I was so much better off without him in my life.
He’d never tell me the truth anyway, and he’d try to spin the whole thing to make himself sound innocent. Hell, he’d probably blame me for snooping.
So instead of calling him, I decided to text him that I hadn’t found the necklace. Whatever he was up to, I wanted no part of it.
Chapter 2
I QUICKENED MY STEPS to get to my apartment as soon as possible.
After what I’d found out, I didn’t want to stay at my sister’s place. I needed to clear my head somehow, but it was impossible not to think about my sister and the whole thing I’d discovered.
Just when I was about to reach my building, I paused.
Two men were lurking close by, and it was already very late and dark. Not too many other people were outside. This was usually a safe and calm neighborhood, but something about those men set me off.
They hadn’t been here before, or at least I hadn’t seen them, and they were looking around too much, as if they were waiting for someone.
Someone like me.
I ducked behind a thick tree trunk when one of the men looked in my direction. Maybe those men were undercover cops and they’d found me because my father had contacted me.
But I highly doubted it. My father was as slippery as a snake when he wanted to be, and I didn’t think the cops would’ve just now found out about me if they were after him.
But then who were they?
There was a tiny chance I was just being paranoid, and those men weren’t a threat to me. It was possible they were waiting for some friends if they knew someone from this area, no matter how weird that sounded.
Just because they wore black jackets and seemed to stick to the shadows while glancing toward my building didn’t mean they were after me. Our town wasn’t crime-free, so maybe one of the gangs had extended their territory, and they were just making sure their business ran smoothly.
I wasn’t a part of their world, so I shouldn’t matter to them at all.
They weren’t here for me.
But no matter how much I tried to convince myself that this was all super innocent and I wasn’t in any danger, I couldn’t force myself to get from behind that tree and continue my way to my building.
Just because those men might not be after me specifically didn’t mean they couldn’t attack me.
I was still a woman who was walking home alone at night. Predators wouldn’t give a damn about who I was.
But would there really be two of them?
And sort of this obvious?
I ran my hand over my face.
After what I’d discovered, it was no wonder that I was all messed up and seeing things.
Except, there was also a tiny voice at the back of my mind telling me that something was terribly, terribly wrong and that I was in trouble.
My father was willing to marry my sister off to someone to get something.
But now my sister was gone, and his business deal or whatever it was would fall through.
Unless...
I licked my suddenly dry lips.
Me.
He still had me.
I was his daughter, and if he no longer had his favorite, that didn’t mean he couldn’t offer the same deal to me. But even though he rarely paid attention to me, I doubted he believed I’d even consider such a ridiculous proposal.
Would he try to force me into it somehow? He liked me less than my sister, so maybe he wouldn’t try to bribe me.
My life had just turned into a horror movie, except I didn’t know the script.
Hoping I was majorly overreacting and jumping to crazy conclusions, I decided to take a different route to my apartment. There was a broken window at the back that no one had fixed yet, and I could get in through it.
The trees would help shield me from view, and even if my neighbors saw me, I’d find a way to explain what I was doing.
Maybe I could say I’d forgotten or lost my keys.
I scurried through the darkness, keeping my head down. When I glanced up, I couldn’t see anyone watching me, so I headed around the building.
I pushed the window and it creaked, but I managed to open it. After picking up one of the bigger ornamental stones that surrounded the flowers, I set it on the ground under the window, stepped on it, and hauled myself up.
Luckily, it wasn’t too high, and I managed to get into the hallway, which was empty.
I quickly closed the window and rushed to my apartment. My pulse sped up as I got closer to the door, but no one was waiting for me there.
I burst into my apartment and immediately grabbed a large duffel bag.
Maybe I’d jumped to conclusions, and there was a reasonable explanation for everything, but I didn’t want to take any risks.
Staying at my apartment when I wasn’t sure what my father’s intentions truly were was dangerous, and I had to find some other place to stay.
Just for a few nights.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I jumped, my heart leaping into my throat. I hit myself on the edge of my small table and mumbled a curse under my breath.
It was a text from my father.
A shudder ran down my spine.
Forget about the necklace. I’d like to see you anyway. I missed you. We should catch up. How about tomorrow?
There was an address and time where he expected to meet me. I searched the address on my phone, and my eyebrows shot up when I saw the map.
He wanted to meet me at the outskirts of town in some small bar, just when the sun set. It was a business area, but I was sure that, at that time, most people would be gone since offices would be closed.
I didn’t think I was overreacting anymore. Something sketchy was going on.
I was about to pocket my phone, but then I placed it on the table instead. If my father was so damn rich he could get my sister anything she wanted, then maybe he could also somehow track my phone.
