Owned by the Mafia Bad Boy (Books 1 - 4)

by Raven Dark

  “Not just yet.”

  When the hell had he moved? I hadn’t heard him get up from the bed. I spun in his arms. He stood, towering over me. I put my hands on his chest, meaning to push him away, a mixture of the familiar heat he evoked and the dislike for his family roiling in me. Knowing the kind of man he had to be, I didn’t want him touching me, even if I loved the feel of him.

  “Let me go.”

  He released me and sighed. His eye closed. With regret, or something else? “Tell me how I wronged you. Let me make it right.”

  The implication in his tone, that he’d wronged so many, wasn’t lost on me. I was just another in a long line.

  “Your family did the same thing they do to a lot of people, Mr. Davros. They ruined my father’s life, and by association, mine.”

  As soon as I said it, I regretted the words. If he didn’t know what he’d done to my family specifically, it meant he didn’t know my real identity. I didn’t know if the rumors about his family’s connection to the Gavinis was true, but if it was, he was linked to the people after us. It was dangerous for him to know who I was.

  If he picked up on anything critical, he gave no sign. Sympathy softened his eyes. “What did I do?” The softness of his tone, the real apology in it shocked me. He took my arm gently. “Tell me. I’ll fix it, angel.”

  The need to help in his voice made it difficult not to want to tell him, to trust him. No one trusts a Davros. My father’s words reverberated in my head. From everything I knew about his family, if I told him anything, he would only use it against me later. I shook my head and stepped out of his grasp.

  “It doesn’t matter. Just see the doctor and go. You’ve done enough.”

  I was being unfair and I knew it. In actuality, he hadn’t done anything. Not like his dad. Except, he deliberately hid who he was, knowing I wouldn’t want him if I knew. I reached for the doorknob to the triage room, meaning to get a doctor for him, but he grabbed my hand. When I spun, he shook his head.

  “This conversation isn’t over, Anika. You know who I am. It’s your turn.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He smiled too pleasantly. “All right. We’ll play that game. I’ll be back after your shift and we’ll talk.”

  “No, we won’t.” I put my hands on my hips, meeting him glare for glare.

  His mouth tightened and he took my chin between his thumb and finger, just firm enough to control. “Yes, we will.”

  God, I hated how my body responded to him, the way my nipples hardened at the promise of domination in his touch. I twisted away. “Forget it. You said you don’t want more than one night.”

  “I changed my mind. You’re in my system, girl. You’re right, I’m not supposed to want more. I can’t. It’s too dangerous. I, am too dangerous. But I can’t stop myself.”

  I tried to pull away, and he took my elbow. My skin flamed with need for him. The faint masculine smell of him again made my head dizzy. I’d never be able to smell Old Spice again without thinking of him.

  “I want more of you. All of you, and I always, always, get what I want. Anika.”

  The dark, knowing way he said my name, laced with the awareness it wasn’t my real one, sent a rush through me, a mix of thrill and fear. The thrill made no sense, but it was there, and it scared me.

  “Get off me, Davros.”

  He locked eyes with me a moment longer, and then he let go, holding up his hand with an innocence that wouldn’t have fooled anyone. He knew I would have made a scene and drawn attention.

  “Let me get you a doctor to look at that cut. Then I want you gone.”

  The smirk that twisted his mouth cooled my blood. When he spoke, his voice was soft, and I didn’t think I imagined the menace in it. “That won’t be necessary. We’ll talk later, angel.”

  Then he jerked open the door and left.

  Knees weak, head spinning with too many emotions to count, I went into the hall and glared at his giant, retreating back until the doors to the hospital opened and he was gone.

  Shaking, I closed my eyes, leaning against the triage room door. Slowly, it hit me why I’d felt a thrill at him knowing my name was fake. If he knew, then he would inevitably find out who I really was. And if he wanted me that bad, he would find a way to have me, regardless of my wishes. Damn it, I wanted to be his. I wanted it so bad it scared me almost as much as he did.

