Chapter 6
Six
Lissia
I ran out of Marchello’s office and down the showroom steps. My hasty decision to come here had blown up in my face.
But while I’d been a fool to think for a second he would help me, how he handled my request had been completely out of line.
Who did he think he was, treating me that way? I’d approached him with a legitimate offer, and he’d made a joke out of it. Clearly, that man was only interested in one thing.
Sex.
Maybe I should have just done it. I sure wanted to. But now was not the time, and caving to him so easily would just make every other future interaction with him insufferable.
I hurried out of the dealership and to my car, but before I could press the button on the remote to unlock the door, Danny’s car blocked mine.
Damn it!
He got out and leaned against his car. “How did I know I would find you here? Don’t tell me that you’re car shopping.”
“I am in the market for a fuchsia Corvette.”
I’m also in the market for a hot, brooding maniac with a mean streak. But that’s an issue for my therapist.
“I’ll buy you one for a wedding gift, but not from this shitty place.” He gazed around. “I wouldn’t give this corrupt business a dime.”
“You’re judging someone for being corrupt? That’s funny.”
When he came at me, I inched back toward the dealership, hoping the cameras would spot us.
“Going somewhere?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to his car. “What am I going to do with you?”
“What do you want?” I sighed.
“My fiancée.”
“I’m not her.” I tugged out of his hold. “I’ll never be her. You need to understand that.”
“Don’t say such things.” He stroked my cheek. “You might offend me.”
“Don’t touch me.” I turned away from him.
“I hate to disappoint you, but in a few days, we will be engaged, and in about a month, you will be my wife.” He smiled. “In every sense of the word. If we’re lucky, you’ll produce an heir in a year.”
“No.” I held up my hand, disgusted at the thought of him impregnating me. “That will never happen.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“My father didn’t have any right to promise you that.”
“An heir goes without saying. How else do we carry on the line? My goal is to pop your cherry and put a baby in that belly on the first shot.”
“I just threw up in my mouth a little.”
“I can see you’re going to need a lesson in manners.”
“You can’t force me to marry you. I won’t do it. I won’t say the words. I won’t even show up.” I waved my hands in the air. “You can’t make me marry you. No one gets married against their will.”
“As if you’ll have a choice in the matter. Once you get into my car, you’re not leaving your father’s house again. I’ll make sure of it.” He laughed, and my stomach churned.
“Then I won’t get into your car.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Again, like you have a choice.”
I glanced around the dimly lit area. “I’ll kick and scream. Someone is bound to hear me. Marchello is upstairs. There’s security all over this place.”
“Marchello won’t intervene.” Danny looked around the desolate lot. “Not if he knows what’s good for him.”
Coming here at night wasn’t my best idea, but I was under the impression that I’d be safe with Marchello. Maybe I should have agreed to the sex.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I pointed at him. “I’ll tell my father you’re abusive. He doesn’t like it when I’m mistreated. I’ll lie and tell him you hit me.”
“Keep it up and you’re not going to have to lie.” He grabbed my arm and tried to get me into the car.
If I got into his car, I’d never have a chance. I had to get to my mother and hope she would side with me.
“Get away from me!” I yelled.
“I told you to stay away from him,” Danny said. “Now you’re going to pay, you stupid bitch.”
“She isn’t the only one who is going to pay.”
I turned to find Marchello standing in front of me with his gun aimed at Danny. Six men stood with him.
Thank God!
“I can promise you that.” Marchello glanced at me before returning his attention back to the lunatic who thought I would marry him.
“What is this?” Danny released my arm. “Do you really think this is going to sit well with the other families?”
“The last time I checked, you aren’t affiliated with the families,” Marchello said. “You’re not even Italian.”
“You’re a dying breed. Even your father knows that. Isn’t that why he fled?”
Shit.
“Fuck you.” Marchello clutched my arm and brought me to him, shoving the gun in my side. His men all raised their weapons, holding Danny back.
