Page 5 of Escape My Love

A few steps in, I found Mia towering over a guy sprawled on the floor. “He pulled me into the partition back in the boardroom. What the fuck? What does Rex want with us? Why split us up?”

“He wanted to talk to me alone.” I made to move, and the cold barrel of a gun dug just under my ribs.

Mia raised her hands, even though she didn’t have a weapon pointed at her. “Let him go.”

The bodyguard on the floor stirred, then was on his feet in two kicks, face bright red. His gaze darted between Mia, me, and his buddy. “She stays.” He wiped his bloody lip.

So this was Rex’s plan? Keep Mia until I fixed his Mafia problem? To hell with him. If these bodyguards killed me, who would help Rex? I elbowed the guy behind me, and he dropped his gun. I kicked it toward Mia, snatched him by the collar, and punched him several times until his body went limp in my grip. “The hell she is.”

When I turned to her, a loud thud in my ears made me fall to my knees before the whole room became a long tunnel in front of me. I rubbed my eyes to keep the shadows from creeping in.

“Stop.” Mia’s voice sounded far away and full of panic. “I’ll go with you. Just let him be. I won’t fight you.”

“Mia,” I called after her.

The panel opened, and then she was gone again.

3

For Valentine's Day

Mia

Rex’s bodyguard shoved me into the boardroom. I pushed back. “I said I’d come with you. I’m not a fucking rag doll.”

“Jesus fuck, she’s pregnant. Set her down.” Rex sat on the mahogany table with one thigh propped on it and the other extended in front of him. His dark gaze shifted from me to the man holding me in place just past the threshold. “My apologies for my men’s manners. They’re not used to dealing with lady bosses.”

Suddenly, my escort couldn’t get away from me fast enough. He was right to fear me. “If we were anywhere else, he’d be dead by now.” I turned my attention to Rex.

“I know.” He gestured for me to take a seat next to him. “A word?”

“No, thanks.”

Rex was hot. Not Tyler hot, but up there. He couldn’t be much older than me, but something about him felt old world. Maybe it was this place. Did he live here? I’d met too many guys like him before. This world of Mafia kings and shoving your way through life just to stay alive was all he knew. Same as me.

“Seems to me you’re also in need of having your bedside manner adjusted. You want to talk to us? How about you have your people call our people? Tonight was overkill.”

He furrowed his brows. To his credit, he actually seemed confused. Did he not realize what kind of a shitshow tonight was? If he hadn’t kidnapped people left and right to bring them here, they would have been more amiable to hearing him out. Instead, he almost got us all shot.

“I was only trying to protect you and the baby. Vittoria’s bodyguards tend to get a little trigger happy at times.”

“I meant the entire night was overkill. Try asking next time.”

He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Is this advice from one boss to another?”

Technically, it was from one boss to a king, but I appreciated that he didn’t try to pull rank on me. “What do you want? You wanted to talk to Chase alone. Now me. I’m tired. And I’d like to go home. So let’s get on with it.”

“I want the Rossi family to sit at my table.”

“Done.”

He chuckled. “Done?”

“Yes. I had time to think about it.” I let out a breath, relieved that was all he wanted. I would never turn on Tyler. We’d be having a different conversation if he’d asked for that. “One thing, though. Leave my crew out of it.”

“All I ask is that you keep your house in order.” He cocked an eyebrow.

I’d had a rocky start with my people, but we were good now. “Will Tyler be home when I get there?”

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