by MINK
Taming His Bride
MINK
Taming His Bride
MINK © 2020
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book only. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from MINK.
This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Taming His Bride
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Also by MINK
About the Author
Taming His Bride
MINK
I’ve been chasing stories from the first moment I could ask questions. When I started my own investigative blog, I pulled stories straight from the headlines and dove deeper to discover the truth behind the circumstances. None more so than in the case of the missing mafia prince, the very first investigation I undertook from the warmth and safety of my teenage bedroom.
Then I grew up and got mixed up in a whole lot more than musings on missing kingpins. I followed the story of a maligned pop princess and wound up at the lodge—a hidden safe house for bad men with dark pasts. When I met the growly Tiernan, I knew I’d be in for the story of my life. The more I get to know him, the more I realize how much I’ve been missing one aspect of my own story—romance. He brings it and so much more, his gruff ways and soft touches melting me until I’m hopeless for him.
But when some of the people I’ve exposed on my blog come calling, I’ll have to rely on more than his soft side if I want to survive.
1
Daphne
My computer cursor hovers over the send button. I know I have to send the email, but I’m still hesitant. I’ve been digging up all kinds of crap for the past two years. I think I have more than enough evidence to take them down. But I know, especially with the type of people I’m dealing with, you can’t be too sure.
Problem is I didn’t necessarily get all of this information on the up and up. In fact, I may have acquired the majority of it illegally. I hadn’t really considered any of that when I started digging. That’s the thing about me: When I get something in my mind, I tend to be like a dog with a bone. I’m not satisfied until I get to the bottom of it. That’s a big reason why it’s hard for me to get exclusive interviews with anyone. They know I won’t hold back.
People should really be more mindful of their privacy. That said, it’s a good thing people aren’t vigilant. Hacking phones and computer cameras carries risk, but if you cover your tracks, you’re golden. It wasn’t hard for me to get a front row seat to learn all the things they did. They often got together, drinking whiskey and swapping stories.
You can listen to every conversation they have. Not only the ones over the phone. I can listen in anywhere as long as they have their phones with them. They know better than to have little chats about the disgusting things they do on calls. No, they like to get together and brag about it.
So yeah. The things I’ve done haven’t been on the legal side at all. I’m only hoping it ruins their careers. I want them pushed right out of Hollywood—the same fate they’ve threatened countless girls with. Then maybe people will start an investigation. One that will finally shine a light on all the dark spots these men are using and expose them for the scum of the earth they really are.
It always baffles me how these monsters find each other. Everyone runs in the same circles for the most part. I get that they all know each other, but how does one bring up that he got Scarlett Vanderpump to suck his dick for her next big role in the Trenton Trilogy? She didn't suck his dick for the role. She did it because these men can ruin your career if you don’t do what they say.
The abusers range from directors to film producers and even further up the chain. I’ve uncovered that even the CEOs of one of the biggest film production companies in the world take part in this as well. All of them use their positions of power to get away with unspeakable acts. The women they target know that with nothing more than a snap of their fingers, you no longer have a career.
Big stakes, right? Seems like I should be fighting the fight in LA, listening in to some seedy conversation or catching one of these assholes red-handed. Somewhere far away from the snowy landscape and quiet mountain woods where I find myself. Well, buckle up, because this has been a ride, and I’m still on it. I’m here because of a very big star, one I’ve been trying to get the scoop on for over a year.
Aurora Davenport isn’t a movie star, but she is a pop star. She told me that she once was asked to play a role in a movie as herself. Her agent pushed for her to do it. After she agreed, she discovered that the meeting with the producer was set in a hotel room. This isn't uncommon, but it really should be. Luckily she had her best friend Bells with her. They knew something didn't feel right, and they got the hell out of there. She was one of the lucky ones.
I glance around the lodge area. No one’s around. I’m sure Aurora, Bells, and Clover are likely in their bedrooms. Well, in the bedrooms of the men who live out here. It’s a love fest.
I came here to get the story for Aurora. She became the obsession of one of the men on my list. I’m going to ruin that bastard’s name. There’s no way I’m going to let everyone think the late Kent Kingston was a great man. I’ll be exposing him along with everyone else.
It’s a miracle Aurora, Bells, and Clover found this place. I mean, aside from the car crash that led them here. The men that live in this-high tech compound came to their rescue. Four very interesting men. I poke at them, looking for a scoop, asking what they do for a living. All they ever say is that they’re retired. I can never get them to elaborate on what exactly it is they’ve retired from, and they’re all way too young for an AARP discount. Which only makes me more curious.
