Arranged Mafia Marriage

Theresa

One moment, he was kissing me like his life depended on it, like he had never kissed me before, like he meant it, like he loved me. He loves me; he does. I knew it because of the way he’d slanted his mouth over mine and wrapped his arms about me and held me so close that nothing and no-one could come between us-or so I’d thought-and the next he’d pulled back, a strange look on his face. A mixture of determination and anger… and a plea for understanding? For forgiveness. My heart had slammed into my ribcage, my stomach had bottomed out, and I’d known then, that he was going to do something bad. Something that would change the course of all of our lives.

Something I’d never be able to forget in the years ahead. I’d opened my mouth to scream, but he’d already spun around, grabbed Seb’s gun, then yanked me to him. My breath had caught in my chest and my fingers had trembled, even as I’d clutched at my wedding bouquet. This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening. My knees had almost given way from under me and his grip around me had tightened.

“Get down,” he’d waved the gun at Michael, “get the fuck down.”

The whisper of guns being unholstered fills the space. The next moment every single Sovrano brother except Seb points their gun at Axel.

“Put your gun down,” Axel growls at Michael.

Michael glances from him to me, then back at him. “What are you going to do with her,” he asks in a low voice.

“She’s my wife now,” he laughs, a harsh mean sound that sends a shiver of fear down my back, “and I’ll do what I want with her.”

Michael takes a step forward and Axel clicks his tongue, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I must make a noise, for Michael’s gaze darts back to me. He draws in a breath.

Put your gun down, now,” Axel snaps.

Michael bends and places his gun on the floor.

“Kick it over to me,” Axel orders.

Michael slides it over and Axel stops it with his foot. “Now ask the others to do the same.”

Michael nods at his men. First Massimo, then Adrian, and Michael’s bodyguard Antonio place their guns down and kick it in Axel’s direction. Luca makes a growling noise at the back of his throat.

“Do it,” Michael admonishes him.

With a glare in Axel’s direction Luca places his gun on the floor and kicks it toward Axel.

“Get on your knees now, all of you.”

Michael hesitates. I am sure he is going to refuse, then he lowers himself to his knees.

“Hands behind your neck,” Axel snaps.

Michael complies, and Axel glances sideways at Seb, “That goes for the rest of you guys, too. On your knees, hands behind your neck.”

Seb hesitates and Axel cocks his gun, “Do as I say and no one gets hurt.”NôvelDrama.Org is the owner.

“Get down,” Massimo snaps as he himself drops down to his knees. First Seb, then Adrian complies.

“I told you he was up to no good!” Luca laughs. “I wish I didn’t have to say I told you so,” he points a finger at Michael, “but I told you so.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Axel glowers at him, “and get the fuck down.”

Luca shakes his head, wraps his hands behind his neck, and sinks down to his knees.

Antonio, Michael’s bodyguard takes a step forward and Axel shoots at him.

There’s a scream from behind me, then the sound of people scrambling up from their seats and racing for the door fills the space.

“On your knees, or the next time, my shot will find it’s mark,” Axel says in a hard voice.

Antonio glances at Michael, who nods. He sinks down to his knees, as well.

The minutes stretch. Axel kicks each of the guns behind him and into the pews where they scatter in different directions. By the time I risk a glance over my shoulder, the space is empty. Except for Karma, Cass and Nonna, as well as Theresa’s parents and sister who are rooted to their seats, everyone else has left.

Axel turns to the priest. “Leave,” he growls. The man doesn’t need a second prompt: he turns and scampers off and out of the rear door.

Axel begins to back up toward the front door of the church, forcing me to walk backward with him. As we pass the pew where Nonna is sitting, she rises to her feet. “Don’t do this Axel,” she pleads with him. “Let her go, come back to us and all will be forgiven.”

“What about what you did to my mother? Do you think she ever forgave you for that?”

Nonna pales, “I tried to tell your father to not let her go, to definitely not accept the deal that your mother’s family was proposing.”

“And yet, you let him exchange me for increased power and assets.” Axel chuckles, “Now, let’s see how you deal with the aftermath of one of your own double-crossing you, and in front of the entire world.”

Nonna presses a hand to her chest, “You don’t mean it.”

