by Amy Brent
“Let's not waste time with petty, idle threats you can't back up. Not without endangering the well being of your gorgeous little girl here,” I said, smirking to myself “So, let's cut the bullshit, mate. Are you ready to make a deal? Or should I start sending you beautiful little Emmy one piece at a time? Though, I gotta tell you, it would be such a waste of such an amazing piece of tail.”
“Show some fucking respect, you son of a bitch,” he growled. “That's my daughter you're talking about. Now, what in the hell do you want from me?”
“Oh, I think you already know what I want, Antonelli.”
“I can't break the deal with Bellini. You know that,” he said. “That's something I simply can't do. The deal has already been made and what's done is done.”
“Oh is it? That's really too bad then. Because if that's the case, might as well put this gun in my hand to good use right now,” I replied. “No need to keep Emmy around if there's nothing you can do to better her circumstances.”
“Bellini won't back down,” Antonelli said, almost pleading. “His family has put everything into this deal, and they won't back out of it so easily. Not even for Emelia.”
“Well then, I guess you better say goodbye to your darling daughter,” I said, cocking my gun and hoping he'd hear it through the phone. “Because her brains are about to be splattered all over the wall – ”
“No, wait, please,” Antonelli said. “I'm begging you. Just don't.”
Emelia didn't say anything. She looked at me with her doe eyes, as if she knew I wouldn't pull the trigger. It was as if she was daring me to do it. Daring me to blow her pretty little brains out. Something in her eyes was calling my bluff – and she was right. But I couldn't let her – or her father – know that I wouldn't. A bluff was only good so long as the people you were bluffing believed you were capable of anything – no matter how monstrous.
“Oh, so maybe there is something you can do after all?” I asked.
“Let's talk about this, Deacon,” he said. “I'm willing to make a deal with you. We'll figure something out. Just don't hurt my daughter.”
“You want a deal with me, Antonelli? Kill Tony Bellini and deliver his head to me in a box in exchange for your daughter's life and well being. Then we'll have a deal.”
I hung up the phone and looked over at Emelia. Smiling, I said, “Well, looks like you may not have to marry Tony after all. You're welcome, Emmy. See? I'm not such a bad guy after all, am I?”
EMELIA
I didn't know why or how, but I knew Deacon wasn't going to hurt me. I knew he wasn't going to pull that trigger. Somehow – call it a sixth sense, woman's intuituion, or whatever you like – but I knew that it was all for show. He was bluffing my father, sure, but I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he wasn't really going to kill me.
“Granted, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if he was gone forever, but killing Tony is going to start a war between the families,” I said softly. “It's one thing to break up our engagement – but to actually kill a member of the Bellini family is an act of war. And it's one they won't overlook easily, Deacon. A lot of people are going to die if that happens.”
Deacon smirked as he leaned back in his chair, staring at me with those blue eyes of his. I felt myself drawn into those eyes every damn time he looked at me, and I couldn't look away. Even after all this shit he was putting me through, I couldn't bring myself to not meet his gaze. It was heady. Intoxicating. Compelling. And I hated myself for feeling so drawn into them.
“Oh cheer up, buttercup. Don't look so sad and scandalized. If you think about it, I'm doing you a huge favor and you know it. You didn't want to marry him, and now you won't have to. I don't want the families uniting and they won't be able to. I'd call this a win-win for both of us.”
I swallowed the lump growing in my throat before I spoke. “Yes, but I didn't want anyone to be killed just to get me out of a goddamned wedding. Jesus, Deacon, I don't want to marry the man, but I also don't want him dead. And the backlash – you don't think it'll blow back on your guys too?”
He shrugged. “Chaos is good for business,” he said. “Not that I need to explain myself to you, Emmy, but the Irish will come out ahead with this, mark my words. Like a phoenix from the ashes, we'll rise bigger, stronger, and fiercer than before. Besides, how can I be sure all ties between the Bellini's and Antonelli's are broken without at least one dead body between 'em? That sort of blood feud can stretch on for generations. It's in my best interest to keep both families at each other's throats for the foreseeable future.”
