Taken for His Own: An Arranged Marriage Dark Mafia Romance (The Torenti Family Book 3) Read online

  Taken for His Own

  An Arranged Marriage Dark Mafia Romance

  The Torenti Family 3

  Mae Doyle

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  This is a work of art/fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, or places is purely coincidental. Any persons appearing on the cover image for this book are models and do not have any connection to the contents of this story.

  All characters depicted in this work are unrelated consenting adults. This author assumes no responsibility for the use/misuse of this material.

  © 2020 Mae Doyle

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  Chapter 1

  Lucia

  I’m going to be honest. The last thing that I wanted to do this weekend was go down to see my extended family.

  Not that there’s anything wrong with family, but mine is different. They’re…well, for one thing, they’re demanding. Loud. Obsessed with work.

  Oh, and did I mention the fact that they tend to like to make arranged marriages? That shit wasn’t for me, no matter what they said. I knew that they suckered my cousin, Arlo into marrying someone for the family, and that it worked out, but that’s not for me.

  I’m not looking for a ring on this finger, and there’s no way that they can try to convince me otherwise.

  That and I’m not really close with them. It’s not like we all had sleepovers when we were little, or had water fights in the backyard. Or…hell, it’s not like I’ve been at any of my cousin’s weddings. Or met my nieces and nephews.

  Still, even though I feel pretty strongly about it, I’m not sure what I’m doing, I press down on the gas. My car hurtles down the freeway and I try to ignore the growing pit in my stomach. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my extended family.

  Definitely since my parent’s funeral.

  Funny how family can kinda disappear until they need something from you, right?

  Groaning, I slide my hands along my steering wheel. The car is new – a treat to myself after I landed my newest job. Being a prosecution lawyer in a mafia family isn’t the easiest thing that I’ve ever done, but that’s why I’ve kept my distance. Well, my dad made me keep my distance, so it wasn’t really my choice.

  Doesn’t matter, because it paid off for me. I handle everything on my own.

  My bills. My house. My car. It’s all mine, and I never had to turn to a man for any help, and you can believe that I’m not going to start now. There’s nothing that my aunt and uncle can offer me except for a headache, and they could easily do that over the phone.

  By the time I pull into their driveway, I’m damn near dying of hunger, but as soon as I open the door, I’m hit full in the face with the smell of Aunt Fia’s cooking. I know that all of the cousins call her Ma, and she told me that I should call her that, too, but there wasn’t any way I would ever refer to anyone but my own mother in that way, and she was long gone.

  The good thing? Aunt Fia can cook. Like…I’m pretty sure that if I ever did want to snag a man that I’d be knocking on her front door begging her to give me cooking lessons. I know this, even though I haven’t seen her in years. I can still remember the meatballs she dropped off after my parent’s funeral. She’s a freaking maestro in the kitchen, and I’m pretty sure that I smell those same meatballs as I walk up to the front porch.

  There aren’t any cars here in the driveway, which is weird, but I wonder if the family is trying to give me some space. Uncle Marco told me to come in for lunch, but I’d automatically assumed that everyone would be here.

  I pause on the front porch, but before I even have time to look in the window and see what’s going on, the door swings open and Aunt Fia bursts through.

  “Lucia! You made it!” She throws her arms around me and I can’t help but lean into her. She’s so warm and smells amazing, and this is definitely the first real hug that I’ve had in a while, so I want to enjoy it. “You must come in. Marco and I are waiting to talk to you and I’m sure that you’re hungry. You are hungry, right?”

  At this, she pushes me back to arm’s length and gives me a once-over. I laugh and lean into her again so that I can feel her hug once more.

  “I’m famished, Aunt Fia,” I tell her, “and whatever you’re making in there smells amazing.”

  “Pah.” She steps away and pops me with a towel. “You could cook like this too, Lucia. I’ll teach you anytime you’re ready to learn. You’d have men knocking down the door of your house if they smelled something like this coming from it.”

  I laughed and followed her into the house. It wasn’t worth trying to argue with her and tell her that I wasn’t interested in getting married right now. I don’t really want to get into it with her when she and my uncle wanted to talk to me about something.

  I’m here to eat, hear them out, and then get back home. There are some briefs for me to read and I have a pretty big case coming up at the end of the moth. The last thing that I want to do is get suckered into putting on an apron and cooking all afternoon.

  Although…I think that, but as soon as I walk into the dining room, my stomach twists with hunger. I guess that learning how to cook things other than ramen noodles would be a good idea, but I’m just so damn busy.

  Too busy, as my dad would have said.

  I have to blink back tears as I walk to the table, but before I can sit down, Uncle Marco walks into the room and gives me a hug. He and my dad didn’t look a lot alike when my dad was alive, but now I’m seeing it more and more.