  Being with a Davros could only come with a broken heart and shattered dreams. Everyone knew that. So why didn’t my heart listen?

  “I take it the conversation with Miss Anika didn’t go well, sir?” David opened the door to the limo as I approached.

  I sighed, letting the cool evening air wash away the heat that still buzzed in my veins from being near Anika. I couldn’t figure out if I liked that she hated me now that she knew who I was, or not. On one hand, the idea of claiming her, wiping away that hatred with a vicious fucking in my bed awakened a primal hunger in me and made my dick hard as steel. On the other hand, it pissed me off. Once again, being my father’s son had gotten in the way. Except, had it? It was just as possible I’d done something as cruel to her as he would have done. Only, the sour twisting in my gut said it was my dad’s actions that had hurt her, not mine. He’d made yet another person’s life hell, and I was going to have to fix it.

  “No, it didn’t, but I’ll make it right.” I climbed into the limo, and when David got into the driver’s seat, he turned and handed me a tablet.

  “You need to see this, sir.”

  I raised a brow at him, taking the device.

  “It’s the information you wanted on her. It took a lot of digging, they covered their tracks well. But you were right. Anika isn’t her real name, and she is in trouble. Maybe more than you thought.”

  My heartbeat kicked up. I glanced at the screen. It was a file on Anika, but with a different name. David told me what I was seeing anyway.

  “Her real name is Danielle Montrose, sir. Do you recognize the name?”

  “No. Should I?”

  He nodded. “Lance Montrose is her father. Your father was his best friend once. Until he stole one of Montrose’s inventions and tricked him out of his gaming company.”

  I closed my eyes. “Fuck. That’s why she hates me. Her father was set for life once, and my father ruined everything. Jesus.”

  “It’s strange.”

  “What is?”

  “There’s no record of her before the age of two. No birth, nothing. The first record of her shows up in Atlanta, with Montrose, and she has pneumonia, with severe dehydration. She nearly died.”

  “What?”

  “There’s more, sir.”

  “Go on.”

  “When the medical bills piled up, Montrose must have gone to Gavini for help. The bills were suddenly wiped out. Dominic Gavini has been looking for them since.”

  “Shit. How much are they into him for?”

  “Fifty grand. And they’re struggling again. I found where they live. It’s a farm just outside of NYC. They’re losing it. Foreclosure is this Saturday.”

  “That’s less than a week.” I ran a hand through my hair, shaking my head at my father’s underhandedness. Protectiveness for Anika roared through me, and I quickly shut it down. That sort of emotion made men weak, caused them to act on instinct instead of sense. I glanced at the tablet, flicking through the files David had brought up, including the one on the farm.

  David waited a moment, letting me take it all in.

  “What are you going to do, sir?” He knew me well enough to know the answer, he just needed to know what I required of him.

  “I’m going to help her the only way I can.”

  “You can’t help her without risk to both of you, you know that.”

  “I know.” I held up the tablet. “That farm is my advantage.”

  “You’re falling for her, sir.”

  “Maybe. But that has its advantages, too.” I let out a long breath, a conflicting mi
x of grim triumph and regret tightening my fist. “I have her where I want her, David. She’s desperate, and desperate woman are easy to control. Everything, and everyone, can be bought for the right price. And I just found hers.”

  He nodded, completely deadpan. It was what it was. “Where to, then, sir?”

  “The bank, first.”

  “They’re closed.”

  “Not to me, they aren’t.”

  “Of course, sir.” He started the car and pulled into traffic.

  I stared out the window without seeing the city flash passed us. This was what I both loved and hated about what I was. Who I was. Nothing was off limits to me. Not banks, not properties, and not people.

  Unfortunately for her, that included Anika.

  I couldn’t figure out how much to tell my father.