It didn't take me long to figure out that all of them are deadly. For all I know, they could’ve been mercenaries or hitmen. That should scare the crap out of us girls, but it obviously doesn’t, considering I’m the only one left who hasn’t shacked up yet. I keep telling myself that whatever job they had before was on the side of the good guys.
The one thing I know for sure is that I’m going to need their protection going forward if I want to stay alive. I have no doubt the powerful men I’m going to out will come for me. But they’ll have to find me first. This giant compound is hidden away. They can track me to the airport, but after that I went off the grid. I’m scared, but I know what has to be done. I click the send button and then slam my laptop closed. I toss it over to the other end of the couch. I lean back and close my eyes, telling myself I can handle this.
“You're still here, Red? You already got your story.” My stomach flutters at the sound of his voice. I hate myself for it. I’ve been trying to fight my attraction to him. I open my eyes to see Tiernan.
Why are all the hot men assholes? Hot is actually putting it mildly when describing Tiernan. The man is built. I barely come up to his chest. I’m used to having to look up at people. I’m short at five foot two. It’s why I always wear heels. I’m not only short, I’m tiny too. He stares at me with those cool blue eyes waiting for an answer. He folds his arms over his chest, and I get that glare he always sends my way.
>
Tiernan has been a jerk to me since I got here. He glares at me while muttering words I can't hear under his breath. For the most part when I walk into a room, he walks out. Other times, he lingers and does things to annoy me. He really wants me out of here. I have no freaking clue why. He doesn't have a problem with any of the other women. I’m scared he might just kick me out into the snow. Then where would I go?
“I’ll be out of your hair soon enough,” I say as I stand. I might want to think about having a Plan B as far as my safety in case he does decide to toss me out. “I can only put up with you being an asshole for so long.”
“Red.” His tone is filled with warning. If he’s going to be an asshole, I might as well be one back.
“Jerkface,” I toss back.
He drops his folded arms from his chest. Something dark flashes in his eyes. “Don’t talk shit, and there won’t be no shit.”
I give him my best smile. “That’s a double negative that makes no sense.”
He takes a step toward me.
I lick my bottom lip.
His nostrils flare. His hands fist at his side, but he doesn’t say anything else to me before he turns and leaves the room. He’s confirmed I’ve overstayed my welcome, and my days of staying here are numbered.
2
Tiernan
Why does she have to tempt me? That smart mouth of hers is going to get her in trouble. I was so close to grabbing a handful of her red hair and bending her over the counter. But I can’t. Daphne’s dangerous, far more dangerous than any of the assassins and mobsters I’ve dealt with in the past.
Daphne’s a reporter, one who gets far too many visitors to her blog and her articles for some pretty fucking huge news operations. I can’t get close to her, especially after she’s already mentioned that I look familiar to her.
Of course I do. I was all over the news a few years back. Everyone heard about my disappearance. Before shit went down, I was at the top of the Lisanti family, one of the biggest mafia families in the country. The whole world was laid out before me. I was rising higher and higher. But then I fucked up. Badly. So badly, in fact, I had to leave that life. Permanently. And when a body washed up on the Jersey coast with my family ring on its finger, everyone knew the worst had happened to me.
I can never go back. If the families were to find out I was still alive … I shake my head and sit on my bed, then rest my head in my hands. The war inside me rages on. I need that redhead. I need her on her knees right now, my cock in her mouth as I give her every inch.
“No.” I stand and pace. “Let it go.”
“What are you letting go?” Charles leans on my doorframe.
“Nothing.” I shrug.
He sighs. “The redhead?”
“What?” I roll my shoulders. “No, of course not.”
He smirks. “These women. I don’t get it, not even a little, but it’s like they were made for us.”
“Daphne is not made for me.” I say it with so little conviction that even I don’t believe it. I want her, and I’m not hiding it very well if Charles’s skeptical expression tells me anything. “Look.” I cross my arms over my chest. “She’s a journo, okay? If she finds out who I am, how long do you think it’ll take her to whip up a blog post outing me? And after that?” I throw my hands up. “I’ll have killers beating down the doors to get to me first.”
“I got to you first,” Charles reminds me.
I take a deep breath as memories from that day ripple through my mind. “You spared me.”
“Dumb on my part.” Charles gives a low laugh. “You’re a pain in the ass. Then again, you did pay me double the contract price, so it was a win-win.”
“Everything was going so well. Until those women showed up.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Believe me when I say things have never been better.” He gets a half smile on his face, clearly thinking about his woman, Clover.
“Look, the three of you have your love lives all straightened out. That’s great. But I can’t get involved with anyone, especially not that redheaded devil out there.”
