Mafia Monster's Forced Bride Page 3

  She should have been fucking home, where she was safe.

  “Bill was there to protect her.”

  “Yeah? And did your precious bodyguard even notice the blacked-out car waiting for her, watching her? It fucking stuck out like a sore thumb, but he was busy watching her like some pervert.”

  Bill stepped forward. “I would never look at her in such a way. She is like a daughter to me.”

  “A daughter you’re going to get killed.”

  “Enough!” Liam yelled, and Roman gritted his teeth.

  In all his life, he had never had to step down from a fight or have so much control when it came to a man who pissed him off. His father had told him to respect Liam, to work with him, and above all else, to never make waves. This wasn’t how Roman worked.

  The Greco name was everything to him. Working with Liam, having Alex as his wife, it was all pushing him a little too far. He wasn’t used to not striking out.

  “Where is Alex?” Liam asked.

  Taking a deep breath, Roman turned toward Liam. “She is upstairs. She is the one who suggested I bring them here.”

  Liam nodded. “Good. She knows this is the best place to get answers.”

  “With cops partying upstairs?”

  “Those cops are friends. I take care of them, and they take care of me. I do not have to explain my actions to you, or that most of the men upstairs owe me.” He turned toward the men.

  They were currently passed out.

  Roman had decided to start with their nails. He found the utmost pain talked volumes. In most situations, a little pain, and men were blabbering all kinds of secrets. It was kind of embarrassing for them, but that was the way of their world.

  Liam stepped forward, and he tilted their heads back.

  “What are you doing?” Roman asked. He was used to working alone.

  “They have the mark,” Liam said and stepped back.

  “What mark?”

  Roman had been too pissed to get too close without beating the crap out of them. All he wanted to do was cut them up. He rather liked using his knives, and these men had thought to attack his wife. Even though he didn’t particularly like Alex, she was still his wife. Under his protection, and if anything happened to her, it would be on him.

  He would be a laughingstock of the Greco family.

  She had to be protected at all costs, even if he didn’t agree that she was part of their world. She was his wife.

  “The Smirnov mark,” Liam said.

  This made Roman step forward and lift the man’s head. Sure enough, at the base of his neck was the mark. It was a coiled snake, the fangs dripping blood.

  Roman hadn’t seen that in many years. “Why are they after Alex?” Roman asked.

  “Let’s find out.” Liam lifted the bucket of water, which was also mingled with piss. He had found another of Liam’s men pissing in the bucket and said the boss liked it.

  Roman didn’t bother asking questions. This is one of the many reasons why he preferred to work alone or with his own men.

  Antonio, Marlo, and Cash all knew the score. They knew how he worked. They were his best friends, and the only men he trusted, other than his father.

  He certainly didn’t trust Liam, his father-in-law. Just thinking of him like that was enough to wrinkle his nose.

  The piss and water were used on the men, and they woke up with a gasp.

  Now, Liam’s method of torture was legendary, or at least the rumors surrounding him were. Men would rather kill themselves than face Liam’s wrath.

  Roman watched as Liam pulled out a knife from his jacket pocket. He unsheathed the blade. It was small.

  “Why were you following my daughter?” Liam asked. He stood with his legs wide, almost straddling the man on the left. Roman watched as he suddenly jabbed the man in the chest.

  A gasp, and Liam repeated the question. The man on the right just watched. With each question and jab, the man looked even more terrified.

  Roman saw Liam work, and when he wasn’t stabbing the man’s chest, he hit his stomach, and then his thighs.

  How the man was still breathing, Roman didn’t know, but his skill was … sharp, it was perfectly aimed. The man was still alive, even as Liam stepped away, and Roman saw all the blood covering the man’s body. He was going to die slowly and painfully. The blood was already soaking the floor.

  “Why were you following my daughter?” Liam held the knife, about to jab the man’s chest, but he screamed. “Our orders were to take her!”

  Liam held himself tight, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “To take her?”

  “Yes, Alex Smith is an important pawn in this game. They wanted us to take her.”

  “Who is they?” Roman asked, stepping forward.

  The man looked from Liam to him, then back again. “I don’t know. I just know that once you get this mark, you have to do as they tell you. Our orders were to watch her, and when the opportunity presented, we were to take her.”

  “You work for the Smirnov?” Liam asked.

  The man’s lip wobbled. Liam thrust the knife into the man’s neck and twisted.

  “We haven’t got all of our information yet,” he said, angry that Liam would fucking strike now.

  Liam stepped back.

  The other man was dying slowly.

  “I know what we’re up against, and it’s not pretty. I dealt with the Smirnov over twenty years ago, Roman. This is … I need to speak with your father, and I think it will be best if Alex comes back home.”

  “What the fuck?” Roman asked.

  “It’s not like you respect my daughter,” Liam said. “For all I know, you could be working with them to hurt my little girl.”

  “You insult me. I would never work with anyone but Greco.” He slapped a hand on his chest. “Alex is not in danger from me, and she is my wife.”

  Liam stepped close to her. “Prove it. Do you think I’m a fool, Roman?”

