Page 31 of Abducted By the Mafia Don

“Let’s start the bidding…” Lily trails off as Mortlake strides onto the stage and holds out his hand for the book.

“Sir.” Lily stands straight and looks him in the eyes. Croydon’s wife is braver than she appears. “You have to wait until the auction has finished.”

Mortlake doesn’t reply, just nodding, and leaving his palm up, as though still expecting the book.

“Do you want to bid?”

Another nod.

“Anyone else?” Lily asks, voice higher than usual.

“A hundred thousand,” Westminster calls.

Mortlake stares at him.

A single nod.

“Two hundred.” This from King’s Cross.

“Three.”

“Four.”

Mortlake glowers.

There’s total silence as he nods after every amount, until Lily shoves the book at him and says, “I think a million will do.”

He returns to his seat, and instead of opening his prize as everyone else has, he sets it on the table and crosses his arms.

It’s a good thing Taggie didn’t want that one.

“Will we never know what it was, do you think?” she whispers to me.

“No.” Mortlake is frankly disturbing, even for a Bratva.

But we win the next auction for the hockey romcom Taggie wants, and an advance review copy.

As the rest of the evening progresses, she unwraps book after book, with joy and disbelief, and I think,over and over, if I’d known you sooner, bambola, these would have been your birthday presents. Christmas presents. Every good thing that you missed from not having a father, I will give you now.

Seeing her unwrap special books, and know she’s special, fills my heart, because this isn’t fake. She is the sweet, unknowing antidote to everything bleak and dark in my life, and somehow I need to keep her with me.

13

TAGGIE

“Can you hold on a second while I fetch a glass of water?” I ask as we walk back into the house, Dom carrying my pile of books. I pull the small pack of tablets from my clutch.

“What are you taking, bambola?” Dom snaps, but follows me to the kitchen, and sets down my presents with a scowl. When I casually hold out the packet, he snatches it up and glowers down at the poor cardboard. I’m surprised it doesn’t combust. “Where did you get those?”

“Just some sleeping tablets,” I say innocently. “I got them from Jessa Lambeth.”

“Why?” he growls.

“To help me be out for the count.”So that you’ll do more to me.

I think Dom would have stayed out until dawn, buying me books and being all couply, and I don’t understand why. He’s so deliberate about being attentive to me when we’re in public. And I think we both want more closeness in private too, but the moment we’re alone it’s like there’s a force field around me.

Except whenhe thinks I’m asleep.