“Oh, but I do.” He laughs and the sound echoes through the space. “This is going to show you lot as weak. It’s only a matter of time before your enemies come after you and try to undermine Michael’s power. And if they fail, well, I am always available to finish off what I started.”

“Let her go,” Seb growls, “Xander loved her. For your triplet’s sake, let her be.”

“It’s for my triplet’s sake that I am taking her with me. My brother would have wanted her to be well looked after, and that’s exactly what I intend to do with her.” His arm about me tightens. He increases his pace and I struggle to keep up with him, seeing as we are still walking backward.

“Please, Axel, whatever it is, we can work it out. You’re not a bad man, I know that. You have so much hurt, so much anger inside of you-”

“Emotions that I intend to work off with the help of your sweet willing body, Sunshine.”

I shiver. “If you think I am going to let you fuck me-”

“Who said anything about you letting me do anything?” He chuckles and the sound is so dark, so filled with menace that my head spins.

“This is not the real you speaking. This is…someone who is filled with the need for revenge. When it wears off, you’ll see what you are doing today is wrong.”

“Maybe,” his footsteps thud as he continues to walk backward toward the door, “but I intend to have a hell of a shagfest meanwhile, with you, my darling wife.”

“If you wanted to fuck me, you could have done so without kidnapping me.”

“But imagine how filled with anger and remorse the Sovranos are going to be now that I have their precious “Xander’s girl” with me… Not that you were ever his girl. We both know he was too confused to ever give you that status, but you know what I mean. They are going to be shitting themselves, knowing that I am going to be taking full advantage of my marital status, darling. Again, not that they can do much, considering we are man and wife, in the eyes of God, at least.”

Anger fills my veins and heat flushes my skin. Before I can stop myself, I have turned around and slapped him. The sound reverberates through the space. There’s silence, broken only by the sound of a pigeon’s wings flapping in a corner of the church.

Then, he throws back his head and laughs, “Damn woman, you always surprise me. All that sass and fire. Just when I think you are meek, you flash your spirit.” He claps his fingers behind my neck, yanks me up to my tip-toes, and leans in close to me before saying in a low, menacing voice, “I can’t wait to rip into your pussy and teach you a lesson on how you need to behave with your husband.”

“You are not my husband.”

“The ring on your finger says otherwise, sweetheart.”

I reach for my ring and he shakes his head, “Even if you take it off, we can’t undo the vows we exchanged in front of the Man Above.”

I draw in a breath, then curl my fingers into fists. “I hate you,” I snarl, “I hate that I fell for you. I hate that I spent all those days praying by your bedside. If I could do it all over again, I’d wish for you to die.”

He yawns, “Save your strength; you are going to need it.”

I raise my hand, and this time, he bends and throws me over his shoulder. “Let me go,” I yell, “you stronzo, you carogna, you fetente,” I try to bury my knee in his groin, but he tightens his grip across my thighs. He turns and jogs toward the door. I lock my fingers, bring my fists down onto his back, but he doesn’t even wince. My veil flows down, blocking out the sight of the church, then the tiara comes undone and drops to the ground, taking the veil with it. I push the hair out of my eyes, glance up to find Nonna swaying. Massimo jumps to his feet and goes over to catch her before she hits the ground. Behind him, Luca and Seb scramble under the pews to find their guns while Michael and Antonio are already on their feet and racing toward us. Then the door slams shut, cutting them off from view.

Axel races down the steps as I wriggle in his hold. “Let me go,” I cry, “let me the fuck go.”

He reaches the first car, a Ferrari, and opens the door on the driver’s side. Still holding me, he grabs the man behind the wheel, hauls him out, and flings him aside. He throws me inside, turns and kicks out the legs from the man who’s jumped up to his feet. He follows me inside, forcing me to move over to the passenger’s side, before he slams the door on his side.

My gown is stuck in between my legs as I reach for the door on my side. He reaches over, and gripping my shoulder, hauls me over the partition between the seats and across his lap.

I hear the locks on the door engage and cry out in frustration. I try to pull free, but he places the gun on the dashboard and spanks my ass, a hard tight slap that sends a line of fire up my spine.

“The hell?” I freeze.

