CONTENTS
Falling for His Captive
NEWSLETTER
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
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Extended Epilogue
NEWSLETTER
A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS
BRATVA BEAR SHIFTERS
LAIRDS & LADIES
RUSSIAN UNDERWORLD
IRISH WOLF SHIFTERS
Collaborations
About the Author
FALLING FOR HIS CAPTIVE
AN OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE
_______________________
A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 219
FLORA FERRARI
Copyright © 2020 by Flora Ferrari
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.
FALLING FOR HIS CAPTIVE
When you owe Tommy Lucio money, you pay it back – there is no second option.
If you can’t pay, we have to take something.
And when Donovan Bianco can’t pay his debt to me I take what he values most. His daughter.
I’ve never laid eyes on Carina Bianco before.
But I can’t believe I’ve wasted so much time because looking at her now, there’s only one thing that strikes me.
I need to make her mine.
This stunning younger curvy goddess. She may have started as my captive but she’s captured my heart.
Her father has one week to pay me back what he owes.
But there’s no way I can let her slip away.
I will make her mine before the week’s end, forever.
*Falling for His Captive is an insta-everything standalone instalove romance with a HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
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CHAPTER ONE
Tommy
“We can’t have him thinking we’re weak,” I say, shooting a meaningful look at Ricky and Enzo. “If he can’t pay, we have to take something of his.”
“Something of value, boss?” Ricky asks. “Like a TV or something?”
I smirk. “No. I don’t want to have to find a place to offload his goods. We’re not repossessing. We take something he’ll be desperate to get back. Something he’ll pay us quickly for, and in full.”
Enzo nods slowly. “Yeah, like his oven.”
I resist the urge to slap Enzo over the ear. What is with these guys today? I swear, I can’t get good help. “No, not his oven. How’s a baker going to make enough money to pay us back if he can’t even bake? Don’t be an idiot.”
“Well, what else has he got?” Ricky pipes up. “I mean, we’ve been watching the guy. He’s sold almost everything. He’s just got his car, his house, his daughter, that’s it.”
“Wait,” I say. “What was that?”
“His car?” Enzo says doubtfully. “Boss, if we take his car, he can’t make deliveries either.”
“Not that.” I stroke my chin thoughtfully. “The daughter.”
“Oh, yeah,” Enzo shrugs. “Cute little thing. You want us to bring her in?”
“That’s the kind of thing a man will pay to get back,” I tell him, with a gleam in my eye. “Oh, and send someone else to watch him after you take her. We don’t want him running to the competition. I know he can come up with the cash – he just has to be motivated. He’ll pay within the week.”
Ricky and Enzo hurry out their orders given. I retreat to my study, where I can get some peace while I go over the books. It’s not easy, being the boss of an operation like this. A lot of paperwork. I could get an accountant, but I don’t trust anyone to deal with the money but me.
I get lost in the numbers, putting everything together manually. We can’t have a paper trail, so I have two sets of books, both done by hand so we can’t be traced online. One of them has the figures I present to the taxman, with income from our many legitimate businesses across the city.
The other one has the real figures.
Business is going well this year, but that’s no reason to let a repayment slip. When you owe Tommy Lucio money, you pay it back – there is no second option. And Donovan Bianco is about to find that out.
“Boss?”
I hear the yelling from downstairs, floating up through the space above the entrance hall. I walk out onto the balcony and look down, pleased to see that my men have done as I asked. She’s there, a girl dressed all in white, her back to me as she tries to plead with them. She’s not bound. It looks like they were able to take her without much trouble. She has a nice curve to her body, which I can appreciate even from up here – the kind of ass you could use as a pillow.
“I see our guest accepted your invitation,” I say, with a heavy dose of smug sarcasm.
At the sound of my voice, she whips around, staring up at me. My breath catches in my throat. I wasn’t expecting this. Her blonde hair cut to fall down her back but shorter in the front, frames her face perfectly, the locks cradling her jaw. She has huge bright blue eyes, the kind you could get lost in, though they’re currently sharply and angrily boring through me. She’s beautiful – and she has the body to match. Under those doll-like features, the voluptuous curves of her body seem decadent.
For a moment I can’t find my voice to speak. I know Ricky and Enzo are saying something, but I can’t hear their words. She’s stunning – truly stunning. I’ve never laid eyes on Carina Bianco before, and I can’t believe I’ve wasted so much time. Because looking at her now, there’s only one thing that strikes me.
I need to make her mine.
No – this young woman, she’s too much. There’s no way I could let her slip away. That face, that body, the spirit I see in her eyes even in the home of her enemy – I will make her mine.
CHAPTER TWO
Carina
I turn at the sound of a voice above me, ready to unleash my anger. How dare they do this to me?
