Captivated by the deadly mafia boss

Nicole

It’s dark outside by the time Jakub gets back to the apartment. I’m in the kitchen making a sandwich when the elevator doors open, and he walks in. I tense, knowing he’s going to be in a bad mood, and me being in the kitchen is only going to make it worse. But it’s been hours and I’m hungry.

And, screw him.

I’m grateful for the help he’s given me, but I’m not going to bend the knee for him. I’d rather be on my own then squashed beneath anyone’s thumb.

When he enters the kitchen area, I’m screwing the lid on the mayo jar. He heaves a heavy sigh then drops his keys on the kitchen island on his way to the refrigerator behind me. The door opens then closes and then a beer bottle cap is tossed on the countertop near me.

When I look up at him, he’s turned away, walking toward the large industrial windows overlooking the street below. He puts one hand on his hip while bringing the beer up to his lips with the other.

He’s wearing a light blue button-down shirt tucked neatly into his black slacks. The custom fit of his clothing gives me a clear view of his lean muscular physique. A part of me wants to go to him, to wrap my arms around his waist and hug him, to help alleviate the tension building in his back.

“I was hungry,” I say as I slice the knife through my sandwich, cutting it corner to corner.

“I was clear on where you were to wait.” He sounds distant, tired.

“You were gone a long time.” I quietly place the knife down beside my plate. The ham sandwich no longer looks appetizing.

“What’s wrong?” I ask when he only shakes his head and takes another sip of his beer. “You can’t be surprised to find me down here.”

“I’m not.” He turns to me, his lips fixed in a deep frown.

“What happened after I left?” He’s looking entirely too serious for a man who’s a little irritated by me not sitting in a damn bedroom waiting on him.

He moves back to the island and puts his beer on the counter. “You’re not going to like it.”

My jaw tenses. “Did Henry come back?”

“No, nothing like that.” He slides closer to me. “But he might. He didn’t exactly look so happy about you working for me. Piotr said it looked bad, made Henry think you planned everything so you could run back here.”

“Henry doesn’t know you and I have any history.” Henry doesn’t know the first thing about me. I was nothing but a possession to him.

“It doesn’t matter what he knows. What matters is what he thinks he knows. What Piotr thinks he knows.”

I lean my hip against the counter. “I have no ties with them. I’ve never worked for them and I owe them nothing. Why don’t they just leave me alone?”

“I’m not sure, but the fact remains you’re still not out of the woods yet.”

I blow out a hard breath.

“So, in order to keep you safe. In order to make sure you can have the full protection of the Staszek family.” He slips his hand beneath my hair, cupping my cheek. “You and I have to get married.”

My first instinct is to laugh. The second reaction is to pull away, but he’s got a good grip on me.

“No. Absolutely not. You’re insane.”

“It’s not a question, Nicole. My father won’t intervene on your behalf a second time unless you’re my wife.”

I shove his hand away and step away from him. “Fine. I don’t need the protection of your family. I’ll just go. I can head to Wisconsin or Michigan. Or California. I don’t have to stay in Chicago.”

“If Henry wants you, he’ll find you. Running away changes nothing.”

“But if I’m married to you, it will?”

“If you’re married to me then he’ll be put on a leash.”

“Look.” I shove my hands through my hair and pull it up off my neck. It’s too hot in here. “This isn’t your problem. Or your father’s. I’ll go and then you won’t have to worry about it.”

He grabs my elbow when I try to leave and yanks me back to him. The anger I saw in him at the club has returned, twofold. His lips are pressed together in a thin line, his eyes darkened to nearly black. “It is my problem, Nicole. Do you really think I could just let you wander off not knowing if you’re safe?”

“I’m releasing you from any duty you seem to feel. I’m fine on my own.”

He grips me harder. “You’re not understanding. I’ve already told my father it’s being done.”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“So what?”

“It’s done.”

“Done?” I yank free, stumbling back a step. “What’s done?”

“Tomorrow. A judge is coming, and we’ll be married.”

I blink. “I won’t do it.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“How can I not have a choice? It’s my life!” I yell at him. Everything is spiraling out of my control and no matter how much I grab for it, everything spins further away.

“Do you think your father would want you to spend the rest of it running away from the very people he was so loyal to?”

“My father…” I stop talking because I know he’s right. He pushed for me to date Henry in the first place because he wanted me to find a safe place in the world. Misguided as it was, he was trying to protect me.

“My father isn’t here now,” I remind him, but I can’t help but remember the late nights, the horrible dreams my father had because of the work he did for the Kaczmarek family. He did it to provide for me, to give me a better chance.

“I’m not sure he’d want me to marry into another family.” It’s lame and untrue. My father would probably jump for joy to hear the second son of a powerful family wanted to marry me.

“That’s bullshit. There’s no bad blood between my family and the Kaczmareks.” He takes a step toward me, his eyes turning more into a predator’s gaze. “And if you marry me, if you let me protect you with my name, that remains the same. If you don’t and there’s trouble between you and them, I’ll still protect you, but it will be at the cost of war.”

My shoulders droop, the fight rushes out of me. He’s right. Any action Jakub takes against them could end in bloodshed.

