Owned by the mafia boss

LIANA

“Want to get out of here?”

James’s voice echoed as though from an empty grave. His hollow words rang with a slight suggestion, but they stirred nothing inside me but contempt. Barely thirty minutes into this black-tie gala that cost thousands to attend, and the high-maintenance jerk wanted to leave. To fuck me, no less. As though he even had a shot.

Did he think this date was going well?

He’d worn enough cologne to knock out an elephant, and he’d annoyed me all night, jerking my arm, pointing at people like a toddler at the zoo. Look, Li, there’s the mayor!

We stood next to the window wall overlooking the harbor outside the museum, which lit up like the Fourth of July despite the violence rocking the city. Red, white, and blue dominated the décor in a patriotic display that fooled nobody. This was a networking event for my gangster brother and his friends.

“Li, I’ve had my fill of this party. It’s nice, but not my thing.”

“You’d rather have cheap beer and chips? I’m not leaving this food.” I shoved a spoon into the bowl of chocolate-covered strawberries to heap them into a plate. “Aren’t you an athlete? Eat.”

“I’ll put you in my mouth.”

Not a chance in hell.

I smiled at him as though mildly tempted by the idea, but his husky voice made me want to barf.

“Oh my God,” he moaned, abandoning his Lothario vibe as he tugged my hand. “It’s the running back for the Hurricanes, DeShaun Brown. I’m going to ask for his autograph.”

I grabbed him. “No, you’re not.”

“I just want a selfie.”

“Do I have to call security?”This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

“It’s a party. What’s the big deal?” A faint line settled over his brow as he downed his drink. “And why is your bro rubbing elbows with politicians and labor union officials? He owns restaurants.”

“He’s a rich guy who invests in his community.”

“How did that happen?” James seized the strawberry from my fingers. “I know someone who opened a roasted chicken place in the heart of downtown. Rent costs a fortune. It took him years to turn a profit.”

“He owns a lot of them.”

“Huh. Does he have a fairy godmother?”

I glared at James, annoyed that he’d guessed correctly that something was amiss, but wasn’t smart enough to Google my last name.

“Can we not discuss my brother?”

He shrugged, his lip forming a pout.

I deserved this for taking an outsider to the gala, which was more about securing the Family’s interests than a fundraiser. I couldn’t walk without stumbling into a Costa or a Ricci.

Depressing.

Hating the mafia wasn’t that easy, because everybody I loved was involved. I’d been orphaned by mob violence and adopted by Costas, but I wasn’t one of them. Blood was everything, so I’d always felt like a pariah.

I resented Michael’s world. More than anything, I craved an identity outside of Costa. No matter what I did or where I went, I’d be Michael’s sister, forever trapped in a gilded cage, unable to get a coffee without a bodyguard hounding me, reporting to Michael, my comings and goings monitored. Anybody who dated me would defer to my brother.

An arranged marriage was the price I paid for having this name-Costa-the albatross around my neck. I wouldn’t trade my family, but sometimes I fantasized about a saner upbringing.

That’s why I liked my Bourton friends and teachers. Nobody sucked up to me there because they had no idea who I was.

Bringing James to this was like taking a stripper to a tech conference-inappropriate as hell. I’d only invited him to thumb my nose at Vinn and Michael. I thought he’d be easy to control, but I’d spent the evening fending off his hands, pretending to care as he waxed about growing up in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and fantasizing about stabbing my ears so I couldn’t listen to him speak.

“You’d think they’d have oysters.” James frowned at the banquet of seafood. “Not all this fried garbage.”

Ungrateful jerk.

He stuffed his mouth with shrimp, chewing loudly, and then he wiped his chin with the back of his hand. Crumbs clung to his cheek. College boys were so disgusting.

I should fake a crisis.

“You ready to go, babe?” he asked, patting my butt.

I exhaled a sharp breath. “A-don’t call me that ever again, and B-don’t touch my ass.”

“God, you’re such a priss. You act like we’ve never fooled around.” He shot me a wounded look. “You were all over me at the Sigma Fi party.”

“I was unconscious for most of our fooling around, so I’m not sure why you’re surprised.”