  “Lucia. You look great, I just hope that you brought your appetite because Ma did enough cooking to feed a small village.”

  “Thanks, uncle,” I tell him, grinning at him. “I’m hungry, but also curious about why you called me here. What’s going on that’s so important that I had to come in to talk about it?”

  “No, no, no business yet. First, we eat. After that, when you have a full stomach and can think correctly, then we will talk. There’s nothing worse than trying to hammer out business when you’re still hungry, don’t you think?” His dark eyes search my face as he guides me to the table and pulls out a chair for me.

  Okay. I was right. This is business, not just my aunt and uncle wanting to invite their long-lost niece down for a nice meal to see how she’s doing. I shouldn’t have expected anything different. They are a lot of fun, sure, and so are my cousins, if I remember correctly, but the family always comes first with them.

  And while I am technically family, I wasn’t the family. Not really. Not when I’ve never been involved with their lifestyle or really approved of it.

  “Well, it looks amazing,” I tell them, diggi
ng in. If they are going to totally burst my bubble with some family drama that I want no part of, then I might as well enjoy the last meal here. There’s not any way that they are going to sucker me into dealing with their shit.

  My parents had been smart about it. Even when my dad was sometimes tempted to come back to the family for the money, my mom had kept his head on straight. The last thing that you need to do as a lawyer was get involved with the mafia.

  Still, even as I think that, there is something rather appealing about the idea of being a part of a group again.

  About having family have your back.

  I hadn’t had that in years since my parents died, and these Torentis were the only blood relatives I have any longer. It was tempting to want to be a part of something bigger than myself, but I had to be honest with myself.

  Was I really willing to give up the life that I’d made just so I could have some family?

  Chapter 2

  Enzo

  There’s one thing that a lot of people don’t understand about the Torenti family, but the faster you figure it out, the better your life is going to be. You don’t fuck them, but most people know that. That’s not the key to a long and happy life.

  The real thing to remember with the Torentis is that you do whatever they fucking want you to do. If you want to be in business with them, you better learn to jump through some hoops.

  If you want to make sure that you’re not on their shit list, then you better make sure that you share the same damn shit list with other people on it.

  Because, believe me, I’ve seen what happens to people who piss them off. They come to a quick end and then are locked away in some fucking concrete beneath a city building. That shit isn’t for me.

  I’m smarter than that. I know where my allegiances lie. I know that I’m willing to do whatever they want me to do if that means that I can be in their inner circle. And, since I’ve been like that for years, and my dad was the same before me, I’m making it.

  Now they tell me that there’s one more thing that they want me to do, and I’m fucking thrilled to do it for them. One last task to tie me to the Torenti family forever? One more thing that I have to do to make sure that when the shit hits the fan that I won’t be sprayed?

  Fuck. Yes. Show me where to sign and give me the fucking pen, because I am so there.

  I may not have a construction company like Arlo, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not useful. I like to work with my brains, not my brawns, which is why I handle all of the betting side for them.

  Any bets come through me. I’m their bookie, and I’m fucking good at what I do. So good, in fact, that I bring in a hefty chunk for the family. Sports? Horse races? Fucking poker games? I’m the guy, and it’s nice to know that Pops gets it.

  That’s why I’m pulling into their driveway right now. It’s late afternoon, but there’s only one car here, and I don’t recognize it.

  It’s nice, though. I get out of mine and walk around it for a moment, admiring the sleek design and the sharp wheels. Whoever has this car must have known what they were doing when they chose it, and they sure as hell must have some money to back it up.

  “Nice,” I say to myself, running my fingers along the hood. It’s a little warm, but not hot, so they’ve been here for a while.

  I’ve been to the Torenti house so many times that I don’t even knock. Hell, I practically grew up here when I was younger. Pops and Ma took me in like a stray, and now it’s time for me to really become one of the family.

  The front door is open and I let myself in without hesitation. I can hear voices from the dining room – Ma and Pops and another higher voice that I don’t recognize. No idea who it is, but I didn’t get this far in life standing in the front door like a fucking pussy, so I shut it behind me and walk through the house.

  “Here he is.” Pops stands up as I walk into the dining room, my eyes sweeping around the space as I get my bearings. Just like I thought, there are only three people in here, but I can’t tell who the stranger is.

  She has her back to me, long red hair flowing down past her shoulders. Whoever she is, she knows how to pick a car.

  “Pops,” I say, walking over to shake his hand. Ma immediately gets up and comes around to hug me before bustling off to the kitchen. She knows that she’s not supposed to be involved in business, but the new girl doesn’t move.

  It’s like she’s frozen to her chair, and I slowly turn to look at her.

