Marrying the Mob Prince
2-21

KNOX

I'll kill them all.

First on the list: Cainan. Backstabbing asshole. He'd pay for this forced submission. This violation of my mind.

My heart pounded as it worked through my system. Muffled sounds battered my ears. The drug I'd been injected with slowed my thoughts, blurred my vision, and made physical resistance impossible. Helpless.

I rode a wave of horrific flashbacks as hands touched my face. I wanted to rip them off me, but I couldn't lift my arm. This can't be happening. I struggled to make out who the hands belonged to, and my gaze collided with a beautiful woman. Indie.

She looked wretched. Tears streaked her cheeks, which she didn't bother to wipe. Pain nestled behind my ribs. I longed to comfort her. I tried to sit up.

Paralyzed.

"Oh, Knox. This is all my fault."

My thoughts swam as the car moved. I couldn't believe I'd let myself get kidnapped. I felt nothing except a vague concern for Indie's life. She didn't deserve this. She was the only person that mattered. Indie stroked my hair.

God, that feels amazing-Focus, Knox.

"What did you do?" she roared, whipping her head to the front. "What did you bastards give him?"

"It's a mild sedative, Miss Starling," Cainan answered.

"You call this mild?"

"It's the same formula we use for everyone else."

"The fuck are you talking about? What kind of place gives out drugs, for God's sake!" she shouted, and a glow of pride warmed me for her courage. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He looks like he's enjoying himself."

"That's not funny."

"He's probably never been high before." Amusement rolled through Cainan's voice. "I'll make adjustments. Maybe ecstasy mixed with LSD. Don't look at me like that, Indie. You only have yourself to blame."

My fading consciousness filled with Indie's weeping. As I fell into oblivion, cigarette-stained walls bled through the interior of a van. I was five again, bound to a chair. I was nine, locked out of the building in the middle of winter, huddling near a heat vent. My mother stroked my hair as I recovered in a hospital.

Fight it.

Icy fingers sank into me.

My eyes closed.

*

I snapped awake.

I lay in a bed alone.

Despite my throbbing headache, I floated on clouds. I was awash in a golden peace. My thoughts were fleeting. Half-formed images churned in my head. The memory of Indie's gentle kiss flooded my chest with warmth. My first real kiss ever with a woman. I fingered my burning lips, marveling at the sensation. How much I'd enjoyed it. I imagined her stroking my cock, and heat spread down my body.

I'd always discouraged intimacy, because the thought of it turned my stomach. It literally made me sick, a weakness I'd rather avoid, so I did. That kiss...it made me feel things, and none of them were disgust. That one kiss sparked a fierce ache in my chest.

I wanted more. I wanted her mouth again. I wanted to spend a whole afternoon in her arms. That bothered me, but I could not shut up the need clenching within me. The empty hole inside me was finally filling. I needed her.

Alarm rippled down my spine at that disturbing thought. That...and another one equally as troubling. Where was she?

My blurred vision adjusted to an unfamiliar room. The walls spun as I took in my surroundings-crystal light fixtures and marble. I wasn't in my house. Suspicion stabbed through the delirious haze of pleasure. Where am I?

I sat upright, moving as slowly as a glacier. A wave of sleepiness slammed into my head.

A lock on the door clicked open.

It swung inward, admitting Cainan and two armed guards. He'd changed his pants and now wore an open-collared white shirt. My jagged memory strung together how I'd acquired my stinging arm and my befuddled senses. I gritted my teeth, recalling the conversation with Cainan. That shot.

Fuck.

Cainan smiled. "Enjoy your nap?"

I stared at him, baffled. "You drugged me."

"I did."

My mind whirled at the dry response. "You drugged me," I repeated, rage inflaming my voice. "Why?"

Cainan shrugged, hands in his pockets. "I thought it'd be less traumatic than beating you unconscious and dragging you into the car."

I scrambled to make sense of my wild thoughts.

"So you brought me here. Put me in this bed." My pulse galloped ahead, and the pulsing knot in my throat burst. "Where's Indie? What have you done with her?" "Nothing."

"You expect me to believe that?"

A disturbing darkness replaced his smoldering look. Then he spoke, shattering the tension. "I expect you to obey if you want her to live."

Blood pounded in my ears.

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"

He fingered the chair in front of him. "Have a seat."

I pushed myself to the edge of the mattress and slid off the bed. My feet smacked the ground, but I couldn't balance. A sheer fury swept through me.

"What did you give me?"

"It should be leaving your system now." Cainan's tight smile grew as he watched me closely. "Men like you amaze me. You're rich. You think you're invincible, but you couldn't have a bigger target on your head. Should've kept that security team a little closer, huh? I guess you thought nobody had the balls to attack you. Your arrogance is something to behold, Knox. It really is."

A wave of dizziness hit me.

"I'll ruin you. I'll destroy this club."

His expression bordered on mockery. "You don't even know who I am."

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I bristled. "I'll replace out!"

"You're not going anywhere until I'm satisfied." Cainan tapped the chair beside him, his voice leadening. "Sit. Or is Indie's life not worth your pride?"

A warning erupted inside me as his words sank in. Even if I overpowered this dickhead and his guards, I doubted I'd replace Indie. I searched my pockets for my phone-gone.

How the fuck did I get us into this position?

Simmering, I sank into the chair.

"Good boy," Cainan murmured. "Give him some water."

The man next to him handed me a bottle.

