Page 59 of The Mafia Assassin's Redemption-

“Lucie’s already on her way home. Let’s hope Callahan doesn’t beat her for letting you out of her sight.”

Not that he’d ever do that. He’s so damn soft for his wife. But if Harry thinks we’re all demons, I’m going to damn well let her.

My brother might not be into discipling a girl with a whip or belt.

But I am.

Sexually, of course.

But right now, I actually want to punish her, teach her not to disobey, not to fuck me around or fuck things up, so even if she lifted her skirt to present that pristine ass to me, I wouldn’t fucking touch her.

Sexual discipline’s a play on force, of dancing along boundary edges. Not actual corporal punishment designed to hurt.

But right now, I want just that.

Fuck.

My chest burns and I shift, my cock straining against my jeans. And okay, maybe there’s a sexual element to my anger.

A lass who works so damned hard to exude church values, but really the contrite, humble fucking doormat to God is a damn deviant at heart.

There’s nothing humble about her.

Her mind’s clearly a viper’s nest of deceit.

I don’t need her to want this. Or me. She’s mine. She has no say in the matter according to the laws ofher fucking church and the mafia.

Mine.

Whether I want her or not. She’s mine to do with as I wish, and she needs discipline. Maybe I need to deny her pleasure. It’s the worst punishment I can think of and I know she’d feel the pain. I’d never take a hand to a woman in any way other than sexually.

But edging her into immense frustration and forbidding her to come?

Yeah, I’ll do that.

She’s saying something to me, but I tune her out. I’m pissed at her for taking advantage of Lucie’s trusting nature and clear desire to make friends inside our world.

My brothers and I don’t think about having friends since we have each other and our trusted men. And even then, it’s really us against everything.

I grit my teeth, focusing my attention on anything but her.

Maybe I’m also a little pissed off for another reason.

I was the sniper for Cal yesterday on a job he had. We want our contacts, people we protect and bring business to, to actually pay what they owe, when they need to. So Seamus came up with the idea of scaring them a little bit to make our point and show them we’re serious about our arrangements.

Seamus wanted to go in there and show them what happens if they get the protection they want and still try to negotiate their payments down. But it would take too long to go through all the bullshit. So I did what I had Dec do on the night of the wedding. I made it look like a shoot-up, to scare the fuck out of them and eradicate all possibilities for negotiation.

She grabs my arm and shakes me from my overworked brain. “Are you even listening?”

Her eyes are clear slate, her face pinched with aggravation.I drop my gaze to her hand on my hoodie, and then I lift my focus back to her face.

Harry snatches back her hand.

“Should I? Because right now I’m trying to work out why I shouldn’t fucking punish you. I’m not a soft man,” I say. “I kissed you to create a scene. Not because I wanted to.”

She recoils instead of lashing out, and it makes my stomach plummet and the back of my neck burn.

“Why would you want to?” she says quietly. “I’m sure I’m already putting a dent in your love life.”