled by his word that he would do anything to her.
“I’m sorry, but there would have to be some balance. A contract or safe word or something. You can’t just expect me to completely surrender to you without knowing what you might do to me. I don’t know what your tastes are. I mean, you could be into really kinky things like…” She trailed off, having a difficult time trying to think of something really kinky. She wasn’t completely naïve, but she was mostly uneducated about the strange things that people did to each other behind closed doors.
“I don’t think I’m into anything too unusual. Whips, chains, and the occasional donkey just about covers it.”
Her eyes widened, and fear bubbled up in her. “I hope the donkey’s for you?” she said, sputtering in shock.
He laughed, a genuine laugh this time, and not one burdened with any trace of bitterness. “I have a feeling I’m going to like you, Lily Thompson. I’m just kidding about the donkey.”
She drank the last of her wine, wishing the glass had magically refilled itself, because she was still parched and nervous. “But the whips and chains?”