Mafia Monster's Forced Bride Read online

  “Yes, of course.” He still didn’t let go of her hands.

  “I’m sorry if I’ve upset you.”

  “You haven’t upset me,” he said. The lie was easy.

  “You look upset.”

  He lifted his gaze to hers. “Imagine being told that you’re not liked.”

  She smiled. “You have told me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “When we first went to your apartment in the city. Nearly eight weeks ago now, I think. I’d done or said something, I can’t remember, and you said that you didn’t have to like me, but you were taking me with you.”

  Roman vaguely remembered the argument. Alex had wanted to visit her father, and he’d been under strict instructions to keep her by his side. So he had, and because he was annoyed with everything going on, he’d taken it out on her.

  “So forgive me for being curious as to why you would want to … you know, attempt to make this bearable.” She pointed down at her menu. “I think I’d like the pasta with the roasted vegetables and garlic bread.”

  He let go of her hand to signal the waiter.

  Alex escaped, or at least one hand did.

  The waiter came, and he told them their orders. He went for his usual when he was there, steak with roasted vegetables and buttery potatoes. It was one of his favorite meals. The waiter took their menus and left.

  “I want us to make this work,” he said. “I was an asshole at the beginning. I didn’t know what to do, or what could make a real marriage, and that’s on me. I fucked up, but I won’t do it again.”

  “Please, don’t worry about it,” she said. “There was nothing you could do.”

  “There is always something that could be done.” He was so fucking pissed off with himself.

  Tapping his fingers against his leg, he tried to figure out a plan, or something. He had to get Alex to fall in love with him, but with no pointers as to how to win her heart, what the fuck was he going to do?

  “I’d like someone I can trust,” Alex said. “Someone who wants to spend time with me. Who doesn’t think I’m weird and boring because I like to sew. There are times I would love a large family, but … I’m scared of the whole birthing thing. Kind of stumbled onto a documentary-type thing that showed women giving birth, and it scarred me for life.”

  “Is that why you want to adopt Stuart?”

  “And all those other kids. Not just Stuart. I know it sometimes looks like I show favoritism, but if you came by on another day, you’d see the kids are always wanting me to help him. He’s not … he’s closed off, and I want him to join in. I love them all, and I guess. They’re the big family I’d love to have.”

  “How many kids were there?”

  “Between ten and fifteen children in that one house. There have been several adopted over the years, and the numbers fluctuate.”

  Roman nodded.

  “I’d like my husband to be faithful,” she said.

  “Noted.”

  “I-I, do you think you could be faithful?”

  “Yes.”

  She nibbled on her lip.

  “You don’t believe me.”

  “You won’t have sex with anyone else?” she asked. “Even though we’re not having sex?”

  “Are you saying that you don’t want us to fuck, ever?” he asked.

  “No, I’m not saying that. Wow, this is so hard to talk about.”

  “Sex usually is.”

  She covered her face with her hands. “I don’t know if I can talk to you about this.”

  He chuckled. “Have you thought about having sex with me?”

  “No.”

  Now he was fucking disappointed. Women were always all over him.

  Alex dropped her hands. “I feel like I should constantly be apologizing to you.”

  “No, it’s fine.”

  “You don’t look like it’s fine.”

  “I’m getting used to this feeling,” he said.

  “Of what?”

  He was paused in answering as the waiter chose the perfect opportunity to bring him some food, and he was grateful for the distraction.

  For the first time in a restaurant, he wanted the waiter to find an excuse to stay. He never liked interruptions, but right now, he would gladly give anything to be constantly interrupted.

  Instead, he gritted his teeth and smiled, pretending like everything was okay. It wasn’t.

  How did he tell his brand-new wife that getting women was easy for him? He doubted she’d be happy about that.

  Staring at her now, he had to wonder if he would be making a mistake in telling her.

  Once they were alone, he stared into her eyes. She held her fork in her hand.

