Taken by Her Prince

I was a bargaining chip for that bastard. Just a tool for him to use.

I hated him. I hated him so much I couldn’t breathe.

And yet the memory of his touch still lingered. His strong arms, his concerned face as he picked me up from the floor of that bodega. He carried me back here and saved me, all before he knew who I was.

He didn’t want me to die, even though he could’ve left me there if he wanted.

That kept bothering me. He could’ve just left me there on that bodega floor and ran off. The bodega’s owner would’ve called an ambulance.

But instead, Steven took me into his home and took care of me.

He only decided I’d be a useful bargaining tool after he’d already saved me.

Slowly, I got to my feet and stared in the mirror again.

I hated what I saw. But slowly, I took off my shirt, then my bra, then the bloodstained pants and the plain cotton black panties beneath. I stepped into the shower and let the water run down my hair, down my chest and my face, and I washed away all the blood that had dried in the cracks of my skin until I was clean again.3StevenColleen sat in the back of my SUV and stared out the window. I could see her look at every single person we passed with some hopeful gleam in her eyes, and I knew she was thinking about making my life difficult.

But she didn’t scream, which was smart.

Luca sat in the seat next to me, wearing a clean dark blue button-down shirt and a pair of black pants. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows and he wore a shiny gold watch, probably spent half a fortune on the thing. I didn’t bother with watches or diamonds, that sort of stuff could be stolen too easily.

I invested my money in my businesses, in my clubs and my laundromats. Some of them were fronts and some of them were real businesses, and I wanted to turn all of it into real cash-generating enterprises in the next few years. Making money with the mafia was lucrative, but it was risky and violent. If I could always have some legitimate fallbacks, I’d be set for life, assuming I lived very long.

Luca stifled a yawn as I turned into Old City, heading toward the Don’s house.

“How late did you get back?” I asked.

“Late,” he said. “Went the long way, kept anyone off our trail.”

“Good,” I said. “You hear any chatter yet?”

“The Club isn’t happy,” he said. “Killed three of their good soldiers.” He grinned a little and shrugged. “I’m guessing they’ll try and hit back tonight.”

“I hope so,” I said. “Let them come.”

Luca laughed and glanced in the rearview. I saw him looking at Colleen, and I knew what he was thinking.

The girl was beautiful. She cleaned up well, and although her hair was still wet, she had these perfect pouty lips and pale skin that drove me wild. She wore a pair of jeans with a gray t-shirt and a green zip up sweatshirt that I borrowed from my neighbor who had a teenage girl around Colleen’s size. The clothes were surprisingly flattering, and the jeans made her ass look fantastic.

I wasn’t going to give Luca shit for looking, but he’d better be careful. If it turned into anything more than that, I’d have a talk with him.

Luca was loyal and smart, but he had a temper, and self-control wasn’t his best quality. I had to be careful with him sometimes, or else he was liable to fly off the handle and make a hard situation even worse.

But he would do anything for the family, and in the last couple of years he’d proven himself as a capable Lieutenant.

I pulled up to the Don’s sprawling mansion house. Though it looked like any other simple rowhouse in Old City with a brick facade, a red door, and red shutters, I knew that the inside was a different story. In fact, while the block looked like it was full of houses, I knew that the Don owned them all, and had knocked down walls and created one single monstrosity on the inside.

Roberto, the Don’s person security guard, stood on the stoop in a black suit, his hands clasped in front of him. He was an older man with a bald head and a pissed-off expression on his face at all times. I’d never seen Roberto smile, not in all the years I’d known the man.

I looked back at Colleen and she glared at me.

“Behave,” I said. “You won’t speak unless spoken to. If you break this rule, you won’t like the punishment you get when we get back to my place. Do you understand?”

She nodded once.

I glared at her and sighed. I rubbed my eyes and looked at Luca. “Get out,” I said. “Go talk to Roberto. Be charming.”