They walked right into my Dad’s bakery and interrupted his morning work, my morning work, and grabbed me, just like that. They told Dad he has a week to pay or he’s not getting me back – as if I believe that. It’s all just scare tactics. And they don’t have the right to manhandle me like that – just because they work for some mafia boss. I’m not afraid of them. If they want me to behave like a good little girl, they’re in for a surprise.
I came quietly enough, so there wouldn’t be a commotion outside Dad’s bakery. But I’m not about to take this lying down. A whole range of insults and objections flies into my mind as I hear his voice, and w
hip around, ready to unleash them –
And stop.
For some reason, the words die on my lips. I don’t know what I was expecting – some grey-haired, fat old man with greasy fingers and a cigar in his mouth? I’ve never seen the boss of the Lucio family, but by the way, the men behind me refer to him, this is Tommy. I wasn’t expecting him to be so… young.
Well, young is a relative term. He’s still a lot older than me. I don’t know by how much, exactly. But he’s hot – much hotter than I thought he would be. So hot that he looks like he could be a model. Dark hair swept back from a smooth and angular face, which doesn’t look hard or arrogant as I would have supposed it might. He looks – well, a little like I feel taken aback. Was he not expecting me?
He moves suddenly, letting go of the railing of the balcony and walking to the side, down a curving staircase that connects the two levels. There’s one on either side, no doubt intended to make a grand impression. I refuse to be impressed – or at least, I try to.
But while the building might be fading away in my estimation, the man coming down the staircase does not. Without the railing, in the way, I can see the sharp black suit and tie he wears, seemingly molded perfectly to his body. He’s tall, and his body appears well-muscled even through his clothes, his arms, and shoulders thick as well as his thighs.
I can’t help but be impressed, at least, by the cut of the suit.
“Carina Bianco,” he says, almost as if he’s not quite sure.
“Yeah, boss, like we said,” one of the men who took me says.
“Thank you, Enzo,” Tommy says, seeming to snap to attention as if he’s just woken up. “Good work, both of you.”
“What should we do with her now, boss?” the other one asks.
Tommy tilts his head back a little and gives me an appraising look. It makes me feel like a horse being bought at an auction. His gaze travels over me, down my face, and over my body –
And now I don’t feel like a horse at all. I feel like this is something different. I feel like… a woman, being checked out by a man. In spite of myself, I shiver. This is stupid. How can I think that the man who intimidated my father, wants to take all of his money, and even had me kidnapped, is hot? I need to get a grip.
“Follow me,” he says, turning sharply to go back up the stairs again.
“Wait,” I protest, as Enzo shoves me from behind – not so hard that I’d fall, but hard enough to make me move after Tommy. “What are you going to do to me?”
“Follow, and you’ll find out,” Tommy says, casting the words carelessly over his shoulder as he climbs up above me.
“No,” I say, suddenly frozen with fear. Everything about this situation just became very real. The three men around me, each of them far stronger than I am. This isolated house, on the edge of the city, set in an estate of its own grounds, hard to escape. The fact that my Dad will be too scared to call the police and report that I’ve been taken. “What do you want from me?”
The men push me forward again, and I find myself being propelled up the stairs, unable to resist. One hand on the flat of my back is all it takes, forcing me forward until I have to take a step or fall.
“I want your father’s money,” Tommy says, mildly. We reach the top of the stairs and he leads us along a hall, away into a wing so that we can no longer look down on the entrance hall, past what seems to be endless identical doors. He stops in front of one and opens it, and walks inside, and I have no choice but to follow.
Inside is a lavishly decorated bedroom that looks unused, everything in black satin or velvet, matched by dark wood furniture. It looks like it suits Tommy exactly, and I have no doubt about who was in charge of decorating it.
Enzo and his colleague shove me into the center of the room, and this time I nearly fall flat on my face. I have to reach out to stop myself, and my hands grasp onto the nearest thing for support. As I right myself, I realize with burning cheeks that that nearest thing happened to be Tommy. I release my handful of his suit jacket and step back, glancing around. He doesn’t even move, just watches me passively, dispassionately.
“Alright,” he says. “Ricky, Enzo. You’re dismissed.”
I turn to watch the men who brought me in nod their heads in short bow-like movements and retreat, shutting the door behind them.
I stare at the back of the door in dismay, realizing the truth. I’m trapped in here now, stuck with the boss of a mafia family, the very man to who my Dad owes a lot of money to.
And the fear that started to come over me downstairs intensifies until I can barely breathe. I can’t force myself to turn around and look at him, no matter how defiant I wish I could be.
What’s going to happen to me now?