  He glared at Liam but remained silent. This was a trap, and he refused to fall into it.

  “Do you think I don’t know that my daughter is still a virgin?” Liam asked. “That you have not conducted your part of the agreement? I know for a fact that I can call for it to be annulled.”

  Roman chuckled. “Alex would have to conduct the virginity test. I would demand it.”

  “To get away from you, Roman, my daughter would do it.”

  He didn’t like this, and this time, Liam smiled. “Do you really think Alex wanted to be married to you?” Liam slapped him on the shoulder.

  “Sir, Lucas Greco has arrived,” Bill said.

  “Good. Clean up the mess for me, Bill.”

  “I am so sorry, sir.”

  “Please, do not worry about it. We will talk later,” Liam said.

  Roman saw the fear in Bill’s gaze, and he wasn’t quite sure why, but he also didn’t ask.

  They walked out of the basement, and sure enough, his father was there, along with his friend Antonio and several of his guards and men. Liam shook hands with Lucas, and then they made their way upstairs, toward the bedroom where he’d put Alex.

  Roman didn’t want to look at his wife at that moment. He had assumed that Alex loved the idea of being married to him, of wanting to be connected in any way possible to the Greco line.

  Liam didn’t even knock as they stepped into the room. Roman didn’t know what he expected to find, but it certainly wasn’t Alex pacing the room. Staring at her now, in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, she looked so … composed.

  “Dad?” Alex asked, and she rushed forward.

  This was an embarrassment. His wife didn’t speak to him. She didn’t even look to him for comfort, and with one glance at his father, he knew this wasn’t good for the Greco name. All his life, he’d done what was required of him, fulfilled his part of the agreement when it came to his father.

  “Did Roman tell you what happened?” Alex asked.

  “Of course.”

  “I don’t know what
was going on. One moment we were, like, I don’t know exactly what we were doing, and then bam.”

  What Alex said didn’t make any sense to him. She didn’t tell her father that he dragged her off campus, or that he yelled at her.

  Who was Alex Smith? Why was her father so convinced of her innocence? How did he know that they hadn’t consummated their marriage?

  The only way Liam would know this was if Alex told him. She had to have.

  Roman didn’t buy this act. Women were always after something. All he had to do was find out what Alex was after, and once he did, he’d be able to deal with her.

  “Those men were after you,” Liam said. “You are in danger, and I think it’s time you came back home.”

  Chapter Three

  Alex was eight when she first learned that her father was a … bad man. Well, not a bad man, but a man who was used to getting what he wanted, and he had his own rules for getting things done.

  She had woken up from a nightmare. She couldn’t even remember what the dream was about, but it had scared her. Another reason why she would never watch horror movies, not even now. There was no way she was going to be scared, willingly. She’d needed to use the bathroom, and then after going to the toilet and washing her hands, she’d needed a drink. Being the big brave girl that she was, she’d gone downstairs to the kitchen to have a drink. A nice cold glass of milk, which her dad had told her would make her feel so much better.

  It was halfway down the glass of milk when she saw the hooded figure in the reflection of the fridge. He’d been wielding a knife, ready to strike, and even young, she knew she should fear what was about to happen.

  Her father had been there.

  She later found out that her father had been watching the man sneak onto his property and had simply waited for the right moment to strike. What Liam hadn’t been prepared for was his little girl, scared and thirsty, coming downstairs to enjoy a drink.

  From that day forward, he was honest with her. At first, she’d been afraid, but she knew there were bad people in the world. Her dad wasn’t the biggest bad person, and he cared in his own way. He told her so many stories of life on the streets, of the fears he had as a boy, and then how he used them to get to where he was today.

  Alex watched as her father and her husband stood toe to toe, yelling at each other. Liam wanted her to come home, and the truth was, she wanted that as well. To come back home. Being married to Roman was … boring and difficult. This wasn’t a fairytale ending. Not that she’d ever sought that.

  Alex had never planned her wedding. She’d never looked through catalogs and thought about the big day. She’d thought about a future where she was whoever she wanted to be, even though she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do or be. When she talked to teachers and career advisors, they always said there was time to figure it out. To find the path she wanted to take and to let it flourish properly.

  Having a big family wasn’t a career, and it meant having a guy in her life, and she didn’t want to be with men. She had hated guys growing up because they were mean. She’d never had the slender body or the looks that men loved.

  Mousy, curvy, and quiet. That was often how she was described. Even her dad had once said that she was Daddy’s little mouse. As a nickname, it wasn’t sweet or cute. It was kind of gross.

  “Stop,” Alex said.

  They didn’t stop.

  She closed her eyes and stepped away, pacing. That car was waiting for her, to take her away, and they were arguing.

  Alex hated this. They were not listening.

  She glanced around the room and didn’t want to think of what actually happened here. A lamp was available. She reached for it and then threw it across the room so it hit the wall with a loud crash, breaking apart as it landed in pieces on the floor.

  She breathed out a sigh of relief as silence filled the arguing.

