Captivated

by Jagger Cole

  It clicks into place that my father was ready to take Max out no matter what happened to me. It’s a horrible feeling, but somehow it also feels like closure. And it makes knowing what I have to do crystal clear.

  “My father has to pay for his crimes,” I hiss. I look at Max. His face is just as hardened, and he nods.

  “The girls are a step too far,” he grunts. “Even for me.”

  “I want him to go down,” I mutter coldly. “Family is family, but after this?” I shake my head. “No, I’m done. I’ve known what he is my whole life. But I’m not going to ignore it and be a passive enabler of his crimes anymore.” My jaw clenches with conviction. I turn to Max. “So how do we take him down?”

  “Are you sure about this, Tessa? You can’t take this back…”

  “Good,” I hiss. “And yeah, I’m damn sure.”

  He smiles thinly. “Then I think I know exactly what to do.”

  11

  Max

  “Gee, Max, you didn’t have to get all dolled up for me.”

  I won’t give Agent Takahashi the satisfaction of rolling my eyes at his dumb fucking joke. I know I look like hell. I haven’t sleep in like three days now. I’ve been shot at, I’ve almost died, and I’m barely hanging on. If it wasn’t for Tessa, I’m quite certain I’d be dead right now.

  It was a tough pill to swallow, calling him. Rats are rats, no matter how bad the bad guy is. But this is different. Dino came after what’s mine. He tried to and almost did hurt Tessa. I won’t stand for that. So fuck the criminal’s code. This isn’t “ratting.” It’s making damn sure the man who tried to take the one good thing in my life away from me goes the fuck down.

  Getting Mike’s number wasn’t hard. These FBI guys like to pretend they’re secret agents. But all it took was a call to the main New York office. I just asked for him by name and said I had information about the Dino De Luca case. And boom, instant patch-through.

  We’re on the second to top floor of a parking garage in Brooklyn. I’ve held many meetings here. It’s barely used, and the sightlines suck for snipers. Plus, it’s all cement, so you can hear if anyone has backup coming from three stories away. Thankfully, it seems Takahashi’s come alone. All he knows so far is that I’ve got information that could directly implicate Dino.

  “Remind me why I shouldn’t arrest you and just threaten this information out of you?” Mike asks. “I know you work for De Luca. I’m sure I could nail you on a few federal charges and throw the book at you unless you give up Dino.”

  “Seems like a lot of trouble when I was just going to give it to you, dumbass,” I grunt. Mike scowls, but he keeps his mouth shut. “Besides, you could take me and do it the hard way. And maybe you’d get some info out of me. But you’d never get the hard evidence, trust me. And you’d never get her damning testimony.”

  Takahashi scowls and turns to Tessa. He looked confused as hell when he showed up and found her standing next to me. It’s a testament to how badly the FBI has been handling the De Luca case that he doesn’t even recognize who she is.

  “Damning testimony, huh?” he mutters. “And you are?”

  She rolls her eyes and purses her lips. “I’m Tessa.”

  Mike frowns. But suddenly, realization spreads over his face. It’s like in the cartoons when the lightbulb blinks on above the guy’s head.

  “De Luca?” He sputters.

  “Yep.”

  Mike looks like he’s about to have a heart attack. “And you’ll go on record against your father?”

  Tessa doesn’t even blink. “I will.”

  “I don’t mean to scare you, Ms. De Luca, but if you do this…”

  “I’m aware of the dangers.”

  “You might need some serious protection.”

  “She’ll have it,” I growl. I step forward and my arm snakes around her waist. “And you’ll have the hard evidence from me.”

  Mike nods and rubs his hands together. “Alright, let’s do this. Let me make some calls, and we’ll head down to HQ and get you both on the record.”

  It takes four hours. Tessa gives them a treasure trove of information about her father and his operations. I can’t for the life of me understand why he’d have done what he did. First, it pissed Tessa off enough for her break the last “family” strand holding her back from being a star witness against him.