CHAPTER THREE
Tommy
“So, here’s the deal, Carina,” I say, leaning against one of the bedposts. She turns around at last and looks at me, and I see how pale her face is. She’s afraid. She doesn’t need to be, though it might help to keep her in check. Still, I feel the need to soften the impact. “Your father owes me a lot of money.”
“I know,” Carina says, instantly. Maybe that defiance isn’t all gone just yet. That fire I glimpsed in her eyes earlier returns a little. “I do his books. You think I don’t know how much you extorted him for?”
I snort a laugh. “Extorted? He needed the money to keep his business afloat. We helped him out when the bank wouldn’t. He owes us more than money, Carina. He owes us gratitude.”
“Gratitude?” Carina snaps. “You kidnapped his daughter. I don’t think he’s feeling too grateful right about now.”
“He should because I’ve been very generous.” A spark of anger lights inside me, but it’s more than matched by the flare of intrigue she causes in me. I want to get to know this woman, to understand how she ticks. I want to get inside her head – and other parts of her, too. “I could have taken his business, demanded him to pay back everything immediately. But I want those who live in my city to thrive. I want him to keep trading, to get stronger. So, I gave him time.”
“A week,” Carina says, shaking her head. “You’re not being generous. You’re being cruel. He won’t find the money.”
“He won’t?” I narrow my eyes. “Then what happened to the loan that we gave him for the improvements? Did he make those improvements? Does the bakery now run faster, make better goods?”
“Yes,” Carina says, her tone reluctant. “But…”
“Under the plans that he showed me, Donovan Bianco should be making more than enough money to pay me back within the week,” I say. “We know that he’s been selling things, getting the money back. I don’t care whether the profit comes from the business or from the sale of his home – either way, I will have it. We made a deal. That’s how it works.”
“It’s not how it works out there in the real world,” Carina says petulantly. “Not in the legal world. A bank wouldn’t be able to do this – take a person as collateral!”
“Do you think the bank would give you a second chance?” I ask, straightening my head and looking at her fiercely. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. The deal is done. Your father pays up by the end of the week, or he doesn’t get you back. Those are the rules.”
Carina swallows, pausing a moment before she speaks again. I wonder if she’s gathering her courage. “What will you do?” she asks. “Kill me, if he doesn’t pay?”
I consider her for a moment. No, I won’t do that. I wouldn’t do that. A creature as glorious as this – how could I ever? But she doesn’t need to know that yet. She should keep some of that fear. If she calls her father and tells him my threats are meaningless, then he doesn’t pay. And besides – if I have my way, then by the end of the week she won’t want to leave anyway. Ever.
And I always get my way.
“Maybe,” I tell her. “Maybe not. I suppose it depends on your behavior.”
I leave her with those words for a moment, watching her digest and process them. I’m enchanted by every sma
ll movement of her face, every trace of emotion that passes over it. The desire to make her mine is only growing stronger by the moment. I dare her to argue back with me, to show me that fire again. I dare her to show me that even as she may be afraid for her life, she isn’t particularly afraid of me. There are not many people I could say that about, especially in a situation like this.
Carina Bianco continues to intrigue me – and I know I’m not going to let this week pass by without getting to know her more.
CHAPTER FOUR
Carina
I catch my breath at his words. Maybe, maybe not? What does that mean? Does he want me to shut up and be obedient and quiet so that I don’t make it difficult for him? Does he want me to sit in this room and not cause any fuss, and wait for my fate to be decided?
I can’t do that. It’s not in my nature. I will fight every moment that I’m here – and if he thinks he can stop me with these threats, he has not met me before.
“So,” Tommy says, with an abrupt change of manner that has me startled. He even smiles. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? What can I have them get for you?”
I blink at him. The change is so sudden that my brain has a hard time keeping up. “What?” I say, stupidly.
“It’s simple, Carina,” Tommy says. The way he says my name this time makes me flush. Carina – sweetheart. He says it like the meaning of the word, not a name. “What do you need right now?”
“My freedom,” I mutter, stubbornly.
Tommy laughs. “That’s the one thing I won’t give to you at this moment. But you can have anything else. Did you eat breakfast this morning? It’s early still.”
“I ate,” I say, warily. What’s this about? Does he mean to confuse me on purpose? Is this a case of the carrot and the stick, both used in equal measure?
“I’m not going to let you starve in here,” Tommy says, knowingly, as if he suspects that I might go on a hunger strike as a protest at being kept away from my home. Well, he’s right, the thought did cross my mind as soon as he brought up food. But I don’t know that I could pull it off. After all, food is one of the great loves of my life. One of the things I most enjoy. Just one look at me will tell you that. “If you won’t have breakfast, then I will at least tell them to bring you lunch in a few hours.”
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