  As soon as my shift at the hospital was finished, I slipped out a back entrance, not even bothering to see if Kane Davros made good on his word and was waiting for me at the main doors. I got a cab, thankfully without him showing his face, and went straight to my dad’s. I’d meant to tell him everything, or at least enough, only now, two hours later, after sitting on the couch with him in front of the TV, I still couldn’t work out what exactly was enough.

  With Kane’s threat of finding out my real identity ringing in my ears, I knew there was a possibility there was trouble ahead, and not just from him. The problem was, I had no idea if we were really in danger from the mob. Without knowing if the rumors about his family and the Gavinis were true, there was no way to be sure, but at the same time, I didn’t want to uproot us for nothing. Not again, after we’d had to start over so many times.

  On top of that, I was loathe to tell my father about Kane’s role in all this. Some things a girl didn’t discuss with her dad, and especially not when he’d hate me once he realized who I’d been with.

  Finishing the last of my dad’s homemade spaghetti, I kissed him on the cheek and stood up, taking our plates to the kitchen. “Thanks, that was delicious, dad.”

  He gave me a weak smile. The sadness in his eyes nearly broke my heart. I knew what he was thinking about. The farm. We’re going to have to start over again.

  One glance around the small, homey kitchen, and my heart tightened. I’d never been overly attached to this place, not like some of the other places we’d had to leave behind, but we’d made it home, and I was just starting to feel that here. Old paintings my father had managed to keep through all our moves hung on the walls, the atrocious yellow walls we never got around to painting staring back at me. It wasn’t even my favorite place, but I hated knowing that we were failing again.

  The constant running was beginning to wear on me. Besides, I had no idea what either of us would do when we moved on. My father had a lot of skills, but anything he did, there would be a risk losing it all again.

  I leaned on the counter, lowering my head. If we had to run, we’d have to cut ties with anyone we knew. I’d never be able to see Fran again. I’d have to quite my job at the hospital. Loss and anger set in. I might not adore this farm, but every part of me loved being a nurse. I’d been lucky getting on at Sinai. In this economy, there was no guarantee of finding another job once we moved who knew where.

  Burning hatred toward Victor Davros, and by extension, anyone with that name, scalded me, hot and fierce. Kane’s face rose in my mind and my fists clenched with loathing for him. There had to be a way for us to not have to give everything up yet again.

  “What the hell is this?”

  My father’s voice startled me out of my thoughts. I hurried into the living room, alarm buzzing through me. He stood staring out the living room window. I went to his side and looked out.

  A shiny black limousine was pulling off the dirt road that ran alongside the farm, and into the long drive that led to the house. Dread coiled in my gut, slow and insidious. From where the limo was, I couldn’t make out anyone inside, but I knew who was in it.

  “Shit. Dad, stay here.”

  “No! Daniella, it’s probably one of the Gavinis—”

  I twisted out of his hold when he took my arm, and only after I opened the door did I realize he might be right. In all likelihood it wasn’t the mob, but a limousine was the sort of thing some of Gavini’s men were known to show up in. I was about to shut the door again, just in case, when I heard my dad pick up and load his hunting rifle. I wanted to tell him to put it down, but the reality was, if we were being visited by Gavini’s men, he might need it.

  A car door shut and I glanced outside. David had gotten out of the limo and now opened the back door. My heart sank. I wasn’t sure whether I would rather it be the mob or not. Dad put the gun down, and I seriously thought of telling him to pick it back up, now that I knew who it was.

  Kane barely stepped out of the limo before I signaled for my dad to stay inside and marched toward him.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Kane?”

  “Is that any way to greet a man you slept with, angel?” That infernal smirk made shivers dance across my skin. David snorted and my nails bit into my palms. How dare he say that in front of his driver, and probably loud enough that my dad might have heard. Worse, he didn’t seem to care.

  “Get off my dad’s property, now.” I gritted the words out.

  He pulled a large, silvery, heavy looking suitcase out of the backseat. Then as if I hadn’t spoken, he nodded to the open door of the house, where my dad still stood, once more with his rifle in hand. “Is your father going to shoot me, Anika?”

