Passion (Mafia Ties: Brandon & Carly Book 3) Read online

  Passion

  Mafia Ties:

  Brandon & Carly 3

  Fiona Davenport

  Copyright

  © 2016 Fiona Davenport

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by PREMA Editing

  Cover design by Elle Christensen

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing. For permission requests, please send your email request to [email protected].

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons or living or dead, events or locales are entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/ Use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Passion

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  Books By This Author

  About the Author

  Passion

  Mafia Ties:

  Brandon & Carly #3

  Being part of rival families wasn’t enough to stop the passion between Brandon DeLuca and Carly O’Reilly. They’ve defied the odds and prevailed together as a couple, the first female to lead her Irish mob family and the Italian enforcer who stands by her side. When one of her enemies tries to use Carly as a pawn in an attempt to gain power, Brandon is out for blood—saving Carly isn’t enough.

  Please note: Brandon & Carly’s romance is a three-part story, but there are no relationship cliffhangers. Their story can be read as a standalone separate from Nic & Anna's books.

  You are the love that came

  without warning.

  ~Obvious, Westlife~

  Chapter 1

  Brandon

  My eyes strayed to the doorway once again and Ma laughed, prompting me to return my attention to her.

  “She’ll be back any minute, Brandon. She’s not going to run away from you.”

  If she only knew...

  I wasn’t really worried about her running. I was confident Carly loved me. But with every passing minute she didn’t arrive back in the room, my gut tightened, my instincts screaming that something was wrong.

  “Brandon!”

  My head whipped around and my heart stopped as Thomas yelled my name, racing into the room alone, his face awash with alarm.

  I didn’t give him a chance to get out another word as I took off for the front doors, yelling orders to my men to find her. I heard Nic doing the same with his own and was more grateful than ever for our alliance.

  Bursting out into the twilight, my head swiveled from side to side, taking in everything around me. I heard the screech of tires and caught a glimpse of a long black limousine barreling around a corner several blocks away. I felt my chest split open as I lost sight of it, positive it was carrying my heart away.

  Nic called to me as a he raced towards a parked car. “I’ve got this, you find out what’ s going on. I called Breck, he’s going to hack the GPS on the limo.” I barely got in a nod of acknowledgment before he was burning rubber down the street with three more cars following behind. They would split up and take different routes, hoping to cross paths with the runaway vehicle.

  Nic’s friend Brecken was a security specialist and had resources we didn’t have access to. He’d been invaluable when we’d been protecting Anna several weeks before. It gave me a tiny level of comfort to have him on our side once again.

  Thomas was suddenly at my side and I spun around, fisting my hands in his dress shirt, pulling his face up to mine, which lifted him a couple of inches off of his feet.

  “What the fuck happened?” I ground out, doing everything I could to tamp down the rising need to pulverize someone.

  He shook his head, his eyes filled with guilt and fear, some of it directed at me, but I could tell it was mostly from concern for the woman we both loved, albeit in very different ways. “She needed to use the bathroom and I told Greg to watch out for her while I took a piss. When I came out they were both gone and Greg’s comm was off.”

  “Who the fuck is Greg?” I roared, shaking Thomas violently.

  “He’s one of my men. I’ve known him my whole life. I didn’t think—”

  “No,” I interrupted, “you didn’t fucking think! I don’t know him. I specifically instructed you not to leave the safety of my wife with anyone who wasn’t on the list I gave you. Where is he?”

  “He’s—he’s gone too,” Thomas stuttered.

  I dropped him and delved my fingers into my hair, pulling the strands in an effort to keep from killing him.

  “Sean won’t hurt her,” he insisted. “He’s after power and the easiest way to gain it is by marryin’ Carly.”

  “She’s already fucking married!” I bellowed.

  “There are ways around that.”

  “Over my dead body,” I growled.

  “Yeah, that’s one of the ways. The other would be an annulment.”

  “He can’t annul it,” I croaked.

  “He doesn’t know she isn’t a virgin. Catchin’ her before the weddin’ night...” he trailed off. “He won’t hurt her.”

  It felt like someone had my heart in a grip, twisting it tighter and tighter until I couldn’t breathe. I fell to my knees. “What about when he finds out she’s pregnant? Are you still confident he won’t harm her or our child?” My voice was hoarse, betraying how broken I felt. She was everything to me. My whole life.

  Thomas looked shell-shocked for a moment, then I watched as worry turned to fear, then to terror. I surged to my feet, my riot of emotions finally causing me to lose the reins of my control and my fist slammed into his face. I heard the crunch of bone as Thomas flew backward from the force of the blow.

  “If we don’t find her, if he harms her in any way,” I threatened savagely, “you’ll pay for it with your life.”

  He stared at me silently as he tried to stem the bleeding from his nose which was most likely broken. I was stunned at what I didn’t see in his gaze. There was no anger, no fear, only guilt and acceptance. He simply nodded and began to turn away. But, he stopped and looked back at me, “I’ll hand you the rope to hang me with.”