He moves to me, brushing my hair from my face and placing a soft kiss to my cheek. “It’s not bad with us, Nicole. You could do worse than me.” He pulls back and gives me a tense grin.

“So much for a romantic marriage proposal.”

“It’s not a proposal. You’ll marry me tomorrow.”

“Marriage is such a final solution to a temporary problem,” I say.

He lifts a shoulder. “When the temporary problem goes away, we can talk.”

He doesn’t really want me, not for a life together, not because he loves me. He only wants to help, and if he’s open to a temporary situation, it might work.

“Okay. So, when the danger is over, we agree to stop this mess.” I gesture between our bodies.

He frowns. “I don’t think we’re a mess.” He grabs my chin between his fingers and tilts my head back. “So, it’s settled.”

Nothing feels settled. My stomach swirls into knots, my heart has turned into a jackhammer against my ribs, and my mind is lost in a dense fog unable to show me a better path to take.

“Fine. I’ll marry you.” I put up a finger between us. “Just until the danger’s gone.”

He cracks an arrogant grin. “Good. Now.” He moves his hand to my hair so quickly, I barely register it happened. With a fluid motion he spins me around and presses me down over the kitchen island.

I have to put my hands out to stop my face from hitting the countertop. Pushing up gets me nowhere, he’s holding me steady while he works his fingers into the elastic of my pajama shorts.

“Jakub! What are you doing?” I yell, swinging my arms behind me trying to get a hit to his face, or an arm. Anything that might get him to let up on me.

“Twice you disobeyed me today. Did you think I wouldn’t punish you for it?” His voice deepens and my shorts are ripped down my legs. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have bothered to put panties on after my shower.

“Jakub. I’m not a child. You can’t just do this.” I shove harder to get up, but he’s too strong, and I’m practically dangling over the side of the island. I scramble my feet, trying to find leverage, but my toes barely scrape across the tiles.

“You sure as hell acted like a child today.” The jangle of his belt buckle captures my entire attention, and I scramble harder to get away. Another sound, the whoosh of leather against the loops of his trousers, has me frozen.

“Jakub,” I say softly. Maybe I can appeal to his protective nature. “It’s going to hurt. You said you don’t want me hurt,” I remind him, seeing as that’s his entire argument for me to marry him.

“Damn right this is going to hurt,” he says just before a fire lights across my ass cheeks.

I cry out but it’s more from the shock of it. The last time he spanked me, he had eased me into it. A light spanking, then harder, faster, but now he’s going right into it.

“Stop!” I yell and swing my legs as the next blow lands. I scissor my legs, and the next swat hits the inside of my thigh, making me howl.

“When I tell you to stay somewhere, Nicole, you stay.” He hits my leg with his hip until I close them again, then brings the belt down again and again and again until I’m a blubbering mess.

“Please. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” I can barely breathe well enough to apologize.

He brings the belt down once more then everything stills. Other than my pathetic little sobs, there’s silence.

Jakub carefully helps me back to my feet and then upright until I’m facing him. The belt is still in his hand as he wipes away the tears running down my cheeks.

“You spanked me,” I accuse him when my breath gets back in line with the rest of my body.

He grins. “I did. And I’ll do it again if you put yourself in danger. I’ll do it every time,” he amends, because he knows me well enough to know this won’t be the last time.

“I didn’t like it.” I drag the back of my hands across my cheeks. There’s a lightness to my chest that wasn’t there before, but I don’t know why. My ass is on fire, my cheeks burn from humiliation, and here I am wishing he’d wrap his arms around me and hold me tight.

Then he goes and does just that. He pulls me to his chest and hugs me, resting his chin on my head.

“When you spread your legs, I saw how wet your pussy is right now, Nicole.” He taunts me with my body’s betrayal.

“That doesn’t mean I liked it.”

“No, but it means your body reacts to it. This was a small punishment; you’re not supposed to like it. If this wasn’t a punishment, I’d be licking up all those juices. I’d be giving you so much fucking pleasure you’d be screaming and crying for another reason.” He moves his hips forward and the hard length of his cock presses into me.

My pussy clenches. He’s not wrong. My body has reacted, and I want his cock inside me. I want everything he’s teasing me with.

I pull back from him, reaching up on my toes to capture his mouth in a kiss. He cups my face, reciprocating my movements, but he goes further. It turns into a mark of possession, the strength and power he gives as he deepens the kiss. I’ve never wanted anyone as badly as I want this man right now.

Abruptly, he pulls back.

“But it was a punishment, Nicole. That means you go straight to bed, no touching your pretty little pussy.” He spins me around gently and pats my sore ass. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

I take a step forward, and a fog of desire and denial wraps around me as I move up the stairs and to the bedroom, doing exactly as he says because I don’t want another round of his belt, and more important, I don’t want to feel so much desire for his touch only to be denied.

Once I’m in bed, the blankets pulled up to my chin, the cloud of arousal diminishes, and I realize two things.

One, I’m going to be Mrs. Jakub Staszek tomorrow.

And two, I forgot my sandwich down in the kitchen.