Pursued By My Mafia Husband

Chapter 1

Gemma

Rain splashes beneath my feet as I sprint desperately down the dark street.

“Get back here you little b***h! Your father owed my boss big, and now you and your crazy mom are going to pay in blood!”

Pain lances through my side. My breath tears at my throat. I feel like I’ve run halfway across the city, and I’m almost there.

Lightning flashes, and the dark outline of the Blackwell family mansion rises above me.

I sob. I’m so close, but they’ve almost caught me.

The wrought iron gate blocking the driveway seems to leap out of nowhere. I slam against it and try to open it, but it’s locked.

“Help!” I scream. I shake the gate so hard the metal rattles louder than the storm. “Help me! Mr. Blackwell, please! It’s Gemma Marino! I’ll do anything!”

The feet of my pursuers slap against the wet pavement, getting closer.

I shake the gate again. I want to scream, but I shouldn’t have expected an answer.

I am the child of mafia boss Donovan Blackwell’s worst enemy. A man who owed him—and a dozen other mafia bosses—millions.

That’s why these men are chasing me. I can’t pay my father’s debts, and now most of the mafia underworld wants me dead.

Only the Blackwells are powerful enough to protect me.

But I should have known. There’s no way the old, powerful mafia boss Donovan or his cold, ruthless grandson and heir Cassian will save me.

Suddenly, a harsh buzz splits the sound of the storm. A voice crackles out of the speaker next to the gate.

“Did you just say you would do anything?”

Fear shivers down my spine. It’s an old man’s voice. Donovan’s voice.

At the same time, hope blossoms in my chest. Maybe I don’t have to die. Maybe my mom doesn’t have to die. She’s already been through so much because of my terrible father.

“Yes!” I can barely breathe. They’re getting closer. “Anything! Help me! Please!”

The gate buzzes again. This time, it opens. I tumble through just as the first of my pursuers appears.

I close the gate, but it doesn’t latch.

“No!” I whisper. “No, no, please!” I don’t have time to turn back. I have to run.

The house is so close. Safety is so close.

Out of nowhere, I smack into something warm and hard.

It’s a man. He grasps my upper arms in huge hands and pushes me away just long enough to look down at me.

His face is in shadow, but a slice of light cuts across his eyes. They’re fierce, ruthless, and a blue so dark they’re almost black, like a midnight sky.

Then he says, “You.”

His voice is soft and low and rough. It’s like electricity passes through his hands and across my skin.

“Cassian,” I breathe. My heart slams against my ribs. “I—I mean…Mr. Blackwell…”

I’ve loved him from a distance for so long, even though our families are enemies. I’ve dreamed of him touching me since the first time I saw him when I was fifteen years old.

But he barely knows who I am.

He touches my cheek and smooths my wet, dark-red hair back behind my ear. The gentleness is shocking. I have a sudden, shocking sense of safety. One I have never felt in my entire life.

Then there’s a screech as the gate swings open behind me. Cassian’s eyes tear from mine.

“The b***h belongs to us,” snarls the man who just came through the gate. “Her father didn’t pay her debts. Now she gets to. And we get to have some fun.”

Cassian pushes me behind him and reaches for his gun. Over his shoulder, he growls, “Get inside. ”

More men pour through the gate. Thugs who work for at least three different crime families. Men in sloppy suits or track pants. A lot of them are winded. They didn’t think they’d have to chase me so hard.

Some—the dangerous ones—are dressed all in black, and they don’t look winded at all.

And they already have their guns pointed at Cassian.

“Do you think that’s smart?” he asks in his low, dangerous voice. “The last person who aimed a gun at me is already buried.”

Cassian lifts the gun at his side and points it at my pursuers. “Remember what happened last time someone started a war with my grandfather.”

One man drops the nail-studded baseball bat he carries and puts up his hands. “We didn’t know where we were, Mr. Blackwell. Come on, boys. We’re leaving.”

“Too late,” Cassian says.

Then the slaughter begins. Gunshots deafen me. Bullets fly. I scream and crouch, covering my ears.

I should go inside but I can’t. I’m too terrified to move.

I watch him kill every single one of them.

In the end, only Cassian stands, and I understand why his grandfather chose him.

When it’s over, he turns to me. It doesn’t occur to me to be afraid until it’s too late. Until I see the rage in his eyes. The predator.

Then he grabs me by the throat and lifts me to my feet. I start to choke as he lifts me off my feet.

“I know you. You’re the Marino girl.”

His fingers tighten. I choke, and my vision starts to go dark.

“Tell me why you’re here before I kill you.”