Owned by the Mafia Bad Boy (Book Five) Read online

  Gavini’s eyes widened and he grunted in surprise, frozen in place.

  “Drop the gun,” Kane rumbled.

  “You stupid son of a–” Kane pressed harder on his throat and he trailed off, dropping the pistol to the floor with a strangled gasp.

  Slowly, Kane pulled his own gun out, took his foot from Gavini’s throat, and sat up, Glock pointed at his face.

  “If you shoot me, Davros, you’ll have every Boss lining up to have you drawn and quartered. You wouldn’t do it.”

  “Try me.”

  Gavini dropped his shoulders. “What do you want?”

  “It’s not what I want, Dominic. It’s what I have. On you.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “You already know the Dons were having a meeting later today. Agent Hadler was supposed to expose a rat in your ranks.”

  “How do you—” He cut off, big fists clenching. “What of it?”

  “We know who the rat is.”

  “You lie. Davros you—”

  “You’re the rat.”

  The kingpin widened his eyes, face reddening in anger. “I’ve taken heads off for lesser accusations than that.” Except he looked much too tense.

  “Save it. Agent Hadler had a flash drive with recordings of you spilling mob secrets to the director of the FBI’s gang taskforce. That drive now belongs to me.”

  Every drop of blood seemed to leave Gavini’s face until it was dead white. His eyes flicked to me, arm tightening. Obviously, he was weighing his options, seeing if he could use me to gain control.

  “Don’t even think about it.” Kane shook his head.

  When the other man relaxed, Kane leaned back, almost casual, except for the gun he still pointed at Gavini’s face.

  “Now. Here’s the deal. When we’re done here, you’ll go back to your gorgeous car. You and your thugs are going to drive away. With this.” He nodded to Hadler’s head. “You will leave Anika and her father alone. No one is to touch them.”

  “You can’t—”

  “I can. I am. You, or anyone working for you, comes near Montrose, and every Don will know, within twenty minutes, that you’re the rat they’re looking for.”

  A horrible smile twisted Gavini’s lips. The promise in that look made my stomach churn.

  “You killed an FBI agent, Kane. Do you have any idea what will happen to you if the FBI finds out? I’m sure there’s plenty of guys in prison who’d love to see how good you’d look with your ass stuffed.”

  “They aren’t going to find out.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Because. You’re going to take care of it. You’re going to clean the mess up and make sure Hadler disappears.”

  “The hell I am!” Gavini roared. He reached for Kane’s throat, and Kane cocked his gun, pointing it closer to his head.

  “You will. You will, or the Dons and I will have a nice long discussion about how close you and an FBI director have become.”

  “You are dead, Davros.”

  “I hardly think you’re in a position to threaten me, Dominic.”

  “Maybe not now. But I’ll find a way to turn the tables on you. No one blackmails a Boss and gets away with it.” He leaned over slowly, picked up his gun, and holstered it. As he met Kane’s gaze, he wound the opening of the plastic bag around his fist. His mouth twisted up. “One wrong move, Kane, and you’re mine. Your head is mine, and so is her pretty little ass.” He flicked a glance at me. “Once I have her, I’ll tie her up and let every kingpin in this city have his turn before I take mine.”

  Kane kept the gun trained on him. Every inch of him radiated protective fury. “Get. Out.”

  Shoulders stiff, Gavini got out of the limo, taking the plastic bag with him. Still training his gun on Gavini’s men, David shut the car door, sealing us inside, then watched the men flank the mob boss as he marched to his car.

  Once the men got in the Rolls and the car drove out of the lot, I slumped in the seat, closing my eyes. Sweat slicked my face and I ran my hand down it, heart still hammering.

  “I could stand it if I never had to see him again, you know.”

  Kane’s big hand settled on my shoulder, squeezing protectively. “If we’re lucky, we won’t have to, now. You and your father are safe.”

  I nodded, grabbing his hand. Pleasure trickled through me when he squeezed back. His thumb caressed the back of my hand. Some of the tension left me, but I couldn’t relax. Not completely.

