Kidnapped Wife

Chapter One

Elsie Santorini didn’t know how her husband had been able to find her so fast. She was used to sneaking off without anyone being aware that she’d been gone. Years of growing up in the foster care system, bouncing from place to place, she learned how to run and hide.

She thought as an adult her days of running away were over, but it would seem not. Rushing into the apartment she had started to rent just this week, she scrambled toward the closet, grabbing her bag. She hadn’t unpacked. Again, another rule she had learned while being on the run from foster homes. Not all homes were bad, but most of them only had people who were interested in cashing in a paycheck. They had no care for the children they were supposed to protect. Most of the time, they didn’t care. The few that did tended to keep to the younger kids.

Elsie learned not to trust any of them.

The biggest mistake she ever made was getting comfortable, and the same problem happened with her husband. She got too comfortable.

Her hands shook as she quickly checked to make sure everything was packed. She had her passport, some cash, and she moved as fast as she could, heading toward the door only to come to a stop as it slammed open. Her heart started to race as she looked at him, the panic so close to the surface. She stared at the man she once thought of as her hero. He was not her hero.

They were a couple that should never have been. Most of the men and women within his circle didn’t like her. She was the outcast. She hadn’t known, when she’d fallen in love with Massimo, that he was one of the notorious members of the local mafia. He ran the whole freaking city and had businessmen, politicians, and so many more eating out of his pocket.

All she had been to him was a nice waitress. He came for coffee at the café where she worked. She didn’t know her boss was a rare friend to Massimo. It was the only reason he went to the damn café. She had thought it was because he loved her, but in recent weeks that had proven to be wrong.

His betrayal cut deeper than she ever thought possible, and she was used to being betrayed.

Nibbling her bottom lip, she stared at him, at the deep blue eyes she thought stared at her so longingly when he’d taken her virginity. They hadn’t been married when they had sex, but within forty-eight hours, he organized everything so they became husband and wife.

Elsie hadn’t been interested in his wealth or title. She had loved him, the man, the person who made her laugh, who took her on long walks through the park. The man who gave her his jacket because she felt cold. That was the man she fell in love with.

He hadn’t hidden his true self from her. On the evening of their wedding, he had told her exactly who he was and what he did. She knew he murdered people. Part of her knew she should care, but she also knew there were people in the world who didn’t deserve to live.

She had no doubt he probably killed innocent people, but she loved him more than anyone or anything in the world. She didn’t want to be without him. So, she ignored the warnings. Even when his people looked at her with disdain, he was there, always by her side. On her side. They called her many names—a whore, a gold-digger—but she didn’t care. Massimo loved her and she loved him.

“How did you find me?” she asked. She’d been careful in hiding her tracks. She was no amateur.

“I don’t know what made you leave,” he said. “Running around the streets without any protection is stupid.”

She shook her head. “I want a divorce!”

Even as she said those words, she felt like she was plunging a knife into her own chest. Tears sprang to her eyes.

“No,” Massimo said.

“You can’t do this. Just because you don’t want something, doesn’t mean I have to follow along with whatever you say. We’re not compatible, Massimo!”

“You’re wrong, or should I remind you of how good I make you scream?”

She hated him for that. He knew her body better than she did. He knew exactly how to touch her to make her scream, and she hated it.

“Don’t. That is just sex and you know it. You know how to press every woman’s buttons.” She wanted to scream at him, instead, she kept her calm. She had no idea how she managed it.

“So, tell me, Elsie. What did I do wrong for you to run away like a petulant child? What did I do?”

Elsie looked at him, and in that moment, she didn’t know what she saw in him. That was a lie. He was the first person to make her feel special, to make her feel wanted. All her life, she’d never had any of those feelings. Not by foster parents or social workers. She’d always been a burden, and for the first time in her life, someone showed her they cared.

“You promised to love me. You promised to be there for me in sickness and in health.”

“Nothing has changed.”

“And you promised to remain faithful to me. To be mine as I am yours, and yet you had to go with her, didn’t you? Isabella, the woman you really wanted. You wanted her, and now that she is available, I mean nothing to you.”

He took another step toward her, then another. Elsie wanted to stand her ground, but with Massimo, it was next to impossible. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but she’d run away and left. She hadn’t stolen from him. The money she earned as a waitress still belonged to her. Everything she’d taken had been stuff she bought with her own money. Everything Massimo had paid for had been left behind.