  But also, how could he have his men fire into the building like that when he knew she was in there? It enrages me that the man was willing to hurt or kill her to get to me. And I make a vow to myself. When Dino goes to jail, I’ll be calling in some favors with some tough motherfuckers I know on the inside.

  I tell the FBI guys where to find the hard drive I stole with the evidence of Dino’s pimping. It’s a drop in the bucket with the huge RICO case they’re building on him with Tessa’s testimony. But sex crimes will be a nice little cherry on top of his triple life sentencing. Prick.

  When we’re done, Mike lets me borrow an unmarked Bureau car. Tess asks me where we’re going, but I just grin.

  “Looking for buried treasure,” I say with a smile. I hold her hand as I drive us through the city. I double check the area near where I’ve stashed my haul from the Senator’s safe. But when I’m satisfied that none of Dino’s guys are prowling, we park. I lead her to the dumpster. Behind it, there’s a hole in the brick wall that I’ve covered with a sheet of scrap metal. But behind that is the satchel of documents from the safe.

  “So what is this?”

  I shrug. “I’m not sure.”

  Tessa laughs. “I thought it was treasure?”

  “It’s the haul from the job your father set me up for. I just grabbed what I could from the safe and dove out the window when I got ambushed.”

  She frowns and sidles up to me. She hugs me close, and her hand rests gently on my wound. I grin and lean down to kiss her soft lips.

  “I have no idea what’s in there, Tessa. It could be garbage or random documents for all I know. But we can’t not check, right?”

  She grins back. “Before we open it, what now for you? I mean now that this is all over?”

  I shrug. “First things first, I think I need a new boss. Not sure I can get a reference from my last one though.” She giggles and hugs me close. “And you?”

  “I’m going to stay at school and finish,” she shrugs. “It’s what I’ve always wanted, and it feels even more important now to see it through. Although I’m guessing I’m going to need some loans now.”

  “You know,” I grunt. “I was thinking.”

  “About?”

  “Well, if you need someone to help with school…”

  Tessa giggles. “Oh are you a doctor, Mr. Ryan?”

  “That’s Doctor Ryan to you,” I chuckle. “And hell no, I’m not. But I’ve got some anatomy you could study if you need to brush up?”

  Tessa’s face reddens, and she smiles shyly. “You’re bad.”

  “I think we’ve made that pretty clear.”

  “Yeah, but I like you bad. But,” she sighs. “I think you might be a bad influence.”

  I laugh deeply. “I know I am.” My eyes hold hers, and I feel an energy inside of me at what I’m going to say next. “You know what I think?”

  “What?”

  “I think I might be in love with you, Tessa.”

  With a blush her lips twist in her teeth. “You think?” she whispers shyly.

  “Nah,” I grin. “I fucking know I am. With every damn part of me. Tessa, I never saw you coming. But I’m never gonna watch you leave. That I know in my heart.” I lean down and kiss her softly. My arms circle her, and I pull her close against me.

  “I think I love you too,” she whispers.

  “You think, huh?” I grin. “I can work with think.”

  “And if it’s more than a think?”

  “As in?”

  She sucks her lip between her teeth again. Her eyes hold mine. “As in I know I love you, Max.”

  “Well that I can definitely
work with,” I growl. I scoop her into me, and I kiss her deeply. I keep kissing her for God knows how long before we finally pull apart. “Should we open this thing? It’s probably just tax documents, but the suspense is killing me.”

  She grins. “Why not. Roll the dice, right?”

  “Exactly.” I pull away the dumpster and kick away the metal sheet. I kneel down, reach into the hiding spot and pull out the leather satchel. I look up at Tessa. “Ready?”

  She nods eagerly. I unzip the satchel and pull out a wad of papers.

  “Damn,” I groan with a laugh. The first few pages are literally tax returns. The next one is a golf club membership application form. “Think we might have dug up garbage…”

  My words stop. My brain goes numb. Behind the golf course paperwork, there’s a stack of identical, official looking papers. And they’re all embossed with the seal of the Federal Reserve. Tessa’s breath catches.

