Falling for the Killer: A Dark Possessive Mafia Romance by B.B Hamel (books to read for beginners .txt) 📗

scream at me for a half hour until her voice gave out and my father took over.

He screamed at me for twenty minutes. That left me with ten minutes to sit alone at a strange kitchen table and contemplate the way my life crumbled all around me.

“How’d it go?” Gian asked when he came back in with a small bag full of toiletries for me.

“About what I expected,” I said. “I’m cut off. If I don’t go home now, they’ll kick me out of the family and hire some people to ruin your life. Oh, and Stuart is going to press charges and sue you and sue my family and probably anyone I’ve ever spoken with.”

“Sounds about right,” he said and gently touched my arm. “What are you going to do?”

I smiled and slipped past him, taking the bag from his hand on the way. “I’m going to shower, brush my teeth, and lie in that bed until tomorrow.” I hesitated on the stairs. “Aren’t you worried?”

“Not at all,” he said, and gave me a charming smile.

I shook my head and went upstairs.

The shower didn’t help. Brushing my teeth didn’t help. And lying in bed watching TV didn’t help, either.

But at least I fell asleep early and in the morning, there was already coffee made in the kitchen. I found Gian dressed in the living room, watching ESPN and drinking from a huge mug.

“Help yourself,” he grunted at me as I shuffled past, still wearing my clothes from yesterday which were unsurprisingly disgusting by this point, but I didn’t have anything else. “We’ve got an errand to run then you can go shopping.”

“Errand?” I asked from the kitchen. “What’s going on?” I poured some coffee into a mug and stared at it. I was pregnant now and had to be careful how much of this stuff I drank, but a little bit would be okay.

“You need to meet the Don,” he said.

I walked out to the living room and stood over him with my mouth open. “I need to do what?” I asked.

He grimaced slightly and turned the TV off. “We should get going soon,” he said. “I was going to wake you up.”

“Right now?” I stepped back. “The Don? The head of your mafia family or whatever the hell it is?”

“He’s not so scary,” Gian said, then hesitated. “Okay, that’s not true, but you’ll be fine. I’ll be with you.”

“No,” I said. “Absolutely not.”

“Ash,” he said. “This isn‘t really an option.”

“No,” I said. “I’m tired of doing what I’m told. I don’t want to meet your Don.”

He stood up and rubbed his face with both hands then gave me a pleading look. “You’re trouble,” he said. “Your family’s trouble. They can make life difficult for my boss. Things are happening in the city right now, and I can’t afford to be distracted. He wants to make sure this isn’t going to be a problem.”

“What sort of things?” I asked.

“Do you really want to know?” He gave me a serious look and ran a hand through his perfect, lush hair.

“Yes,” I said. “I really do.”

“There’s a war going on with a rival gang named the Healy family. They’re gunning for my territory, and I plan on killing a few of them.” He tilted his head to the side. “Feel better now that you know?”

“Of course I don’t feel better,” I snapped, pacing away. “Holy shit, Gian. You’re in some gang war.”

“I never said my life was easy,” he said, sounding amused.

I paced up and down his kitchen and put my mug down on the table. I pulled at my hair, which needed to be washed, and stared at him. “I feel like I made a really bad choice, following you.”

He walked slowly toward me, a smirk on his pretty lips. I backed up until I bumped into the wall, and he didn’t stop.

“You made a great choice,” he said, putting one massive, muscular arm above my right shoulder and leaning closer. I glanced at his forearm and felt a very strange, very lovely tingling sensation run down my legs. “I know this feels like a lot, but you’ll be safe with me.”

“Gang war,” I said. “Not safe.”

“Minor scuffle,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry. Now, we need to go meet my Don. I need this from you.”

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “I guess I owe you for breaking Stuart’s teeth.”

“Oh, no, I did that one for free, but you should come anyway.”

“Fine,” I said and glared at him. “But no more surprises, okay? I don’t want to learn you have some secret super hitman chasing after you or whatever. Full disclosure from here on out.”

“Okay then,” he said. “In the light of full disclosure, I’m being chased by a cartel murderer that has a taste for human blood.”

I felt my skin go pale. “Are you joking?”

He grinned huge. “Yeah, I am. Come on, what the hell do you think I do?”

I pushed him away and he laughed as I stormed to the door. “Let’s go, asshole,” I said. “Before I change my mind.”

He followed, smiling the whole time. We got into his truck and drove west, left the city, and headed north to a small, cute suburb. It wasn’t the Main Line, but it was full of old houses and had an adorable downtown. The Don’s house was tucked away at the end of a long driveway, and it looked like it would’ve fit in where I grew up. Several expensive cars were parked out front, and the bushes were immaculately trimmed. The roof had big, towering peaks, and the porch wrapped all the way around the sides.

Gian knocked and we were let in by a heavyset woman with smiling eyes. “Hey there, hon,” she said and Gian kissed her cheek.

“Hello, Bea,” he said. “I want you to meet Ash.”

“Hi, darling,” Bea said, grinning. She was an average-looking woman with pale skin and white hair, probably in her sixties. She had on an apron over a cream