He was enjoying this. He was actually enjoying this sick little game he'd devised. I'd overheard people talking about Deacon Murphy before – they all talked about how he was cunning, smart and extremely dangerous. They spoke in hushed tones, like he was going to materialize out of thin air right there behind them. When people spoke of Deacon, it was with an air of respect – and fear.
I knew he was a force to be reckoned one, knew he was someone to fear. But even as I sat in front of him, restrained and completely under his control, I found that I actually didn't fear him. Instead, I felt myself drawn to him in ways that didn't make sense. Maybe it was because of how I'd grown up and the fact that I'd been around dangerous men my entire life, but his ruthlessness turned me on. I was horrified and appalled to admit that to myself, but – there it was. Out in the open. And I had no idea what to do with the horrible conflicting emotions roiling around inside of me.
“You're smart, Deacon,” I said. “I have to give you that. Smarter than my father, maybe. But he's not going to kill Bellini. He will come for me first, and kill you in the process. This little game you're running is doomed to fail because he's been in the game a lot longer and knows the rules better than you do.”
“And what if he does?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, this is what we do, isn't it? We win some and we lose some. But I'll tell you something, love – we never get ahead in this game if we're not willing to put our very lives on the line. The stakes have got to be high to make victory worth claiming. And personally, I can't think of any stakes higher than one's own life. This is why I do what I do, Emelia. This is why I'm the leader of this organization. Because I'm not afraid of your father or the Bellinis. And I'm not afraid of war. Hell, I'm not even afraid of death.”
“Not afraid of death?” I asked, shaking my head. “You're crazy.”
“Maybe,” he said, giving me a small shrug. “I'm not denying that. But I think to be a good leader in this life, you have to be a little crazy to do the things we do.”
Even though I knew I shouldn't let it happen, I felt a smile forming on my lips. I couldn't stop it from spreading across my face and there was something in me that was mortified that I couldn't stifle the soft laugh escaping my throat at the ridiculousness of all this – of me being here strapped down to a bed, his prisoner. The ridiculousness of Deacon and me talking, and about me caring whether or not this man – my family's sworn enemy – would live or die. Because he was too beautiful to die. Too young and beautiful and smart. It would be an absolute waste.
But if he were killed in this war he was dying to start, it would also be of his own doing. And there was nothing I could do to stop that.
“You almost look sad, Emmy,” he said, sounding surprised.
“Maybe I am,” I said. “Because I think all life is sacred – including yours. Even Tony's. I may not like him – or you – but that doesn't mean I want to see either of you wind up with two in the back of the head.”
“I love how I came before Tony,” he said with a wink. “I think I might be growing on ya. Another lassie done in by the Irish charm.”
Maybe a little – but I sure as hell wasn't going to encourage him by admitting that.
Deacon walked over to me and stood over the bed, towring over me. He stared down at me lying helpless in the bed before him. My breath caught in my throat and my heart started to race as I feared what he might do to me. Not because I thought he wo
uld hurt me. No, I was still convinced he wouldn't actually do anything to hurt me. But I was becoming even more fearful of him because I worried that if he touched me or kissed me or tried to have his way with me, I'd end up going along with it willingly.
And I knew how fucked up that was.
But instead of doing any of that, he surprised me by reaching the restraints that held me to the bed. He untied and then removed them altogether. First my right, then my left. Rubbing my wrists – which were nearly raw thanks to the restraints being way too tight – I looked up at him, confused.
“But why?” I asked.
“Honestly? Because I hate seeing you like that,” he said. “You're much too beautiful to be tied to a bed like some hostage in a trailer park or something.”
“But I am a hostage,” I said.
