Page 15 of Taken by the Mafia King (Kings of Philly #1)

KILLIAN

D elaney Lombardi’s bleach-blonde hair stuck to her tear-stained cheeks as she rounded her bed, her body clothed in nothing more than a thin silk chemise the color of roses.

I crossed my arms as I leaned against the door to the bedroom.

She approached me slowly, her throat bobbing with serious effort as she took several calculated, but nervous, steps.

“Does the-the nightgown suit me?” she asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as she slipped a shaking finger across her breasts. “Do you like it?”

“Where is your father?”

“He’s not here,” she answered, swallowing hard again. “But you are.”

I kicked off the door and stalked toward her. She yelped in surprise and moved away from me, climbing up and over the bed. Not so confident now, was she?

I grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her to me, pinning her legs against the bed.

“Don’t toy with me,” I spat, my lip curling over my teeth as I watched her tremble. “Where the fuck is Eduardo?”

“I swear,” she sobbed. “I-I don’t know where he is!”

I let go of her legs and she scooted against the headboard, sniffling pathetically.

“There’s nothing you can do to tempt me into sparing your life,” I said, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt as I looked her up and down.

She was beautiful, but not my type. The girl held more value than just a quick lay.

I needed her to draw her father in, and word was already being spread about her whereabouts.

Unlike Sera’s father, Eduardo Lombardi was a frantic, jealous bastard. He was also a fucking snitch and had no boundaries when it came to authority. He’d come for her, and if he didn’t?

It’d be a shame to take the girl apart piece by piece and send him her fingers, her toes, the rim of her ear…

“Boss, it’s happening,” Tommaso said from the door. I gave Delaney one last cold look before I left the room and walked shoulder to shoulder with Tommaso down the stairs and into my office.

I snapped my fingers at the men lingering near the window and they left without a word.

Sitting down, I took a breath, then slowly lifted the receiver of the landline phone I’d had to dig out of storage when we’d decided to snatch Sera from Gabriele.

She’d fallen for the bait like a fly to honey. It had been too easy. The girl had a lot to learn about survival in this world.

I held my breath as Andre’s voice boomed through the phone.

And Sera, so quiet, so scared she’d get caught.

Less than a minute passed before the line went dead, but Sera remained on the line, her jagged, confused breath doing something to me, igniting a spark deep within my chest that no one had ever touched before.

That brokenness ripped me open momentarily. She would have heard the way her own father was unimpressed by her predicament. Casual about it, even.

I waited for her to hang up before setting the phone down and looking over at Tommaso.

“Well, that confirms our suspicions,” I said lightly, kicking back in my chair and resting my legs on my desk.

“What now? Are you going to talk to her?”

“Not yet,” I replied, tilting my head as I considered my options.

I ran my tongue along the side of my lower lip, thinking of the girl cowering in her bedroom upstairs.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her. My interest in her ran deeper than I’d meant it to, and that wouldn’t do.

“I want to wait and see if she uses the phone again. If she believes her father won’t help her, she’ll call someone else.

I want to know who Andre’s allies are, and if they’re willing to protect the Bianchi princess. ”

“And if no one comes for her?”

“Oh, they will,” I said, meeting Tommaso’s eyes. “And soon.”

He pursed his lips. “Unless she wastes away before then. She still hasn’t eaten.”

“She’ll eat,” I said, more to myself. What could I do at this point? Leaving her locked up and guarded was a given, but what if she lost hope of being rescued, just like she had the moment she’d acquiesced to Gabriele trying to take her body without a fight?

And he would have, had I not been there at that exact moment. The thought of him straddling her. Her tears. Her cries. Fuck . Putting a bullet in his head had been a long time coming but my reasoning for it had been totally selfish.

I didn’t want him touching her.

I didn’t want anyone touching her.

I flexed my hands when I realized they’d curled into fists.

I couldn’t get too close to her, not with so much on the line now that she was here, in my home.

“Spread the word about her whereabouts in her old neighborhood, Andre’s neighborhood. See what happens.”

“You got it, Boss,” he said.

I found it likely word was already spreading about Gabriele’s death, but it was unlikely anyone had known he was the one who bought her from the auction, at least the soldiers and caporegimes. The bosses knew well and were clutching their pearls.

“Tell them,” I began, tapping my fingers on the desk, “that I want to make some deals in exchange for the girl. But don’t extend that offer to Andre’s crew in particular. Let him fester with the idea that I’m using his own daughter to further my gains.”

Tommaso smiled as he nodded and left the room.

Andre had no idea what was coming his way.

And I’d make sure that he’d never see his daughter, that angel he was so unworthy of, ever again.