I wasn’t about to trust anything or anyone until I figured out what was going on.
At the moment, I had no clue how I was going to do that, but I’d come up with something. Now the only thing that mattered was putting some distance between my father and me and making sure he couldn’t easily find me.
It had been months since my sister’s death, so maybe my father had tried to find another way to close the deal with my sister’s potential husband, but it hadn’t worked.
And now he was desperate and was willing to settle for me too.
Always an afterthought.
That was what I’d always been to my father.
If I got away and he couldn’t find me to use me for his weird schemes, he’d have to figure something else out and leave me alone.
I grabbed all that I thought I might need and stuffed it in my duffel bag, and then I hurried back to the window I’d used to sneak in.
After making sure no one was in sight, I threw the bag out first and then jumped out.
Collecting the bag, I broke into a run.
I kept to the shadows, and when I glanced back toward my building, I could still see those shady men close by.
Watching and waiting.
Well, they could do that all night long for all I cared.
I was out of here.
But where would I stay?
It had to be somewhere my father wouldn’t look, so it couldn’t be a friend or anyone I knew.
A hotel?
No.
It sounded like a too-easy way to find me.
A motel, maybe.
One on the other side of town.
There was no reason for my father to look for me all the way there. Besides, that motel only accepted cash and didn’t give a damn about who you were, so most people used it as a place where they could have sex with their lovers or prostitutes.
I’d usually never go anywhere near it, but now I didn’t have a choice. It was the best hiding place, and if I stayed in my room, I’d be safe and I’d figure out what to do ne
xt.
My mind was like mush, and I was still having trouble believing what was happening.
I kept hoping I’d wake up from this nightmare.
But the nightmare was real.
Chapter 3
SLEEP WOULDN’T COME no matter how hard I tried, and it had nothing to do with the loud moaning that was coming from the room next to mine.
Of course, the more I tried, the less likely it was that I’d fall asleep.
But I couldn’t stop going over everything that had happened in my mind again and again. I kept thinking about my parents and my sister.
A small part of me even wondered if my sister’s car crash had been a real accident or not. But I supposed my father would’ve never rested if there was someone out there who’d hurt his favorite daughter.
Accidents happened.
Weird things happened.
Finding out that your father was deep into crime also happened. Well, probably not so often.
I let out a groan.
But maybe none of it should’ve come as a surprise to me.
I closed my eyes, letting my mind take me some ten years into the past.
I was huddled in the corner of my room as my parents screamed at each other. All I wanted was for them to stop.
“What’s this? What is it doing here?” my mom shouted so loudly that it felt as if the whole house was shaking.
My curiosity won, and I padded over to the door of my room and cracked it open.
“Give it to me. You’ll hurt yourself,” my father said, extending his hand for the thing my mom tightly held in her hand.
A gun.
My mom snorted. “Really? I am going to hurt myself? What about our children? Did you even think about them before you brought this into our house? If our girls found it—”
“I was, and it’s perfectly safe. I need it to protect us.”
“No, you don’t. Protect us from what? Your friends?”
“What are you talking about?” My father had the most innocent expression on his face.
“Do you think I don’t know who you’re going around with? That I don’t know about that drug dealer?”
“What drug dealer? He’s a businessman.”
“What kind of business are we talking about? Would the cops want to hear about it too?” My mom tilted her head at him.
“Give me the gun. You’re being unreasonable.”
My mom let out a huff, but then her gaze fell on me. Her eyes widened in surprise and she quickly hid the gun behind her, but I still saw it as she handed it over to my father.
“Honey,” she said, her face turning into a smile as she made her way to me. “Would you like a snack?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded.
My father disappeared somewhere with the gun, and my mom took me to the kitchen.
I slipped out of the memory and stared at the ceiling.
There were many, many more situations that I’d repressed, but they’d been clear signs that it wasn’t just cheating that had been the problem in my parents’ relationship.
It had been so much more, and I’d refused to see it.
Or maybe, I’d been too young to comprehend it.
My sister had never talked about any of it either, even though she’d been old enough to understand what had been going on more than me.
But I still couldn’t understand why she’d kept it all from me. Maybe she’d known I’d judge her and freak out because of my rocky relationship with our father.
I wished I could ask her so many things.
A flurry of knocks on the door almost made me fall off the bed. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my jumping heart.
Someone must’ve gotten the wrong room.
I stayed as quiet as possible, waiting for the person outside to realize their mistake.
But they knocked again.
“Room service,” a female voice yelled.
“I didn’t order anything,” I shouted back.
The knocking came again.
I hopped to my feet. Maybe it was too noisy, and the woman just couldn’t hear me.
“I said I didn’t order—” I cracked the door open, and my words died on my tongue.
