Marked For Love (Mob Romance) (4 page)

The woman giggled, showing off even, white teeth. “If you’d like to be served now, sir, I can tend to you.”

“You’d
better
.” Giovanni grinned at her in way that left no misinterpretation as to what he really wanted and Vicente rolled his eyes as the two of them disappeared into the single bedroom in the back of the plane.

Well, that meant he wouldn’t be getting
his
dinner until later.

Sometimes he envied Giovanni for his easy way with women. The man didn’t appear to have let all their killing and blacker deeds have affected his lust for life. Quite the contrary – he appeared to want to be around women more after they’d just finished a job. Matteo, for his part, could take women or leave them. In any event, at this moment, he was more concerned about making it to the ground in one piece than his next piece of ass.

Leaving Vicente to wait, alone, for his dinner or for the plane to land – whichever came first.

Thankfully, Giovanni finished his dalliance long before they landed and they were served a dinner of filet mignon and roasted potatoes before they arrived in Boston.

The city was many, many times larger than Sicily, and as always, Vicente marveled at the Americans milling carelessly about the streets, absorbed in their own worlds. In his time under Giorgio’s instruction, he had killed ten of their number, silently, in the dark of the night. He came and went without their knowledge, and this time would be no different.

Of course, the hotel Giorgio had booked was the best of the best, and they would do nothing to sully its reputation. Upon arriving in their room, Matteo promptly disappeared into the bathroom to relive himself of all he’d been holding onto since they’d left Rome. Giovanni set to work raiding the mini bar while Vicente unpacked the instruments he needed for the night.

Women very rarely fought in the face of danger when they saw a weapon. Desperation only went so far, and he really had no desire to harm a female – especially not one with a face like Grace Trellis’. He would carry a Glock 19 with a silencer and a knife only. He favored simplicity over flash, and as far as he knew the girl had no history of physical conflict.

She would come easy, her father would pay, and that would be the end of that.

“Have a drink, Vicente.” He turned just in time to catch a small bottle of whiskey Giovanni tossed him in a single hand. The dark-eyed man smirked at his expression. “The girl doesn’t finish until late. And in any event, you need to loosen up a bit. At least she’s pretty and young. This will be easy for you.”

Vicente frowned, uncapping the bottle to take a swig before cringing. American liquor never ceased to repulse him, but if there was nothing better to drink, he would have to settle.

How else was he to pass the time that remained until Grace finished her business later on this evening? It was very possible that if he didn’t drink for a few hours, he might have to deal with her exotic blue eyes emblazoned across the forefront of his mind until he moved to take her.

And that could be
very
distracting.

**

The play.
Concentrate
on the play
.

Though she repeated the mantra to herself, it was hard for Grace to keep her thoughts centered on how awesome the play had been when she felt like she needed to take a long, scalding shower.

As she made her way out of
Gordon’s
as primly as she could, she prayed to God that she could get back to her apartment without anyone she knew catching sight of her. The silver dress didn’t fit nearly as well as it used to, but her father had insisted that there was no need to change, parading her around his clients as if she were a very high glass call girl.

They had ogled – they had stared, and Grace couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt more exposed. Of course, her father had said nothing – only looked on with blue eyes startlingly like hers and grinned with teeth in terrible need of dental work.

That was Ignacio’s prerogative. As long as his clients were satisfied, he didn’t mind what happened to the eye candy –even if it were his own flesh and blood.

Well, Grace was through. She was blocking the man’s number from her phone, erasing him from her contacts list, and if he wanted to sic her mother on her, let him do it. She was tired of being treated like a piece of meat that could be discarded at will.

Perhaps it was better to simply accept that she’d never have a normal relationship with her parents. How could she, when they had never been normal? Her mother had put makeup on her for her first day of preschool and her father had encouraged her to steal the toys she wanted in stores instead of buying them for her.

Did she really want any part of that mindset?

Just then, her phone buzzed against her hip and the young woman withdrew it from her bag to glance at the screen. To her relief, it wasn’t her father calling, but Emily. Grace answered the call, training her voice into a semblance of enthusiasm to hide her exhaustion. “Hey, Emily! I’m still reeling over your talent. You can’t expect me to be able to think straight now.”

“Oh, please, Grace.” Even though the younger girl attempted to rebuff the compliment, it was obvious from the warmth in her voice that she was pleased. “It’s just a little production with a limited run…but did you really like it?”

Grace didn’t have to tell an untruth to flatter her friend. Emily had always been a phenomenal actress, a star in all the amateur classes they’d taken together. It had only been a matter of time before she’d been picked up for something like this. Both Grace and the entire audience had raved about the play and her performance. “It was amazing, Em.” She gushed, a smile crossing her features for the first time in hours. “You were phenomenal.”

“Thank you. You know it means the world to me that you came…even if it took a little wheedling.” Grace felt herself blush in embarrassment as she scampered across the intersection before a large park – a football field sized space of greenery that separated her from her car. She had no idea what she’d been thinking when she originally parked – her mile high heels were killing her and the trek was definitely going to be a struggle.

The park appeared deserted this late at night, and she couldn’t help but tense as she began down the path, telling herself to concentrate on Emily and their conversation. “Well, I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I wanted to. I really did…it’s just with work and my family-”

“Oh yeah, how did that thing with your dad go?” When Grace had revealed that she’d have to cut dinner with Clyde and Emily short, they had, of course, wanted to know why. What Grace had told them had been seventy percent truth – her dad wanted her help with a business venture that required her presence. She’d left out the part that required her to dress like a skank and let old men grope her for the sake of
family
.

