“It’s been two weeks. Are you going to tell me who she is or not?” Gio asks, startling me.

“It’s none of you — ”

“You can’t keep saying it’s none of my business.” He cuts me off and gives me a glare. “Everything is my business, especially when it comes to you. I know you’ve been watching the woman who lives there. Are you going to tell me why?”

I’m in my office packing up for the day. It’s only four o’clock, but I like to watch Thea walk from the telemarketing job to Rita’s, just to make sure she’s safe. Not that she knows I’m watching her. I haven’t spoken a word to her directly since that first night. But every day since, I’ve been a part of her life. In more ways than she realizes.

I let out a deep sigh and sit down in my chair, leaning back. Gio may not be my brother by blood, but he is in every other sense of the word. There’s nothing I’ve ever kept from him, and this secrecy is causing a rift to form between us. This has been something that’s only mine, but I know it can’t stay that way forever.

“Her name is Thea,” I finally admit, and look away from him. I don’t like sharing any part of her, even her name, with someone else.

“She’s the reason we bought the building, right?” he asks, and I nod. “Does she know who you are?”

There’s a long pause, and I look back to him, unsure of how to explain it. Then I decide the truth is the best.

“She saw me kill Joey. I chased her down, and now I’m just making sure she doesn’t talk.” Okay, so maybe not one hundred percent true.

“You let a witness walk?” Gio’s voice is a mix of shock and disapproval.

“I took care of it,” I say defensively, and stand up. I go back to cleaning up my desk before I leave. I don’t have to explain myself to anyone.

“Salvatore.”

“Giovanni,” I snap back.

“Is this going to be a problem?” he asks, and now there’s concern, rather than accusation, behind his words.

“Have I ever not taken care of business? Have I ever once put us in jeopardy?” Heat rushes up my neck as anger takes hold. I walk around the desk and get toe to toe with him. “Have you once in your goddamn life ever known me to not cover my shit and do what’s best for everyone in our family?”

He clenches his jaw and rolls his shoulders. Gio is a kitten until you get in his space. That’s when the panther comes out and he’ll rip your throat out. But I’m not scared. He and I had our differences when we were younger and we worked through them. I just need to remind him that I’m not the enemy.

“You’re right, brother,” he finally says, and reaches out to put a hand on my shoulder. “Just be careful. I know I give you a hard time about finding a woman, but I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“I know. I will be,” I say, and it goes a long way to cool both of us down. I pull him into a quick hug and then step back, grabbing my bag off the desk.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” I say as I walk out of the office.

When I get to the garage, I slip into my black Maserati and start it up. It’s not a long drive to the place where Thea spends the first part of her day, but it gives me just long enough to talk myself out of approaching her today.

It’s been hell these two weeks, keeping my distance, but I keep promising myself that I will make my move soon. I also needed to make sure she didn’t run to the cops. It was a real possibility, although I hoped she wouldn’t. I needed to see who her friends and family were and if she confided in them about what happened. I put a few of my men around in key places to watch and listen, and so far, there’s been nothing. She’s kept her silence, and for her loyalty she’s been rewarded. But the greatest reward is yet to come.

After the night we parted ways, I bought the building she lives in and secretly had a few upgrades done. I had cameras installed, better lighting outside, and security guards placed at all the entrances. A couple of the guys I had watching the area knew to be on the lookout for her, but I didn’t mention her name. I just said she was a distant cousin to a family member and was staying there temporarily. Which is true. She won’t be in that dump much longer.

I also went to her telemarketing job and spoke with the owner. I pretended to be a headhunter checking for work references on Thea, and they offered up everything they had on her so easily I nearly lost my shit. I kept my cool, though, and learned all that I could and paid them for their time and services. If they seemed at all surprised by this, they didn’t act like it and pocketed the money without another word.

As soon as I left, I contacted my tech guy to hack in and erase any data the company had on her. Fucking idiots just gave me her life in a folder without so much as a glance at an ID.

I didn’t go into her waitressing job, but instead watched her from outside. She kept to herself and worked her fingers to the bone every night. It made my chest ache to watch it that first night.

I followed her on the train home but stayed in a different compartment and kept my distance. That first night, after she was safely in her home, I ordered Chinese for her and had it delivered. She tried to refuse it, but I paid the guy an extra fifty to tell her it was for her and it was taken care of.

Now every night, I have food sent to her home. She stopped trying to refuse after a few days, but I keep wondering if she knows it’s me. I wonder if there’s a place inside of her that knows I’m taking care of her. Just like I said I would.

At the end of every night I wait outside her building until I watch her light go out. After that, I head home and think about her until I fall asleep. I can’t hold back much longer, and each day that passes, I become less and less patient.

I pull up in my usual spot that’s close to the old house she works in but not close enough for her to notice me. A Maserati sticks out in a neighborhood like this, but she hasn’t so much as glanced in its direction. One day I’m going to talk to her about being aware of her surroundings.

