Jasper (Book 3): A Mafia Romance (D’Orazio Family Mafia), #3

By Kathryn Thomas

This is book 3 and the finale of A Mafia Romance (D'Orazio Family Mafia)! 

 

It's my job to protect her. But I can't rest until I've taken her unprotected.

 

She was everything I despised in this world.

Rich. Spoiled. Her mobster daddy's precious little prize.

 

The last thing I wanted was to be assigned to guard her 24/7.

 

But once I had got a taste of Maria, she became an addiction that I couldn't quit.

I took her, claimed her, and made her beg me for more.

And along the way, she broke through the walls I'd set around myself a long time ago.

 

There's no telling what will happen next.

What the mafia princess has unleashed inside me.

 

But then, a rival don tries to take her from me.

Now, all bets are off.

 

I've marked Maria is mine.

And every man responsible for taking her from me is about to pay the price.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBook Publishing World
• Release date: Apr 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393072829

Book preview

Jasper: A Mafia Romance (D’Orazio Family Mafia Book 3)

By Kathryn Thomas

It’s my job to protect her. But I can’t rest until I’ve taken her unprotected.

SHE WAS EVERYTHING I despised in this world.

Rich. Spoiled. Her mobster daddy’s precious little prize.

The last thing I wanted was to be assigned to guard her 24/7.

But once I had got a taste of Maria, she became an addiction that I couldn’t quit.

I took her, claimed her, and made her beg me for more.

And along the way, she broke through the walls I’d set around myself a long time ago.

There’s no telling what will happen next.

What the mafia princess has unleashed inside me.

But then, a rival don tries to take her from me.

Now, all bets are off.

I’ve marked Maria is mine.

And every man responsible for taking her from me is about to pay the price.

Chapter 1

When I got home, I started to drink. And drink. And drink. I had a bottle of scotch Carlos had given me for my birthday, and I was all too happy to have an excuse to get started on it. I put away at least half of the bottle by three in the morning, and I was pretty drunk as I got into the shower to try and sober myself up. This was the reason I didn’t drink so much anymore—because it tended to kick the shit out of me and leave me feeling as though I’d been dragged through a damp hedge backwards.

As the water rushed over me, I thought of Maria—thought of everything we’d done together, everything we’d been through. And now she wanted rid of me. I couldn’t really believe it, even though I’d been the one to back off in the first place—I knew at least a part of this was me being petulant and difficult because I couldn’t get what I wanted, but could I really be blamed for that? I hadn’t expected it to go like this. Yeah, okay, I hadn’t believed she was going to throw herself at my feet and ask for me back, but I’d hoped we could figure something out once everything had cooled off. Maybe her father would allow her a little more leeway, maybe we could come up with another arrangement to keep things going, whatever it was, I wanted something with her. But she had pretty unequivocally closed the door on anything happening between us—and it had thrown me, hard.

I toweled off my hair, staring out my tiny bathroom window and onto the street outside. It was quiet, save for one couple making out on the opposite side of the road—the guy had his arms around her waist and she had her hands on his chest. I looked at them for a long time, longer than I should have, and wondered what it felt like for them to be in a relationship that they didn’t have to hide at every turn. They looked happy and peaceful, at ease, as though nothing was between them, nothing was holding them apart. I wanted that. I had to find a way to make that a reality.

I reached for my phone and pulled up Maria’s number; she would probably be asleep by now, but I would have lost my nerve if I tried to do this the next morning when I had sobered up—well, at least marginally. I hovered my finger over the dial button for a couple of seconds before I pressed it, trying to talk myself out of this—but I knew it was no good. I wanted to talk to her, needed to hear her voice one last time, even if it was just so she could tell me to go to hell for good. I tapped the call button and held the phone to my ear as it rang a couple of times. She picked up quickly, and her voice didn’t convince me that she’d been to sleep at all since I left her.

Jasper?

Maria, I replied, relieved just to hear her voice. Dammit, I was further gone for this girl than I had thought.

What are you calling me at this time for? she demanded. It better be something good.

I ran my hand over my face once, as if slapping some sense into myself. I knew this was a bad idea, but I had to get it out there, or it would sit in the back of my head irritating me until I did.

I know you said that we couldn’t work together anymore, I began.

Have you been drinking?

I could practically see the way her slightly upturned nose wrinkled in disgust as she figured out the amount of booze I must have had in my system to make a call as difficult as this one. Yes, but that’s not the point, I dismissed her. Is there anything...is there any way we could still be together? Even without the work?

You come to me and say that after you abandoned me with my father? she snapped, her voice full of exasperation. I couldn’t exactly blame her—she was right; I’d dumped her with the man she hated most in the world to protect my own ego. And I’d done it with no explanation. Well, now was my chance.

I’m sorry, I blurted, the words pouring out of me before I had a chance to get them in line. The guys at the Stiches, they were teasing me for working for you, said it was easy money and that you were a brat and all this—

Well, thanks for letting me know, she interjected sarcastically. I could hear the hint of hurt in her voice despite her tone.

And I told them they were wrong and that they didn’t know you like I did, but they were threatening to...I knew my standing would go down there, and I could lose my place and my job and I couldn’t risk that, I explained as quickly as I could, before she could jump in again. I just wanted to take a week to back off, so they would think I was still committed to them, and then I was going to pick up work with you again, I swear.

Why should I believe you? she asked tiredly, letting out a yawn halfway through her question.

I don’t know, I admitted. I’ve got no way to prove any of this. I guess you’re just going to have to trust me—I wanted to be with you. Yeah, I was pissed off, but it wasn’t at you, and I should never have taken it out on you. Do you get where I’m coming from?

She fell silent, contemplating what I had said. I held my breath, praying that it had been enough, but fearing it wasn’t even close.

So you still want to be with me? she asked, and I nodded, even though I knew she couldn’t see it.

Yes, Maria, I really do, I replied emphatically. I want to be with you so badly. I...really like you.

I had been about to say that I loved her, but I knew it wasn’t the time; there would be a time and place where that would be the right thing to say, but it wasn’t here. I was sober enough to know that. Besides, those weren’t words that I said easily, and certainly not for the first time over the phone to someone. I needed to have things be more certain than they were before I could feel comfortable telling her that, even though