I ripped it from his grasp, twisted the cap open, and guzzled it down. An edgy, twitchy feeling crawled over my skin as I stared into Cainan's worthless eyes. Was it the drugs running me hot-or the rage tunneling my vision? "Take me to Indie. Now."

Cainan pushed back his auburn waves. "Now, now, Knox. What did I just say?"

I'd never wanted to hurt someone so badly.

"The moment I'm free, you're dead."

"You should refrain from threatening the others. They're not as tolerant as I am." Cainan checked his watch. "You should be okay by now. Can you walk?"

I stood. My balance wasn't perfect, but at least I was in command of my basic functions.

"Very good. Let's go."

The guards prodded my back.

We exited into a softly lit hallway, the air thumping with moody electronic music. Ebony doors with crystal doorknobs flanked me as we headed deeper into the club. Deep red accent walls matched the guards' ties. We strolled past many windowless rooms, which I'd never seen in Sanctum. The club's strict rules on consent didn't allow for privacy, and the lack of visibility struck me as ominous.

As we approached a door engraved with an eye, Cainan waved at the guards. They stayed outside as Cainan rolled his wristband over the keypad. The light flashed green, and it opened. This room was much like the one I'd just left, except for the dome on the ceiling, and the woman in a dress.

Indie lay on a four-poster bed, a black slip clinging to her full curves. Her wrists were tied to the posts. She drew her legs up when we entered. Adrenaline rushed through me as I took in her vulnerable position. They'd gagged and bound her. At the sight of me, she released a wounded howl.

A blinding rage overtook my vision, and I rushed to her side, shaking as I untied the gag and restraints. Once they were off, Indie dove into my arms. Her lips trembling, she broke down in tears. Huge, heaving sobs wracked out from her chest. She was a trembling, crying mess.

Shit.

I looked around, as though a manual would swoop from the ceiling for how to deal with this situation. I brought her closer, bewildered.

"So sweet," Cainan crooned. "She's something else, isn't she? Every time I look at her, I'm almost fooled by those big, innocent eyes. Then I remember she killed a man and called her boyfriend to butcher the corpse." Fuck. How did he replace out?

"I have video, Knox." He pulled a phone from his khakis. "Here."

My throat tightened.

Cainan held it in front of me and clicked the center button. The screen flickered to life. I swallowed hard as it flashed with images of Indie's living room. When Andrey appeared, I balled my fists. It was unbearable to watch. Indie had underplayed the attack.

She burst into tears.

Cainan paused the video. "You're lucky Andrey wasn't a full member. Otherwise our retribution would have been merciless."

"What about my vengeance?"

"You won't retaliate. Because we'll go after her family." Cainan's eyes were like two burning globes of ash, boring into mine. "After I cripple your company, I'll hunt down Starling's relatives and rip them apart. One by one. Her parents are such a sweet couple. Every Friday, they do crossword puzzles together at Modern Pastry. And that little sister of hers. Divine."

Indie whirled around, grief choking her throat. "But I did what you wanted. I dropped the story!"

"You called St. Luke's after our conversation."

"Just to check on someone!"

"You shouldn't have done that, Indie." Cainan glared at her until she shrank in my arms, shivering. "You will delete your files and destroy all copies of your notes. You will obey me completely." "I will. I'll do what you want, I swear."

I disengaged from Indie and slipped off the bed, blocking her from Cainan. I'd heard enough to guess what was going on. "If you had a problem with Indie, you should have come to me." Cainan raised his hand in a flippant wave. "We didn't know she was yours."

"What is my sub accused of doing?"

"Sniffing around Sanctum. Reporting on our illicit activities. Talking to people." He shot her a rueful look that made me want to disembowel him. "Our members are...intolerant of anything that could damage their reputations. Their careers." Cainan toyed with his phone, his face alive with sadism. "The others wanted to kill her. I persuaded them otherwise. So we'll send you home with a warning."

I couldn't wait to get back so I could start plotting his slow, imminent death. An angry pulse beat at the base of my neck.

"Fine. Consider me warned."

"I'm afraid that's not good enough." Cainan sank into a leather wingback chair and poured himself a drink from the bottle of whiskey on the marble end table. "Some...well, they weren't satisfied with just letting you go. So you'll have to be punished."

I crossed my arms. "A beating?"

"No. Nothing so pedestrian." Cainan's eyes flicked toward the security camera. "While they watch, you, me, and Indie will have...a dalliance of sorts. I will not touch your sub, but I will dom her. I will tell her what to do and how to do it." Fuck. No.

My mouth pinched shut. "I'd rather take a beating."

"Would you?" he taunted.

"A thousand times over." I seized Indie's wrist and dragged her off the bed and toward the door. "You're sick."

His laughter blazed my cheeks as she dug in her heels. She looked disgusted, but determined.

"We can't leave. We have to do this, Knox."

My blood ran cold. "No."

"Please," she begged, her eyes large and liquid with misery. "Let's get this over with."

Warmth enveloped my hand as her fingers curled around mine, tugging me to the empty chair. I lowered onto the cushion, my teeth clenched.

"Take your clothes off."

"Cainan," Knox growled. "This is absurd-"

"You know what's at stake," he snapped with the fury of a dragon. "Off!"

The breath in my lungs vanished as she lifted the slip off her seductive body, uncovering her thick curves, her heavy tits, the soft dimples marking her thighs. Her face was pale, but steadfast. "Beautiful," Cainan murmured. "Now, climb onto his lap."