  “I’m used to women wanting me. I’m not trying to be a dick about it. I’m just stating facts,” he said.

  She smiled. “I know. I’ve seen the way women treat you. It must be so horrible.”

  “I’ve never had to work hard to get what I want.”

  Alex tilted her head to the side. “And you have to work hard for me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you want me?” she asked.

  Now that was the question that hung in the air. Roman stared at her. Did he want to lie? What was the truth?

  “Yes,” he said, but his answer was to never be heard as there was a loud bang, followed by an explosion.

  Roman looked toward the main entrance of the restaurant and saw three men enter, their faces covered in white masks, and his gut told him they were there for Alex.

  He had to get her out of there.

  Gunshots rang out.

  He grabbed his wife’s hand and immediately pulled her in front of him as he felt the gunshots whizz past him. Were they trying to kill her? Or kill him?

  Rushing her through the back kitchen, he ordered everyone to get down. As he got to the main exits, Antonio was already there.

  “Marlo and Cash followed them in,” he said.

  Just as they exited onto the street, he banded an arm around Alex’s waist to keep her to his side. They turned down the long street, and as they did, two men advanced on them. Antonio took one, and Roman had no choice but to let Alex go as he dealt with the man.

  He pushed Alex behind a dumpster, hoping it would provide her enough coverage.

  Slamming his fist against the masked man’s face, he took his enemy by surprise, and while he was trying to regain his balance, he was able to tear the mask from him.

  Roman didn’t recognize the scarred man.

  “Who are you?” Roman asked.

  “We’re going to take her,” the man said. “We’re going to fucking kill her!”

  Roman pulled out his knives, and as he came forward, he struck, slicing across the man’s front and then his back.

  The point of the knives was to take his assailant down without killing him. There was no way they could get information out of a corpse.

  More gunshots rang out.

  The man cried out, but that didn’t stop him from charging for more.

  Roman continued to slash him. His blades were covered in blood, and the street was as well.

  When he came at him another time, he impaled the blades in the man’s shoulders, not through any lasting damage. Antonio stumbled toward him, his face covered in blood.

  “What the fuck happened?” Roman asked.

  Marlo and Cash chose that moment to come out of the back of the restaurant. “We need to get you to a safe house,” Cash said.

  “What you need to do is tell me what the fuck happened.”

  Roman watched as Alex stepped out from behind the trash bin. Fuck!

  He went toward her, but a single gunshot rang out, and he rushed toward her, capturing her as she fell into his arms.

  Her hand went to her stomach.

  “Alex?”

  The pain in her brown eyes stared back at him. She lifted her shaking hands away from her stomach, and he saw the blood.

  “No!” He screamed the word.

&n
bsp; He lifted Alex in his arms and carried her toward the car.

  “Roman?”

  “Kill him,” he said, ordering Antonio to kill the man who’d gotten a shot at Alex.

  He placed Alex, who was so fucking quiet into the car, and then he rushed toward the front of the car. Roman wasn’t alone. Marlo was there.

  “I should drive,” Marlo said.

  Roman slammed the driver’s door closed.

  “Shit, Roman. You’re in no fit state to drive.”

  He ignored his friend and turned over the ignition.

  “Fuck.” Marlo grabbed the back passenger door and was able to climb behind him.

  Pushing his foot to the floor, he took off. The car jerked left and right with the speed that he was using. He didn’t care.

  He needed to get Alex to the hospital. Glancing at her, he saw the blood seeping into her clothes. He pressed his hand to her stomach.

  “Alex, stay with me.”

  Marlo was on his cell phone, calling Liam. He was sure of it. Roman didn’t have that time to waste.

  The nearest hospital was ten minutes away. It was the longest ten minutes of his life as he pressed his foot to the gas. He lost count of the cars he nearly hit. Alex was starting to look way too pale.

  “Stay with me, Alex. I’m here. Stay with me.”

  She didn’t speak, and he saw her eyes were closed.

