His gaze shuttered, and his voice turned cold. “Judging me, baby girl? Shocked that I killed my father?” Shane sneered. “I’m proud of it. That bastard deserved to die, and if I hadn’t killed him, he would have killed my mother and my sister.”
“Oh.” She had clenched her hand in his, but now forced her fingers to relax. “How old were you?”
“Fifteen. Siobhan was six and had always been fragile. She missed a lot of school from being sick, and since my useless fuck of a father never kept a job for longer than few days, there was no money for a doctor. He wouldn’t take charity, so she suffered. We all suffered from his choices, but she used to cry sometimes from the pain, because it was so bad.”
“What was wrong with her?”
“Rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile onset, but we didn’t know it at the time. I guess she’d started crying one afternoon, and it interfered with his drinking time. He attacked my little sister to shut her up. Mom tried to stop him and was knocked out. When I came home from school, he was beating my baby sister with a belt, though she was unconscious.”
She hugged him instinctively. “What did you do?”
“I stabbed him through the back of the neck with a steak knife.” His laugh held a sharp edge. “It was some freebie set my mom had gotten at a grocery store with coupons, and it did not want to go in. I had to try a few times.”
The shadows in his expression stilled her breath, but she couldn’t say it was from fear. He was mesmerizing in his darkness, and she couldn’t find fault with his actions in light of the circumstances. After a brief consideration, she decided she would probably happily rid the world of her own father, and she certainly would if she had the chance to get rid of Aldo. “So Cormac saved you?”
“I saved myself and my family, baby, but he helped me hide the body. The world just assumed that drunken fucker had finally shambled off into obscurity, and the neighborhood breathed a sigh of relief.” He smiled, loosening his hands around her head to brush her cheek gently. “My sister and mother breathed a helluva lot easier, and life improved when I started working with Cormac.”
“In the mafia.” She couldn’t hide her disdain. “Your improved life came at the expense of others.” At his careless shrug, she asked, “Did you have to kill other people?” He nodded, making her teeth set on edge from frustration at his deliberate obscurity. “Okay, how many?”
“I’m not answering that.”
She arched a brow. “Why? Do you think I’m wearing a wire?”
He chuckled. “The only thing you’re wearing is me, baby.”
Mia rolled her eyes. “So tell me.”
Shane shook his head. “No. You don’t need to know.”
“Do you even know?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course I know, Mia. I mark it down on the wall with the blood of my victims. You wanna see the shrine?”
The implausible urge to giggle rose inside her, and she had to bite her tongue. “Seriously, have you killed so many people you can’t keep track?”
He sighed, sounding annoyed. “I know exactly how many I’ve killed. I know the reasons why, and I have no stain on my conscience for ending those fuckers. Happy now?”
She slumped a bit. “I guess.” Tilting her head, she asked, “Ballpark? More than five? Less than one hundred?”
He snorted. “How about this? I’ve killed more people than the number of times we’ve fucked, but a lot less than the number of times I plan to fuck you.”
His words were twisted and wrong, but she couldn’t pretend they didn’t make her body stir with desire. When he tugged her head down for a long kiss, she didn’t protest or fight. Mia didn’t even have the compulsion to resist as he worked her into a frenzied state and fucked her to satiation within fifteen minutes.
Afterward, they lay side by side on their backs, breathing heavily. Her stomach growled, making her giggle. “I’m starving.”
“Let me order food.” He fumbled around for his robe, retrieving his cell phone from the pocket.
Seeing him do so was a stark reminder of her prisoner status, but she swallowed the angry words that rose and suppressed the urge to complain that she didn’t even have a way to communicate. It would serve no purpose, because she hadn’t earned his trust yet, and the idea of arguing with him again when they had a tentative truce didn’t appeal.
When he’d stopped speaking with whichever of the kitchen staff he’d called, he surprised her by drawing her against him to cuddle. They didn’t speak, and she didn’t have the urge to break the silence.
