by Lane Hart
Introduction
Passionate, dark, and dangerous.
A mobster’s daughter with big dreams, and a price on her head.
I know I can’t touch Madeline Bianco.
She’s a mafia princess, the only child of the mob’s ‘business manager.’
If something goes wrong, (father’s name) Bianco takes care of it.
It’s a dangerous life, and one that I can’t ever get involved in.
Everyone wanted more.
More money.
More drugs.
More business.
But I’m a SEAL, his head of security, and even though I’ve been out of the service for years, I can’t forget the promise I made to protect (Father’s name) Bianco’s daughter and keep her safe.
But after a tragic accident, Madeline is on a path of revenge.
Her life is in danger, even if she doesn’t know it.
It’s my job to make sure nothing happens to her.
I’m in love with Madeline Bianco… but everyone I love winds up dead.
If she’s going to survive, I’m going to have to take matters into my own hands.
I’ll risk everything and take on the mob myself.
All for her.
SEALed To Protect is a standalone dark mafia romance with NO cheating, NO cliffhanger, and a guaranteed happy ending!
Chapter One
Madeline
Chapter 1-Madeline:
I sat cramped and silent in the dark under the trap door. If I weren’t so terrified, I would’ve been paying attention to the patterns of my breathing which began to increase as time went by. What had just happened? Was this it for me? No designing? No Italy? No fame? Where was Blake? I really needed him just then.
I took a moment to calm myself as beads of sweat began to form at the center of my back, my neck and waist, and between and under my breasts. I felt my face going red, and every hair on my scalp was on edge.
It all happened so fast that I wasn’t sure what to think. If Blake had anything to do with the car explosion, then I was for sure done for by hiding under this trap door under his bed in the back building where he lived behind our house. I was for sure done for. I was convinced of this. What was happening out there in the world? Had it been days or weeks since I had been under this trap door? It certainly felt like it, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. I would stay here until Blake found me and then ask for his protection. I needed his protection. I was dependent on his protection. Or, if he did it, should I leave and make a run for it at my first opportunity?
The longer I stayed under this trap door, the more I had space to think about what had happened up until this point. The night before, I had just told Blake, the object of all my desires, that I loved him. I was drunk from my friend’s party and he offered for me to stay with him in the back building where I would be safe. I would be safe from my father finding out I was drunk. And I could’ve sworn he kissed me. He must have because he sure was in a big hurry to kick me out the next day. I had to do the walk of shame the next morning and I hoped my mother wouldn’t see me from the kitchen.
It was also insult to injury that I had no reason for a walk of shame. He just looked angry and irritated and told me to leave.
I have never felt like this before about any other man in my short twenty-one years of life.
I remembered when he arrived at our home three years ago to start his first day as my father’s new security guard. I practically fainted from how gorgeous he looked. And he had looked up the staircase and winked and smiled at me. I tried so hard to get onto his radar that I’m pretty sure I embarrassed myself most of the time.
But I knew he liked me back. He couldn’t show it because he was always working with my father and keeping away from me at events and parties. He acted like he was Secret Service for the president. And in a sense, he was. My father was the mob king to other mob families. Other mob members came to him when they were in trouble and he would take care of it.
My parents and family tried to hide it from me, but I wasn’t stupid. I was well aware of what my father was and what he did. But it didn’t stop me from loving him and it didn’t stop him from loving me.
But back to Blake Grey and the car explosion.
I remembered he had left for the hospital earlier this evening right before we were about to leave for an event. He saw me standing at the front of the house and he just drove by me like I was nothing to him.
I remembered that he’d said something about another woman being sick in the hospital and he had to go see her! His best friend’s wife, to be fair.
But he left so quickly and in such a panicky flash that it stung me that he was so quick to act on behalf of another woman when he wouldn’t respond to my love for him.
So, I stood there and watched him leave, feeling like a torn lover, abandoned.
He abandoned my family. He left us with no security. My father was furious and terrified but forgave Blake and blessed him when he learned he was visiting a sick friend in the hospital.
And then I was with my family and ready to enjoy a night out with them. I had to leave the car for some reason that I couldn’t remember at the moment.
But I kept thinking, maybe if we had stalled longer and waited for Blake to come back or cancelled the evening. Or maybe if whatever reason I exited the car was the same reason my family should’ve exited the car? We would all still be in the house and my parents would still be okay.
The explosion! I didn’t even know if I had a family anymore. And where was Blake? I am an orphaned, scorned lover. It’s all over for me. I began to cry, not caring that my makeup would run. It probably had evaporated from my face by this point.
There was the sound of footsteps above me. I stopped crying immediately and drew in a deep breath. Was that Blake? It had to be Blake. I heard violent movements above me and then the trap door flew open. I covered my eyes and felt a relief of cool air around me.
I uncovered my eyes and saw him towering over me, those blue eyes just glowing at me in the soft lighting of the bedroom. He put his hand out to help me get out.
