Free Shane: A Mafia Love Story: Dark Erotic Romance by R.E. Saxton Page A

panties that Shane hadn’t packed—she had checked, but found none of her own clothes amid the possessions he’d brought back—she slipped on socks and flimsy tennis shoes. Considering every other piece in the wardrobe was high-quality, the cheap tennies were suspicious, but she assumed he had chosen them with deliberate thought. Likely, he had assumed they wouldn’t stand up to vigorous use or be practical for scaling steel fences.
    Mia returned to her tray, sighing with exasperation at the sight of Clovis eating a strawberry. “You’re a weird cat, man.” She picked up another piece of bacon and the last strawberry. “Being a carnivore, you should go for the bacon. Or the eggs.”
    Clovis didn’t look up from his juicy berry, and she sighed again. Mia hesitated for a moment, debating how she should handle the cat’s presence. The idea of leaving him here was horrible. He had been a present from Stefania for her fifteenth birthday, and she loved the quirky feline.
    Deciding she was getting ahead of herself, and she had to find a way out first, she patted his head and left the room. After she figured out a way to escape, she would come back for Clovis before actually leaving.
    Mia had been through most of the house the day before, but she noticed a computer in one of the rooms that she had bypassed yesterday. Her heart leapt with excitement, and she mentally reviewed the list of acquaintances she could contact to go to the police on her behalf. Or perhaps she could contact the police directly. Or Tweet that she was being held hostage and wait for that to be retweeted endlessly, until someone finally took it seriously and called the cops.
    She sighed with annoyance at the request for a password. Mia had grown up with technology, and she wasn’t too intimidated. At first. After several attempts, she was feeling more frazzled. Shane definitely employed some kind of high-tech encryption software to block access. Had he always been so cautious, or had he installed it before kidnapping her?
    On her tenth attempt to bypass the system, the screen flickered before a message appeared. “Give up, Mia.”
    Anger surged through her, and she pounded her fist on the desk. It took every ounce of control not to lift the monitor and throw it down as hard as she could onto the thick carpeting. “Fuck you, Shane O’Mara.” She glared at the screen as though he could actually see her through the monitor that very moment. “You haven’t won, and you won’t.”
    More determined than ever, she left the house and explored the grounds. Mia walked around the perimeter of the fence, ignoring the goons on their regular patrols. She could find no vulnerabilities. Trying to remain optimistic, she entered the wooded area on the outskirts of the property, annoyed to find the fence extended around it as well.
    The trees and a nearby stream were peaceful, but they had a claustrophobic effect. It was another variation of a prison. Her heels were dragging with discouragement by the time she left the woods and approached the stables. Mia didn’t expect to find escape in the building housing the horses. She just wanted the comfort of being near the equines.
    Mia walked the stalls, smiling at the horses and talking sweetly, though her heart wasn’t in it. Each of the six horses was magnificent, and she would have loved riding any in other circumstances, but even the familiar sight and scent of horseflesh couldn’t cheer her.
    She paused near a white filly, holding out her hand to the skittish horse. After a moment, she warily approached, accepting a pat on her velvety nose before prancing away. The filly reminded Mia of the horse she’d had when Stefania was alive. They had gone to the stables every weekend to ride and spend time bonding. It had started when Stefania married her father, and Mia had been an awkward twelve-year-old. Having a new stepmother she’d barely known sprung on her hadn’t been easy, and she had been unwelcoming.
    It