Instead, her thoughts turned to the miserable childhood he must have endured. At least she had been mostly ignored by her father and raised by kind, if distant, nannies. Her nightmare hadn’t begun in earnest until she was thirteen, but he’d been a victim all through his childhood. Was it an adequate explanation for how he’d ended up so selfish and driven, without the limits of moral decency that bound most people? That was too simplistic, but she was certain it at least partially explained why he could be so cruel.
“Where is your sister?” she asked a few minutes later. “And your mother?”
“My mother lives in Florida with my second stepfather, who is a nice old guy. She’ll probably outlive him like she has her last two husbands.”
She frowned. “Did you do something to her second husband?”
Shane groaned. “Do you think I’m responsible for the death of everyone, babe? No, I had nothing to do with Jake croaking. I never even met him, since they were only married a short time.”
Treading lightly, to avoid further offense, she asked, “And your sister?”
“Siobhan is a ballerina in the city.”
She licked her lips, searching for a delicate way to phrase the question. “Does she know what you do?”
He hesitated. “Vague bits, but nothing concrete. I keep her separate from this life, Mia.”
She didn’t know whether to be touched by his protectiveness toward his sister, or annoyed at the way he had dragged her kicking and screaming into the seedy underbelly of his lifestyle when she had escaped it long ago. Or had she? Had Aldo ever really let her go, or had he been biding his time for some reason known only to him? Would he have taken her in the future without warning?
Imagining his goons coming for her, and what would have waited for her at Aldo’s hands, made her shudder. Perhaps in some fucked up way, Shane had saved her from a far worse fate.
A tap on the door had her pulling the covers up to her chin. It opened a second later, and she groaned at the sight of Selena carrying a heavy tray. The older woman glared at her before giving Shane a polite smile. “Good morning, sir. Your breakfast, as requested.”
With what appeared to be perfect servitude, Selena set down the tray and lifted the salvers to reveal two plates of food. She poured two cups of coffee into silver cups, handing first one to Shane before turning to her with the other.
Mia knew what was going to happen before the cup started to tip, but she had nowhere to go. The hot coffee splashed down on her shoulder and seeped through the blanket in a flash, making her hiss with pain.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. O’Mara. How clumsy of me.” The tone was contrite, but her dark eyes gleamed with satisfaction and hatred.
Shane ignored Selena as he jumped from the bed, still naked, and whisked Mia straight to the shower. She whimpered in agony when the cold water hit the burns on her shoulder and chest, but sighed when the pain started to fade to numbness a minute or two later.
Shane left her to go to the bathroom door, hanging out his head to shout, “Call Dr. Burke and clear up the mess.”
The sight of his taut buttocks as he leaned around the doorjamb provided a bit of pain relief too, and she was surprised to find herself getting wet as he turned and came back to her. Her gaze remained on his shaft, and her pussy twinged with want.
A second twinge, this one of pain, shot through her burned skin and distracted her from the carnality of her thoughts. As Shane knelt down beside h
er again, she gritted her teeth, which wanted to chatter from the icy water. “She did it on purpose.”
He frowned. “Selena?” Shane shook his head. “She’s never been anything but competent. I rely on her to keep the household running smoothly.”
Mia shifted to allow the nearest nozzle to center on her shoulder. “She was rude to me the first night she met me, Shane. She called me a slut and worse. For whatever reason, she hates me, and she did this on purpose.” He scowled, and she expected him to protest again. Bracing herself to defend her accusation, she blinked when he spoke.
“I’ll get rid of her today.”
Mia frowned. “You don’t have to do that. Just please keep her away from me.”
He looked furious when he gently probed around her shoulder, which bore the worst burn, since that area hadn’t been protected by the thick comforter. “Baby, if she did this deliberately, she’s lucky to get fired and not dropped in the river with concrete shoes.”
She cracked a small smile. “Do you mafia guys still use those? It seems like such a cliché.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Why mess with something when it works?”
