Alle Kapitel von Taken by the Mafia King: Kapitel 261 – Kapitel 270

Tommaso“Yes, Mr. Conti,” the woman on the phone said in a pleasant, accented voice. “I understand you want to leave quite quickly. I am simply going to transfer you to—”“No, no!” Hold music filled my ear again. “Fuck.”I ran a hand through my curls and marched back and forth through the little living room. I’d been transferred three times already because, apparently, the flight I knew about was full, and none of the identically pleasant-voiced women I’d spoken to so far had responded to my not-so-subtle offers of bribery.No, they wanted to tell me about the red eye to New York with no connection, or the flight leaving in twenty minutes for Atlantic City where Paige and I would have to sit on opposite sides of the plane.I couldn’t do that again. The cab ride had been awful. She cried most of the way and never looked at me after that first moment. I didn’t expect her to be happy or comfortable after what she went through, but she was so upset I had no idea what to say.“Hi, I’ve bee

PaigeI froze and stared up into the face of a massive, bald Egyptian man I’d just run into. A thick scar cut through his left eye, and the eye itself was hazy white. He grabbed my shoulders like I needed to be caught, like any momentum I had hadn’t died when I smashed into his rock-hard body. My forehead ached a little from the impact, the least of the injuries I’d gotten in the last few months.He nodded. “Miss. I am seeing you, thinking you need help.”His fingers pressed into me, tight enough that even through two layers of cloth I could feel his strength. A threat. I glanced down at his waist to see the sheath of a massive hunting knife poking out of his loose, black pants. I swallowed.“I’m actually okay,” I said. “Just playing a game with a friend.”“Ah, you want friend.” He smiled, revealing a pair of golden incisors. “I want friend also. I am Mahmoud. You can trust Mahmoud.”“I actually want my friend. The one I came with.” I looked around like Tommaso would appear when I sai

PaigeI tugged on the handcuff. It was stainless steel, the good stuff. There was no point even wasting my time trying to break it.I stared at Tommaso, who was on the phone with the airport again. He’d given me a long-chain cuff, so I could move around a little. My whole body ached even worse than it did when I got up this morning, but I meant it when I said I’d rather take my chances with the Egyptians.I looked at Tommaso again. He’d dropped those bastards like an action star without even breaking a sweat. He’d taken a gun out of a holster under his jacket a few minutes ago and locked it in an under-bed safe. Six enemies, and he didn’t even pull it. Nobody had protected me from anything in a long time, and certainly not like that.All on behalf of Sera Bianchi, who I hadn’t seen since I was eight. I still remembered that day, the very last day we spent as part of Dad’s old world. She’d invited a dozen kids to her ninth birthday party at a nearby park where a little carnival had bee

PaigeI crossed my legs on the hotel bed, and for the first time in five months, denim scraped against my skin. None of the bastards let me wear pants—when they let me wear anything at all. Between that, the snacks, and the totally private shower, I watched Tommaso pack up the room with a little less of a glare than I had an hour ago.My stomach grumbled, and he glanced at me. There was something in his eyes, around his mouth, that implied a smile. It would be hard not to notice that he was handsome. His soft green eyes balanced out the sharpness of his jaw and his bushy eyebrows. None of the other bastards had spent so long with me and not used me. Tommaso had barely touched me, other than all the time he’d spent dragging me around.I ripped my eyes away from him and looked back at the bedspread. Stupid. He was a bastard, just like the rest, and I needed to focus on myself. Despite the snacks I’d crammed down my gullet, I was still hungry. A perfect cheesesteak appeared in my mind’s

Paige“Stop crying,” the bastard snapped. “Or I’ll give you something to really cry about.”A whip cracked through the freezing air, and just before it was about to land on my naked skin, I woke up.The world of the dream melted away even with my eyes still closed. A soft blanket was wrapped over my legs, and a pillow was warm and soft under my cheek. I would probably have to be up for work in a few minutes, but first, I had to figure out where that wonderful smell of cinnamon was coming from.Wait. Cinnamon?I opened my eyes, and everything came rushing back to me. I didn’t have a job anymore. I’d spent the last five months in captivity. That dream had been a memory. And I’d fallen asleep on the shoulder of the bastard who’d most recently bought me.I shot up and rubbed my cheek. The bumpy weave of his polo indented my skin, a sure sign I’d been asleep for a while. Hopefully, that would cover the heat rising to my cheeks. Shame was a four-letter word to me now, but I still felt stupi