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 her 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.
“That too.” Shane reached for her, clamping a hand around her wrist to pull her toward him. “Come here, babe.”
Without argument, she sat on his lap, keeping her folds well away from the protruding cock with two intentions. The first was to ensure he had a chance to clean up from his ordeal, and the second was to tease both of them. Just a few days ago, she never would have imagined being so relaxed around him that she could even think about teasing him.
With a small shake of her head from the wonder of the situation, she dipped the sponge in the water before lathering it generously with the body wash. The aroma of pine and sandalwood tickled her nose, and she recognized Shane’s scent. With slow strokes, she began cleaning his chest and arms.
Shane groaned when she trailed the sponge across his nipple, teasing the tight little bud with the slight roughness of the sponge. He tried to clutch her hair when she bent her head to trail her tongue around his nipple, but she darted away with a small rake of her tongue across the taut flesh.
Mia reached for a washcloth before gently wiping his face. Then she slid off his lap and patted the second step. “Sit here.”
Still looking amused, and perhaps a little surprised, Shane shifted down a step without protest. She changed positions to sit behind him, angling his head forward so she could scoop water over his hair. When his black locks were sodden, she squeezed shampoo onto his head and began massaging it into his hair.
He moaned each time she stroked firmly. “You’re going to kill me, Mia.”
She grinned. “No one ever died from having their hair washed.”
“It’s the pleasure of it.” He allowed her to tip his head back so she could start rinsing away the suds. The strong column of his throat arched in an expanse of vulnerability as he stretched backward. “No one’s ever washed my hair before.”
“Surely your mom.” She cupped water and poured it over his head a palm’s worth at a time, using the washcloth to shield his eyes. Mia didn’t want to probe too closely about why she was feeling so protective toward the man between her thighs.
He murmured a sound of agreement, his eyes closed with what appeared to be pure contentment. “Probably, but I don’t remember that far back.”
Even after the last of the shampoo was gone, Mia stroked her fingers through his slick strands for a long moment
. He seemed to enjoy the soothing touch, and she couldn’t deny it was pleasant for her too.
And arousing. Her nipples had crinkled so hard they were tight buds of almost-pain, and she was noticeably slick between her legs even in the water. A glance downward confirmed he was in much the same state.
Feeling a bit daring and on the edge of bossy, she gently lifted one of his eyelids. “Come back to the top step so I can finish washing you.”
He looked intrigued as he complied, bracing his hands on the floor outside the sunken tub and stretching out his legs. Mia slipped between them, giggling when his cock bobbed to the top of the waterline as though trying to nestle between her breasts.
“Sorry, honey, but he has a mind of his own.”
Mia ignored the impudent member as she stroked the sponge down his stomach and legs, spending more time than necessary on his toes and the backs of his knees—especially when she discovered that made him grunt with a suppressed laugh. So, the big, bad mobster was ticklish behind the knees? She filed that information away for future use as she finally turned her attention to the neglected part of him still threatening to pop out of the water if he got any harder.
Squeezing a dollop of shower gel on her palm, she met his gaze as she brought her hand to his erection. Shane’s lips had skinned back to reveal his teeth, and he made a small hissing sound as she enveloped his cock in her soap-slickened grasp.
Mia moved slowly up and down the shaft. Her skin tingled with the intimate contact, and her hand soon memorized every vein and ridge of the magnificent penis. As she squeezed the base before working her way back toward the tip, still applying pressure, Shane groaned.
“Fuck, baby girl, are you trying to kill me?”
MAFIA: Dark Romance Collection Page 11
