What the fuck am I doing? I run my hand down my face as I hear her bang against the trunk. Again. I keep hearing her muffled screams and it’s pissing me off. She doesn’t listen for shit. The cold sweat that I can’t kick runs through my body as I gently move the car through the intersection, past the familiar weathered stop sign. She can keep kicking and screaming for all I care. These back roads are deserted this time of day. No one is going to come save her. For now, she’s mine. And that means no one’s going to hurt her either.

I’ll take her to the safe house in the country. It’s a good 30 minutes away from here, and at least a 10 minute drive to civilization. I used to go there to hunt. Back when I thought I’d like that shit, anyway. Turns out waking up before the crack of dawn is not my thing. So now it’s the familia’s. Only Dom and Pops know about it though. She’ll be safe there. I run my hands through my hair and let out a heavy sigh. I’ll keep her there until I know what to do about this. Until I know for sure I can save both our asses.

I wish she hadn’t woken up. If she’d just stayed asleep it would’ve been so much better. I would’ve been alone, maybe told her she hit her head. I have no idea. I’ve never been in this situation. But I wasn’t going to let them kill her. It was my fault. My fuck up. And I’m going to fix this.

The memory from earlier flashes before my eyes. Her shrill scream as she saw my cousins Anthony and Tommy hovering over the brutalized body. Blood covered nearly every inch of that poor bastard’s exposed skin.

My grip tightens on the steering wheel, and suddenly her relentless banging is more annoying than it was before.

I grind my teeth remembering how they came in to the office while I was trying to calm her down.

* * *

I drag her back to the room, her small body pushing against mine. Her feet barely touch the ground as I lift her squirming body to hold her tighter to my chest. Her nails dig into the skin of my forearm that’s pressed hard against her chest, until I can pin her up against the back wall in the office. Her breathing is heavy and so is mine. Adrenaline courses through my blood. One hand covers her mouth to keep her screams muffled.

Fuck! I grit my teeth and keep my voice low as I speak through clenched teeth. “Stop. Screaming.” She doesn’t listen. She keeps it up as though I haven’t said a damn thing. I slam my body up against hers, then move my hand to her throat and squeeze.

“Listen real good, you had better fucking stop.” That gets her attention, but then the office door opens and two sets of heavy, even strides are heard in the silence. The door closes and locks with a loud click.

“I thought it was locked, Vince.” Anthony speaks, but I don’t turn around. I keep my eyes on hers as they dart to my cousins behind me.

“You want me to do it quick, Vince?” Anthony asks. “I’ll make it painless.”

My blood chills as I watch her eyes widen in fear. My poor sweetheart. I can’t. I can’t let that happen.

“No.” It’s the only word I can say. I don’t want to explain it to them. Because I’m their boss, I should know what to do, but I haven’t got a clue.

“You need her to talk or something, Vince?” I can hear the confusion in Anthony’s voice. She should be dead by now. I shouldn’t be toying with her like this. Thing is though, I don’t want her dead. She whimpers and her eyes finally meet mine. I know I must look like a cold-blooded killer. My jaw is clenched and my eyes are hard.

She struggles again in my grasp and then I remember my forearm on her neck. Her head is pushed back in an unnatural way and she’s taking in ragged breaths. I let up on my grip.

I place my lips at her ear and whisper, “Don’t you make a fucking sound.”

“Vince?” At Anthony’s question, I turn my shoulder to Elle. And she acts like a fucking idiot and takes off behind me. My hand reaches out to snatch her but I miss. Tommy’s right fucking there, though. Did she really think she’d make it? Watching Tommy wrap an arm around her waist, bringing her body up against his pisses me off.

He speaks clearly, and I can hear the remorse in his voice as he says, “I’m sorry, I really am.”

I know exactly what he’s gonna do. He’s planning on snapping her neck. Quick, painless, but it’s not going to fucking happen. I take three strides and I’m on him. I land my fist on his jaw like a fucking asshole. He doesn’t see it coming, and it sends him flying into the wall. His shoulder blade hits the drywall, leaving a large dent. Elle tumbles to the ground and I step over her, fuming with rage.

“No one touches her. No one!” I scream so loud I know they all hear it. Everyone in this place. But I don’t give a fuck. It’s not going down like this. I know the rules, just like I know I’m breaking them right now. But I don’t care. I’m not going to allow anyone to hurt her.