Mia put her hand on his cheek. “You really don’t have to fire her. I don’t know what her problem is with me, but I think it can be solved by keeping her away from me.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m not one for second chances or acts of forgiveness, babe.”
“What if I’m wrong?” Mia didn’t really believe she was, but she also didn’t want to have the other woman fired if she had been even slightly mistaken about Selena’s intent. “She’s been a loyal employee to you, so it’s hardly fair to fire her for something she did to me, even if it was on purpose. She’ll be here long after I’m gone.”
Shane didn’t blink, and his eyes were flat and impossible to read. “Do you really think that’s true, Mia?”
Swallowing, she slowly shook her head.
“Smart girl.” He pulled her against him, though he didn’t touch her wounds. “You’re not going anywhere. Ever.” His cock hardened as he settled her on his lap, though he made no move to turn the embrace from anything besides soothing as the cold water sluiced over both of them. “Forever isn’t even close to long enough to get you out of my system, baby girl.”
She shivered, uncertain if it was from the cold water, the intensity in his voice, the possessiveness in his embrace, or the way her heart didn’t flutter with panic like it should have at his words. Mia didn’t think he was exaggerating his intentions or the lifespan of his obsession, which should have frightened her more than it did.
Chapter Ten
Smoke obscured his gaze, and the acrid smell of burning materials made it difficult to breathe even a few yards from where the warehouse still blazed. Shane stood with Bruno behind him and the fire chief at his side. Wallace was quietly seeing to bribing the other firefighters and the police officer who had responded to the reported fire. Until they had a chance to scour the building to remove the remnants of the weapons stored within, any witnesses had to be managed. Shane hoped they could keep it civilized and monetary, rather than having to resort to violence or threats of violence.
He cast a cynical gaze at the uniformed officer, watching as the man tucked a neat wad of bills into his pocket. Thank god for the corruptibility of the officials of their city and the natural instinct of humanity that encouraged making one’s own welfare supreme.
“Your people should be able to sanitize the scene within a few hours, Mr. O’Mara,” said Candy Clayton, the fire chief.
He wondered what she would do with the ten thousand dollars he’d handed over to buy her silence, but didn’t really care. Instead, he nodded and drifted back to the periphery of the crowd to join his men. Once they received the all-clear to enter the building, all trace of illegal weapons would disappear.
It was arson, of course, and he had no doubt who’d done it. He was actually surprised it had taken Peretti three days to fire the first volley in their war for possession of Mia. There wasn’t even a need to speculate who was behind the burning, since Aldo had texted him a picture of a match, along with the message of “burn, baby, burn.” He’d received it a few minutes before getting the call that his warehouse was on fire.
The warehouse that had held a million dollars in stolen and illegal weapons until an hour or so ago. The warehouse directly under his purview. Shane didn’t know if Patrick Murphy would expect him to cover the lost profit on those guns, or if he would simply expect Shane to get revenge. While Shane could afford the cost of repaying his boss if it came to that, he’d much prefer vengeance.
The only problem was the head of the Murphy family would expect him to keep it under the radar of the authorities. A highly public escalation in hostilities wouldn’t be appreciated or condoned. That didn’t mean Shane wasn’t going to do exactly what he wanted to serve Aldo Peretti’s head on a fucking plate. Turning to Bruno as the other man joined him, he said, “Find his drug dens and whorehouses. I want to know his moneymakers, and then I want to tear them down. Burn out the bastards and leave nothing but destruction in your wake.”
As Bruno nodded, Shane thought of Mia, knowing on an instinctive level she wouldn’t approve of his plan. Feeling a shred of something he wished he could ignore and didn’t want to label as compassion, he added, “Try not to harm any innocents. Clear out the whores and the low-level addicts if you can. I want to harm his profits and him personally, but without a lot of collateral damage.”
If Bruno was surprised by the caveat of mercy, he didn’t show it. Without even a blink, he nodded. “Yes, boss.”
