Taken - A Gangster Stepbrother Romance by Michaela Adams Read Free Book Online

towards the door. “I am taking you down to dinner so I can shove some food in that stubborn mouth of yours,” he said evenly.
     
                  Emma tried to dig her heels into the carpet but the soft floor gave her no grip. Antonio’s hand was large enough and strong enough to keep a good tight hold on both of her wrists.
     
                  As they neared the door, she gave another hard yank. “Stop! Stop!” she cried out. When Antonio turned around, she glared at him with all the frustration and anger she had felt since meeting the man. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? If I say I don’t want to eat, I won’t eat. I’m a grown goddamn woman!”
     
                  Antonio raised an eyebrow. “A grown woman? A grown woman who mopes all day and then starves herself for another two? That kind of grown woman?”
     
                  Emma stared at him. “Fuck you,” she said, the words flying out before she could stop herself.
     
                  Moving so fast she barely had time to register what was happening, Antonio pushed her up against the wall. Hard. Her head bounced against the wall, causing her to hiss in pain.
     
                  Stepping in till he was only a breath away, Antonio looked down at her. His eyes swept over her features as if taking in every detail. Emma mentally cursed at herself knowing that he could see her puffy eyes and red cheeks from all the crying she had done.
     
                  “You’re going to eat,” he finally said. “And let me make something very clear. As older son and leader of the Del Marco Clan, you fall under my rule. And I don’t tolerate people starving themselves, least of all you. You will come down to dinner and eat or I will tie you to a chair and force you to eat. Either way,” he said, his eyes gleaming, “you’re eating.”
     
                  Emma forced herself to keep her knees from buckling. Antonio was a forceful presence to wrangle with, especially when pressed up against the wall with your hands pinned together. But she tried to keep her spine straight as she fought against this man who insisted on ruining her life.
     
                  She looked up at him, unable to believe this man’s audacity and dominance. “You’re treating me like some kind of…of…” Emma tried to think of the right word that encompassed her frustrations and futility “…a slave!”
     
                  Antonio leaned forward and grabbed her chin with thumb and forefinger. With eyes that shone gunmetal gray, he said lowly, “Then so be it and learn to follow your master.”
     
                  Turning around abruptly, he dragged Emma out of the room.

Chapter Eight
                  The lights of the dining room glittered above her as if mocking her situation. Emma stared down at the gleaming white china plate and the delicious food that graced it.
     
                  Antonio Del Marco clearly liked fine wine and food because both were present in the giant domed dining room. At the long gleaming walnut table, Antonio sat at the head with Emma at his right.
     
                  Once seated, Emma had stubbornly refused to pick up her knife and fork. Antonio, who was enjoying the stuffed mushroom caps, simply gave her a look of mild interest at her stubborn protest before calling over a guard that stood by the dining room entrance. Emma saw him motion in her general direction. Her eyes widened.
     
                  He wouldn’t.
     
                  But whether it was her imagination or not, she thought she had seen his mouth form the word ‘rope.’ Immediately, she picked up her fork and speared an asparagus. She almost bit her tongue in irritation while chewing when she saw Antonio’s lips twitch in amusement.
     
                  Although she would never