  ***

  Blood trickled down Greg’s neck as I ran the very tip of my knife across his skin, leaving a shallow cut below his jaw, from ear to ear.

  “You know my reputation,” I said quietly, displaying a calm I didn’t feel. “Now add on to the fact that you’ve not only betrayed your leader, but put the love of my life in harm’s way. I think it’s safe to say you should fear me a fuck of a lot more than that motherfucker, Sean.”

  Brecken had come through for us and we were able to catch up to the limo at an executive airport in White Plains. It was one of the small airstrips where the O’Reillys had a private hangar for smuggling girls and drugs.

  The plane had just lifted off as we’d arrived, but the limousine was tearing away from the small airstrip. Ewan drove his SUV straight into the driver’s side door. The crazy motherfucker. He would definitely be getting a raise.

  It killed the driver instantly, but
Greg stumbled out of the front passenger seat and took off on foot. He wasn’t more than two yards away when he was forced to stop, finding himself locked in a circle of vehicles. He’d looked like a deer in headlights, and I’d cracked my knuckles in anticipation of seeing that panicked look turn to one of horror.

  I had spent the last five minutes interrogating him, making small, shallow cuts in his skin. Greg was obviously confused at my actions considering the cuts didn’t cause much pain. He’d understand soon enough, though.

  When I was satisfied with my handiwork, I signaled to Conor, who then walked over carrying a small box. Standing back, I motioned him forward. One by one, he removed leeches from the container, placing them over the wounds. Greg began to struggle, his confusion quite cleared up. He pleaded with Conor but it fell on deaf ears.

  I waved Conor back after he’d placed four of them. “Enough!” I shouted at Greg as his begging turned into blubbering. “Every time you withhold information, we’ll add another. Every time you lie to me, we’ll add two and I’ll start carving you instead of these paltry cuts. Am I being clear?” He looked as though he was about to cry, I doubted it would take more than another leech or two to break him.

  “Where is she?”

  Chapter 2

  Carly

  Finding myself locked in the back of a limo being driven by a crazy man who thought he could force me to become his wife, racing away from my new husband, was the furthest thing from what I’d had in mind for my wedding night. My fingers clenched around the bag I’d come to the car to find, and I cringed at the thought of how the contents might affect what happened next. The purple and white stick with the plus sign held the happiest news of my life, but it also greatly hindered me when it came to trying to escape from Sean.

  Still in my wedding dress and heels, I wasn’t exactly prepared for a battle when I crawled in here. I’d give just about anything to go back in time and leave a gun behind because a bottle of champagne wasn’t going to cut it as a weapon against him. Maybe if I wasn’t pregnant, I’d give it a go. With the baby to protect, it was too risky a move for me to make. But watching the miles fly past as the limo moved farther and farther away from the reception hall and Brandon, I knew I had to try something. Maybe get him talking to me at least. I highly doubted that reasoning with Sean was going to work since he was batshit crazy, but I figured I had to at least give it a try.

  “Getting one of my guys to flip was a smart move on your part.” I figured flattery couldn’t hurt. He was a guy after all. “How long has Greg been working for you?”

  Silence hung in the air around me, long enough that I started to think he wasn’t going to answer, then the intercom crackled to life.

  “It was fecking brilliant, is what it was.”

  Note to self, not only was he delusional if he thought I was going to marry him, he was also an arrogant asshole.

  “It wasn’t even hard, getting him ta turn on ya after bringing the fecking DeLuca enforcer inta the fold. Your da is probably turning in his grave at the mockery you’ve made of the O’Reilly family.”

  The idea of managing to piss my father off in his grave was something that made me insanely happy, but I didn’t think Sean would appreciate hearing that. It sounded like he’d looked up to the man I’d grown to hate. In a strange way, it kind of made sense since my da had planned to marry me off to Sean.

  “I’m sure you’re right.”

  “Damn straight, I am. If only ya would’ve listened to me at your da’s wake and honored his promise to me, I wouldn’t have had ta resort to this!” What had started as barely more than a whisper, ended in a roar. It appeared as if he really did blame me for not wanting to marry the man to whom my da had basically sold me.

  “Resort to what?” I asked, hoping he’d slip up and clue me in on his plan since he was so pissed off.

  “You’ll find out,” he uttered in a menacing tone.

  I didn’t like the sound of that. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Far away from that rat bastard who stole ya from me, that’s where.”

  Holding back my defense of Brandon, I bit my lip so hard that it started to bleed. His reply didn’t give me even the tiniest hint of where he was taking me. I’d been hoping for a little information since I didn’t have any weapons. And it looked like my time had run out since we were pulling into a location which was very familiar to me, an airstrip with a private hangar which should have been under O’Reilly control—a place where my and Brandon’s word was supposed to be law. Yet, Sean drove right in like he owned the place. Heads were going to fucking roll once I got out of this mess.

