Page 4 of Mafia King's Forbidden Obsession

Chapter one

Raven

Twenty-Four Hours Before The Kidnapping

“What?!” Harper, my best friend and colleague, shrieks so loud that I have to cover both ears with my index fingers.

I’d only just told her I wasn’t interested in attending the hospital’s fundraising event. I’d rather stay home and read a book.

It’s our day off. Why would I not want to stay home?

“You can’t be serious right now.” Thankfully, her voice goes back to its normal pitch. “It’s the hospital’s fundraiser party. You have to go.”

“I don’t have to do anything. Quit being so dramatic.” I eye the book on my nightstand.

Harper grabs it before I can and hauls it into a corner. “Oh, come on.”

“You work all day, every day, in that damned hospital,” she says as she rummages through my closet. “If there’s anyone who should be at that party, it’s you.”

When Harper turns to me again, there’s a glittery white dress held against her frame. “Picture yourself in this, hugging your figure in all the right places…”

“Don’t start.”

“... you walk in through the doors, and all eyes turn to you,” Harper continues. I can only roll my eyes at her theatrical performance. “Women glare at you out of jealousy, men practically fall at your feet…”

“No, they won’t. Do you want to know why? Because I’m not going.”

It’s a wrong move for her to point out the attention I’d get if I wore that dress. I despise being in the spotlight. Harper knows that.

She smiles and joins me on the bed. “A huge part of being an adult means you have to leave your shell once in a while. Meet new people. Ever since Carlos left…”

I let out a long, agonizing groan. “You really had to remind me.”

“I’m trying to help you here. I care about you, Raven. I’ve watched you over the past year act like everything is fine and bury yourself in nothing but work. That’s not healthy.”

She’s right. I hate that she’s right. Despite us having no physical similarities, I consider Harper my sister. My soul sister.

She’s been with me through thick and thin from the moment my dad left when I was eighteen. It happened during my first year of college. I have no idea where he is now, but I can’t forget him. Not a day goes by without me thinking about him. He was my hero… I still wonder why he left…several years later and it still hurts.

Harper takes both of my hands and squeezes them.

“Just let go of it all. Carlos, your dad. Screw them.”

Easier said than done, really.

“I don’t blame Carlos for leaving. Or even my dad.” I sigh.

Each time I think about it, I can't help but count the losses. It makes me wonder who else will leave. Maybe it’s part of the reason I don’t bother with outings. Friends, too.

Harper is the only family I have, and I'm comfortable with that.

“If you keep being held down by the past there's no moving forward,” Harper sighs. She sits on the bed beside me. “I can't be happy knowing my best friend is… is like this.”

My shoulders sag. She continues.

“I want you to grow. I want us to grow together. But this isn’t the way to go about it.”

When I see a glint of tears in her eyes, I release another deep breath. This isn’t the first time—her tears, the talk. But my limbic system seems to be working overtime today.