Page 39 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

“Say something in Italian.”

I held his gaze, pushing back the emotions as I recited a poem in Italian that reminded me of him.

“Fuckin’ hell,” he breathed, his eyes gleaming with desire and awe. “You sound so sexy. What did you say?”

“I wasn’t talking dirty to you,” I giggled. “It’s a poem. It was one of my papi’s favourites. I keep his poetry book under my pillow at home, and reading it helps me feel better when I’m anxious. That poem has always resonated with me, but now it reminds me of you.”

“Of me?” He tilted his head, placing his arm behind it as a makeshift pillow. “Translate?”

I rested my chin on his chest, staring at the artwork that covered his skin. “I am a man turning to ash. Flakes fall, a trail of pain in my path, but still I take another step. Hot embers rise, but there are no screams. My mouth opens, my throat burns, yet there is nothing but silence. Still, I take another step. Because deep within here…” I placed my hand over his heart, and he swallowed. “...lives a chance. A version untouched. Unseen. Buried beneath the ash. Soon his time will come. But who will he be?”

The silence stretched as we stared into each other’s eyes. Even though his face remained blank and stoic, I could tell the words had struck deep.

“I know it’s written about a man, but I put myself in the poem a lot growing up. My world has always been dangerous and unpredictable. I have selective mutism and anxiety, triggered by high-pressure social situations. That poem made me feel hopeful, as if I were protecting the version of me the world didn’t deserve to know unless it earned my trust.”

He blinked at me and then inhaled. “You’re a mafia princess.”

He didn’t ask it as a question. He’d already guessed. I nodded, chewing my bottom lip.

“Did your family not treat you well?”

I frowned, realising he’d got it wrong. “No! I mean, yes, they did. My family is amazing. I love them all so much. Things haven’t always been easy, but they love me, and I love them. They are the only people I trust in this world.”

“How did you end up here then?”

“It’s… a long, complicated story. There was some drama involving my brother Santino and his wife, Arianna, who is Sean’s niece. Sani kind of stole her on her wedding day from some asshole who worked for Sean, which we later found out was set up to get her to come back to Ireland under Sean’s control. Things got chaotic, but that’s Sani. He’s impulsive, wild, and obsessed with Arianna. Sean’s men came to Italy to take her, but I did something regrettably stupid and ended up becoming their target instead.”

He studied me with an unreadable expression, and my stomach twisted at the intensity. I sat up, moving off him and leaning against the wall.

“What did you do?”

I sighed and rested my head on my knees, hiding my embarrassment. “It’s humiliating. I’d rather not get into it. Let’s just say I put myself in a situation that made me easy prey.”

He frowned.

“But my family will figure out where I am. And they’ll come. They’ll save me. Especially Sani. He’ll be going crazy, trying to move mountains to find me. No doubt leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.”

Monster pulled himself into a sitting position, and I felt his gaze burning into the side of my head. I turned to look at him.

“So you’ll leave me.”

The words cut through the silence like a knife to my heart, and my lips parted. “No. I meant they’ll save us. They’ll save us both. I swear they will.”

His jaw clenched as he looked away. “I can’t leave.”

“What do you mean? Why not?”

He rolled his tongue over his teeth, nostrils flared. I knew I shouldn’t keep pushing this. It was agitating him. But I had to know why he was trapped here as Sean’s deadly pet so I could free him.

He grabbed his joggers and pulled them on. I stared at his back, his muscles rippling as he moved.

“We can’t stay here,” I whispered as he stood and walked over to the pull-up bar. “This isn’t a life. We have to find a way out together.”

“This is the only life I know. There is no way out for me except death.”

My mouth dropped open, my eyes widening.

“And if your family comes for you, they’ll have to kill me because I won’t let you go. I told you to stay away from me, Soraya, but you didn’t listen. And now you’re mine.”