Page 4 of The Mafia’s Fiancee

Chapter 2

Emma

I would never forgetthe look of pure horror on Luke’s face. Never. I’d take that memory to the grave, hating how scared he was to run after me as the Giordino men carried me to that van. The expression of rage that my fiancé wore as he sprinted to retrieve me would forever be embedded in my mind.

Ever since I crossed paths with him, this supposed stranger who worked at my father’s resort, he’d been a figure of safety. Luke had entered my life as a member of security, working on the lock to my condo.

All these weeks that Krista and I had been at the Tropican, an underlying worry lingered that my father could come fetch me. That he would tire of me trying to get away for a while and demand me to come home. I’d never really been away. He’d known from the first day that I ran off with my best friend. If I’d truly tried to run away and stay hidden, he would’ve sent forces to hunt me down and bring me home. I figured that staying somewhere he could see that I was simply trying to relax, he wouldn’t be pressured to control me. Staying in sight, so to speak, should’ve had him relaxed that I wasn’t up to anything bad.

Until today, he hadn’t interfered. He called, and we had spoken once or twice, but he didn’t pull rank and force me to come back.

Now, he had, with unnecessary force.

I glowered at the guards who stood hunched over in the cargo space with me. It was too short for them to straighten. Instead, hulking and crouched over, they held on to the grips anchored to the ceiling and swayed with the motion of the van as it sped along.

These soldiers followed my father’s orders. They always had and always would. No woman—not even me, the boss’s daughter, could demand that they change their behavior. They were expected to do as he said, and as such, I refused to stoop and be an idiot, requesting they let me go. To release me so I could return to my real fiancé.

Antonio was supposed to claim me, but I chose to accept Luke. I’d made that choice when he slid that ring on my finger. Just wearing the thin metal band served as evidence of who I intended to love and have for the rest of my days.

The ring! Grateful that I’d landed to slump to my side, I kept my hands behind me and switched the engagement ring from my left hand to my right.

I didn’t have to guess why my father had me captured. He had to have gotten word that I was seen with Luke, just like Jimmy Rossini had. Word was spreading that Luke and I were together to some capacity, but Luke’s proposal was too new. No one could know that I’d accepted him as my fiancé. It just happened. And I had to keep that fact secret for a little longer.

At least until I could figure out how to escape my father.

“Was that necessary?” I asked hotly, aggravated that my father’s soldiers been lying in wait at my condo, prepared to ambush me when I got back from being at Luke’s apartment where he proposed.

“Shut up,” the guard ordered, scowling at me.

I rolled my eyes and looked down. They’d never treated me well, always viewing me as a nuisance, as a problem, because that was how my father viewed me. He regarded me as a burden and a pawn, never a woman to respect or a daughter to cherish. His guards acted accordingly, conditioned and trained to see me as nothing but a thing.

“He couldn’t just tell me to come see him?” I retorted. Using force like this was ridiculous.

“Like you would’ve listened,” the other guard drawled, sneering at me like I was the world’s greatest problem to ever exist.

I might have, but then again, I probably would have continued to avoid him and only maintain conversation via calls.

His show of power in kidnapping me bore more meaning. It demonstrated that he wasn’t dicking around. He wasn’t in the mood to play or ask nicely, or even discuss anything. My father wanted me back home, and he made it happen, depriving me of any say in the matter.

That alone wedged more anxiety into my soul. My chest already felt so tight, worn with the ragged breath I managed and the speedy tempo of my pulse. If he felt the need to haul me back home, he likely wouldn’t give me much hope to leave again.

Fuck.

I couldn’t stay there. I wouldn’t put it past him to keep me locked up, like when I’d tried to run away as a little girl, thinking that being an orphan would be a better life. When I took off and tried to hide, eager to find other people who’d give me love and be my found family.

Since the day I was born, I had been trapped in this mafia life, one I never wanted in the first place. Being born into a situation was a cruel existence to tolerate, and it was only when I met Luke that I dared to dream of something else. Of a bright and optimistic future I’d be excited to embrace. Of a life not dictated by a man who only cared about wealth and power, not love.

As soon as the van stopped, I kept my mouth shut, my head held high, and shoved out of the guard’s hold. I swatted their hands away and glared at them. Standing in front of the mansion I was supposed to call home, I gave them a furious glower that suggested the let me walk on my own. I didn’t need to be dragged in like a prisoner. I didn’t need to be bound up and forced inside.

I knew the way, dammit, and I refused to be submissive to the point he manhandled me and physically forced me to walk

Without waiting for their direction, I headed inside toward my room. Being back within these walls filled me with dread. This dark, oppressive home felt more like a dungeon than ever before, and the further I entered, the more I worried I’d never get out again.

Or worse, that I’d only be let out to go to Antonio’s.

No. Stay strong, dammit. I wouldn’t be his. I belonged to Luke. We were made for each other, and I valiantly strained to keep that promise alive in my heart and mind. As I reached my room, nervous that once I stepped over the threshold that I’d never get out again, I willed myself to stay firm.

Stay strong. There has to be a way out. I will see him again. If I couldn’t get out of here and run back to his strong arms, then he’d have to find out how to slip me out of here.