Belonging to the Italian Mafia Boss: A Dark Mafia Arranged Marriage Romance (Possessive Mafia Kings Book 7)
Belonging to the Italian Mafia Boss: Chapter 5

The entire drive to the warehouse, I couldn’t forget the way she constantly stood her ground with me. I couldn’t ignore the way her small body so easily fit beneath mine as I pinned her to that wall. My mind clouded around what I could have done instead of backing away and going to the van.

I could have pinned her there and learned exactly what that sweet, cunning mouth could do to me in the most indecent places. I could have sent Karsen away and explored her body in the way I had been craving for a week. I’d hoped that staying away from her would quench those cravings, but it had the opposite effect.

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I kept my hands firmly clasped in front of myself as we rode in the van surrounded by my personal team. A car behind us contained eight foot soldiers, and each of them carried at least three high-powered weapons.

We’d end this one way or another, but I would try the least brutal way first.

We pulled across the street from the warehouse, and I threw up a hood, looking at Sabrina from the corner of my eye. “You and I are going in. We’ll try to settle this the civil way, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll call in backup.”

Sabrina shook her head, paling slightly. “They don’t know or respect me. They’ll kill us.”

I didn’t warrant her claim with a response as I stepped out of the car and waited for her to do the same. It only took a few seconds before she opened her door, and I peeked back inside. “My button is active, and if I remove my finger, storm the place and kill them all.”

Jamison nodded, holding up his phone where his panic button mimicked mine. I pressed my thumb tightly to my phone in my pocket, and if I released it, all of my foot soldiers would descend, and the people inside would be nothing but standing ducks, waiting for their execution.

Sabrina came to my side and looked up at me. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I began walking forward, moving along the back side of the fence surrounding the warehouse until I found a slit one of my guys had placed an hour earlier. “I know I haven’t given you a reason to trust me yet, but I need you to trust that I’m not ignorant of the ways of my enemies.”

“Even me?” she asked, popping upright on the other side of the fence as she followed me through it.

It was a loaded question, I realized. “You’re not my enemy. You’re the daughter of my enemy, you have the last name of my enemies, but unless you prove otherwise, you’re not my enemy.”

She didn’t respond to those words, and I wondered at what point my perspective on the situation had flipped. She had been my enemy the day I’d spared her life, but the longer she stayed with me, and the more I saw the woman beneath the wedding dress, I realized she wasn’t a mastermind who helped her father. And when she spoke about him, she showed that she hated him more than even me.

We approached the side door, and I looked over my shoulder at her small form. “Stay behind me.”

Then, we walked inside.

People milled about the wide-open factory, adjusting weapons to them and shouting at one another. I counted all fourteen people, and I realized that even if it went down in the next few minutes, my guys would have the upper hand.

It took a moment for them to notice me, and when the first man did, he shouted to all of his buddies. Within seconds, I had a dozen guns pointed at my chest, and I smiled wildly, knowing that if one shot went off, it would be over for all of them.

“If one of you motherfuckers pulls the trigger, you’ll have dozens of soldiers on you in less than ten seconds, and I can promise that there won’t be a single man left standing.” A few weapons lowered, and I glanced at the closest man who looked seconds away from calling my bluff. “If you want to take out the mob boss that’s about to claim all your asses, do it. But you’ll pay with your lives.”

The standoff didn’t last long. I knew that nobody here would risk their lives to take me out.

“Now,” I continued. “My wife and I would like to know who orchestrated this attack against my people and me.”

One person in the room gasped, and the others remained silent.

“I’ll tell you what. I’m feeling generous. The attack wasn’t carried out, so I’m willing to talk to the one who orchestrated this and work it out. If you’re about to be my men, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

I felt Sabrina stiffen behind me, and I knew exactly the reason. If I let this attack go, I’d be considered weak. I knew that’s what would happen. But I couldn’t punish everyone here, or I’d have more of a problem on my hand than I could afford. I needed to balance being brutal enough to earn respect and not being too brutal to sway away allies.

It took far less time than anticipated before one man stepped forward—the same man that had questioned me at the meeting a week before. I knew I should have killed him where he’d stood for questioning me.

“We’ve heard of your reputation. We can’t—”

“You can merge with me,” I said, cutting him off before he finished his words. I didn’t hesitate to grip the pistol from my holster, raise it, and fire into the crowd of men. Only my target fell backward and onto the ground, and I sighed as he went. “I said that I was feeling generous.” Everyone else in the room looked suddenly skittish. “I allowed him to speak, and I gave him a quick death. Now, if anyone wants to continue following him, speak now. If not, I would like to speak to each of you individually about making my transition as boss a smooth process. Speak now, and I’ll make your death quick. Betray me later, and it will be a long, painful endeavor. Understood?”

