Kidnapped by big bad Mafia boss

Chapter 5

Anne

Tears are running down my cheeks. I cry because he hurts me but also because the thought of having to stay here with him is scary. He is hurting me, not only physically but also mentally. "Let me go, you're hurting me."

Jay

The moment those words leave her lips—"you're hurting me," something shifts violently in my expression. My grip on her hair loosens immediately, my hand sliding down to cup the back of her neck instead, still possessive but no longer painful. My other hand releases her hip, moving up to cradle her face with shocking gentleness, thumb brushing over the marks I just left on her jaw.

"F*ck," I breathed out, the word rough and raw. Those ice-blue eyes search her face with desperate intensity, tracking every wince, every sign of pain I caused. My jaw clenches hard, something like anguish flickering across those sharp features. "I'm not — don't want to hurt you, little dove." But I didn't let her go. Instead, I pull her closer against my chest, one arm wrapping around her waist while my other hand continues stroking her face with aching tenderness that contradicts everything about this moment.

"You make me lose control," I murmur against her hair, my voice dropping into vulnerability beneath the dominance. "When you fight me, when you call me a stranger after everything." I stop myself, exhaling hard. My hand slides into her hair again, gentler this time, fingers threading through the strands. "I need you to understand. This isn't me hurting you. This is me trying not to completely fall apart."

My lips brush her temple, stubble scraping softly. "Tell me where it hurts, sugar. Let me fix it."

Anne

I could feel his heart pounding against her chest, wild and erratic. I looked at him in surprise. I didn't expect him to stop being violent. I'm terrified of saying the wrong thing, but I refuse to be intimidated. "You can fix it, if you stop touching me and let me go."

Jay

Her words —"stop touching me and let me go*—make my entire body go still against hers. The hand stroking her face freezes mid-motion, and for a flash through those ice-blue eyes. My jaw clenches hard.

"Let you go," I repeat slowly, my voice dropping dark and pained. My hand slides from her face to grip her chin, tilting her head up so she can't escape my gaze. The obsession burning there is almost tangible, desperate and consuming. "That's the one thing I can't do, little dove."

My other arm tightens around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer until there's no space left between their bodies. "You think not touching you will fix this?" My thumb traces her bottom lip with aching gentleness that contradicts the steel in my voice. "It'll destroy me. Every second without you in my arms it feels like suffocating." My forehead comes to rest against hers, breath hot against her lips. "I've tried staying away. Months of just *watching* you, telling myself that was enough." My hand releases her chin to slide into her hair, cradling the back of her head with surprising tenderness. "But it wasn't. It never will be, sugar. You're the only thing keeping me sane."

Anne

I could feel the tension rippling through every muscle pressed against her, and I could feel his heart hammering against her chest, wild and erratic, matching the barely controlled intensity in his expression. He says he won't let me go because he can't breathe without me, but at the same time, he wants to hurt me. His logic makes no sense.

"Even if you have watched me like a creep, I have just met you, and you touching me is a bit much. So could you think about others than yourself? I said angrily.

Jay

Her words —" Think about others than yourself*—strike something deep inside me. My grip loosens fractionally, not releasing her but shifting. My hand trembles. I force it steady, jaw clenching hard.

"Think about others?" I repeat, voice rough and strained. My thumb traces her cheekbone with aching gentleness even as those ice-blue eyes burn with intensity. "Little dove, I think about *you* every second. Your comfort, your safety. What you need."

My other hand slides from her waist to rest against the small of her back, palm spread wide and possessive. The rest of me seeps through the thin silk, and despite everything, there's something almost vulnerable in the way I hold her now—like I am afraid she'll disappear if I loosen my grip.

"You're right," I admitted quietly, the confession seeming to cost me. "You just met me. To you, I'm..." My jaw stops working as I struggle with the word." A creep. A stranger who's touching you without permission. My forehead comes to rest against hers again, "But I can't stop, sugar. Even knowing it terrifies you." My voice drops to a pained whisper. " Give me something. Anything. Let me hold your hand, just that, please. "

Anne

I see his expression twist into complicated, rage, pain, guilt, obsession all warning beneath the surface, and I feel the tremor run through his large frame-barely controlled need warring with something that might be restraint.

I look at him in frustration. He says he's thinking about what I need, but he won't listen. He can't decide what I need, she thought. "You can't decide what I need. I need you to leave this room and let me sleep."

Jay

Her words hit me like a physical blow. My entire body goes rigid against hers, and for a moment, something absolutely devastated flashes through those ice-blue eyes before it's swallowed by something dark and dangerous. My hands don't release her. Instead, my grip shifts, fingers pressing into her wrist with barely restrained control.

"Leave," I said with a cold, lethal tone that made her stomach twist. My jaw clenches hard, a muscle ticking as I stare at her with an intensity that borders on feral. "You want me to walk out that door and leave you alone in this room. In MY house. After everything I've done to have you here."

My hand slides up from your waist to wrap around the back of her neck, not hurting but claiming, forcing her to hold his gaze. The obsession burning there is raw now, unhinged, wild, breaking through my usual control.

" I've been patient, little dove. So f*ck*ng patient," I growled against her lips, my breath hot and ragged. " Holding myself back when all i want is to show you exactly how much you belong to me. "

My thumb strokes the side of her neck, feeling her pulse race beneath his touch. " But you keep pushing. Keep demanding I leave you alone when being apart from you feels like dying. "

My forehead presses against hers. His voice sounds almost pained. " Sleep in my bed tonight, sugar. Let me hold you. That's the compromise. "

Anne

I could see he got angry with me when I said he had to leave, but at the same time, he thinks sleeping with him is a compromise.

" That's not a compromise! I need space," I said, annoyed.

Jay

Her words make something inside me snap. The careful control I have been clinging to fractures, and my expression shifts into cold and furious. My hand tightens on the back of her neck, not painful yet but a clear warning, while my other arm becomes iron around her waist.

"Space," My voice sounds like a lethal growl that makes her blood run cold. Those ice-blue eyes burn with barely restrained rage, wild and possessive and consuming. Every trace of the vulnerability I shown moments before. "You think you get to demand space from me? In my house? After I've waited MONTHS for you?"

My grip shifts suddenly, both hands moving to her hips as I lift her effortlessly and pin her back against the mattress beneath me. My body covers hers completely, every hard line of muscle pressing her into the silk sheets as I cage you in with my arms. The weight of me steals her breath, trapping her utterly.

"I've given you everything, little dove," I growled in her ear. " This beautiful room. Safety, care. And you keep throwing it back in my face, like it means nothing."

My hand slides up to grip her jaw, forcing her face toward me. The fury in my gaze is terrifying now, obsession and anger twisted together into something dark and unhinged.

"Maybe you need to learn what happens when you push me too far, sugar."