By the time I think of beginning to struggle again, he’s already eased the car onto the road and accelerated away.

“What are you doing? Let me go, let me go.” I hit my head against the steering wheel and cry out.

“Damn it,” he curses from above me, “stop struggling or you’ll hurt yourself further.”

“The hell you care about that? You kidnapped me at gun point.”

“I never pointed the gun at you.”

“Oh,” I blink rapidly, “I still can’t understand why you did it? We were going to get married-”

“We are married.”

“I thought you loved me.”

“I never said that.”

“I thought you cared for me.”

“No, you assumed that I cared for you.”

“Why did you marry me if you had no feelings for me?” I cry.

“Thought that was obvious.” He snorts. “Revenge, baby, at the Sovranos, for what they did to my mother.”

“But they didn’t do anything. It was their father who was responsible for what happened to you.”

“Our father used my mother and me as a bargaining chip to grow his power and they benefited from what he did. Everything they have now is due to what he did, so even if they weren’t directly responsible, they don’t deserve what they have. ”

“How are you different from your father, when you are using me as a bargaining chip now?”

“Oh, there is no bargaining here. You are my wife now and you’ll do as I say.”

“I won’t,” I wriggle again, and this time, he lets me sit up. I reach for the door, try to open it, but the lock won’t budge. “Goddam it,” I bang at the door, then wince when pain shoots up my arm. “Argh!” I shake out my hand.

“Told you not to hurt yourself, didn’t I?”

“Like I give a shit what you want?”

“Oh, you will.” He accelerates and the car seems to leap forward. I am pushed back against the seat as he zips down the road, and takes a turn without slowing. The brakes screech, and even through the closed windows I can smell burning rubber. Ahead, a car barrels toward us and I scream and close my eyes. He swerves and the car whizzes by us. I open my eyes, only to yell again as I find that we are on a one-way street, heading in the opposite direction of the traffic. A truck blares its horn as it speeds toward us. I yell but I can’t hear myself as the sound of the truck’s horn rises to a crescendo. I slap my hands over my face as he swerves. I fall toward him, only to stop when a band of steel seems to stop my movement. I snap open my eyes and peer through the gaps in my fingers as he turns the car to the left and onto another road, this time hurtling forward in the same direction as the traffic.

I glance down to find he’s thrown an arm across me to stop me from falling over.

“Wear your fucking seatbelt,” he growls.

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll tan your hide, Sunshine.” He turns to me without taking his hands off the wheel, “Wear the belt or I am going to do it for you.”

The car swerves to the right and into the next lane; another driver honks angrily as he steps on the brakes and we pull ahead. I turn around to find another vehicle crashing into it from behind.

“Oh, my god,” I gape, “look what you did.”

“No, it’s what you did,” he snaps. “Wear the damn seatbelt or there are going to be many more accidents, and you will be to blame.”

Hell, hell, hell. I squeeze my eyes shut, then reach for the belt and manage to lock it into place.

“Good girl.” He finally concentrates on the road ahead and the breath I’d not been aware I was holding rushes out of me.

We ride in silence for a few more minutes. He finally turns onto the freeway that leads out of the city. He guns the engine, pressing down on the accelerator, but I notice he keeps it just under the speed limit. “Guess you don’t want to be caught by the cops, eh?”

He stays silent.

“You know, the Sovranos’ own pretty much the entire police force and most of this city.”

His lips twist in a smirk. He continues to drive down the freeway, then takes the next exit off. I frown when, a few minutes later, he turns onto a narrow road.

“Where are we going?” I ask, even though I know he’s not going to reply. He doesn’t disappoint me. He drives for another good ten minutes, then turns into a field…with a white building, and beyond it, a runway. He pulls to a halt next to the building, then switches off the engine. He snatches up the gun, slides it into the waistband at the small of his back. Then he gets out of the car and walks around to open my door.

I scowl up at him and he arches an eyebrow. Goddamn him for looking so gorgeous, in his white button-down and clean-shaven jaw. A lock of hair falls over his forehead and he brushes it back impatiently.

“Come on,” he jerks his head over his shoulder.

“Why should I?”

“Because I say so?” He bends down until his face is almost at eye level with mine, “Because I am your husband and where I go, you go.”

“And if I say no?”

