Patrick: A Mafia Love Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

space between them. “Don’t ever do that again.”
    “You were doing your share.” She touched her bruised lips that felt raw from his possession. They hurt, but in a good way. “You want me. I don’t know why you won’t just admit it.”
    “Fine, I admit it. I want you, Lauren, but I’m not going to have you. There are a million good reasons why I can’t, and I’m asking you to respect that.”
    She shook her head, firming her lips. “If you’re not even going to tell me why, you can’t make that request. It isn’t fair.”
    “Life isn’t fair,” he roared in a near shout. “Just go away. I don’t want to see any more of this. You shouldn’t be doing this, and you sure as fuck shouldn’t want me. Stop pushing me, because I guarantee you’ll regret it.”
    With his admonishment burning in her ears, she turned and stalked from the pool back to her room. She got a measure of satisfaction by slamming the door behind her, but it did little to soothe the anger stirring inside her.
    How dare he tell her how she should feel? She wouldn’t regret having him. She didn’t know all that was holding Patrick back, but there was nothing that was a good enough reason to keep them apart when they wanted each other this badly. She just couldn’t imagine anything that would make her regret being with him.
    He was probably doing this because of some protective instinct to guard her from his illegal life, but that was stupid. She already knew, and maybe she should tell him that. She had known for a long time that her father was mixed up in something shady, and since he was often with his friend Patrick, it hadn’t taken a genius to find a connection between them. She had known for years, and she loved him just the same.
    With a sigh, she sat down at her desk and instituted Plan B. There was absolutely no way he could resist this. Was there?

Chapter Four
    Patrick’s email program dinged to let him know he had a new message. He ignored it for a few minutes as he finished up the paperwork he was on focused on, allowing a rueful smile to touch his lips. Even though they didn’t pay taxes, his business still required inventory and calculating expenses. It was amazing, and more than a little amusing, to realize just how much he had in common with a legitimate entrepreneur.
    Finally, he turned his attention to his email, sorting through the five new messages. Four of them were easily dealt with, but the fifth was a puzzle. The subject read: “You’ll find this interesting.” He didn’t recognize the name of the sender, and when he clicked on it, it took a moment for his eyes to comprehend what the body of the email was telling him.
    A cursory look led him to believe it was simply junk mail that had escaped the spam filter, but as he scrolled back to the top, more of the email caught his eye. It was from some site called BeHerFirst.com, and he scowled when he realized it was an online auction place for virgins to sell their virginity to the highest bidder.
    With a snort of disgust, he started to click the delete icon, but his fingers froze as a particular face among the seven pictures jumped out at him. “No way.” His hand shook slightly as he moved the mouse to click on the familiar face. His browser opened a second later directly on the girl’s profile. His girl’s profile.
    Lauren stared back at him with a sweet expression, but with a sultry look in her eyes. According to her profile, she was twenty-two and tired of being a virgin. She wanted to use her assets to start a new life, and then she listed her favorite traits about a man. Underneath the box listing her preferred traits, the site had a disclaimer that bidders did not have to meet any of those requirements.
    Anger fizzed in his stomach like a freshly opened soda, and he clenched his hand tightly around the mouse, only forcing himself to stop when the plastic started to yield. “Sonofabitch.”
    With another curse, he pushed away from his desk and out