Free Dark Blood: A Mafia Hitman Romance by Isabella Starling

her dark brown wavy hair brushes over her tits, almost exposed in that thin scrap of fabric she calls a bra.
    I climb the ladder with Bianca in my arms. I make sure no one's fucking watching, and then I carry her lifeless body the whole damn way to my car. At this point, I don't even give a crap if my father sees us. Let him. She's still a prisoner. But I'll be damned if I'll let her be treated like an animal.
    Laying Bianca down across my backseat, I cover her up with a blanket I keep in my car. Simultaneously, I try to forget why the blanket is actually there.
    Once she's safely tucked away in my car, I caress her pretty blushed cheeks. She stirs in her slumber, leaning into my hand. Pulling away is the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
    I get in the driver's seat and start the piece of crap car. My apartment it is.

7
    Bianca
    M y head is pounding . I wake up, slowly gaining consciousness, and at once I know something's different. My eyes are so hard to open, and I moan as I struggle to come to.
    "Good morning."
    That voice is familiar. Dangerous and kind at the same time. The scent of strong black coffee greets me as I sit up on a soft surface. A quick look around reveals I'm in someone's apartment. It's messy. But at least I'm not chained down anywhere, and there's no immediate threat here.... Except for the voice.
    I turn in the direction of its owner, my eyes connecting with Matteo's. I startle and nearly spill the warm liquid he's offering me in a chipped mug.
    "Coffee," he says. With trembling fingers, I reach for the cup of the drink I've been craving for the past two days since being taken captive. His fingers wrap around mine for a second, and I feel a deep longing in a place where I don't usually feel...much.
    I accept the mug from him and take a tentative sip. It's not my kind of coffee at all — I prefer it sugary and creamy — but it still feels good running down my throat. It's the first warm thing I've put in my belly in two days.
    "W-where are we?" My voice is hoarse, my lips dry and cracked. I'm having trouble speaking, and my head still feels weird. "Why do I feel so...strange?"
    "You've been drugged," Matteo tells me matter-of-factly. He's sitting on an armchair next to me and delivers the blow carelessly, like it's something normal to say.
    "What? W-why would you drug me?" I ask.
    "Wasn't me."
    I sip the coffee and keep inspecting the apartment. It almost feels more like a hotel room, with generic furniture and nothing to signal this place actually belongs to someone. There are still moving boxes scattered around the room. Not a single personal touch in sight.
    "Do you live here?" I ask, because I have to know. He simply nods in response. "Why did you bring me here?"
    "Because they were going to hurt you." He gets up from his chair when the microwave starts beeping, startling me from my dream-like state. "Are you hungry?"
    My tummy rumbles in response, and I nod eagerly. "How long was I out?"
    "Fifteen hours. It's evening now."
    He comes back with a plate of food. It's just a microwave meal, nothing fancy, but my stomach rumbles again at the sight of the steam rising from the food. I reach for it eagerly, and for the next few minutes, we're enveloped in silence as I gulp down the meal. I'm so hungry.
    He watches me eat silently, and once I'm done, reaches for the plate. At least that's what I think, until he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. I wince, but I still lean into his touch.
    "Are you gonna’ try to run again?" he wants to know.
    I stare at him, at those deep eyes that are so dark they're almost black. "I don't know," I say softly. "Are you going to hurt me?"
    "Yes, if you try to leave," he answers. At least he's honest. His hand is still lingering on my cheek, gently stroking the sensitive skin there. "I need you to stay here with me. For your own safety."
    "Why do you care about that?"
    "I don't know." His hand leaves my skin and I feel its absence like a sharp, stabbing pain. I need