  Kane was only half right. Gavini would make good on his promise. Given the opportunity, he’d find a way out of the jam we had him in, and when he did, we’d be in more danger than we’d ever been.

  My father and I were safe, but for how long?

  3

  Once David pulled out of the restaurant’s parking lot and headed across town for the Lion’s Head Hotel, my heartbeat returned to normal, and the icy chill Gavini always brought slowly drained out of me. My focus returned to Kane.

  Between us on the seat, Kane had slid his hand into mine. Warmth infused me at the place where we were connected, and it made me wish for so much more. For the kind of connection I’d thought we’d finally begun to develop yesterday, after that fucked up dinner with his father.

  Muted by the dark tint of the windows, the city flashed past me without me really seeing it, high rise silvery buildings reduced to silhouetted blocks and spires. No one had ever made me feel so confused, so discombobulated as this Adonis in the Armani suit beside me. He’d risked everything, going against and inciting a war with a mob boss to save my father, and myself. He’d killed an FBI agent, and committed who knew how many other crimes besides, just to protect us. And yet, each time I thought I understood him, thought I was getting close to him, he withdrew, becoming that cold, unapproachable almost kingpin who saw me only as his property. A temporary sub to fill his domineering needs.

  I swear, sometimes it was like Kane was two different men. I never knew which side of him I was going to get, and the constant shift between the two threatened to rip me up inside. I didn’t know if I wanted to wrap myself up in him, or be as far from him as possible, before he could do any more damage to my heart.

  Letting my hand remain wrapped in the warmth of his much larger one, I licked my lips and looked up at his chiseled profile. God, he was so beautiful, like perfectly carved granite.

  “Thank you, Kane.” Why couldn’t I get my voice above a shaky whisper? Was it because of some lingering fear of Gavini, or something much closer to home?

  “For what?” His voice was husky, but I couldn’t read his emotions at all.

  “For everything. You’ve done so much for me. For my father.”

  “Sure.” He paused. “I take it what Hadler said about your father is true. Montrose isn’t your real father.”

  Unwilling to let him see the emotions that likely showed on my face, I looked out the window on my side. “No. He’s not.”

  “How long have you known?”

  “Since the day Gavini’s thugs attacked him at the farm.”

  Kane squeezed my shoulder and I sensed he was choosing his words with care. “Have you asked him who your father is?”

  “I…I haven’t had the chance.”

  “I see.”

  No way in hell would I tell him the real reason I hadn’t asked was because I’d chickened out. He already thought I was weak enough. Twice, I’d had the chance to ask my dad who my real father was, and both times, I’d let the opportunity slip by. It wasn’t just because it killed me to think that the man who’d raised me, the man who’d protected me from the Gavinis, wasn’t my father. Each time I was ready to ask, fear of the unknown choked the words in my throat, or kept me from going to Lance and asking him.

  Lance. Thinking of him as something other than my father still unsettled me, and I swallowed down the betrayal that bubbled up inside me. Next time I saw him, I’d make myself ask. I needed to know.

  “You know he probably didn’t tell you to pr
otect you.” He massaged my shoulder.

  I resisted the urge to relax into his touch. “Yeah, well, there’s a lot of that going around. Men keeping things from me because they think they know what’s best for me.”

  A muscle in his jaw twitched and he pulled his hand away, reaching into the inside of his blazer. He pulled out his phone. “I have some calls to make.”

  Cold. Clipped.

  Not that I would have known what to say to that anyway, but before I could have spoken, he dialed a call and turned his face to the window. Just like that, shutting me out.

  Well. Apparently, whether I wanted to get closer to him or not was a moot point. The decision was no longer mine. Before I could stop myself, I shook my head and looked out my own window. Wrestling down the resentment and abandonment that sliced at me.