***
Mia’s nose wrinkled at the acrid smell of smoke that accompanied Shane’s entrance into his rooms. In the past three days, she and Clovis had transferred from the guestroom to his suite. She’d been mildly surprised to find a landline plugged in and working, but hadn’t attempted to make any calls yet. She half-believed he was having her watched to test her, but she was also afraid to call anyone.
Aldo must know all of her friends and would probably be keeping tabs on them to find her. It would be fruitless to flee Shane only to land in Aldo’s hands instead. Forcing herself to be honest, she had to admit she wasn’t sure she wanted to plot her great escape just yet. Things were strange and fragile with Shane, and she wasn’t ready to upset that fragile balance yet.
Her state of almost-contentment with captivity worried her, but not as much as being at Aldo’s mercy or incurring Shane’s wrath. For now, she had to ride the current and at least pretend to be cooperating. Or tell herself that was what she was doing to be able to meet her own eyes in the mirror each day when she brushed her teeth.
Pushing aside that uncomfortably sarcastic thought, Mia focused on Shane as he closed the door. His face was smudged with gray and black where sweat didn’t gleam. His hair was tousled, and he stank like smoke. She wasn’t even aware of standing up to approach him until she already had her hand on his arm. “What happened?”
“A fire.”
Mia rolled her eyes as she helped him take off the leather jacket. “I figured out that part for myself.”
He laughed, though it held a tired note. “Peretti has fired the opening shot, my sweet.”
She frowned, not even aware she was unbuttoning his shirt until her fingers touched the smooth expanse of his chest. His dusting of dark hair tickled her fingers as she worked her way down the buttons. “What did he do?”
“Burned up about a million dollars worth of…merchandise.” Shane seemed bemused that she was undressing him.
Since she was a little bewildered by the decision herself, Mia pretended like it wasn’t anything unusual for her to assist him. He looked exhausted and filthy. Who wouldn’t appreciate a hand? It didn’t mean anything. And if he thought it meant something, that could only work in her favor.
Even though it didn’t mean anything. She reminded herself of that as she pulled the shirt from his waistband and pushed it off his shoulders. Their gazes met
for a minute, and heat blazed in his eyes, starting to drown out the tiredness. Biting her lip, she took a step back. “I’ll run you a bath.”
It was only when she had started filling the tub and added a generous dollop of scented oil from a silver bottle that she wondered why she had chosen a bath. A shower would have been faster.
He was suddenly behind her, the heat of his bare skin burning through her T-shirt and pants. Mia closed her eyes as he thrust the hard length of his erection against the curve of her buttocks. She shouldn’t be surprised. Her actions had led him to think she was planning something more than helping him clean up.
And wasn’t she? Mia couldn’t refute it, much as she might want to pretend she hadn’t been thinking about this outcome when she’d started undressing him or turning on the hot water to fill the giant tub. The past three days had been one blissful stint of sex after another, and she was starting to think she was getting addicted to Shane.
He cupped her breasts, his palms leaving sooty marks on the pale pink cotton. “Join me?”
She couldn’t tell if it was an invitation or a command, but she didn’t decline. She didn’t want to refuse. Nodding her head, she stepped to the side so he could sink into the water, both relieved and disappointed as most of his body disappeared from view. Her hands trembled as she peeled off her T-shirt and wiggled out of the pants, taking her panties at the same time.
His gaze was hot with need as she unfastened her bra and dropped it with the other clothes on the shining black tile, shot through with lines of gold. “I’ve been thinking about this for hours.”
With a little smile, she stepped into the tub, deliberately staying out of easy reach as she reached for a natural sea sponge and a bottle of shower gel. “A bath?” Her tone was innocent, though the look she directed his way was anything but. He laughed, and the rasp underneath caused her to notice his voice was husky. From arousal or smoke inhalation? The dart of concern she experienced on his behalf was bewildering and disconcerting.
Shane: A Mafia Love Story: Dark Erotic Romance Page 11