Loving Jared: A Mafia Romance Novella
Page 12
"You didn’t force her compliance? Rough her up a little?" Vince assumed.
"Not exactly."
Vince rubbed a hand over his face, flexing his tattooed fingers over his eyes. "Why exactly am I paying you?"
"I couldn’t do it, man. As soon I threatened her, she begged me not to hurt her. She said she has a little girl. You know how I feel about kids!"
It was almost laughable that Jared, who was the size of a bear, could be brought to his knees by small children and mothers. Both men were ex-bikers. After decimating their own club for betraying them by setting them up after a drug pick up went wrong, they'd moved onto greener pastures and created their own opportunities. They both still looked the part with large, ruthless physiques, tattoos and take-no-prisoner attitudes. Most of the guys on Vince’s payroll fell into a similar category. Except for the Accountant. That guy was beyond fucked up.
"Okay, fine. Where's the kid? Just threaten the little urchin. You don’t have to mean it, just shake mom up a little, get her compliance. I don’t care what you do, just do your fucking job."
"Apparently Lola’s dad has custody. Jenna lost the custody battle because he has shit tons of money and lied about her mental health in court. He even made it so she only gets supervised visits so she has to see him four times a month, the fucker," Jared growled, popping his knuckles.
Vince raised his eyebrows. "Did you have a nice cozy tea and chat with our little nurse who you’re supposed to be turning into an informant? Jesus man. So why didn’t you mess her up after you found out the kid wasn’t around?"
Jared stared at him in disgust, like he had no heart, which was probably true. "She’s still a mom," he said, like that explained everything.
Vince slammed his fist on the desk. "I own this fucking city and one little nurse thinks she can fuck up my plan? If we don’t get Enrico the time and place for the hit we’re going to miss our opportunity to send the fucking Ghosts a message," Vince said, an unholy light gleaming in his eyes. "I assume you have a file on her, with her complete schedule?"
Jared handed it over without another word. There would be no arguing with Vince, even if Jared liked the health nurse. There's no way she'd be getting her daughter back now, she was about to become collateral damage in a war she didn't even know about.
Vince flipped the file open and stopped cold, dark eyes on the contents. He picked up the picture in his long fingers and held it up taking in her sweet, pretty features and shoulder length red hair. Lifting his other hand he pointed at her, marking her with a finger tattooed with the word ‘hell’.
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Excerpt: Fear in Her Eyes
He didn't believe in telepathy or the unexplained. He thought if there wasn't an explanation for something, then that explanation just hadn't been discovered yet. The fact that he knew Addison Sterling was standing down the hall on the other side of a solid steel door from where he stood was simply heightened senses and intuition. He was in tune with this woman's every movement, every breath, every heartbeat. He imagined, if he closed his eyes he would know at any given moment where she stood in her apartment. Right now she was preparing to leave, like she did every morning at the same time. If she belonged to him, he would break her of that dangerous habit.
Lucky for her, she would never belong to him.
She stepped out of her door and turned gracefully on her ballet flats, her long white and blue pattered dress swishing around her legs. Her long, slim fingers unerringly found the lock on the door, where she inserted the key as she'd done a thousand times and turned it. Dropping the key into a small knit purse, which was strapped across her body, separating the lovely mounds of her breasts over the elasticized top of her summer dress. She bent her knees and reached to pick up the leather case containing her cello.
As he did every morning when he came down to her floor, he ruthlessly stopped himself from reaching out to snatch the case from her, the muscles under his shirt bunching in anger. The case was too big for her. She was too fragile. She loved it too much, far more than she loved anything else. He wanted to take it from her and destroy it. Which confused him. He didn't usually have impulse control issues.
She strode confidently toward the elevator, stopping only steps from where he stood, and reached for the button, her fingers so close to his stomach she nearly touched him. He planned it that way, imagined for a second what it would feel like if she did touch him. The elevator dinged, letting her know it had arrived. She waited for approximately three heartbeats and then stepped forward as the doors swished back. He stepped out in unison. As the doors closed, she turned to face them. He used the sound of the elevators closing to move swiftly around her.
Confident she was alone, she relaxed her stance, allowing her shoulders to soften. He stood so close to her back that if she'd leaned just a little she would've touched him. It was worth the risk for him to be able to reach out and touch the ends of her soft, wavy chestnut hair. To lean in close and smell the delicate tropical, flowery lotion she used on her skin after her morning shower. He inhaled deeply, savouring her scent, imagining her in the marble bathroom of her condo, naked, rubbing the hemp lotion over her curves in circular motions, as was her routine.