  Fucking hell, she’s gorgeous. She has a little turned up nose and bright green eyes that are like sparkling emeralds. As I drink her in, she quirks her mouth up to the side a little at me and wrinkles her nose. She has a smattering of freckles on her cheeks, and even though she’s sitting down, I can see that she has a delicious body.

  “This is my niece, Lucia,” Pops says, coming around my side to reach for her. She locks eyes on me but doesn’t bother to get out of her chair. “Lucia,” he says to her, a bit of an edge to his voice, “this is our dear friend Enzo.”

  “Hi, Enzo,” she finally says, after a long pause.

  Shit. I don’t know why she’s in such a bad mood, but I really can’t care. This girl is fucking gorgeous, and I feel my cock start to wake up when she says my name. Her lips are full and a little pouty and I already know that they would look perfect wrapped around my cock.

  I just have to get her to lose the attitude and I’m sure that I can have her screaming out my name by dinner.

  Shifting, I pull out the chair next to her and sit. “Lucia, it’s a pleasure. When Pops called me over here, I had no idea that I’d meet someone like you.”

  “Someone like me?” She raises an eyebrow and I can’t help but laugh. Yeah, there’s something about this girl that could easily get under my skin. She’s got something extra to her, and it’s already pulling me in.

  “Someone like you,” I confirm, but I don’t say anything more. She looks like she should stew about something for a while. She’s gorgeous, yeah, but a bit uptight. Having to try to figure out exactly what I mean when I say that won’t kill her.

  Pops clears his throat and we both look up at him. “Enzo, I wanted you to come here and meet my niece because there’s something that I have to ask you both. You know that everything that I’ve ever done has been for the bettering of our family, right?”

  I nod, but I can’t help but see the glare that Lucia shoots her uncle. Funny little thing. I’ve never heard her cousins talk about her, and I wonder where they’ve been hiding her. It was smart of them, with her looking like this, but now that I’ve seen her, I’m not going to be able to forget her that easily.

  “Lucia, I have a letter here from your dad that he wanted me to let you have when the time came.” Pops reaches across the table to hand her an envelope as he speaks. At first, she hesitates, and I can see the concern written all over her face.

  Okay, so her dad sounds like he’s dead, but that doesn’t give me any information on where her mom is. Lucia opens the envelope with trembling hands and reads through the enclosed letter not once, but at least three times before stuffing it back in and slamming it on the table.

  She looks up at her uncle and I can see that she’s fighting to keep from crying.

  “So that’s really what you want from me?” She asks, and a single tear manages to escape her eye, sliding down her cheek. I’m surprised when she doesn’t wipe it away, but just stares at her uncle.

  “It’s what your dad wanted for you,” he says, his words measured. “I’m just trying to do everything I can to follow through with his wishes.”

  “His wishes? I hardly think that my dad would want me to get married to someone that I don’t even know. Maybe you don’t really remember your brother, Uncle Marco, but I do, and he wouldn’t want something like this.” She stands up and slams her palms flat on the table.

  Woah. Married? I shake my head, trying to remember if Pops has ever said anything to me about getting married.

  He hasn’t. But he has made
comments about pulling me into the family.

  “And who the hell is he?” She spins to me, her eyes bright with rage. “You want me to just marry someone that you pick out for me and you’re not going to let me have any say in it?”

  Pops stands up, easily towering over her. She’s a spitfire, that’s for sure, but she’s nowhere near as tall as he is.

  Or as I am.

  I stand too, pleased when I see her turn and look up at me. Fuck, I like looking down on her. She’s pissed now, but I still haven’t forgotten that I want to see her on her knees in front of me while she sucks my cock.

  “It sounds like I’m your future husband,” I tell her, reaching out to grab her arm so that she has to turn and look at me. She gasps and gives a half-hearted attempt to pull away, but I don’t let her go. “It sounds like we need to sit down like fucking adults and listen to your uncle, don’t you think?”

  “Fuck. You. You’re just a thug who wants nothing more than to be a Torenti.” She jerks away from me, but I dig my fingers in, holding her in place. “I can’t believe that I came down here for this. I can’t believe that you think this – ” she gestures wildly at the letter on the table “ – would be enough to make me willing to do what you’re asking.”

  “I’m not asking, Lucia.” Pops sounds maddeningly calm and gestures back to her chair. “You’re a bright girl. Sit the fuck down and listen to what I’m trying to tell you.”

  She pauses, and for a moment, I think that she’s going to do what he’s telling her to do, but then she pulls hard away from me and scoots to the other side of her chair.

  Her keys are still on table, and I reach out and slip them into my pocket before she can make a move to grab them.

  “Those are mine,” she says, her teeth gritted. “Give them back.”

  I shake my head. I’m generally pretty good with dealing with pissed off women, but this one is getting under my skin. She really needs to calm the fuck down.