  Damn it, I didn’t need him to comfort me, and I didn’t need him to make things better. I’d gone my whole life with only my father for companionship most of the time. Having the Gavinis after my father and I had forced me to isolate myself, to keep people at a distance. Loneliness wasn’t something I let myself feel even when life threatened to crumble around us. That my father and I were at last safe from Gavini’s hold, at least for now, didn’t change anything. Still, this was a big moment. It was a big win, one Kane had a lot to do with, and it stung that he wouldn’t let me share that victory with him. Freedom, at least of a sort, was mine at last, and I couldn’t even enjoy it with the man I wanted to celebrate it with.

  “Carl, fuel the jet. I’ll be flying out to Bel Air later today.”

  Right, with the whole mess with Gavini, I’d forgotten we were going to Bel Air. I’d booked the weekend off at the hospital for the trip. Speros, the hospital administrator, hadn’t been happy, but when I pointed out that I’d never taken time off besides this week’s usual two days, she agreed to let me go.

  Mixed emotions swirled through me at the thought of taking the trip with Kane. On one hand, it would give me a chance to see Dad. I’d force myself to finally ask him who my father was. And perhaps the time Kane and I spent together would give me a chance to crack that damned armor of his.

  Determination to do just that set in on me, but then I caught what he was saying to the person on the phone.

  “The flight needs to be for this afternoon. Four-thirty should be fine. No, I’ll be going alone. I don’t know when I’ll be back yet.”

  My heart sank into my stomach. He was going alone. Exclusion squeezed my chest in a tight grip, and it wasn’t just that I wouldn’t be going with him. I wouldn’t be able to see my father, or ask him what I knew needed to be asked. I kept my eyes on the city I could only half make out, refusing to let him see my emotions. He hadn’t even bothered to tell me.

  Kane hung up the phone and I heard him dial another call without so much as mentioning the change in plans. I didn’t even notice what the call was about before he hung up again.

  “So…” I stopped and licked my lips. The last thing I wanted was another argument, but I couldn’t just let this go. Not without an explanation. “So you’re not taking me with you to Bel Air, then.”

  “No. If you can’t get your hours back at the hospital, I’ll compensate you. I’m the one who had you book the days off.”

  Fuck, why was he acting like nothing had changed? Why had things changed?

  “That won’t be necessary. Mount Sinai always needs bodies on the weekends.” I made myself look at him and swallowed the lump in my throat. “You don’t know when you’ll be back?”

  “No. My father has a few new clients he wants me to negotiate with.”

  “You’re going to make me ask, aren’t you?”

  “What?”

  I sighed, but kept my voice even. “Fine, I’ll play the needy girly girl. You changed plans without telling me. Did I do something wrong?”

  “Of course not.” But he wouldn’t look at me. “I’ll be in meetings all weekend. I don’t have time for distractions. Trust me, after tonight, you won’t miss me much, angel.”

  I swallowed. He’d said he was going to punish me. For trying to help him. Strange how, even with the anger at that, and the hurt at his pushing me away, that familiar low ache still started between my legs at the thought of what he might have planned for me. Especially when everything about him radiated dominance.

  A distraction. That’s all I was. For the first time in days, I felt like the slave he always insisted I was not. I wasn’t someone he cared about or wanted to please, just a toy for his amusement and lusts. Then again, when he’d wanted me to come to Bel Air with him, hasn’t he said I’d be there only to satisfy his needs between board meetings?

  Yeah, he had, but I’d let myself believe that was just Mafioso bravado. Awareness of his playboy reputation reared up in my mind. Would he have another woman on his arm during down time, at parties and functions that would come after hours?

  “Kane, if you don’t take me with you, this means I can’t see my father.”

  “Yes, I suppose it does.” Again, not a glance at me, and he was about to dial another call.

  Damn him!

  “Kane.” I gritted out his name. “My father is lying in a hospital bed in another state, healing from a gunshot wound. You can’t do this.”

  Still, he didn’t look at me, and I thought his shoulders tightened. “It’s too dangerous, Anika. I’m not letting you near him. Gavini can’t touch him, but whoever tried to shoot him was working for the Ferraras. Until whoever hired that guy is stopped, I’m not letting you see him.”

