MAFIA COLLATERAL (Mafia series #2) SAMPLE

Prologue

He took a long drag of the cigarette and threw it away as he made his way towards his destination.

His heart was slamming against his chest, his mind a total mess; but he was in complete control. Because he knew that what he was about to confess, would most definitely change everything.

Not just for him, but for her as well.

His heart couldn't take it anymore.

With so much chaos around him, so much pain and suffering, he was one who didn't want that for himself. Because if there was one thing he had learned, it was that he wasn't going to make the same mistakes as his brother. He wasn't going to give in to his anger ever again.

Life had given him such a wonderful blessing and he wouldn't make the mistake of throwing it away without even acknowledging it.

Sighing deeply, he opened the door and entered.

He saw her standing by the window, her shoulders slumped and her head slightly bowed down. From her back, he could already tell that she was feeling dejected and defeated.

He couldn't blame her for that either. Her life had taken a drastic change in the past couple of months. And he was the one responsible for it.

But right now, she looked so vulnerable and delicate that it took everything in him not to embrace her.

"What do you want?" He heard her sneer, her back still facing him.

"We need to talk." He sighed.

"There's nothing to talk about." She murmured. "Please leave." She sounded so pained. His heart clenched in his chest.

Without another thought, he approached her, spun her around, grabbed her face and smashed his lips on hers.

She resisted as her small fists beat on his chest but he didn't let her go. Biting and nipping on her lower lip, he entered her mouth and deepened the kiss.

He felt her tense body melt in his embrace as he held her tightly.

When he released her, she kept her eyes closed as the tears leaked from her closed lids and her chin wobbled with silent sobs.

"I'll never leave you." He growled.

"What do you want from me?" She chokes as her tears fall ceaselessly.

"Open your eyes." He coaxed. She obeys, letting him gaze into those gorgeous blue brown eyes that were filled with so much pain and longing.

"You've taken everything from me. What more will you take from me? I'm nothing now." She whispered, her vulnerability dripping with every word.

"No," he carefully caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers as he gazed at her with utmost gentleness. "You're everything to me. And I will never take anything from you ever again. I'll only give." He vowed.

"Then," she swallowed. "Give me my freedom." She whispered, even though she already knew that she was asking for the impossible. And when she saw the softness in his dark eyes being replaced by cold hardness, it confirmed her thoughts.

"Never." He gritted.

"Then how will you give me anything when you can't even give me the one thing that I want?"

"Because," he stroked her lips with his thumb. "You're my prisoner. Forever."

"Don't give me that!" She cried, her forehead resting on his chest, feeling angry yet defeated at the same time. "I don't want to be your prisoner! I want to be free." She cried, her knees buckling under her and she fell to the floor. He didn't loosen his hold on her and kept her in his embrace as he feel on his knees along with her. He silently watched her as she kept crying.

"Don't say that you will give me everything when you can never give me anything." She murmured. "I'll only ever be collateral to you." She sobbed. "No, not even collateral." She sobbed, her shoulders quaking. "Why can't you see that I'm useless to you now. Just let me go already." She continued to sob.

Her tears tore him apart. He hated seeing her beautiful face torn in misery and pain. He never meant to hurt her. But he wanted her and he was not going to let her go. She could believe whatever she wanted to believe. Because she was his now.

He gently pulled her chin up, urging her to look at him.

"You're mine now." He said, causing her cries to cease as she gawked at him. "And when I make a promise. I always keep it." He prompted, his tone hard and his eyes strict. His expression was serious yet it displayed nothing but sincerity.

She had never seen him like this.

"You can't give me anything." She said dejectedly. "You will only continue to take from me."

"But I have. I've given up my heart to you." He revealed.

She frozen, gawking at him in utter disbelief.

"Wha..?" Her jaw hung open.

He smiled softly at her. "I love you, Sadia." He confessed.