  The limo rolled to a stop, and I cast a final, frantic glance around, hoping to find something I could use to protect myself. My gaze landed on a wine bottle opener, and I scuttled across the seat to reach for it as the driver’s door slammed shut. I wrapped my fingers around it and slipped it under the blue garter on my left thigh. The skirt of my dress slid back into place over my legs just as the door opened, revealing Sean standing there with a gun aimed at my head.

  “I won’t take any of yer fecking bullshit, Carly. You put up a fight, and I’ll shoot ya.”

  “You can’t force me to marry you if I’m dead,” I reminded him.

  “True,” he agreed, lowering his aim to my knees. “But there’s lots of places I could shoot ya without killin’ ya—assumin’ I get ya some medical attention.”

  I had to assume that the blood loss and trauma from a non-lethal shot might cause me to lose the baby. It left me with no other option than to climb out of the car and do as Sean said. For now, anyway.

  “Please don’t shoot me,” I whispered as I neared him. It galled me to do so, but I placed my hand in his free one and let him help me out. As I straightened, my eyes narrowed on Greg as he climbed back into the front of the limo, tossing me a smug grin through the window. The bastard had been smart enough to leave the reception hall with me, which meant Brandon wouldn’t have any leads on my whereabouts.

  The same limo driver who’d picked me up this morning stumbled out of the small office, buttoning up his pants and then swiping a finger under his nose. A scantily clad woman followed behind him, teetering on a pair of ridiculous heels as she tottered over to where Sean and I were standing.

  “You need me for anything else?” Her eyes dropped to the crotch of his pants while she licked her lips, making it blatantly clear exactly what she thought Sean might need her to do for him.

  “Run along now,” he instructed, giving her a swat on the ass as she walked past us to an older Ford parked outside the hangar.

  “Not sure how you can turn an offer like that down. Her mouth is like a Hoover vacuum.” It seemed the limo driver had a hell of a time while Sean used the car. At least he had the grace to blush when his startled eyes landed on me before he hurried to the driver’s side door.

  “You’ll wait until the plane takes off ta leave, just in case anythin’ goes wrong,” Sean ordered.

  “Yes, sir.”

  The stupid bastard didn’t even question what kinds of things could go wrong. He probably assumed Sean meant something mechanical with the plane, and not my husband coming to my rescue with guns blazing. Speaking of the plane...

  “You’re kidnapping me in my own plane?”

  “It’s not yours anymore. It’s mine,” he boasted, nudging me in the back with the gun to get me moving towards the steps that led up to the open door. “Ya fecked up, choosin’ to dump the traffickin’ and the drugs. I stepped inta the gap ya left behind. Some of your men aren’t like the blind idiots who’ve chosen ta follow ya. They want ta keep the money rollin’ in, an’ they’ve made sure I’ve had what I needed to ensure their pockets remained well-lined.”

  Information. Access to me. The plane. Greg might have been the traitor who’d turned me over to Sean, but he couldn’t have pulled all this off himself. He wasn’t smart enough, or high enough up the ladder, to get Sean everything he would have needed. There had to be mo
re of my men involved. Fucking shit.

  Seeing no other option that wouldn’t put the baby at risk, I boarded the plane. Sean didn’t waste a moment, instructing the pilot to take off immediately. I stared out the window, praying Brandon would somehow manage to find me before that happened. The odds of my survival dropped even lower once we got in the air. Minutes ticked by as the pilot readied the plane before we taxied to the runway. When the wheels left the ground and we were already in the air, I saw several black SUVs racing towards the limo. Tears streamed from my eyes, knowing Brandon had done the nearly impossible and tracked me down, even if it was a couple minutes too late to rescue me.

  Pressing one hand to the window and the other to my stomach, I watched as one of the SUVs plowed into the limo. The tears kept falling, but I stayed silent, not wanting Sean to know Brandon had gotten there in time to capture Greg. I waited until they were out of sight, and then I brushed the tears away and turned away from the window.

  “Enough o’ that, now,” Sean chided. “It won’t be all bad. Once we arrive at our destination, we’ll get your marriage ta that dago annulled. Then you’ll marry me an’ we can go on as though your stupid decision never happened.”

  “That’s impossible,” I whispered, but not softly enough because he heard what I’d said.

  “It’s going ta’ happen, Carly. I caught ya before the marriage could be consummated, and a lucky thing too. I’ll have what was promised ta me, one way or another.”

  “I’ve already given it to my husband, and I’ve got a baby in my belly to prove it.” In my fury and fear, I tossed the words at him.

  His eyes turned ice cold. “Well, then, I guess I’ll just have ta find another use for ya.”

  Chapter 3

  Brandon

  “Get me a flight to Haiti. I don’t care if you need to steal a fucking plane, I want to be in the air in thirty minutes or less.” My hands clenched and unclenched, in my attempt to hide the shaking, as I instructed Aiden and Conor.