Captivated by the deadly mafia boss

“It wasn’t a smart idea.”

“Then why did you even start up with me? You knew who I was the first night, why not just tell me to take a hike?”

All good questions.

“That first night I thought it would just be a one-night thing. Then I figured a few times would be fine. A few dinners, some great sex.” I try to put on a coy smile, but he’s not affected by it. “It got out of hand. I liked being with you.”

He scoffs and tilts his head back. “You don’t know what being with me is really like, Nicole.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, it’s probably better you did run off to New York.”

I pull back from him. “If you didn’t give a shit that I left, then why the wounded warrior look now?”

He pulls his sunglasses off, showing off how dark his eyes have gotten over the course of our conversation.

“I don’t like deception. It’s that simple.”

“You don’t like not getting what you want,” I point out. “I guess you were wrong; it has happened at least once in your life.” I push past him and hurry toward my apartment.

“Nicole.” His voice is hard, firmer than he’s ever used with me and a small part of me wants to stop, wants to turn to him and see what he has to say. But I’m not playing games. I don’t have time and since I’m leaving town soon anyway, it really doesn’t matter.

I jog up my steps and into the building. I’m halfway up the first flight of stairs when I hear him behind me.

“Jakub, I’m home. You can go now. I’ll see you at work,” I throw over my shoulder, turning on the first landing and jogging up the second flight of stairs to my floor.

He doesn’t listen, of course, and he’s right on my heels as I head down the hall to my apartment. I managed to snag the corner apartment. It’s just as small and shitty as the others, but it has more windows.

My door is cracked open when I get to it. Jakub grabs my arm before I can reach for the door.

“Did you leave it open?” he asks quietly, shoving me behind him. I nearly drop my coffee in the process.

“No, I don’t think so.” I mirror his soft speech. Maybe someone broke in, realized I have nothing of worth to steal, and left.

“Stay out here.” He pins me to the wall with his hand then pierces me with a dark glare. “I mean it, Nicole. Do not come inside until I call you.”

“Okay.” I nod.

He shakes his head. “I’m being serious.”

I roll my eyes. “All this time you’re wasting playing caveman, you could be in there checking to see if the burglar left.”

His eyes narrow. “You’ll see what playing caveman really is if you step one toe in that apartment.”

Because I want him to get moving, I say nothing in response. There’s probably no one in the apartment anyway. I most likely just didn’t shut it all the way when I left.

He hands me his sunglasses, then bends over and yanks up the leg of his jeans, exposing the Glock strapped to his calf. After grabbing it, he gives me one more stern look then slowly pushes the apartment door open and creeps inside.

I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes, taking off my own sunglasses as well. This is stupid. Henry wouldn’t send guys to my apartment yet. How could they have found me so fast? And aside from that, standing out here isn’t going to do much good if the danger inside comes running outside.

With our glasses in one fist and my coffee cup in the other, I toe the door open and slither inside. My living room is torn apart. The couch has been turned over, and my television is lying face down on the floor. Robbers. Not Henry’s guys. Just assholes trying to steal my shit.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Jakub steps out from the kitchen, angry eyes leveled on me.

“There’s no one here, Jakub. See? I got robbed, well-” I look around. “Not really. Nothing’s missing.” Because I didn’t have anything.

“Let me check the bedroom,” he says.

“Fine. I have to pee.” I drop everything onto the kitchen counter and hurry to the bathroom. He can do his little sweep of the bedroom like the badass he seems to think he is, and when he finds no one, he’ll leave.

The moment I step into the bathroom a hand clamps over my mouth from behind, and I’m pulled back against a heavy chest. No amount of wiggling gets me loose, and when I try to scream the barrel of a gun is pushed into my temple.

“Shut up,” the voice hisses.

“Fuck, man. Jakub Staszek is out there. We can’t just take her now.” Another voice comes from the shower. I can’t turn well enough to see his face, but I recognize the voice from last night.

These are Henry’s guys.

“Look, we’re going to walk right out of here. Jakub isn’t going to do anything that will cause problems with Piotr. She’s a Kaczmarek problem, and we take care of our own,” the guy smothering me with his hand says. Panic underlines his plan, though. And a scared criminal is an unpredictable criminal.

“I don’t know.”

“Trust me!”

I throw my elbow back at my captor but he’s too fat for it to do much of anything other than piss him off even more. The barrel gets pushed harder against my head. I’m sure there’ll be a bruise tomorrow.

If I have a tomorrow.

“Nicole! What are you doing in there?” Jakub calls for me. From the sound of it, he’s in the living room. Which means these assholes have to walk right past him.

I shake my head, trying to warn this guy Jakub will kill them. They have to let me go, but he’s too panicked with the last-minute change in their plans to take me seriously.

“Okay, here we go. Move.” He shoves me forward with his body and frog-walks me out of the bathroom and down the hall to the living room. Jakub sees us right away; he’s still holding his gun, but he hasn’t raised it yet.

“Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum,” he says, shaking his head like a disappointed father catching his two sons stealing from the cookie jar before dinner. “I was hoping you’d have enough sense not to do something so fucking stupid.”

“You said you didn’t know this bitch,” the guy behind us accuses Jakub. Hiding behind his buddy and me seems to have given him enough courage to stop cowering in my shower.

Jakub shrugs. “I lied.”

“Look. We don’t want any problems. We’re just gonna take her back home. Henry wants her. Piotr gave the go ahead, so you can’t stop us. I mean it would be dumb-”

“Piotr Kaczmarek gave you the okay to come into my club and try to snatch a woman who works for me? He said you should come to her apartment and grab her? This is being done on his word?” Jakub’s words have them more afraid. If they aren’t working on the orders of Piotr but have said they are, they’re in for a world of hurt. And not from Jakub. Using the family’s name in vain ranks right up there with the second commandment.

“We have to bring her home.” The gun grates against my temple again. He’s getting shaky. Henry obviously didn’t send his best men after me. It’s good to know I mean so much to him.