  David moved to stand protectively in front of his charge until Kane waved him back.

  “If you don’t get off my property, he might shoot you, and it would serve you right if he did.”

  The amusement in Kane’s eyes faded and his expression turned grim as he walked toward the house, nodding for me to come with him. “He might when you two hear what I have to say.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He didn’t answer. When he stepped onto my dad’s porch, my dad blocked the door with his considerable frame and pointed the gun at him.

  “What the hell do you want, Davros?” His question, and the lack of reaction to my familiarity with Kane, let me know he hadn’t heard enough of our conversation to understand anything.

  “Get that gun out of my face, Mr. Montrose, and move aside.”

  “Afraid you have me mixed up with someone else, or can’t you read?” He nodded to the sign above the farm drive, which clearly read Heath Farm. “Anika, get inside, now.”

  “No, Anika, stay here. This concerns both of you.” He grabbed my arm with a tight, controlled grip that didn’t go unnoticed by my father. The confusion that seeped into his face made my stomach roil. He was trying to understand, the way Kane was holding me, the way he said my name.

  “Let go of my daughter and get off my porch, Davros.” He made the name a curse.

  “Look. Mr. Montrose—”

  “Heath,” my father corrected, and pointed the barrel of the rifle closer to his chest.

  Kane grabbed the weapon and wrenched it free, tossing it aside. My father’s face paled, so did mine, and he backed into the house. I twisted, and Kane’s fingers bit into my arm.

  “Let’s not pretend I don’t know who you are.” Kane’s voice was low and deadly. “Who you both are. I’m here to help you. You and Anika are in a great deal of trouble. I can get you out of it before it gets any worse—”

  “How the hell do you know—”

  “I suggest you let me in and listen to what I have to say. It will save both your lives.”

  “Kane, what the hell are you doing?” I demanded.

  He looked at me. “I told you, helping you.”

  If nothing else, because it was the only way to find out what he was up to, I nodded for my father to go inside. Dad sighed, but reluctantly stood aside. Kane stepped into the house and I followed.

  Before shutting the door, I glanced back to see David picking up the rifle. He remained between
the house and the car, rifle held on a slant across his chest like some large military sentry. Jesus, who was he?

  Once the door was closed, Kane nodded to the living room, the only place in the small house where three people could sit comfortably. “Let’s sit down. We have a lot to discuss.”

  It unsettled me how easily he took control. My father blocked the entrance that led from the small hallway to the living room and crossed his arms.

  “I have nothing to say to you. I don’t need the help of Davros scum.”

  “Put aside your hatred for my family name, Mr. Montrose. I wasn’t the one who wronged you. That was my father. I’m here to make it right as best I can.”

  “Kane, what—”

  Kane put up his hand and I stared at him, resenting the commanding gesture. He wasn’t my Dom now.

  “What the hell is going on here? How do you know anything about us, Davros?”

  My father’s confusion was too much to bear. I cleared my throat. “Because of me.”

  My dad’s eyes narrowed. “Anika, what did you do? Tell me you didn’t go to this man for help! I’d rather lose the damn farm than get in bed with a Davros!”

  “Poor choice of words.” Kane grinned huge.

  “Excuse me?” Dad.

  “Kane!” I growled, livid. His eyes danced and he shrugged.

  The anger that came over my dad’s face, and the way he looked at me made me wish the floor had swallowed me whole. “Oh, God, Anika, tell me you didn’t.”

  “Dad, we’ll talk about this later. I—”

  “No, we’ll talk about it now.” He glared at Kane. “If you laid a hand on her—”

  “Dad, stop it—”

  “I should have kept the damn gun and blown your devil head off, Davros.”

  “Dad! Calm down!”

  “No, I will not calm down. Anika, get over here—” He reached for me. So did Kane.

  “Both of you back off! I—”

  “Enough!” Kane’s voice boomed in the house, and both of us silenced and stared at him. “I will not say this again. I am here to help, and I’m not leaving until both of you hear me out.”