I’d never brought up the incident, because it embarrassed me to death. Part of me wanted to pretend it never happened.

James reacted like I’d taken a dump on the floor. His eyes widened, and he shook his head. “You weren’t asleep.”

My nails bit my palms. “We both made mistakes, but you put your hand down my pants while I was out of it.”

A muscle jumped in his mouth before he went on the offense. “So you’re one of those girls. Everything’s all good until you sober up, huh? Suddenly, it’s a mistake. Fuck you, Liana. I didn’t-I did nothing wrong.”

“Then why are you freaking out?”

“Accusing me of this could get me expelled!”

“This? What do you mean?”

He shot me look. “You know.”

“Say it,” I taunted sweetly, watching the tan drain from his face. “What is that called, James?”

“You’re crazy.” He chewed on his lower lip, looking away. “I mean-just-wow.”

Your gaslighting is on point tonight.

Behind James, a man’s silhouette carved through the crowd. He walked with a nonchalant grace, towering over the other men. The rich outline of his powerful shoulders strained against his jacket. Vinn’s square jaw tensed as he spotted me. Just the man who’d beat James into a puddle of crimson if I felt so inclined. It wasn’t like me to crave vengeance, but inviting James had been like lighting a match to a powder keg.

Luckily, Vinn paid James as much attention as the dirt under his shoes. He approached me, beautiful with his hair tamed to a smooth wave, his well-groomed appearance incongruous with our last exchange.

Do as you’re told, Liana.

I hadn’t.

His fingers, tapered and strong, brushed my collarbone before his palm rolled over my shoulder and held me. His biting grip sent a chill through my body.

“You were supposed to wait at your apartment,” he admonished, squeezing hard. “What am I going to do with you?”

Danger throbbed behind those words. The warmth of his smile wasn’t echoed in his tone. It said I’d suffer a worse fate than a bruised ass if I defied him.

“What the fuck, Liana?” James snapped, reminding me of his presence. “You still with the Neanderthal?”

Vinn’s eyes lit up in vague amusement. “Get lost, kid.”

“I’m her date, Mr. Cockblock,” James snarled. “Sorry, I mean, Costa.”

Vinn’s firm mouth curled as though on the edge of laughter, but when he slid his gaze from mine to James, a cold fury radiated from him.

“I’m feeling charitable tonight, so I’ll allow you ten seconds to leave. Mouth off to me, and I’ll stop being amused at the man-child throwing a tantrum. I’ll drag you outside and hurt you.”

James flinched and stepped backward.

My stomach knotted. “James, just go.”

“How can you blow me off?” He shot a terrified glance at Vinn. “That dead-eyed creep needs to be locked up.”

I groaned. “James, go home.”

“Why the hell did you even invite me?”

“Because she’s pissed at me.” Vinn caught a loose tendril on my cheek. “My girlfriend likes to act out, but she knows who she belongs to.”

Girlfriend.

My hands found the seashell necklace, and I stroked the ribbed edges, pressing my thumb into the sharp corners as though the pain might distract me from my most desperate ache. I imagined the old Vinn saying that, my insides somersaulting with butterflies. The same heated rush from all those years ago, when he’d kissed my head, stained my cheeks. Then his stare drifted to two men hanging in our peripherals. He nodded.

They grabbed James, who protested with a loud, “What the fuck?”

“Take him outside.” Vinn dismissed the security with a wave. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Let me go,” James roared, struggling. “Stop! I want to speak to your manager!”

The lump in my throat sank.

I hadn’t meant to harm James. I’d pictured a public humiliation-my way of teaching the fucker that there were consequences to treating women like garbage. Vinn delivering a beatdown was over the top.

“Don’t hurt him.” I studied his clenched jaw. “We’re in the same social circles. Queenie will never forgive me if I let you beat him up.”

“Let me? You have no pull over me.”

“She’s not going to care!”

His hawk-like gaze swung to me. “You should’ve thought of that first.”

“Vinn, this is ridiculous. James is just a friend.”

“Not when you ask him out and wear a fuck-me dress.”

A sliver of heat rippled through his words, lashing my face.