“Yes, but you don't have to be treated like one,” I said. “Not if I can help it – and not if you can help yourself. Just promise me, Emmy, that you won't do anything stupid? Because I can't promise your safety if you do anything stupid. And I don't want to have to tie you back down here. You deserve to be treated with a little more dignity than that.”
I nodded, biting my lip as I stared up into his dreamy face. I wanted to slap myself for getting lost in his eyes, for even having these hot little fantasy flashes about him in my mind. He was still holding me hostage – but there was something about him that drew me in and held me there.
But, this was the big, bad, scary man I'd heard stories about. That I'd been taught to hate and fear. But as I looked at him and saw something that looked like compassion in his eyes, I found all of those terrible stories I'd heard about him hard to believe. I was finding it hard to believe I had any reason to fear him at all.
But what I did fear was the need and desire growing inside of me. As I looked up at him, a powerful sense of lust and want gnawed at me from the inside. Never before had I stared at a man so breathtakingly beautiful – and so profoundly dangerous at the same time. I'd never come across a man like Deacon who made my heart race. It was so wrong, which was why I pushed those feelings back and tried to focus all of my attention on the situation at hand and the impact his demands would have upon my family moving forward.
“So what's next?” I asked, looking up into his eyes. “What's your play here?”
“It's not my play to make. The ball is inyour father's court. For now, we wait it out,” he said, sitting back down in his chair across the room from the bed.
“And you're going to personally stay here with me? Why not have one of the others guard me since you're the big boss?”
Yes, I was apprehensive about spending so much time with Deacon. I thought it was a bad, terrible idea considering how incredibly attractive I found him. But at the same time, I was scared of the other guys. While I knew for a fact that Deacon would never do anything to hurt me, I wasn't so sure about his guys.
“Because I don't trust anyone else,” he said, looking me up and down, “In their minds, you're a fine piece of meat and they're starving. The temptation would be too great to do something – regrettable – if I left you alone with them. I'm not going to take that chance with you.”
“Oh what? So you're not tempted?” I asked, batting my lashes as I spoke.
“What warm-blooded man wouldn't be?” he said, licking his lips. “But I can control my impulses. That's another reason why I'm the big boss.”
Part of me wasn't so sure I wanted him to control his impulses – and I knew which part of me was hoping for that. But I scolded myself for even having those kinds of thoughts. He was my kidnapper. He was determined to start a war that was going to kill a lot of people – including people I knew and cared about. There was no way in hell I should be having warm, fuzzy feelings for that man. And I sure as hell shouldn't be secretly hoping that he'd just take me right then and right there.
There was a knock on the door, followed by a voice a moment later. “Deacon, we need to move. Now. Antonelli's men were spotted nearby. I don't know how, but somehow they found us.”
“Move?” I asked.
Without a word, Deacon took my arm and yanked me off the bed and onto my feet before I could get an answer. He didn't have a chance to restrain me, but the grip of his hand on my arm was enough to stop me from fighting too much. He was a strong, powerful man and he pulled me out of the room and into a hallway. We quickly walked down the corridor, his men – all of the brandishing automatic weapons – surrounding us.
“What the fuck happened, Colin?” he asked, glaring at the man next to us.
“I dunno. I think maybe he traced your call,” Colin said.
“Fuck. I knew he kept me on the line too long. Rookie fucking mistake. I know better than that.”
Deacon pulled out his cell phone and dropped it into the trash can as we walked out a back door. There were cars waiting in a parking lot and Deacon pushed me into the backseat of one of them – a black SUV. He climbed in beside me and slammed the door as Colin got in the front and we took off, the tires on the vehicles chirping on the pavement.
Throughout this whole ordea., I could have fought and tried to get free. I could have caused a scene that maybe delayed Deacon long enough that my father's men may have found us. But I hadn't. It surprised me that I'd gone along with Deacon without any resistance whatsoever. I was even more surprised to realize that it hadn't even occurred to me to resist.
