Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
“You promised to love me. You promised to be there for me in sickness and in health.”
“Nothing has changed.”
“And you promised to remain faithful to me. To be mine as I am yours, and yet you had to go with her, didn’t you? Isabella, the woman you really wanted. You wanted her, and now that she is available, I mean nothing to you.”
He took another step toward her, then another. Elsie wanted to stand her ground, but with Massimo, it was next to impossible. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but she’d run away and left. She hadn’t stolen from him. The money she earned as a waitress still belonged to her. Everything she’d taken had been stuff she bought with her own money. Everything Massimo had paid for had been left behind.
“Like I said before, nothing has changed, but right now, Elsie, you should know I am not sorry for this.”
Elsie didn’t have much time to react before he pressed something against her mouth. There was no time to struggle. She couldn’t even make out what scent it was, but then everything slowly faded to darkness.
****
“I know you don’t like to put labels on anything, but this is called kidnapping,” Romero, his brother said, standing in the doorway of the room.
“It is called luxury.”
“I mean, yeah, it is luxurious, no doubt about that, but you still cannot deny you have kidnapped your own wife.” Massimo turned to glare at his brother, who immediately put his hands in the air as if in surrender. “Not me, I mean, I totally think it’s normal to take a woman against her will.”
“Elsie doesn’t know what she wants,” Massimo said. Once he had her tucked away in bed, he stroked some of her hair away from her face. She would be out of it for a few hours more.
The moment he realized she ran away from him, he’d never known such panic in his life, and he’d stared death in the face multiple times. Nothing had even compared to what he felt knowing Elsie was out there without any protection. He had warned her that her life would be forever in jeopardy, but he’d been too selfish to walk away.
He’d fallen for her hard, which had been difficult for many to understand. To other men like him, capos within the mafia, women like Elsie were a dime a dozen. Most of them had mistresses with outsiders. They were only good for a fuck, although he was aware of some of them fathering children, and even living happy families with some of them, when they could get away from the obligations with their true family.
Massimo hadn’t wanted any other woman. From the moment he set eyes on Elsie, he’d known she was the one for him. No one else could even compare, nor did he want them to.
Stepping away from the bed, he knew in time Elsie would see this was for her own good. She would not be able to survive out there alone. He wasn’t going to let it happen.
He left the room, closing the door behind him, and Romero followed him down the corridor toward the sitting room.
“What do you want me to do?” Romero asked, and once again, the playful tone was gone from his voice.
Now they were down to business. Romero needed to be his eyes and ears while he was away dealing with his own wife.
“I want to know everything that goes on while I’m gone. Anything suspicious, you tell me.”
“Anything about Isabella?” Romero asked.
“Yes, she is up to something. Find out what it is.” He had a bad feeling about Isabella D’Angelo. She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the family. Men were constantly offering themselves, their titles, anything for her hand.
Massimo knew her father wished for him to be that man, and until Franco D’Angelo had met Elsie, bridges hadn’t been mended. Then Franco finally met Elsie, and, well, much to Massimo’s surprise, the other man had found Elsie rather charming. He didn’t know why he was so surprised. Franco had also been a man who had married outside of the mafia. It was why Isabella’s desirability was such a surprise. For many years, mafia families had treated the D’Angelos with disdain.
He never understood why the family was so intent on keeping it within the family. It was where he used to differ from his late father.
“On it,” Romero said.
He watched his brother leave the cabin, and the moment he did, he was alone. Massimo had known the moment he married Elsie and told her the truth, there was a risk people would try to come between them. He vowed to never let it happen, and yet that was exactly what did happen, and now he was pissed off.
From the moment he first saw Elsie, waitressing at a friend’s café, he’d been smitten. Never had a woman been on his mind so much. He figured Elsie would be nothing more than a quick fuck, and he’d be on his way. Only, Elsie had other plans.