His black eyes burned with a strange intensity. It was an insolent, possessive stare, like he had every right to look at me and gape down my neckline. He plucked the drink from my hand and slammed it on a table.

“What’s your problem?”

“We were supposed to go together. Coming here with that fucking kid messed everything up.”

“I didn’t feel like hanging on your arm all night.”

“You’d rather be on his?”

“Yeah.” The lie heated my cheeks. “It might surprise you, but some women like to be treated like they’re more than flesh wrapping your cock.”

“Or you just did it to piss me off.” Vinn wheeled us away from the open bar, his fingers gouging my waist. “For someone who hates me, you sure have a lot to say about me.”

I gritted my teeth, annoyed at Queenie. She had planted this seed in his brain, and it’d grown out of control, taking root in places it had no business. He was getting all sorts of wrong ideas. They needed to be killed with fire.

Now.

“Vinn, I am not interested in you. At all.”

“The more you say that, the less I believe you.”

“Well, you need to,” I blurted. “I can’t stand you.”

“You’re not my favorite person, either.”

I grabbed his tie and yanked. “I’m serious.”

“So am I.” Vinn’s roaming gaze lingered on my mouth as he stole the tie from my fist. “I like my women submissive and easy. You’re a pain in the ass.”

“Cut your losses and leave.”

“Not happening.”

I held out my hand. “Give me your phone.”

He lifted a brow. “Why would I do that?”

“I’ll block your mistresses since you’re so hell-bent on controlling my life. Or maybe I’ll tell them humiliating stories, like the time I caught you and my cousins watching porn in the living room.”

“That story is only embarrassing because you were nine.”

“No, it was weird because we’d just returned from a funeral.” I still remembered tottering downstairs after the wake, captivated by the moving limbs on the television. “What kind of kid watches porn after seeing a dead person?”

“Blame your brother. His idea.”

“Oh, it’s all Michael’s fault?”

“He was in charge,” said Vinn, not looking remotely abashed. “We visited the video store after the funeral to rent something. We were trying to cheer up our cousin. He’d just lost his mom.”

“Nothing says I’m sorry for your loss more than a porno.”

“Teenage boys.” Vinn shrugged. “We didn’t know any better.”

I shook my head. “Did it work?”

“Well, no. You barged in and ruined everything.”

Waves of heat bounced from me to him as the light overhead dimmed, throwing us into shadows. Candlelight softened Vinn’s stony features, making him less a predator, more Prince Charming.

“Mom was so mad,” I whispered, alarmed by the electricity pinging my skin. “I remember you springing from the couch to cover my eyes.”

“Like this?”

Vinn slid his palm over my gaze.

Warmth bloomed inside me.

A slender thread of attraction slowly formed between us.

His hand weighed as heavy as it had back then, and the arm hooking my shoulders echoed his gentleness. Suddenly I was a breathless girl, disarmed by his undivided attention.

He pressed his mouth into the shell of my ear, sending a jolt through me. “Close them, Little Li. I’ll know if you cheat.”

“I hate this game.”

“Do as I say, and I’ll make it worth your while.”

Twelve years ago, he’d lured me from the living room with those words to the attic. My reward was half an hour of board games, which for a nine-year-old was huge. We’d played while the floor rumbled with my mother’s scandalized voice. My mind swam with the image of Vinn hunched in the cramped space.

Until his lips grazed my neck.

The sensation made my head spin. Still blind, I sank into his arms. He kissed a line from my ear downward, every touch striking a vibrant chord inside me. He slid against my palm, hot and dry. Then he led me by the shoulder, steering me across the room. My heart pounded an erratic rhythm, his magnetism so potent that I obeyed.

A door groaned.

He crowded my back, his impatience making me stumble. The noise from the party dropped as the door slammed. A lock latched. We stood in an empty gallery. White walls and concrete surrounded me.

Vinn grabbed me, dropping the pretense.

My smile dissolved.

Reality set in.

This wasn’t Vinn, my protector. He was a predator who’d lured me away from safety, locked the door, and immobilized me. His arms wrapped me like a straitjacket, freeing my vision but binding me everywhere else.

It’d all been an act-the banter and his gentleness.

He’d put on a show to get me alone.

Fuck.