I was speechless as I sat on the bed, gushing out tears and barely able to find the words to say. I didn’t even know where to start. Blake had gotten me a glass of water and sat by my side, almost afraid to touch me.
“You left me, you left us.” It was all I could get out. I watched through tear-filled eyes as Blake turned away and painfully nodded his head.
“I’m sorry,” he practically whispered. I rolled my eyes and got up to start pacing the floor. “Madeline! I am really sorry,” he said, not loudly, but just enough to make his point to me that he meant it.
I felt more hot tears coming and waved my free had to change the subject. “What is happening out there?” I watched as he tried to find the best words to say to me. “There are a lot of police and the car is destroyed,” he said straight-faced.
“And how did you know to find me here?” I asked as I tried to put the fear of what happened to my family out of my mind for the moment.
“I looked at the security cameras and saw you got out of the car. I looked after they told me there was one less body in the car. And that’s how I knew to find you here,” he said while getting up to come hold me.
I let him hold me as I struggled to take a drink of water. It was hard to taste the water through my tears.
At this point, I didn’t really want to hear Blake say that he loved me back. Reality was hitting me, and I knew that my safety was at risk and I knew that all that mattered was my protection. I would revisit the ‘I love you’ matter later once I knew Blake was in the clear for the bombing and I had his protection.
I continued to let him hold me close as I needed it in this very moment. I was still fuming in anger at him. I am Italian, after all, and the passion was still boiling in my blood with every passing second. If only there were a table to flip at him. That would make my point to him. My arms felt too weak at the moment from shivering wi
th fear in a fetal position under the trap door for so long. I was starting to feel a bit dizzy, and I suddenly pushed away from Blake and went back to sit down on the bed. He looked at me worriedly, and maybe part of that was because he was probably a number-one suspect at the moment. He should be scared for his own life.
I should be more scared for my own life. Someone had tried to kill me too!
“What are you thinking about?” I asked him after a few moments of silence had passed. He didn’t say anything but shook his head as if trying to wake up.
“A lot of things. Too much has happened too quickly today,” he said this with muscles now peering out through his white V-neck T-shirt. I glanced at his chest and arms and it made me forget for just a second.
He made another movement that took away the smoldering appeal he’d just shown me, and then I was back to sad, angry, and confused.
“How’s your friend in the hospital?” I asked, not because I was interested. I just wanted him to tell me that she was so sick that it would somehow justify his leaving and putting my family’s safety at risk. His job was security to the Bianco family, to us.
Blake looked like his heart had skipped several beats and he struggled to say anything. “Let’s not talk about that now,” he said and put his hands behind his head. This action caused part of his shirt to rise from his jeans and I got a small glimpse of his glorious six-pack. I had to look away.
“Well, she was sick enough for you to have good enough reason to leave us for dead.” I said this without filtering myself first, and I regretted it. I carefully turned my gaze toward Blake for his reaction.
He just looked at me and said, “You’re hurt and scared, Madeline. I understand your anger.” We both looked away from each other.
Without saying another word, Blake disappeared from the bedroom for a minute. I didn’t know where he went, but I suddenly felt like cement and remained seated on the bed. I tried to drink more water, but it was beyond room temperature and I put the glass on the nightstand.
The warm water taste stayed on my tongue, giving me an icky feeling in my stomach. I needed something else. Something people drink when they’re upset.
Alcohol! This situation called for alcohol. The thought stayed in my mind until Blake returned to the room.
It was as if he’d read my mind and had two wine glasses and a bottle of red. I was still angry with him, but at least he was giving me something I needed, though not the promise of his protection for me or I love you.
It took me two glasses to at least start feeling calm and rational. At least rational enough by Italian standards. I had to be careful that I didn’t drink too much. I already had a tension headache forming. I asked Blake to get me more water and aspirin, which he did obediently. I could sense he was feeling overwhelmed with guilt. He looked like his mind was racing.
The more time that passed by, I watched Blake’s every move. He was very quick to get me something if I asked for it, and he was quiet. He usually was quiet, but this was a different kind of quiet. This was the quiet of a guilt-ridden man.
Was he actually guilty? Was what I had put as a thought at the back of my mind since the explosion happened true? Was Blake actually responsible for the explosion? Had he plotted the whole best friend’s wife calling and leaving? Had he planned the explosion? Had he killed my family?
I suddenly began to shiver with a feeling of creepiness and fear. I had just told this man I loved him, and he had been plotting to kill me and my family. This wasn’t right at all. I couldn’t even look at him anymore.
I looked down at the floor at my newly-pedicured toes. The red began to look like the color of blood. I just couldn’t bear it. My jeans began to feel warm and tight around me and I began to sweat again.
“What’s wrong?” Blake looked and sounded concerned. I could feel vomit traveling up my throat and I said I needed to take a shower. He nodded his head and I quickly ran to the bathroom and locked the door.
I still felt the vomit coming up. I turned the shower head on and puked into the toilet, which had the cover and the seat up. Men!
