Page 37 of Mafia And Taken

Once Alessio had gone, I grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and changed into them. My car keys were on the dresser, plus my purse. I reached for my purse and got out my cellphone, but it was dead. I’d forgotten to charge it.

I searched through my bags for my phone charger. I couldn’t find it, so I tipped whole bags out in my frustration, not caring about the mess it was making in Alessio’s bedroom. After all, it was my bedroom now as well. If Alessio didn’t like my mess, he could divorce me and I could go home back to my own apartment.

I rummaged through my belongings, but the charger still didn’t turn up. Damn, I hadn’t brought it with me. I had packed the bare minimum, given the lack of time. I’d forgotten my phone charger, and I knew exactly where it would be—it would be plugged in next to my nightstand.

I grabbed my car keys and decided to go and get it. I went downstairs to the living room. Danio and Debi were reclined on the couches and watching a movie. “Hey Cate, do you want to watch a movie with us?” asked Debi.

“I’d like that, but maybe later.” I saw Juliana sitting on the floor nearby and said to her, “I’m just heading back to my apartment to collect a couple of things.”

“Okay, well let me know if you need anything.” Juliana was playing with her dog, so I kept my distance from her.

“Um, ok, I’ll see you later then.”

ALESSIO

When I got home that evening, Cate had still not returned from her apartment.

Of course I knew that she had gone back to her place. The perimeter guards had notified me as soon as she left the Marchiano estate, plus I was constantly monitoring the tracker inside her.

The control I had over her made my cock harden to steel, particularly when I thought ahead to the pleasures her body would give me tonight. She now had no way to escape me—not now, not ever.

I went up to my bedroom to shower and was greeted by the sight of clothes and belongings strewn all over the hardwood floor. Cate had obviously been unpacking, or her version of it. I felt my blood pressure rise.

I hated mess and disorder. Which was ironic since the life I led in the Mafia world involved a lot of mess: blood, politics, betrayals, and then more blood.

Just as kings were born into their roles, I had been born into my role as a Made Man. I had no escape from the Mafia except upon my death.

I had always thought that if I hadn’t been born into this life, I would have liked to have been an accountant. I had always loved math at school. Something about numbers appealed to me. They were exact and concrete and there was always a right answer. Math was methodical—there were no gray areas, no potential for mess.

But I would never leave the Fratellanza. I would never desert Marco, my Capo, or my siblings. This was my life.

I set about clearing up the mess left behind by Cate. I picked up her clothes and folded them into neat piles before putting them away in my walk-in closet. All the clothes were clean; however, none of them appeared to have been ironed. I couldn’t understand why someone would wash their laundry but not iron it before putting it away.

It irked me to put away these creased clothes in my orderly closet, but I didn’t have time to deal with it now. I would iron them all after work tomorrow.

I then took a shower, setting the jets to the strongest option and letting the hot needles of water pound into my bunched-up muscles. After dressing in charcoal jeans, a black shirt, and boots, I got back into my SUV and headed over to Cate’s apartment. I rang the doorbell and waited.

When she answered the door, I saw that her hair was wet, telling me that she had just had a shower recently. She had put on pajama bottoms and a strappy tank top.

“Well, hello there,” I said in a cold, toneless voice as I came face-to-face with my new wife.

CHAPTER 15

ALESSIO

I couldn’t help noticing how the green in her eyes was accentuated by the dark circles under them, her make-up not quite concealing her weariness.

“Hi,” she murmured. Well, at least she was still talking to me.

“I had expected to find you at the mansion, Cate, but instead I was greeted by what looked like someone had ransacked your belongings. I thought I would check to see that you are alright.”

“I’m not coming back to your mansion,” she said quickly. “I don’t like the dog.”

“Really? The dog?”

“Yes. I don’t like dogs.”

I raised one eyebrow at her.

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