Maybe I was in shock over everything that was happening. Maybe it was fear, since I was surrounded by Deacon's men – all of whom were armed to the teeth. I didn't know why, but I didn't struggle against Deacon's grip on my arm in the least. I'd stayed right by Deacon's side the entire time.
What did that all mean?
EMELIA
I don't know where we were, but I knew we were somewhere outside of the city. Judging by the desolation around us, we were far away from civilization altogether. It looked like we were hidden away in the depths of a forest, of some kind. The cars all pulled up to a little log cabin set out in the middle of nowhere.
It was the perfect hiding spot and I had to wonder why they hadn't brought me there in the first place. Or maybe when the war between my family and Tony's family broke out, Deacon had planned to bring me out there all along and the presence of my father's men on their tail had only accelerated that plan.
“Make yourself at home, Emmy. You and I will be staying here for a few days,” Deacon said, walking me inside the cabin and flipping on a light. “Hope you like camping. It's a bit rustic, but it'll keep us warm and dry.”
The cabin was small, but a lot nicer inside than I'd expected it to be. It was definitely rustic and not one of those million dollar luxurious cabins, but it wasn't a dump, either. There was a small living area, an even smaller kitchen area and a loft upstairs with a large bed. All of the windows were barred, however, and there was only one exit that I could see – the front door. Which was large and sturdy with multiple locks attached to it.
Deacon saw me eyeing the exit and grinned.
“You're not getting out of here, Emelia. Don't even think about it,” he said, smirking as he spoke. “And even if you did somehow manage to escape, there's nothing around us for miles and miles. You'd just wind up lost and alone in the woods until you died of hypothermia.”
“I know,” I said softly. “I'm not stupid.”
I noticed that it was just Deacon, myself and Colin at the cabin. The others had all scattered and were nowhere to be seen. Deacon looked at me and grinned, as if he was reading my thoughts.
“I figured if we all went in different directions, your father's men wouldn't know who to follow,” he said. “Your father is a little more resourceful than I'd given him credit for, so I had to throw him off the trail. Not that I needed to worry too much though, this place is my most secret hideout.”
“Oh? Is this were you bring all your whores?” I taunted.
Colin snickered, but then stopped suddenly when Deacon glared at him.
“Only the pretti
est ones, like you,” he said, winking at me.
“I'm not your – ”
“I get it, Emelia. You're not going to roll over and take it. Fine, I get it. But I'm getting really tired of your posturing. It's getting old.” Deacon rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Colin. “You still here?”
Colin looked confused “Where else am I supposed to go?”
“For fuck's sake, Colin, I don't know. Maybe back into Chicago and keep an eye on things for me back there.”
“But you're going to stay out here? Alone?”
Deacon let out a long, irritated sounding sigh and shook his head. Judging by the way he clenched his fists at his side, I was sure he might punch Colin's lights out. But he took a deep breath and managed to hold it together – but probably just barely. He looked so ready to explode, I honestly wan't sure how he'd kept it in check.
“I'm the only one I trust to watch over her and make sure she's not hurt, deflowered, or some shit when we give her back to her daddy dearest.” he growled.
Deacon rubbed his temples, cursing under his breath before continuing, in a calmer voice. “Listen, Colin, I need you on the ground in the city. I need you to be my eyes and ears. You're the only one I trust for the job.”
“You don't need backup?” Colin asked, cutting a glance at me and raising an eyebrow.
“What? Against her? Please – ” Deacon huffed. “Now go on and get back to the city before you piss me off, mate.”
Colin cast one last look at me – as if he was warning me with his eyes – before turning and walking out the door, leaving me alone with Deacon. I stared at my captor, watching him carefully as he listened to Colin's car as it pulled away from the cabin and headed back down the long, dirt road that would take him to the highway.
“Tell me something, Deacon – why do you really want to be alone with me?” I stared at him with wide-eyes, batting my eyelashes. “Something on your mind?”