I’m early, but I never mind the wait for her to leave. Some days I follow her on foot to the train station and ride it with her. Some days I wait until she gets on and then drive straight to Rita’s. I strum my fingers on the steering wheel as the clock ticks by.

When she’s five minutes late, I get annoyed.

I get out of my car and pace a little closer, thinking that maybe I can see if there’s a meeting or something happening inside.

After ten minutes have passed, I’m getting angry, with concern growing right along next to it.

Finally, I give up and walk into the building, knowing that she always leaves out the back. If she’s working late, then she won’t see me and there won’t be any harm done. That’s what I tell myself.

When I walk inside, there’s a young girl at the reception desk smacking her gum and holding her phone up for a selfie.

“Is Thea James working?” I ask, getting right to the point.

The girl looks up from her phone in confusion. “Who?”

“Thea Jones.” I hold my hand up to the height of my chest. “This tall, long dark hair, gray eyes.”

“There’s no such thing as gray eyes.” She looks at me skeptically.

“Do you know who she is?” I’m irritated, and I don’t do a thing to keep it from my voice.

“Yeah, she’s the quiet one who used to sit in the back. She’s gone,” the girl says, and goes back to her phone.

I’ve had enough. I reach over and put my hand over the screen and push it down to the desk. “Did she leave early?”

“Dude. Don’t touch my property,” she says, moving her phone from under my hand as she looks around for help. When she sees none, she finally answers me. “She didn’t come in today. I hear they called her last night and let her go with a bunch of other people. Cutbacks or something. It wasn’t just her.”

I don’t say another word. I push back from the desk and I’m out the door with my cell in my hand. The guy I had watching her building picks up his phone on the first ring. I slide behind the wheel as I try to figure out what happened.

“Why wasn’t I informed the woman on the third floor didn’t leave for work today?” I’ve been getting updates on her movements for two weeks, and I’m pissed I didn’t hear about this already.

“Sorry, boss. I thought you only wanted to know when she left. I haven’t seen any movement today, so I assumed all was good.”

I hang up the phone and hit the gas. Normally it takes me a while to get to the other end of town where she lives, but I’ll make it in half that today. I’m gripping the steering wheel and weaving in and out of traffic as I think about her losing her job. She works hard and has barely anything. I know it probably wasn’t her dream to work there, but she seemed to be trying to make it work. It pisses me off that I wasn’t there for her when she got the call. That I wasn’t beside her, telling her it was going to be okay.

By the time I make it to the building, I spot my guy near a construction zone across the street, where it looks like he’s set up to work. But in reality, all he’s set up to do is watch Thea. That’s his only fucking job.

When he spots me, he immediately stands up and comes over to meet me.

“I’m sorry, boss. I should have reported her staying put,” he says quickly, trying to smooth things over.

“Relax, Mike,” I say, and look at the building.

He nods, and I walk past him and around the back. Mike can’t see the rear of the building from where he’s set up, but he’s got cameras to help with that. From the front he can see Thea coming and going, and up until now it hasn’t been a problem.

When I get to the back of the building, I see a fat drug dealer named Big Shot. He’s almost as tall as me, but where I’ve got pounds of muscle, he’s all blubber. His bald head is shiny, and he’s got a goatee that looks like food is stuck in it. A woman stands next to him, nearly naked, and a couple of guys loitering close by watch me intently.

I don’t know Big Shot personally, but he’s been checked out by my men and I don’t fucking like him.

When I reach the edge of the steps, Big Shot steps out in front of me.

“Hey, I know you,” he says, looking me straight in the eyes. “You going up to see my girl?”

Rage builds up in my throat, and I clench my fists. “Your girl?” I manage to choke out.

“Yeah, I heard about you making a late-night visit to her. But she’s up there packing now. Found out she needed a place to stay, so I’m helping her out. So you can go ahead and turn around, pretty boy. She’s about to get the royal treatment from me.” He licks his lips, and the woman beside him crosses her arms and looks pissed.

There is only evil in the smirk he gives me, and I’ve had enough.

Reaching out, I grab him by the throat and push him up against the wall, high enough so that his feet dangle. He grapples with my arms and chokes on his words as his boys come over to help him. I pull out my gun from the back of my belt and point it at them. They come to a complete stop, so I turn my gun to the middle of Big Shot’s forehead.

“Do you know who I am?” I ask calmly. Big Shot shakes his head, and I look over to his men, who do the same. “I’ll do you a favor and give you an education. I’m Salvatore Castello.”

At the mention of my name, Big Shot’s eyes widen and his boys start to make excuses for him.

“Looks like you do. Then you should know better than to fuck with me and what’s mine.”

I point the gun in the direction of his boys and fire it. They take off running, along with the woman, and I’m thankful I thought to put a silencer on my gun before I left for work today.

Moving the gun back to Big Shot’s forehead, I hold the hot barrel to his bald head and burn him with it. He lets out a choked cry, and I squeeze his neck harder.

“Maybe not right here, boss,” I hear Mike say from behind me. He must have either seen what was happening on the cameras or been close enough to hear the gunshot.