“Fine. It went off without a hitch.” Unless you counted her storming out in a fit of irritation when one of her father’s guests had grabbed her ass – painfully. “I’m just grateful to be getting home to bed. I can’t wait to read the awesome reviews of your play online tomorrow.”

“Here’s hoping.”

The enthusiasm in Emily’s voice was almost enough to wash away her anger at her father and Grace found herself genuinely smiling.

“Oh, not even. They’ll be there, Em. A new batch every week, right?”

Her companion laughed. “Right.” At that moment, Clyde’s voice came, muffled, from the background, interjecting on their dialogue. There was a moment in which he and Emily had a garbled exchange before her friend spoke again. “Grace, I’m going to go. Clyde wants to meet some friends for drinks. I just wanted to make sure you made it home safe.”

“I’m on my way to the car.” Grace affirmed – indeed, she could see the park’s exit beneath the flickering streetlights. Her Volvo was less than five minutes away. “Thanks, hon. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Sure thing.” The line disconnected with a click and Grace shifted to stuff her phone back into her purse. When she looked up, the young woman halted in her tracks as an unexpected sight met her gaze. Though she could have sworn the park had been deserted just moments ago, a man now stood in the middle of the pathway. Staring directly at her.

He was clad completely in black, from head to toe, aside from his brilliant blonde hair; and compared to her small five and a half foot frame – even in heels – he was immense. Grace reflexively took a step back. There were other ways she could exit the park, if she needed to.

Turning on her heel, she made to go back in the direction she’d came, only to find another man standing not ten feet from her. This one was a bit shorter and wirier, but also clad in black, his green eyes glinting in the light of one of the park’s flickering overhead lamps.

It was her dumb luck that she had to be in the one place in Boston where there were few people that would hear her scream if she got into trouble; and if she hadn’t been sure she had been in any before, the appearance of this second man cemented the notion in her mind.

Grace looked from the first figure to the second, her heart beginning to pound in her chest as she contemplated her next move. They were blocking the path at both ends so now the only option to her was to kick off her heels and run through the grass if she hoped to escape. With both the men eying her with distinctly unfriendly expressions, she thought that might be the best option.

She even started toeing out of her shoes a moment before a strong hand closed around her upper arm and cold, heavy metal pressed against her temple. Grace stiffened immediately, her knees going weak in terror as a slightly accented voice murmured in her ear.

“Don’t move, and don’t scream, and no harm will come to you.”

The tone was low and sinuous, dark enough to pique interests that had no place in her current situation and increase her breath even further. She couldn’t see the object held against her temple, and Grace wasn’t sure if she wanted to, but what she
was
sure of was that it was a gun. The click of a bullet being pulled into the chamber was unmistakable.

Swallowing thickly, the young woman struggled to keep her composure in the face of what might be her own death. “Please…you can take anything you want. I don’t have much cash but there are some cards in my bag. I...I don’t want any trouble. I just want to go home.”

In a smooth movement, she was wheeled around to face the man who held her captive, and all the breath drained from her lungs. None of the three men she’d seen had worn masks, and this one was no exception.

However, the difference between him and his companions was immediately impressed upon her. Grace’s mouth dried as she gazed up at him. He towered over her by almost a foot and the face that hovered above his all black garb was darkly tanned with a smattering of stubble over a strong, pronounced jaw. His facial structure was angular and proud, accentuated by a full mouth and a wide brow above a nose that looked to have been broken its fair share, but lent him a dangerous allure that would have been more intriguing even if it wasn’t backed up by the glock 19 pistol he held in his hand.

Dark hair fell almost to his collar, framing his face and lending him an allure that made her knees tremble in something completely different than fear, despite the seriousness of her situation.

Grace knew she must be out of her mind. The man before her had to be a good six-two, six-three of solid muscle and the look on his face was not one that suggested he might be hesitant to use the weapon he held. For a moment, eyes the color of the sky before a storm scanned hers, as if looking for something, before the barrel of the gun slid slowly from her temple down her cheek to rest beneath her jaw.

“We don’t want your money.” This fact thrummed through her, simultaneously scaring and arousing her. When men attacked a woman alone at night, they usually wanted one of two things; and if they didn’t want money, then…”We don’t want
that
either.” She jolted as he seemed to pick up on her train of thought before staring up at him incredulously. “I’m going to put the gun away, but I want you to understand that I can reach it again very easily. Then we’re going to tie you and take you from here, understand?”

“Why?” The word burst from her even as he began to lower the gun to tuck into a holster at his side. “Where are you taking me?”

“For now, it is of little consequence. Don’t make any trouble, and do as you’re told.”

That did it for Grace.

As entranced as this man had her for two minutes, Grace realized that their taking her from the park couldn’t mean anything good for her just as quickly. The moment the gun was out of sight, she turned on her heel and ran – almost tripping as she stepped from her heels to sprint across the damp park grass.

She shot for the east entrance of the park, running faster than she had ever believed possible – and made it perhaps ten meters before an arm hooked around her waist, yanking her backwards and knocking the wind from her. “
Grace
.” Her name uttered in an irritated tone made her stiffen even as she struggled to catch her breath. “I don’t have the patience for games.”

The time, the weapon raised to threaten her had a very sharp edge, stinging as it was leveled across her throat. “Come quietly and I will have no reason to open your throat.”