I looked around the room, and everyone tucked their weapons away. Many of the men bowed their heads at me, and I smiled. I glanced over my shoulder at Sabrina, and she took a deep breath. “You’re so fucking lucky,” she whispered.

“Luck has nothing to do with it,” I said low enough that only she could hear. I didn’t bother telling her that the trick to my methods was simple. Kill one person, and the rest would know that I wasn’t bluffing. Ruling with fear and a touch of trust was essential for putting people in line, and they’d soon learn that they could trust me as long as they were loyal to me.

“Speak now, or forever hold your peace,” I said loudly, striding deeper into the room. I kept count of all the people, but it didn’t matter. My men had orders to execute anyone who left the building. Nobody spoke, and I clapped my hands before me. “Good. I will let you know that if any of you leave the premises before I instruct you to, your life is forfeit. With that being said, let’s get to work.”

I left Sabrina by the door, and I took turns bringing each person back and feeling out their loyalties. The story was the same for each of them, and I knew it was to preserve their lives. The man I’d killed was paying them well to go against me, and now they’d happily spread the word that I was the best option to lead them. I had a claim to the position, and they all knew it.

More than anything, though, I knew that I had terrified them and that fear would serve me well.

As I released the last man from the back room, pleased that I didn’t have to kill any of them, I brushed my hands on my pants and looked around to find Sabrina.

At first, my eyes couldn’t process what I was seeing—not because I didn’t understand what was happening, but because I couldn’t believe that one of these men was ignorant enough to touch the woman I’d claimed as mine. I hadn’t been a fool. I’d noticed the glances that many of the men had given her. Some sweeping and some lingering, but the tone of the looks was all the same.

They wanted her, and only this man was foolish enough to act on those wants.

His hands wrapped around her upper arms, and she turned her head away from him as he leaned into her, pressing his lips to the base of her throat. I could see how much she didn’t want this.

I stormed forward and grabbed the man’s arm, jerking him off of her. The second he stepped away, I reared back my fist and landed one hell of a blow across his jaw, rocking him backward and throwing him into the cement floor. I didn’t bother reaching for my gun as I lifted him by the front of his shirt and slammed him back down, crouching over him.

“Do you remember what I promised to those who betrayed me?” I asked. “Nobody touches her.”

I’d never seen anyone go so pale in my life, and the satisfaction cut through me like a blade. I knew that Tucker was responsible for torturing men like this, and he took cruel pleasure in his job. I raised my fist again and slammed it into the side of his head, pleased as the pain in my bones radiated up my arm. I wanted to feel it after he tried to touch her. As I glanced up at her again, finding her stoic and holding herself, I cemented my decision.

“Wait here,” I demanded to her, gripping the now unconscious man’s arm and dragging him across the cement and out the door. Jamison waited outside, and his eyes flickered from the man to me and then back inside.

“What did he do?”

“Touched her,” I retorted, dropping the man and turning back to the warehouse. “Let Tucker deal with him.”

Jamison nodded, and I rushed back into the building, finding Sabrina in the same position as before. I walked around her and stopped directly in front of her. She looked up at me and shook her head, taking a deep breath. “That was unnecessary,” she spoke. “He didn’t hurt me, and it’s not my first time being groped.”

I gaped at her. “He touched you, and he did it to get to me. I don’t let offenses like that go unpunished. I don’t know what your father allowed to happen to you, but under my protection, it’s different.”

Her gaze darkened, and I wondered where her thoughts had gone. “So, it’s because I’m your property?” she asked.

It wasn’t just that. If it were just that, I would have broken his hand and let him go. Sabrina was more than that, but I didn’t know how to speak those words. They felt forbidden on my tongue, so I decided to say something safe. Something that made sense and didn’t reveal an ounce of the way she made me feel. “If you’re to be my wife, it wouldn’t look believable if I let other men touch you.”

An idea came to me, and I pulled the gun from my ankle holster. I tested the balance in my hand before meeting her eyes. She didn’t look afraid. She didn’t look anything. Her face remained perfectly blank.

“Are you familiar with guns?” I asked, and she nodded. I extended my hand to her. “If anyone tries to touch you in a way you don’t like, shoot them with this. There’s barely a kick, but it will do some damage.” I paused. “And don’t shoot me.”

She examined my secondary gun in her hand and looked up at me with wide, almost glazed eyes before nodding. She didn’t say a word as she gripped it in her hand and followed me outside the door. She didn’t even say anything during the entire drive home.

It wasn’t until we split that she finally whispered two words to me.

“Thank you.”

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