  “Fuck, no, no sleepy time for Alex. You need to talk to me. You need to stay with me.”

  Marlo leaned forward, cupping her face. He’d already removed the headrest, and was able to get to her.

  “Come on, Alex, wake up. You can’t go to sleep.” Marlo pressed his fingers to her neck. “Her pulse is strong.”

  “Do not let her die.”

  “Liam and your father are heading toward the hospital,” Marlo said. “Antonio and Cash will be with us soon as well.”

  “Did … did we get any of them alive?”

  “No. You told them to kill. Now they’re just cleaning up the bodies.”

  This was bad. He knew that, but that fucker he’d been slashing, he had a gun, and he’d hurt Alex. She should have stayed behind the trash bins. She would’ve been safe there. This was all on him. He’d put his wife’s life in danger.

  Arriving at the hospital, he parked near the front doors and climbed out, leaving the ignition running.

  Roman rounded the car until he got to Alex and opened the door. Her eyes were still closed. With his wife in his arms, he ran into the hospital screaming. He didn’t know what the hell happened next, but Alex was taken from him, and he seemed to realize he was in a private room.

  “Are you okay, man?” Marlo asked.

  “What the fuck just happened?” He went to rub his face, but he realized his wife’s blood was on his hands.

  “You threatened the hospital staff. You said if anything happened to your wife, you’d kill them all. I’m sure Lucas and Liam will handle everything you did. One of the nurses brought you here, and Alex was taken to emergency surgery.”

  “She shouldn’t have been shot,” Roman said. “That shit is on me. She can’t die.”

  “Man, do you care if she does?” Marlo asked.

  He spun toward his friend, glaring. “Yeah, I fucking do!”

  Chapter Eight

  Sporting a black eye, Roman waited. Liam had already been by, and now he was dealing with the hospital staff as well as the cops. Lucas sat beside him.

  Still covered in blood, Roman stared at the door.

  Antonio, Marlo, and Cash were all present, but they were keeping their distance. His dad was pissed at him for making the mistake of turning his back on the enemy.

  “That could have been you shot,” Lucas said.

  “It would have been better if I was.”

  “Do not say that.”

  He turned to his father and glared at him. “My wife is in the operating room.”

  “There will be more wives,” Lucas said.

  Roman looked at his father, a little taken aback. “What?”

  Liam wasn’t in the room, and Lucas sighed. “If his daughter dies at the hands of our enemies, then we are not responsible and you don’t have to stay married to her.”

  “You wanted this union,” Roman said.

  “I know what is good for the family, for our side, Roman. Do not be stupid and pretend you don’t know what that is. We all know what it is.”

  He wasn’t sure exactly what he was hearing. “Did you … was this … do you want to kill Alex?”

  “Of course not. I’m a man who sees opportunity.”

  Liam entered the room. The man looked like he’d aged twenty years since Roman had last seen him. At least his fists weren’t clenched, and he wasn’t ready to take another swipe. “Any news?” Liam asked.

  “Nothing yet.”

  He was starting to have doubts about his father’s involvement in the attacks on Alex.

  “I will go see if we have an update,” Lucas said.

  Roman watched his father go, and he didn’t like the suspicion flooding him. It suddenly seemed way too convenient that their old enemies, the Smirnovs, were rising up. It was also a convenient time for it.

  “The last time I was here when Alex was shot, I lost her mother,” Liam said, filling the silence. His honesty surprised Roman. “Hitting you doesn’t solve anything, and for that, I’m sorry. Alex will be worried when she sees that you have a black eye.”

  “A lot of shit was going down. I don’t even know how or what the fuck was happening. We were about to enjoy our meal, and the next thing, masked men came into the restaurant, gunning for Alex.”

  “Wait a minute, masked men?” Liam asked.

  “Yes.”

  Liam frowned.

  “What is it?”

  “The Smirnov men are not … they were never known for hiding their identity.”

  Roman looked toward his friends.