In his desperation to be near Addison, he must've gotten closer than he'd dared before, because she suddenly went rigid beneath the shadow of his body. Her face snapped to the side, her lips nearly brushing his where he'd bent into her neck. Her blank, dark eyes were wide with apprehension.
He stopped breathing. Not for fear of being caught. He was more than capable of taking down a dozen mercenaries, let alone one small blind woman. No, he needed to protect her. For some reason he cared for Addison Sterling, and if he got involved with her, he would hurt her, probably irreparably. The black part of his soul already called for him to reach out and grab her, to make her beg, to subjugate her, to hunt, hurt and humiliate her. Already, he couldn't leave her alone. He'd never experienced such driving need to possess a woman. At best he usually considered them unnecessary distractions that he usually avoided.
Somehow Addison was different.
"Is someone there?" she whispered, the sweet warmth of her breath rushing over him.
His cock answered her, though he stayed silent. His pupils dilated and he vibrated with the effort not to grab her, pin her to the wall of the elevator, tear her ugly dress away, force her onto her knees and enjoy the fear in her eyes while he took that beautiful mouth of hers.
The door dinged and Addison jumped, her head snapping forward once more. She visibly shook herself, pushing her shoulders back and forcing her confidence back on like a cloak of independence she wore whenever she left her apartment. "Stupid Addie," she said beneath her breath, before stepping off the elevator. He watched her like the predator he was as she shook open her white walking cane, smiled and cheerfully greeted the concierge. The elevator doors closed, cutting off his view of her. He wanted to go after her. To follow her and speak to her like a normal man would.
He couldn't. He was a savage through and through. He'd seen and done things normal men couldn't even imagine. That was why he was Tyson King's head of security. That was why he couldn't have Addison Sterling.
Unfortunately for her, he couldn't seem to let her go. Her lush curves, delicate beauty and helpless attempts at independence called to the predator in him like nothing else. He knew, eventually, he would answer that call.
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Also by Nikita Slater
If you enjoyed this book, check out some other works by #1 International Bestselling Author, Nikita Slater. More titles are always in progress, so check back often to see what's new!
Angels & Assassins Series
Book One – The Assassin’s Wife
The Queens Series
Book One – Scarred Queen
Book Two - Queen’s Move
Book Three - Born a Queen
Book Four - The Red Queen (Coming 2021)
Al
ejandro’s Prey (a novella)
Fire & Vice Series
Book One – Prisoner of Fortune
Book Two – Fight or Flight
Book Three – King’s Command
Book Four – Savage Vendetta
Book Five – Fear in Her Eyes
Book Six – Bound by Blood
Book Seven – In His Sights
Book Eight - Burning Beauty
Book Nine - Chasing Ecstasy (Coming soon!)
The Driven Hearts Series
Book One - Driven by Desire
Book Two - Thieving Hearts
Book Three - Capturing Victory
Novella - The Princess and Her Mercenary
The Sanctuary Series
Book One - Sanctuary’s Warlord
Book Two - Sanctuary on Fire
Book Three - The Last Sanctuary
Book Four - The Road to Wolfe (Coming soon!)
Standalone books
Because You're Mine
Mine to Keep (a novella)
Luna & Andres
Loving Vincent
Loving Jared
Stalked
After Dark
In collaboration with Jasmin Quinn
Collared: A Dark Captive Romance
Safeword: A Dark Romance
Chained: A Mafia Marriage Romance
Good Girl: A Captive BDSM Romance
Hostile Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance
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About the Author
Nikita Slater is the International Bestselling dark romance author of the Fire & Vice series, Angels & Assassins series, The Queens series and several standalone novels. Her favourite genre is mafia romance, the bloodier the better, though she loves to write about every subject under the sun. She lives on the beautiful Canadian prairies with her son and crazy awesome dog. She has an unholy affinity for books (especially erotic romance), wine, pets and anything chocolate. Despite some of the darker themes in her books (which are pure fun and fantasy), Nikita is a staunch feminist and advocate of equal rights for all races, genders and non-gender specific persons. When she isn't writing, dreaming about writing or talking about writing, she helps others discover a love of reading and writing through literacy and social work.