Page 14 of Twisted Vows

After rinsing and drying our hands, I carry her to the bed and connect her wrists to the headboard with a bit of rope, allowing her enough slack to lie with her hands on the pillow instead of over her head.

She doesn’t move when I step away. I consider strapping her ankles to the footboard but decide the arm bindings are enough. I grab another cup of instant ramen and set it in the microwave. As it cooks, I pick her bag up off the floor and rifle through it for her wallet.

I don’t recognize her name, and I haven’t frequented the area around her apartment complex recently, so I must have confused her with someone else. I can’t have seen her before.

The microwave beeps, so I take my food to the table and slide my phone from the back corner to the front edge and settle into the chair to eat. Realizing I forgot a fork, I snatch the used one from the empty noodle cup and stir my food as it finishes cooking.

My captive’s name is Mia Rivera.

The name doesn’t suit her. I can’t place why, but as I study her, my doubts grow.

I turn on my phone and send a text message to the only group chat on my phone. Less than three minutes later, Aurora responds with the information I requested. Giorgio chimes in, asking if everything is okay. I let him know I’m handling the complications, and neither of them question me further.

As I eat, I consider my options for the night. Be the gentleman and sleep on the floor or join Mia on the bed.

I’ve never strived to be a gentleman and I won’t start now. The last few days have been physically demanding, and the future promises even more chaos. Plus, the gunshot wound on my lower back—given to me by Aurora’s uncle a few days ago—hasn’t had time to heal. Add in the bruise on my jaw frommia caramellina’swicked headbutt and the gash on my upper arm from a stray bullet during the shootout between Giorgio and Narciso, and I’d be a fool to give up the opportunity to sleep in a bed.

Just the thought of settling beside the curvy nurse hardens my cock. I gather the trash and drop it into the receptacle before splashing cold water over my face in the bathroom.

Looking at my dripping reflection, I tell myself I can handle sleeping beside her. I won’t touch her, no matter how tempting her luscious body is or how much I enjoy her exquisite responses.

Only a few hours after meeting her for the first time, and I’m already addicted.

And I haven’t even had a proper taste of her yet.

Chapter 5

Emma Lanza

I stiffen as the mattressshifts under his weight. My heart pounds against my sternum as I wait for him to reach for me.

He doesn’t.

Ten minutes tick by. Fifteen. Twenty.

“Relax,mia caramellina. I won’t jump you and can’t sleep with you radiating tension beside me, so stop worrying and just go to sleep.Capisci?”

I bite back my angry retort and uncurl my fists.

I’d like to see him fall asleep while he’s trussed up and vulnerable with someone who’s twice his size lying beside him.

“My arms hurt,” I say.

It’s not a lie, but it isn’t true either. With the rope preventing me from lowering my elbows to my side, my shoulder bears the weight of my upper body, making me uncomfortable enough to complain. Plus, if I’m not attached to the headboard, maybe I can free my ankles and get out of here while he sleeps.

He sighs, unties the rope, and lies back down without a word. My heart pounds against my sternum. There’s no way he isn’t aware I might try to escape, but he acts as though there’s no chance I can sneak away.

He holds full power over my future, but I can’t figure him out. Infuriating one second, cruel the next, then sweet andcaring out of nowhere. I don’t know what he’ll do next, and that terrifies me.

Even now, with him prone beside me, I should hate him for all he’s done to me, and I do—mostly—but part of me can’t. He’s had so many opportunities to rape, beat, and break me, but he hasn’t.

I can’t fool myself into believing he’s a good man, but I suppose he has his own set of morals. Where those boundaries lie, I’m not sure, but I can’t lump him in with the slimy mafia man from last night or the don my father wanted me to marry.

One by one, I force my muscles to relax.

My harrowing ordeal—and the long shift I worked before he kidnapped me—steal my resolve, and I fall into an exhausted sleep.

Warmth wraps around me. I snuggle against it, annoyed when my bound hands prevent me from reaching behind me to pull the heater closer, but darkness steals me away, and I don’t care so long as the furnace pressing against my back doesn’t go away. It feels so good.

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