Desperate Desires (Mergers & Acquisitions #3)

Chapter 17-Ono

S o far, so good.

At least that was what I thought when Michelle got in the SUV with me after my announcement.

Marriage was something I hadn’t thought a lot about until I met this woman, and the second I got the idea in my head to give her my name, well, it just turned into a done deal.

There was nothing else to do but make her mine in every way, and that included offering the protection of my name, my money, my influence, my body.

Fuck, I would do anything to keep her safe.

The puppet master behind Freddy and the D’Amato boys was still unknown, but the threats I mentioned were real.

One of the trucking companies I owned had been hit last night.

The retirement home where my Uncle Al lived also had some unusual activity, a fire in the kitchens that caused all the elderly residents to be shuffled outside in the cold for hours late last night.

And there was one more threat.

One more thing I hadn’t yet told the beautiful doctor.

After I left her apartment, but before the men I’d assigned to watch it arrived, someone had broken in and trashed the place.

Then the parking lot where she kept her Land Rover had been vandalized. Several cars were hit, including hers.

Mostly hers.

I fisted my hands at the filthy fucking slander they’d painted across her car’s doors before slashing the tires and busting the windows. Using words like whore and bitch to describe my perfect Michelle was just the kind of thing to make a monster of a man like me.

My team was on it, and just because I figured they’d want to know, I called Sammy and Jr. and told them what was happening.

The problem was, I’d never been serious about a woman before, so I didn’t know how she would react to all this.

I was serious about Michelle, though. And this threat to her, well, it had my blood boiling.

Sure, I wanted to woo her, to take my time, but that was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

If anything were to happen to her—no, I couldn’t even allow myself to entertain the thought.

I’d done bad things in my life, but if a single hair on her pretty head was hurt, I would do worse, far worse than anything I’d ever done.

I would do terrible fucking things to avenge her.

Dark things.

I tried to distance myself from the mob before I even knew her, but it was proving more difficult than I thought.

The fact was, despite my name and my family’s history, the criminal underworld held no interest for me.

But there were some who couldn’t understand that.

They thought I was a traitor. Figured I was singing to some government agency, giving them up. Even worse, those motherfuckers thought I owed them.

Like they were entitled to one single fucking cent that came from Bottarelli World Imports.

They didn’t realize it was their own sloppiness and lack of foresight that stunted their financial growth and got them caught up with the feds.

It wasn’t me.

I had no beef with any of them.

At least, not until they attacked me. But now they had my full attention.

They dared to threaten what was mine, and Michelle was inarguably mine.

So now, I had no choice. I was going to do something about it.

First things first, make Michelle my wife.

See, wives, children—these were off limits in the world I grew up in. If the guys behind this shit followed the rules, then she would be fine.

Not that I’d be lazy about her protection.

I wouldn’t be.

She meant too much. And having her take my name, live with me, sleep with me day in and day out—that was all a fucking bonus.

I tapped my fingers against my leg and Michelle turned her head towards me as we neared the private airport where I had a plane fueled up and waiting.

“Where are we going?”

“We have to leave for a few days to be safe,” I murmured, taking her hand and relishing the fact she didn’t pull away.

“Ono, I just can't leave. I have patients, responsibilities,” she began.

“I told you, I worked it out with your boss,” I said, frowning at the worry I saw in her luminous brown eyes.

“I know you said that, and I am trying to understand all this, but you can't just do that. You can't just take over someone's life,” she said.

“Michelle, I'm not taking over your life. I'm trying to make sure you have one,” I told her, meaning every word.

“What? But why would anyone be after me?”

Her question was innocent enough, and it hurt to think I was the one who’d done this to her. But I couldn’t give her up. I knew I’d never get her out of my system, and I didn’t even want to try.

I should walk away. Drive her to Adrik Volkov’s house. Tell him to protect her.

But I couldn’t let her go, and I wouldn’t leave her in some other man’s care.

Not now.

Not ever.

Michelle was mine.

I knew it was fucked up. People didn’t just belong to people, did they?

Maybe it wasn’t the norm, but me and her? We were made for each other. We were like twin flames burning against the darkness.

Yeah. That feels right.

I belonged to her just as much as she belonged to me.

Of course, I wasn’t a fucking idiot.

She was a doctor. An intellectual. A trained professional. I couldn’t just hit her over the head with this shit.

No. Telling Michelle I was fucking obsessed with her was probably not a good idea.

So, I tried something else instead. I tried appealing to her belief in accountability.

“They’re after you because of me. This is my fault. I put you in this situation and now it’s my job to protect you. These men are killers, Doc. And I could never let anything happen to you. I won’t,” I whispered the last.

“Okay. I understand you feel responsible. But you said you had to make me your wife. You don’t have to do that. There has to be another way,” she said, her impossibly dark eyes burning with questions.

“There’s not,” I said, angry and hurt that maybe she didn’t want to be my wife.

Stupid, I know.

“But why?”

“Because everyone needs to know that you're off limits,” I growled.

“And getting married is the only way to do that?” she asked, her voice rising with her nerves.

“I’ll treat you well, Doc. I promise.”

“B-but we don’t have any plans. I’m sure this isn’t legal?—”

“I got the papers. Just sign here,” I said, shoving the license at her.

Of course, my guys would take care of the filing and whatnot. All the important documents had already been copied and filled out.

It just needed her signature.

The SUV stopped, and I waited with my heart in my throat as Michelle stared at the papers in her hands.

The sound of an engine gunning for us had me raising my head, and I growled at the fucking audacity of these pricks.

“We gotta go. Sign it,” I commanded, my whole body so tense it was a wonder I didn’t break something.

Shots rang out, and Michelle’s head swiveled towards the sound, her eyes wide.

I should’ve thought about this. Had more muscle waiting here.

Whoever was after me, they seemed to have good intel. But their days were numbered.

“Now, Doc. We don’t have any more time,” I urged her.

Michelle swallowed. Her dark eyes seemed to plead with mine, but I was not backing down.

This was the only way.

I held my breath, waiting. She gritted her jaw, looking down.

Then she signed the papers.

Thank fuck.