  “What the hell is that?” she whispers breathlessly.

  “Bonds,” I choke. “They’re Federal Reserve Bonds.”

  There’s easily a couple hundred of them, and each one says “ten-thousand dollars” on it. I stand slowly and hand them to Tessa.

  “Are these real?!” she gasps.

  I nod thickly. “Yeah, I think they might be.”

  “These are like cash!” I nod again in disbelief. “Max, this is like five fucking million dollars!”

  “Guess you can skip looking for those loans now.”

  She stares at me. “No, Max, this is yours.”

  I laugh. “I stole it, Tessa. By definition, it isn’t. But I happen to know the guy I lifted it from is working with a rival crime family anyways. He’s just as crooked as your dad, so I’ve got no qualms in keeping this. So long as we’re both willing to call it ours.”

  She stares at me in disbelief. “You’re serious?”

  “Of course I’m serious, love,” I growl. I pull her into me tightly, and I kiss her savagely. “You’re mine, I’m yours, and this money is for our new life together.”

  Tessa kisses me passionately, and she hugs me so tight my wound burns. But screw it, I barely even feel it when I’ve got her in my arms.

  “I know you’ve got school,” I growl. “But you think I could steal you away somewhere first for a minute?”

  “You can steal me anywhere you like,” she whispers thickly. I press my lips to hers. I groan at the taste of her and feel of her tongue on mine.

  “It might be more than a fucking minute,” I growl.

  “That works. Just don’t forget the handcuffs.”

  I laugh and pull her close. “I love you, princess.”

  “I love you too, kidnapper.”

  Epilogue

  Tessa

  “Hey! I’m home!”

  I close the door to the beach house behind me. I turn to look out through the big open concept room and through big window on the ocean-side. God, I love this house so much. Almost as much as the man I share it with.

  I shriek when hands grab me from behind. My bag falls from my hands, books scatter the floor. I moan when he tugs my hands behind my back and pin them there. One of his slips around my front to cup my tits. He pinches a nipple through my dress, and I gasp.

  “Wait, I have money! You can have whatever you want!”

  “Oh, I’m damn well going to take what I want,” the man’s voice rasps into my ear. “Love.”

  I grin. His hands loosen for a moment, and I turn in his arms. I look up into Max’s dark, smoldering eyes and smile.

  “Welcome home,” he growls.

  “Hi yourself,” I giggle. I kiss him slowly. “Now, where were we?”

  “I was about to pin you to the couch and have my fucking way with you.”

  I moan. “Let’s get back to that.”

  LA is home now. Though the entire De Luca crime family is scattered or behind bars along with my father, we still moved out of New York. I’m still Dino’s daughter, and Max still has his past there. It just seemed like a good time to make changes. So, we moved here, to Los Angeles.

  The money from Max’s last heist bought us this beach house, and then some. I’m at UCLA Medical School now. Max is actually back at school himself, too. He never went to college, but now he’s getting his degree in criminology.

  He made quite the impression with the FBI, and especially with Mike Takahashi. Mike turned out to be a pretty good guy. He’s the new head of the mob task force, and he wants Max as his second in command due to his skills and experience. It hinges on getting his degree, and on passing the FBI training. But I don’t think Max is going to have any trouble being tough and shooting things.

  I moan as he grabs me up and strides across the room. We can be tender in our lovemaking too. But I know both of us love the thrill of being rough and wild. He throws me down on the couch on my knees. I moan and grip the back of it. I tremble with anticipation.

  Max yanks my dress up over my ass. He groans at my thong and give my ass a spank. I moan and push back, and he snarls darkly.

  “Well, well,” he growls. “What do we have here? Bad girl wearing naughty panties? You know what that does to a bad man like me? Tempting me with that pretty little pussy barely covered like this?”

  I gasp when he roughly yanks the thong to the side. I feel the warm air of the room on my dripping pussy. I’ve been wet for him all day. But his attack as I walked in has me soaking.