“What are you doing?” Danny asked.
“Taking a hostage,” Marchello said.
“What?” I glanced over my shoulder and stared into his menacing eyes, but the hard metal of the gun was a little distracting, so I didn’t squirm.
“Are you insane?” Danny snarled, but the rage in his expression was aimed at me more than Marchello. “Do you see what you’ve done by coming here?”
This isn’t my fault. Well, maybe I could take some of the blame.
“I’ve been known to do some crazy shit.” Marchello tightened his grip on me. “Do you really want to try me? Someone could get hurt.”
“Let her go,” Danny said. “You can’t kidnap Gian’s daughter. You know the consequences for that.”
“Watch me,” Marchello said. “I don’t give a fuck about consequences.”
Yeah. Watch him.
I wanted to tell Marchello he didn’t need the gun, but he had to make it look good in front of Danny. My heart pounded hard, rattling my ribcage.
Having a loaded gun pressed against your side really amped up the adrenaline.
“You tell Gian if he ever wants to see his daughter again, he might want to think twice about moving that shipment.”
“You knew?” I whispered.
“You can also tell him that any part he played in causing my father to leave, he better undo—and fast—if he wants to keep her breathing.”
“I can’t tell if you’re bold or stupid,” Danny said.
“I’m not stupid, Mr. Collins. The ball is in your court. Get Gallanti to back off, then we’ll negotiate.”
Marchello turned me around and hurried me to a black SUV on the other side of the lot. I kept pace with him easily, considering I wanted to get away from Danny as quickly as I could.
Marchello opened the driver’s side door and shoved me into the vehicle. He held the gun on me as he nodded for me to climb over the console. “Get in the passenger seat.”
He was really playing up this hostage situation. It was kind of sexy. Maybe we could role-play this at a more convenient time.
“Okay.” I crawled over the center panel, trying to yank my dress down, but it was no use. He probably saw my panties. Although, he had his fingers up my hooha less than thirty minutes ago, so did it really matter if he saw my butt cheeks?
He got in, slammed the door, and put the car in drive. The tires screeched as he made his getaway out of the parking lot.
A thrill of excitement coursed through me. Having a man as dangerous as Marchello haul me away made me tingle in some pretty intimate spots. Another issue for my therapist.
“Well.” I breathed a sigh of relief as I clicked my seatbelt. “That was something.”
With a tight jaw, he kept his eyes on the road. His chiseled profile mesmerized me, even with that scowl on his face. Why does he always look so annoyed? And why do I find his annoyance so appealing?
“You knew what my father and Danny were planning,” I said. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“I told you I didn’t need your help.”
“You didn’t need to make a deal with me.” I stared out the window as we headed away from the city. “You tried to take advantage of me.”
“I didn’t try to take anything you weren’t offering.” He gripped the steering wheel. “And trust me, you couldn’t have told me anything I wouldn’t have already known.”
“I guess now you’ll never know.”
“Right.” He turned up the radio. “Whatever will I do without your intel?”
“Well, thanks for the assist with Danny. I appreciate it.” I lowered the radio so he could hear me. “Even if holding me at gunpoint was a little dramatic.”
“It wasn’t for theatrics.”
“In any case, you saved me a second time, but I’ll make sure you don’t have to do it again.”
“What was the arms dealer arguing with you about?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I rolled my eyes. “You can drop me off at the Ritz, and I’ll call my dad in the morning. It won’t hurt to make him sweat it out tonight. My mother will be able to help me.”
Marchello kept driving, taking me farther away from the city.
Where are we going?
“This isn’t the way to the hotel.” I glanced out the window. “You have to turn around before we hit the tunnel. We can’t leave the city.”
“We are leaving the city. You’re not the one calling the shots,” he said. “Be quiet so I can think.”
“Think about what?”
He didn’t answer as he took the exit that would take us away from the Manhattan skyline.