Two huge, armed men in black suits showed the door wide open, and I backed away, my pulse racing.
I was only wearing my black nightgown, and I had nothing within reach that I could use to defend myself or fight them.
Who were they?
What did they want?
“Please.” I put my hands up, but I doubted they’d gotten the wrong person.
They were here for me.
“I don’t know what you want or who you are, but maybe we can reach an agreement,” I stammered.
My back hit the wall, and the men grabbed me by the arms, dragging me to the door.
“No, wait! Where are you taking me?” I screamed and thrashed, but they were too strong, their grip like steel.
They carried me through the door like a doll.
Had my father hired them?
Were they working for him?
But then my gaze fell on the handsome man with short black hair and piercing eyes who was leaning on the hood of a black SUV.
He was wearing a black leather jack and dark gray jeans. There was something about the way he held himself that made me sure he was their boss.
Who the hell was he?
I screamed for help, but all I could see around me were more armed men.
“Please,” I tried again. “Let me go. Whatever my father’s paying you, I can offer you more.”
It was a lie, but I’d think about getting out of it later.
If they were open to negotiation, I’d come up with something. It would give me hope that this wasn’t over, and that my father wouldn’t win.
But the men ignored me and kept dragging me toward their boss, my bare feet scraping against the cold, wet pavement.
When their boss’ cold blue eyes landed on me, traveling all over my body, an icy smile curved his full lips.
I screamed as hard as possible in hopes that someone would hear me and call the cops.
Maybe I didn’t know who the man was, but I knew I should be terrified, especially when he shifted and I spotted a gun under his jacket.
Chapter 4
ISABELLA REDDING.
Now Isabella Leoni.
She was even prettier in person than in the photos her father had shown me.
Her hair was a rich brown and fell past her shoulders. Her face delicate, and her neck slender.
The nightgown she was wearing revealed her firm, high-perched breasts and long legs. The fire in her dark eyes couldn’t be extinguished, despite all the fear spiking in them.
She was like a wild animal, trying to get free, and she kept screaming and thrashing about.
I tightly gripped her chin, forcing her gaze to meet mine.
“Quiet, princess. You don’t want to get yourself in trouble.” I ran my finger over her full lips and she hissed.
So much fire.
I’d love to see her pretty little mouth around my cock, those wild eyes looking at me.
“Help!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, still trying to wiggle her way out.
“Tie her up, gag her, and cover her eyes.” I snapped my fingers.
We didn’t have much time, and we were out in the open.
The motel workers were on my payroll and wouldn’t even dream of calling the cops, but if we stayed here, there was a risk some clueless human would stumble upon us.
I wasn’t in the mood for complications tonight. It was already enough of an annoyance that I’d had to go collect what was mine myself.
Her father was incompetent at getting his house in order, but that wasn’t what I needed him for anyway.
The man could sweet-talk and influence almost anyone into doing anything, and he’d made friends in all the important places, especially because he didn’t have any obvious ties with any crime families.
It was the kind of connection that I needed to take full control of the area. I ruled the unground, but I wanted more.
I wanted all of it, and I had no doubt I was going to get it.
Redding didn’t even have a clue that our deal was more beneficial for me than for him. His greed blinded him from seeing the obvious and had prevented him from reading the fine print.
Isabella’s screams were muffled after she was gagged, her hands zip-tied behind her back, a blindfold over her eyes.
My cock hardened at the sight.
She was even hotter all tied up, and she was one of those things I intended to take too.
After all, she was my wife, even if she didn’t know it yet, and she belonged to me.
At least for as long as she could keep me entertained.
No woman could keep my interest for more than a few hours, and she wasn’t going to be any different.
I wouldn’t have even agreed to marry her if my advisor hadn’t suggested that having a wife would help me keep the charade of a perfectly innocent businessman who had absolutely nothing to do with the grime and blood of the underground.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Before getting in the car, I glanced at Isabella and her wiggling tight body.
I’d struck just the perfect deal, with all the benefits included.
Chapter 5
I WANTED TO SCREAM, but I couldn’t because of a piece of cloth in my mouth.
I didn’t even know where I was since there was a blindfold over my eyes. The only thing I could do was focus on my labored breathing and the panicked ticks of my heart.
How was I going to get myself out of this mess?
This wasn’t my father’s doing.
Well, not directly, anyway.
I took a few deep breaths to try to calm my racing thoughts. Panicking wasn’t going to help me, but it was hard not to give in to it when I’d been kidnapped by a bunch of dangerous, armed men who could hurt me, kill me, or do who knew what kind of terrible things to me.
I didn’t want to think about my death.
Only His: A Dark Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance Page 2