“Like I said before, nothing has changed, but right now, Elsie, you should know I am not sorry for this.”

Elsie didn’t have much time to react before he pressed something against her mouth. There was no time to struggle. She couldn’t even make out what scent it was, but then everything slowly faded to darkness.

****

“I know you don’t like to put labels on anything, but this is called kidnapping,” Romero, his brother said, standing in the doorway of the room.

“It is called luxury.”

“I mean, yeah, it is luxurious, no doubt about that, but you still cannot deny you have kidnapped your own wife.” Massimo turned to glare at his brother, who immediately put his hands in the air as if in surrender. “Not me, I mean, I totally think it’s normal to take a woman against her will.”

“Elsie doesn’t know what she wants,” Massimo said. Once he had her tucked away in bed, he stroked some of her hair away from her face. She would be out of it for a few hours more.

The moment he realized she ran away from him, he’d never known such panic in his life, and he’d stared death in the face multiple times. Nothing had even compared to what he felt knowing Elsie was out there without any protection. He had warned her that her life would be forever in jeopardy, but he’d been too selfish to walk away.

He’d fallen for her hard, which had been difficult for many to understand. To other men like him, capos within the mafia, women like Elsie were a dime a dozen. Most of them had mistresses with outsiders. They were only good for a fuck, although he was aware of some of them fathering children, and even living happy families with some of them, when they could get away from the obligations with their true family.

Massimo hadn’t wanted any other woman. From the moment he set eyes on Elsie, he’d known she was the one for him. No one else could even compare, nor did he want them to.

Stepping away from the bed, he knew in time Elsie would see this was for her own good. She would not be able to survive out there alone. He wasn’t going to let it happen.

He left the room, closing the door behind him, and Romero followed him down the corridor toward the sitting room.

“What do you want me to do?” Romero asked, and once again, the playful tone was gone from his voice.

Now they were down to business. Romero needed to be his eyes and ears while he was away dealing with his own wife.

“I want to know everything that goes on while I’m gone. Anything suspicious, you tell me.”

“Anything about Isabella?” Romero asked.

“Yes, she is up to something. Find out what it is.” He had a bad feeling about Isabella D’Angelo. She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the family. Men were constantly offering themselves, their titles, anything for her hand.

Massimo knew her father wished for him to be that man, and until Franco D’Angelo had met Elsie, bridges hadn’t been mended. Then Franco finally met Elsie, and, well, much to Massimo’s surprise, the other man had found Elsie rather charming. He didn’t know why he was so surprised. Franco had also been a man who had married outside of the mafia. It was why Isabella’s desirability was such a surprise. For many years, mafia families had treated the D’Angelos with disdain.

He never understood why the family was so intent on keeping it within the family. It was where he used to differ from his late father.

“On it,” Romero said.

He watched his brother leave the cabin, and the moment he did, he was alone. Massimo had known the moment he married Elsie and told her the truth, there was a risk people would try to come between them. He vowed to never let it happen, and yet that was exactly what did happen, and now he was pissed off.

From the moment he first saw Elsie, waitressing at a friend’s café, he’d been smitten. Never had a woman been on his mind so much. He figured Elsie would be nothing more than a quick fuck, and he’d be on his way. Only, Elsie had other plans.

She didn’t cave into his bullshit quite so easily. She questioned everything, and even though she might look it, she was anything but naive. Elsie was the only woman who wouldn’t take any of his shit. She didn’t allow him to treat her with anything but respect.

Dating her had been a surreal experience. He was used to women wanting his money, begging for his dick. Elsie didn’t. Their dates were … conservative.

She didn’t want to know about his money or his wealth. She was the first woman to want to talk about him, the man, nothing else. Work was work. He watched her be like this with everyone. She was more interested in people than in what they did.

His brother had been surprised by her. She wouldn’t accept any of his lavish gifts. In fact, on one date, she brought the diamond bracelet he’d sent her and gave it back to him, as it made her uncomfortable.

Women lapped up his wealth and relished his power. They were only interested in what he could give them. And he had gotten used to it.

Elsie was nothing like that. And he fucking loved her for it.