“I can work things out with my dad,” I said. “I’ll tell him this was a misunderstanding. I can convince him that Danny was being a jerk, which he was, and he manhandled me, which he did. I’ll tell Daddy that you were protecting me.”
“By taking you away at gunpoint?”
“I can lie for you. It’s Danny’s word against mine.” The farther into the tunnel we got, the more I stared back at the city. “Where are we going?”
No answer.
“Danny was being an ass,” I said. “I’ll get my father to understand that. I’ll tell him that for all your help, he should assist you in getting your dad home. He’ll listen.”
“I said I didn’t need your fucking help.” He slammed his fist against the wheel. “Be quiet.”
“Just tell me where we’re going.” I liked a surprise just as much as the next girl, but something told me wherever we were headed wasn’t going to be the kind of surprise I wanted.
Once we were out of the tunnel, he turned the music up again.
“You’re not taking me to the Ritz, are you?”
“No, princess, I’m not.” He maneuvered down a side road that was only lit because of the almost-full moon.
I looked out the window, trying to get my bearings, but I had no idea where we were. Wasn’t the whole scene back at the dealership for show? Was that message he gave Danny to give to my father real?
“You really did kidnap me?” I asked.
“What gave it away?”
“Marchello, it isn’t too late to stop this. Just drop me off at a shopping center or something, and I’ll call my dad. He’ll understand.”
Going back to my dad meant going back to Danny, but I never meant for things to get this far when I sought Marchello’s help. I didn’t even know what my plan would be when I went to the dealership.
Isn’t that my MO? Act on impulse and worry about the consequences later?
“You have no idea how any of this works, do you?” He made a left turn that led us down another dark country road. “Do you think your father is just going to say it’s okay? That he’ll excuse me for taking you?”
“I told you, I’ll tell him you were trying to protect me.”I tucked my hair behind my ears. “I don’t want them to hurt you or for anything to happen to you because of me.”
“I’m not the one who needs to be afraid.” He sped up, taking the curve too fast for my liking. “Danny came onto my territory. He had no business there.”
He thinks I’m his business.
“Why was he looking for you?” Marchello glanced at me before returning his attention to the road.
“I don’t know.” I fidgeted with my hands. I didn’t want to tell him about the arrangement my father made with Danny. That would only complicate matters. “He’s an idiot.”
We drove onto a small bridge that crossed a river, and Marchello stopped the car. I gazed out the window, squinting at the murky water.
“What are we doing?” For a fleeting second, a scary thought crossed my mind. Would he toss me in? “Why are we stopped here?”
“Where is your phone?”
I dug into my bag, rummaging through the various lip glosses and compacts to locate my phone. “Right here.”
“Give it to me.” He held out his hand. “Now.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.” He snatched it from me.
I leaned over to get it back, but he was too quick. He threw the phone out the window and into the river.
“Why did you do that?” I lost my breath and smacked his shoulder. “My whole life is on that phone. Pictures, contacts, my calendar, my social media. Everything! Why would you do that?”
“Because what kind of kidnapper would I be if I allowed my captive to have a phone?”
“Your captive?” I undid my seatbelt because the restriction made me uneasy. “That’s not what this is.”
“What do you think happened back there?” He ran his hand along his stubble. “You really are clueless, aren’t you?”
“I thought you were helping me out of a bad situation.”
“So, I killed two birds with one stone.” He shrugged. “I’m resourceful that way.”
“You miscalculated.” I reached for the door handle, not exactly sure where I would go in the middle of nowhere, but impulse and all. “I’m no one’s prisoner.”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him. Even in the darkness of the car, I could see his terrifying glare.
“There is no room for your disobedience in this scenario.” His menacing tone was lower than usual. “Don’t test me.”
I opened my mouth to test him, but he cut me off before I could get a word out.
“You should know that kidnapping isn’t the only thing I’m willing to do to get what I want.”