Thankfully his words sink in and I realize that anyone could come down those steps at any moment. This isn’t the place for this.

“Call the twins and have them take care of him,” I say to Mike as I crack Big Shot over the head with the butt of my gun. He slides down to the floor unconscious, and I straighten my suit.

“Will do, boss,” Mike confirms as he hauls his limp body out to a waiting trunk.

I push my hair back in place and walk up the steps to Thea’s apartment. I try to let thoughts of Big Shot and what he said he was going to do with her fall away. She’s mine, and no one touches what belongs to me. It’s clear I need to take care of this now.

When I get to her door, I see a yellow piece of paper taped to it and I rip it off. My eyes scan it to see it’s an eviction notice. I own the goddamn building — how is she being evicted?

There’s some bullshit at the bottom about the management company that took over having to remove residents due to overcrowding. Residents have to relocate as of end of business day today.

“What the fuck?” I growl, crumpling up the paper in my hand and banging my fist on her front door.

When Thea opens the door, something in my chest eases and aches all at the same time. Her eyes are rimmed red and her hair is piled high in a messy bun. She’s wearing a gray sweatshirt that’s hanging off one shoulder, and I can’t tell if what she’s wearing could be classed as underwear or shorts, they’re so damn short.

“You always answer your door dressed like this?” I bark, not intending to yell at her but unable to control my anger.

“You,” she says, blinking a few times and wiping away a tear.

“Salvatore.”

“Yeah, I know,” she answers, blushing slightly as she takes a step closer to me. Then, as if she realized what she did, she takes a step back. She found out who I am, apparently.

“What is this?” I ask, holding up the crumpled yellow ball in my hand.

She opens her mouth to answer, but instead a sob blurts from her lips and her face falls into her hands.

“Oh, my angel, don’t cry,” I soothe, and take a step forward to wrap her in my arms. When I feel her own arms move around my waist, I kick the door closed behind us, and we stand there, holding on to each other.

In this moment, we are taking what we need. She’s using me to cry on after what must have been a really shitty day. And I’m selfishly stealing her warmth and sweetness to ease the pain of being away from her for so long.

“Shhh. It’s all going to be okay. I’ve got it all taken care of,” I say while I rub her back.

She sniffs and pulls away slightly until her cool gray eyes meet mine. “What are you talking about? I don’t even know you. God, this is insane.”

She tries to pull away, but I tighten my hold just slightly. She relaxes again and bites her lip.

“I’ve decided that you’re a loose end.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve spent the last two weeks making arrangements so that you are no longer a threat to the peace I’ve built.”

“I’m not a threat. I haven’t said a word to anyone,” she says defensively.

I reach down and take her hands in mine. “By witnessing what you did that night, you’ve become indebted to me. I spared your life, and you must repay that. I thought by keeping an eye on you it would be enough, but I can see now that this place isn’t safe. And now that you’ve been evicted, it’s apparent you need a place to live.”

I look around the room and see only a few small boxes half filled with meager possessions. When I look back to Thea, she opens her mouth to protest.

“I’ve had enough of this,” I say, pressing my finger to her lips. “I’ve decided you owe me and that’s that. Now get dressed, we’re leaving.”

“I am dressed,” she snaps, and pulls her hand from mine.

I make a show of leaning down and seeing her white shorts molded tight around her ass. Fuck, I can see the outline of her pussy in them, and it makes my mouth water.

“Fine, but pull the sweatshirt down,” I growl.

“I’m not going with you.” Her protest is soft, and we both hear it.

“Thea, what choice do you have?” I ask, crossing my arms. “You lost your job.” When her eyes widen in shock, I shake my head. “You’ve lost your apartment, and that shitty job at Rita’s isn’t enough for you to afford anything else right now. And you owe the biggest kingpin in Los Angeles a debt. You’re going to grab your purse and get your pretty ass in my car. Are we clear?”

She lets out a huff of frustration but walks over and grabs her bag.

“I’ll send someone for the rest of this later,” I say as I wait for her to lock her door, and walk down the stairs with her.

When we get outside, I see Mike and the twins talking right before they get in the car. I know instinctively that Big Shot is in the trunk. There’s no sign of anyone else.

We walk to my car, and I open the passenger door for Thea.

“Are you trying to be a gentleman?” she asks with so much sass and attitude in her voice.

“Are you trying to get spanked for being a brat?” I throw back at her.

Her cheeks turn pink and she slides in the car. But before I close the door, I lean in.

“I won’t always be gentle, angel. But I’m your man now.”

I buckle her up and close the door before walking around and getting in. I already feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders because she’s on her way to my home, to where I can keep her safe and she’ll be mine.

This isn’t exactly how I saw this going down, but it’s good enough to get me what I want. And that’s Thea in my bed, legs spread and being bred with my baby as soon as possible. No condoms, no pills, nothing to stop me. She’s going to be bound to me in every way possible and I’ll make it so she can never leave.

And she’ll be begging for it the whole time.