“All right then.” He gives me a knowing smile as he turns to leave. “We’ll see.”
I stalk over and slam the door behind him. “Fuck!” I bang my forehead on the wood panel.
This is ridiculous. I have to snap out of it. A turn around the lodge will help me. Checking the perimeter out in the cold might also do something to help the fucking hard-on that plagues me whenever I get a glimpse of that red hair either in real life or in my mind.
I head down the hall toward the living area of the lodge, then slow as I hear voices in the kitchen.
“—can’t stay here forever.” It’s Daphne.
“You can stay as long as you need.” One of the other women is in there. I think it’s Aurora.
I ease closer and flatten myself to the wall just outside the door.
Daphne sighs heavily. “When the piece I just published hits the blog, it’s going to explode.”
“Shit. Did you name names?” Aurora’s voice is almost a whisper.
“If I said yes, would you think I’m crazy?”
There’s a long pause before Aurora says, “No, I’d think you’re brave as hell.”
“But you’re also in danger,” Bells adds from farther away, perhaps in the pantry. “The men you outed for being predatory assholes? They’ll come for you. And I’m not talking lawsuits or cease and desist letters. These men have empires to protect. Hell, one of them has his own island where he keeps his own personal brothel of barely-legal girls.”
“I know. That was in the piece. The drugs he feeds them, the conditions, the things they’re expected to do. I’ve been inside and out of all of these monsters, seen their wives who look the other way, the spoiled children who don’t know half of the evil their fathers commit, the women and girls they all leave in their wakes. That’s why I did this. The victims. For them. No one stood up for them. But I will.”
Fuck, she’s got backbone. Daphne speaks with such conviction that I find myself leaning closer, wanting to be near her. If she’s published an article with names and facts she can back up with evidence, she’s created a shitstorm of epic proportions. The men she’s talking about aren’t the sort to take this lying down. Hell, back in my youth when the tabloids came after me, I paid some visits of my own. Solved the problem with violence, the only language I knew. I know better now, but there are plenty who don’t. And those men will be sent to hurt Daphne.
I run a hand through my hair. As much as I want to keep her away from me, to get her out of here and erase the temptation, I know I can’t. Because if she leaves, she’s a walking target. And if she stays, my whole world could crumble. Did I mention fuuuuuuck?
“God, that’s so brave.” Bells is closer now. “What are you doing for security? I know some guys.”
“Yeah? I know a few outfits, too, but I’ve never liked having hired guns around me.”
“You need a body man,” Aurora says. “For sure. Someone close.”
A body man? Close to Daphne? Fuck no. Not a chance. Some asshole on a salary won’t keep her safe, not when it counts. She needs someone who cares about her, who wants to keep her safe for reasons other than money.
“A hot body man doesn’t sound so bad.” Bells giggles. “A big guy with muscles and—”
“You can stay here.” I stride into the kitchen like I haven’t just been listening in to their entire conversation. “Just stay here.” I swipe an apple off the counter and take a bite as nonchalantly as I can.
Daphne turns to me, her eyebrows high. “You want me to stay?”
“I mean …” I take another bite of apple, stalling. I want you in my bed, screaming my name as I fill you up and make your legs shake. Instead of that, I go with, “You can stay if you want. No skin off my back.” I turn away from her, even though I want to pull her to me, and walk from the kitchen.
Bells drops her voice. “Now that’s exactly the kind of body m
an you need, girl.”
Aurora giggles, and I don’t hear the rest because my heart is beating in my ears while I simultaneously cuss myself for putting my ass on the line for the sassy, nosy, infuriating, sexy-as-all-fuck redhead who I can’t stop obsessing about. Even now. Still obsessing. Fuck.
3
Daphne
I sit on the kitchen counter, swinging my legs back and forth. We’ve already had dinner along with dessert and cleaned everything up. Now we’re all sitting around chit-chatting. I think one of the things I’ve loved about being here at the lodge is that there are always people around. That and how close all the girls are.
They’ve slowly been letting me into their little circle. I think it’s because Bells likes me. I’ve noticed they all usually look to her for direction. She’s the matriarch of their little group from what I can see. I don’t think she knew how much everyone around here needed her until she thought about leaving. That did not go over well.
Bells was the one who told Aurora she could trust me. While it was true, I don’t know why she said that about me when I didn't know her before I’d reached out a week ago. I mean, I knew of her, but I had never met her in person.
Bells has a knack for feeling situations and people out. I have that too, generally. I gained my ability from growing up around the rich and famous. You have a ton of time to read people and their moods when you’re not the one in the spotlight. Especially when both of your parents are usually too busy to spend time with you.