  “Tsk tsk, naughty girl,” he snarls. “Look whose little cunt is dripping wet for me. Do you get all hot and bothered for every man that breaks in looking to take what he wants?”

  I moan. “Only you.”

  “Good girl,” he hisses in my ear. I hear his belt hit the ground. I groan when I feel his bare, thick cock head against my ass. I’ll take slow teasing another day. Right now, I need him inside of me, desperately. And Max knows me well enough to know that.

  “Spread your legs,” he growls menacingly. I tremble and do as he says. God, he gets me so fucking wet. He uses his knee to spread me even more open. Then I feel his cock slide over my lips.

  “Max!”

  “Take my cock, bad girl,” he growls. He drives half of his size inside of me. I moan in pleasure as he stretches me so good. I push back and grip the couch. Max’s hands grip my hips, and he buries the rest of his big dick in my willing pussy.

  He snarls and pulls back. Then he sinks every inch into me again. We move fast and hard. His hips slap against me. His hand spanks my ass as I beg for more. One hand grips a handful of my hair, and I go wild. I moan for him, and I can already feel my orgasm approaching.

  Max pounds into me like an animal. Right now, it’s exactly what I’ve been craving all day. He growls and plunges deep. He tugs my hair and spanks my ass. His hand slides around to roughly shove my dress up and pinch my nipples. His teeth rake down the back of my neck.

  “Max! I’m so close!”

  “Come for me, Tessa,” he snarls. “Come so good for me, my love.”

  The mix of tender words and rough fucking is more than I can take. I scream, and the orgasm explodes in me. Powerful moans are torn from my throat. My pussy clenches around him and my body trembles with pleasure. Max grunts, and I suddenly feel him coming with me. His hot cum spills into me deep against my womb. He slows, pushing in and out of me gently before he pulls out. His cum drips down my thighs, and I love how dirty and sexy it makes me feel.

  I turn, and he pulls me into his arms lovingly. We can be rough, but there’s always tenderness afterwards.

  “I needed that so bad,” I giggle.

  He grins. “Same.”

  He kisses me gently, and I kiss him back. He stands with me in his arms and carries me out onto our private balcony over the ocean. We lose the rest of our clothes and sink into a deck chair. Max pulls a blanket over us. I sit there naked and perfect in his arms, watching the sun set.

  “Not bad, thief,” I giggle.

  “Thanks, princess,” he chuckles.

  I turn and kiss him s
lowly. “I love you so much, Max.”

  “I love you so much too, baby,” he whispers. “Now and forever. Because I’m never ever letting you go.”

  “Finders keepers?”

  “Exactly.”

  Our lips come together again. This time, we don’t stop until long after the sun has set.

  The End.

  Afterword

  Thank you for picking up this copy of Captivated; your support means a lot! As a thank you to my readers, I’ve written a quick and dirty follow-up short to Max and Tessa’s story. This is not an epilogue or continuation to Captivated, just a steamy and fun “follow up” short story about these characters that takes place after the events of this book. You can grab it for free when you subscribe to my newsletter. Existing subscribers can find the download link at the bottom of any of my newsletters.

  Thanks for being awesome!

  -Jagger

  Sign up here! You’ll also receive the FREE extra hot billionaire romance book Mr. Big just for signing up.

  Also by Jagger Cole

  Standalones:

  Her Rough Mechanic

  Next Door Daddy

  All He Wants

  Everything He Needs

  Cherished

  Captivated

  Power Series:

  Tyrant

  Outlaw

  Warlord

  Oligarch

  Forever Always Duet:

  Forever His

  Always Hers

  Tuff Built Series:

  Big Deck

  Hard Screw

  About the Author

  A reader first and foremost, Jagger Cole cut his romance writing teeth penning various steamy fan-fiction stories years ago. After deciding to hang up his writing boots, Jagger worked in advertising pretending to be Don Draper. It worked enough to convince a woman way out of his league to marry him, though, which is a total win.