Disgusted, I flushed the toilet and stripped down, letting my skin breathe. I got into the shower.
I let the water run over the top of my head and all the way down to my toes. It felt good, but I couldn’t enjoy it as I would like to. I was standing in the shower of the man who’d killed my family.
Was I out of my mind? I’d told him I loved him! Was I the crazy one?
No. That couldn’t be possible. I was an innocent bystander and a victim. I began to feel a combination of sadness and anger. It was so complicated, and I never thought that I would feel something so complex in my life.
I stood in the shower for a long time just lathering all over myself and my face. I used the few products that Blake had in his shower. He had worked for my father, so technically, I wasn’t really using a killer’s products, but the products were bought and paid for by my father. That was a simple justification.
Chapter Two
Blake
I lay back on my bed for a long time as I waited for Madeline to get out of the shower. She had been in there a long time, and I began to wonder if I should check on her. And I knew this was an inappropriate thought to have, but was she waiting for me to come join her in there? I felt pretty disgusting even thinking that, even if it was just in my own mind.
The past several hours replayed in my head. My emotions were still surfacing. I remembered the night before with Madeline when she had leaned in and told me she loved me in a sweet whisper.
A drunken whisper, but it was sweet nonetheless. And then I kissed her. Why had I done that? I knew I was just asking for trouble there.
Here was a girl, the daughter of my boss, all drunk and wanting to love me. And I knew she liked me from the very first day I started working for the Biancos. I had to work very hard to avoid her. Mr. Bianco was protective of his daughter.
Madeline was also in college and young. She was gorgeous and twenty-one, and she’d brought home a guy or two that her father said was a nice boy, but I could tell he hated them.
I did like Madeline, which tortured me when she flaunted and flirted herself around me. I enjoyed it way too much. I knew I was a much better fit for her than those she brought home to meet her parents.
And then I started to remember everything that happened up until I got an emergency phone call from the head of security for the Bianco estate. I was at the hospital, trying to call the widow of my best friend from school and the Navy SEALs. I couldn’t get her on the phone and she wasn’t even in the hospital.
Then I knew I had fallen into a trap. It was at that moment that I got the call. I was told there had been a vehicle explosion in front of the Bianco estate.
My heart sank low, all the way past my ass. Not only had I fallen for a trap, but I had put my boss and his family in danger. I knew it was odd that out of the blue, my best friend’s widow was trying to contact me because she was in the hospital.
I also knew why I went. I went because I was full of guilt because when were we in the SEALs together, my best friend and my whole team had died on a mission. I was the sole survivor and I was given an honorable discharge. I had decided to leave the SEALs. I couldn’t bear it, and I’d only joined because I wanted to avoid a life of drugs and crime.
My best friend from school was joining because his father had been a SEAL. It was a generational tradition and it sounded like the right thing for me to do to flee my empty life and the fact that both of my parents were dead.
Eight years I gave to the SEALs. I traveled to distant places, saw things that will live in my head forever, and I built a skillset for myself. I had nothing, and still, I felt empty and regretful for letting my best friend die and widowing his wife. I just know I could’ve done something to save him.
When I left, I took a job with the Biancos as their security. There was no emotional attachment to the job, and I was given a comfortable home to live in on the property
and a car as a gift from Mr. Bianco. It was perfect for me.
Madeline was my trouble and my pleasure at the same time. It had only been a fantasy in my head, and then it became too real when she told me she loved me. It must’ve been the combination of feeling I needed head space from Madeline and the rising guilt of my best friend’s death and his sick widow in the hospital.
I remembered feeling flustered and overwhelmed, then before I knew it, I was in my car, driving away from the Bianco property and racing down the highway to the hospital I heard she was in. It was pretty far and nowhere near where she actually lived. That should’ve been my first clue.
I had called Mr. Bianco. He sounded angry on the phone. I told him what happened and where I was going. He calmed down and said, “Bless you, Son,” and then hung up. Little did I know that those would be his very last words to me.
I also remembered seeing Madeline standing in front of the house. She looked pretty and all dressed up for the evening. I can’t even remember where they were supposed to be going tonight.
But I could see the hurt in her eyes as I knew she remembered telling me that she loved me and that I had kissed her and showed her kindness. I know that I overreacted when I kicked her out the next morning. I couldn’t take that back now.
I had to come down from all the police swarming me, identifying me, asking about my whereabouts at the time of the explosion, and the one thing I thought of during it all was Madeline. She was dead. And when they told me about the number of bodies found in the car, I told them I had to double-check the security cameras.
I had some inclination that Madeline had to still be alive, especially after I had told her about the trap door under my bed in the back building. Why hadn’t the police searched there yet?
Once I saw the footage of her getting out of the car moments before it exploded, it confirmed for me that she was under the trap door and she was alive. I then went back to the police and told them that I knew exactly where Madeline Bianco was and that she was under my full protection.