Strapped: A Second Chance Mafia Romance by Emma Spring Read Free Book Online Page B

such as this one.
    Rape.
    Murder.
    Muggings.
    Crimes swirl around and around in my mind as I try to move my body quicker. I hear shouting coming from one side of the road, and although it doesn’t seem to be aimed at me, I feel my face flush regardless. I don't look up though, I can’t.
    Frustrated tears prick my eyes as I step so quickly that I’m almost running, and just as I fear that the panic might consume me entirely, I find myself outside of Marco’s home.
    I knock lightly on the door, needing him to take a few moments to answer while I calm myself down. I suck in a few deep breaths of air, hoping that the color is draining from my cheeks, so by the time the door swings open, I’ve managed to plaster a fake smile on my lips.
    But it isn’t Marco, it’s his grandmother.
    Luckily, although she’s a fierce woman – which I suppose she needs to be to keep her family in line – she seems to have taken a liking to me, so her presence instantly makes me relax. That is until a sense of discomfort spreads over her, and she half-shuts the door on me so I can’t come inside.
    “Is... is Marco there?” I ask anxiously. “Only, he isn’t answering his phone and I really need to talk to him.”
    “Yes,” she glances behind her quickly, which suggests to me that the next words that come out of her mouth are going to be a lie. “He isn’t well. He’s sleeping. In bed. That’s why he isn’t answering the phone.”
    “Can I see him?” I ask sadly, still wanting to be by his side.
    “No, no,” she insists quickly. “He doesn’t want any visitors... I will tell him that you’ve been here though.”
    And then she shuts the door on my face in the rudest gesture that I’ve ever known her to do. I remain there for a few moments, frozen like an idiot, wondering what the hell I can do, before spinning on my heels and starting the long and humiliating trudge back home...
    Why doesn’t Marco want to talk to me?
    What have I done?
    Or more... what has he done?

    * * *
    1 st October 2014

    I t’s almost midnight when I hear a hard knocking at my door. It makes me jump up from the couch where I was just drifting off to sleep with some rom-com playing in the background.
    At first my heart pounds nervously, expecting the worst, but as I rapidly swing the door open to see a very sexy-looking Marco leaning up against my front door, I can’t help but giggle in a weird fission of nerves and excitement. I suppose I’m going to have to get used to shocks like this if I’m going to continue spending time with this man. The surprises are only going to be more intense than they once were because we’re adults now, with much more freedom to do as we please.
    “What are you doing here?” I ask, instantly noticing the seductive lilt to my voice.
    “What do you think?” He chuckles, moving his body closer to mine. Just having him that near to me is enough to send me wild with desire – his musky, manly scent, combined with that muscular body which seems as if it’s been designed to make me feel petite is causing butterflies to flap wildly within me. “I’m here to see you... now are you going to let me in or what?”
    As I move to let him past, and he brushes against me while keeping his eyes on mine the entire time, I can see a fierce expression of passion there, which causes everything within me to stand even more on edge. I already know where this random visit is going to lead, and I actually cannot wait for that.
    “So... can I get you anything to...” I start, wanting to be a good host, but he quickly silences me by pressing his body hard up against mine, pushing me up against the wall, and claiming me with his mouth.
    I don't even try to resist, I simply allow him to take me along for the crazy ride. His lips against mine flicker a deep passion within me, and it isn’t long until I’m leaning even further back, wanting him to take me all the way.
    This man is mine, and I am his, and I want him to consume