“I’ll simply throw you over my shoulder and carry you there.”

“You won’t,” I say through gritted teeth, even though I, obviously, know he will.

He reaches for me and I throw up my hands, “Fine, step back, will you? So I can get out.” He moves back just enough for me to swing my legs out. I rise to my feet, straighten my dress, then brush past him. He slams the door of the car and follows me. He draws abreast with me, then proceeds to take my hand in his. I try to resist but he glares at me.

“Behave,” he warns in that hard voice that sends a thrill up my back. Gesu Cristo, why am I still so attracted to him, and after that stunt he pulled back there?

He prowls inside the hangar-and it is a hangar, for I see a plane parked in there. It’s a gleaming piece of work and he walks straight over to it and up the steps, pulling me in his wake. Is he flying out of the country? Of course, he’s flying out of the country. If we stayed in Italy, we’d be found very quickly. In fact, I had been counting on that. But leaving the country? Now, that’s a whole new ball game. How had he found someone who would work with him anyway?

A man greets us at the top of the steps. He’s wearing a captain’s hat and uniform. He hands over a phone to Axel, who pockets it before they shake hands.

“We’re ready for take-off,” the captain says in a British accent.

“Good,” Axel nods, “we are ready to go.” He doesn’t introduce me; the man doesn’t ask. Instead, he hauls up the steps behind us and proceeds to lock the door for take-off. I glance around at the plush carpet, the leather seats. Axel walks past me and takes a seat. He pats the one next to him, “Sit down, and belt up, we are about to take off.”

Under my feet, the low thrum of the engines vibrates. I walk over and pointedly drop into a seat on the opposite side of the aisle from him.

His lips twist, “Wear your seatbelt.”

“So you keep saying,” I snort as I fasten my seatbelt, “you don’t fool me though. I know that my safety is the last thing on your mind.”

“If it helps you to keep believing that…” he raises a shoulder.

“It does.” I lean back and close my eyes as we taxi down the runway. “They won’t leave you alone. It doesn’t matter where you go; they are going to hunt you down and-”

“And what? They’ll punish me? Shoot me?”

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and his fingers fly across the keypad. “We’ll see.”

Despite the fact-or maybe it’s because of the tumultuous events of the morning, but as soon as I close my eyes, I fall asleep. When I wake up, we are landing. There is a trickle of water across the windshield. I straighten and a jacket falls off my shoulder. His jacket.

I glance over to find Axel is still tapping on his phone. We touch down with barely a bump, and I glance out at the gray light. The clouds seem to hang low in the sky. I fold my arms around myself.

“Wear the jacket.” He pockets his phone as the plane taxis to a stop. He rises up to his feet and holds out his hand. I ignore it, then shrug into his jacket. Not because I want to obey him, but because it looks cold out there.

“Are we in London?” I rise to my feet.

“How did you know?” he asks, sounding impressed.

“The rain.” I shrug, “And the captain’s accent. I’m not stupid, you know. Makes sense that you’d come back to your home turf. Of course, it’s probably the first place they’ll look for you.”

He leans over, and I try to move back, but the seat has me blocked. He proceeds to fasten my buttons, stopping only when all of them have been done up. Then he turns, and once again, threads his fingers through mine as we head to the doorway. The pilot comes over and opens the door. Instantly, the chill air sweeps over me and I shiver.

“Cold?” He pulls me closer and we walk down the steps in tandem. He heads for a car, talks to someone who hands the keys over to him then leaves. I am so tired that I can barely stay on my feet. I slide into the passenger seat, and this time, put on my seatbelt without his prompting. Instantly, I fall asleep. The next time I open my eyes it’s dark outside, and we are still driving.

“Where are we going?” I yawn as I snuggle down further into the jacket. Hot air blows in from the vent of the car and I am grateful for it.

“You’ll see,” he slants me a sideways glance and I notice the shadow on his jaw. Good grief, the man is virile, but I knew that already. He switches gears with his left hand and I notice the band around his finger. My husband-we are married. Hell, we are married and he kidnapped me. The panic wells up and I swallow it down. I glance away, close my eyes, and allow sleep to pull me under.

The next time I wake up, I am in a strange bed in a strange room, alone.