  I stared. I couldn’t believe this. He was actually keeping me from seeing my dad?

  “Kane, seriously, you can’t do that.”

  “Watch me.” Eyes still on the phone’s screen. “I’ll be leaving shortly after that summit with the Dons. Assuming they’ll still have it, now that there’s no one to tell them who the rat is.”

  Again, without looking at me, he dialed something else, texting perhaps. Fuck, he was texting someone in the middle of an argument with me?

  Anger at his inattention, and his cutting me off from my father, welled in me. Unable to stop myself, I did something reckless, and, in retrospect, very stupid. I snatched his phone and shut it off. I seriously debated opening a window and throwing it out of the car.

  As soon as I had the phone, without the slightest change in the upraised position of his hand, Kane’s eyes lifted to mine, cold and hard.

  “Anika, give me my phone.”

  I swallowed and forced myself not to cave under that intense stare and the low growl in his voice that promised a world of pain.

  “I will, in a minute. I have less than a hundred dollars in my bank account right now. You’re the only way I have of seeing my father. I am all he has. You can’t just cut me off from him.”

  “I can do whatever I damn well please. If I have to ask you again, you will know a whole other world of suffering, girl. Now give. Me. My. Phone.”

  The menace in his voice was almost enough to make me obey. Problem was, if I gave the phone back to him now without making him change his mind, I was caving, and I couldn’t do that.

  In falling for him, accepting that I loved him-fuck, I really loved him!—I had to accept all that came with him. The violence, the darkness, the Family. But I couldn’t just accept him cutting me off from my father at will. Doing that was too much like being weak, and I didn’t know how to be that girl.

  “Rebook the flight for both of us,” I told him.

  As soon as I said that, I knew I’d only added fuel to the fire. Telling him what to do wouldn’t go over any better than taking his phone, and when he was in the middle of a business call. Man, I was in trouble.

  Kane’s eyes flashed. Then his hand snaked out and he snatched the phone from me so roughly I was surprised it didn’t break in his massive grip. He shoved it into his pocket. Then he seized the front of my throat, and shoved me back against the passenger side door, pinning me there.

  There was no force in his grip
, no effort to cut off my air, but he pinned me as easily as if he were using all his strength, and the grip on my throat was nonetheless intense, just hard enough to let me know what he could do to me if he chose.

  “Ah…oh my god…” I stared at him, throat working against his hand. I wanted to hate him right then, especially with the white hot need that ripped through me under his grip, but all I could do was sit there, pinned to the door, breathing harshly, pussy aching for him.

  “Do you have any idea what you just did, girl?” He moved in so close his hot breath fanned my face. “Let me make this clear. You never, ever, touch my things without my permission, and you never, ever, interfere with my work, do you understand me?”

  “I just wanted you to pay attention to me.” God, that sounded so needy, and not in a spank me hard kind of way.

  “Well. I’m paying attention to you now, aren’t I?” He released my throat, but yanked my head back until I winced. Holy shit, my pussy burned so hot it almost hurt. “I’ll be paying lots of attention to you when we get to the hotel, won’t I?”

  When I didn’t reply, he tugged my hair harder.

  “Ah! Yes. Fuck, yes, I get it. I don’t touch the mobster’s phone. Kane, that hurts.”

  “This is nothing. You’re gonna get a real good lesson. A nice long punishment, girl.”

  I almost groaned, but I couldn’t tell if it was in surrender or anger. I wanted to be outraged, but the possession in his voice, the hard determination to own me in his grip, made my blood race hot with anticipation. I loved that he was just dirty, just bad enough that he never backed down from doing what he had to do to protect me.

  “You know what I am. You know what this life demands of me. I said I’d do whatever I had to to protect you, and if that means you never see your father again because it keeps you safe, then you will never see him. I won’t let this woman who’s trying to kill him get her hands on you. Got that?”

  “Yes. Yes, I understand, Kane.”

  He made a low rumbling noise in his throat and then his mouth was at my ear. “I love when you do that. When you sound like the perfect little submissive. Makes me so damn hard.”