  “I need to make a call,” Liam said. “I will not be far.”

  “What’s going on?” Antonio asked.

  “I think my dad set up the attack,” Roman said, speaking quietly.

  “What?” Marlo asked.

  “That’s a fucking leap,” Cash said.

  “He just said that if Alex is killed by our enemies, then Liam cannot pull out of any deal we have with him.”

  “But that is still a big fucking leap to your dad being involved. He’s the Boss, Roman. Even for you, pointing the finger has big fuck-off consequences.”

  “I know that!” He quickly lowered his voice. “Don’t you think I know that? Think about it. How is it that a woman who has spent twenty-one years staying out of the line of fire is suddenly the prime target in an attack?” Roman asked.

  “This isn’t the first time, Roman,” Antonio said. “You just heard Liam. She was shot when he lost her mother.”

  “Yeah, but if you look at that, it was a turf war. That had nothing to do with Liam. He got himself involved. Alex and her mother was just a mistake. In the wrong place at the wrong time. That was the deal there.”

  Marlo blew out a breath. “I don’t like how this looks. Roman has a point.”

  “How? I don’t think the Boss, the fucking Boss of the Greco line would send a hit out on his ally’s daughter,” Cash said.

  “Then how did they know to attack the restaurant? The right one,” Marlo said. “And your father, he’s shown his dislike of Alex many times. She speaks her own mind and often does what she wants.”

  “He didn’t like that she wouldn’t take that stupid test,” Antonio said.

  “Fuck, that does make a shit load of sense,” Cash said. “Then we’re all fucked. If our Boss wants her dead, what do we fucking do?”

  “Alex doesn’t deserve to die,” Roman said. He didn’t want to think of her dead or dying. “We have to protect her.”

  “How?”

  “I need to … talk to Liam,” Roman said.

  “If you even imply that your dad is responsible for this…”


  “I’m not going to imply it’s him, but what I am going to do is suggest it’s an inside job,” Roman said.

  He looked toward the door and saw the doctor approach, just as Liam had as well. Roman stepped toward the door and opened it as the doctor finished talking. Liam shook his hand.

  “What’s going on?” Roman asked. “What’s happening?”

  “I’ll talk to him, Doctor,” Liam said.

  The doctor gave him a grim look. He felt his stomach start to twist. A grim look wasn’t good. What did that mean?

  Alex couldn’t be dead.

  He turned to Liam, and the older man sighed. “Alex sailed through surgery, but it is always the next twenty-four hours that are most worrisome. She is not out of the woods yet, but he is hopeful.”

  “Can I go and see her?” Roman asked.

  “Yes, we both can go and see her.”

  Liam put a hand on his shoulder, but Roman didn’t care as he was squeezed tightly. They moved down the long corridor, going through a double set of doors and moving toward the private room.

  He stepped into the room and listened to the machines beep. There were none on her mouth and face. A couple on her fingers, and she had something on her arm as well. He didn’t know what it was.

  Liam let him go, and he watched as he grabbed the base of the bed, squeezing the metal bar tightly.

  “I swore I’d protect her. I held her mother in my arms as she was dying, and she begged for me to take care of Alex. To love her. To make sure she never knew pain or sadness, and I fucked up.”

  “Alex is alive.”

  “She was shot,” Liam said. “I knew agreeing to the marriage with you was a big mistake.”

  “It’s not. We’re strong together. You know that.”

  “Then how come this is the only other time she’s been shot?” Liam asked. “The two times I take my eye off the ball, this happens. She’s never leaving my sight again. I’m never allowing her to go.”

  “Liam, you can’t do that. Alex wouldn’t want that.”

  “She didn’t want to ever get married, but I asked her to.”

  Roman stared at his wife, and she looked so fucking small and fragile. He hated hospitals with a passion.

  “She’s strong, and we will make it through this, together.”

  “Don’t give me that crap, Roman. I know you didn’t want to marry my daughter. She’s not good enough for your little ideal world.”