  “Will you both stop it? Or why don’t you get your dicks out and measure them? Ew, gross.” She scrunched up her face, realizing what she said. She’d overheard a couple of women downstairs talking about different men, and how they were always arguing. It just dawned on her what she said. “Please, ignore what I just said, because that is … you’re arguing here, and none of you have thought to ask me what I think.”

  She looked at Roman and rolled her eyes. “I understand why you did it. You and your … family don’t believe in actually asking a woman her thoughts, right?” She turned to her father. “What do I do? What did I do wrong? You said I could go back to school. Why were they waiting for me?”

  She felt tears fill her eyes, and she clenched her hands into fists.

  “Honey,” Liam said, and she shook her head.

  “No, Dad, being the calm one right now is not going to work.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I don’t want to be a pain. I don’t want to cause you guys any trouble, and I am so sorry, Mr. Greco, for doing that.” She licked her dry lips. “What did I do wrong?”

  The men looked at her. Her father gazed at her with sadness, and she wasn’t sure how the others looked at her.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Antonio, of all people, said. “You’re a powerful woman now. A weakness to our enemies. You’re married to Roman Greco, who will one day be The Boss, and you’re Liam Smith’s daughter, who is a powerful man in his own right.”

  “Roman has said all of this, but I am no one.”

  Liam stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders. “Stop saying that, sweetheart. I was wrong about this. I put your life in danger.”

  “Dad?”

  “Yes, little mouse.”

  She groaned. “What do I do?”

  “You come home,” Roman said. “I will protect you. I have been protecting you.”

  “I don’t want to hide,” Alex said. “I’ve never done that.”

  “Only until we find those responsible, Alex,” Liam said. “And we will. It will be safe for you to do what you want.”

  “You can study,” Roman said. “There are online courses you can take. I will talk to the school personally and have it arranged for you to do that.”

  She frowned as she looked at him. “Why?”

  “It is what you want, and regardless of what you think, I am not that cruel.”

  Alex didn’t believe him. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the room full of men. There was way too much testosterone tonight, and she knew she was nearly killed.

  “Okay.” She looked at her dad. “Can I … stay home tonight?”

  “I’m taking you home,” Roman said.

  “I mean in my old bedroom.” She didn’t want to be with Roman. He didn’t make her feel safe. She missed her old home, her old house, and Millie. The only way for her to feel strong right now was to enjoy a nice big bowl full of Millie’s comfort soup. She didn’t even know what was in the soup, she just knew that she wanted it.

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight,” Roman said.

  Her father snapped back, and then they were arguing again. Of course, they were arguing.

  “Fine!” Alex yelled, raising her voice loud enough to be heard. “You can stay. I’m sure my dad has plenty of rooms.”

  “I will stay in your room,” Roman said.

  He was just doing this to rile her dad.

  “I don’t care,” Alex said, looking at her dad. “Can I go?”

  “Yes, I will drive you,” Liam said.

  “And I’ll be there.” This was from Roman.

  “Actually, Mr. Smith,” Lucas said. “I would like for us to have a word. I think it is only fair that we give Alex and my son some time. They have, after all, had an awful experience. We can talk.”

  Alex wasn’t in the mood to argue.

  “I will be home soon,” Liam said.

  She went to her father and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him close and breathing him in. Whenever she hugged him, she always felt safe and warm.

  Nothing and no one could get her.
No imaginary bogeymen or scary, real hooded men. Nothing. She was safe.

  As with all things, she had to pull away. She kissed his cheek and stepped toward Roman, who took her hand. Antonio also followed, and then she found two other men outside.

  “Alex, this is Marlo Guerra and Cash Vitale.”

  She held her hand up in greeting. They were his other two friends. She had seen them at the wedding, but they hadn’t been introduced.

  They left the strip club out the back entrance, where a car was already waiting for them. Antonio and Marlo took the front seat while she sat in the middle between Roman and Cash.

  She stayed tense. No one spoke on the journey, and she wanted to be near a window just so she could look out. To see the city passing her by, and not to be afraid of anything.

  She hated feeling fear. The spiraling twist in her gut was not a welcoming feeling. She wanted it to stop.

  “Are you okay?” Antonio asked, filling the silence.

  “I’m fine. Thank you.”

  “You must be scared,” Marlo said.

  She shrugged and then leaned her head back, closing her eyes and enjoying the hum of the car.

  “Is she asleep?” Cash asked beside her.

  “No,” she said. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

  She hadn’t been able to sleep the night of the break-in either. Not that he’d done anything to her. Every time she closed her eyes, she had seen him coming at her with a knife.

  Tonight, she had no idea if she’d get some sleep.

  Enemies, plural. More than one person. And she hadn’t done anything wrong other than be the person she was.

  “I’m pretty sure Roman can help you with that,” Cash said with a chuckle.

  She tensed up even more.

  Roman didn’t touch her. Other than the brush of lips at the wedding, they didn’t touch. Today, he’d grabbed her arm, and tonight, he held her hand, but that was all. Back home, in either his apartment or his country home, they didn’t even share a bedroom. She had moved all her belongings to a spare bedroom. Being as far away from Roman as possible suited her.

  “Enough,” Roman said. His voice was gruff.