I hear her shriek, and I turn to see Anthony holding her just like Tommy was. But he’s quick to respond. “Just keeping her from running, boss.” I give him a quick nod and turn back to Tommy. He’s looking up at me with equal amounts of shock and aggression.

I reach down and offer my hand and help him up. His eyes stay on me, waiting.

“I don’t want her dead, Tommy.” He looks at me for a moment and then nods.

“One second, boss.” I don’t know what he has planned. But I do know this is all fucked.

* * *

It’s all my fault. All of it.

What the hell was I doing letting her leave on her own? Fucking careless. I was sloppy. I’m not fucking sloppy. Never. That’s not how Valettis do business. I grind my teeth and look out of the window as we finally leave the outskirts of the city. Pops is going to be pissed.

Just the thought of his disappointment makes my heart sink. I don’t really give too much of a shit what anyone thinks of me, except for Pops and Ma. Sometimes my brother Dom and sister Clara. But my father's opinion matters the most. He’s always been proud of me. But this shit I’ve gotten us into--this is not good. He’s not going to fucking like that I risked the family to get my dick wet at our place of business.

I don’t know what it is about this broad that has me making poor decisions left and right. I don’t know if it’s her curves, that little pout she has that shows me she’s hurting, or that snappy little attitude that comes out of nowhere.

I fucking love the spitfire my sweetheart is. I can’t fucking wait for her to go off on me again so I can spank that ass of hers. Next thing I know my dick's hard, pressing against my zipper. I let my head fall back, but keep my eyes on the road. And then I hear her thumping away in the back. What the fuck is wrong with me? I’m never getting in that pussy again. I’m the fucking enemy now.

She probably doesn’t even remember that hot as fuck pregaming session we had. Shit. She'd better not. She'd better not remember anything more than my name. I shift uncomfortably in my seat and let out a deep sigh. This is so fucked.

At that thought I realize I have no fucking clue what I’m gonna do with her now. I could bring her to my room and pretend we had a one-night stand. That makes sense. I took her out to the bar, we got drunk, had a great night together. Boom, it’s done and over with. My chest pains at the thought. I don’t want it to be over with. I don’t like that option. But I’m sure as shit not bringing her around the family after this. Tommy and Anthony are the only ones that know. They know better than to tell Pops. That’s my job. My responsibility.

I look down at the watch and see it’s been two hours since she woke up. That means she’s gonna need another dose soon. She shouldn’t remember any of this shit with that drug in her system.

Calling it a sleeping aid was a shit thing to do. It wasn't a blatant lie, but it’s not like I’m gonna tell her I roofied her. I don’t want to give her the impression that we do that kind of shit on vulnerable women, 'cause we don’t. It comes in handy when you wanna take out someone high up though. It's much easier to take a knocked out fucker to the pits than having to fight him on his own territory. Of course she didn’t get the same dose we use for that kind of thing. It’s hard to know how much even got into her system though. Tommy just shoved it in her mouth, and as a result she nearly bit his finger off.

My stomach knots and twists. I’m kidnapping and drugging this woman. What a fucking low point in my life. I really hope this fucking works. Anthony swore by it. He’s real fucking good at getting information from people, and when he asks what happened right before he drugged them and they still don’t know even after spending an hour on his table, then they really have no fucking clue. And that means the drug works. It had better work. But she remembered my name. Tomorrow morning, I need to determine everything she remembers.

I put my hand on the seat of my Audi just like normal, and that’s when I realize Rigs isn’t with me.

Fuck. I look into the rear-view mirror and there’s no one there. I can’t risk going back to my place with her in the trunk though. I’ll have to go back later to pick up my dog. I’ll drop her off at the safe house, and then I’ll go back to my place in the city to pick up his furry little ass. I sure as hell can’t leave him at my place by himself. He’d probably chew up the coffee table just to spite me. I really hope he didn’t shit in my house though. I swear puppies are worse than babies. They have to be. Dom’s little one just chews on the toys they give him and he can’t move, like a little sack of potatoes.

A small grin kicks my lips up, but it vanishes when I hear another bang from the trunk. Fucking hell. I wish she’d calm her ass down. She’s gonna think we had some real rough sex last night and that I tied her ass up. I groan and adjust my cock as it twitches with need. I’d love to fuck this woman. I want inside her more than I’ve ever wanted anything before. But there’s no way that’s happening, not with all this shit.

I really fucked this up.