Owned by the Mob Boss by Ashley Hall Page A

also gathered that despite her taste in guys, she was pretty much an innocent. She had never committed a crime, not even a speeding ticket. She wasn’t meant to be colored by the blackness of my world.
     
    But I needed a woman like that, one I might be able to trust. Not that I could share details about the mob with her, not that I would. But I could trust her to not seek out the media, that she wouldn’t start spending the money foolishly and draw attention to herself. That was all I would ask of her. In exchange, I would keep her safe. Vanya Golovkin would never learn about her. Despite the danger to my person, she would never be threatened. She deserved that much for all she was giving me.
     
    One of the ways I knew immediately that she might make for a good choice was because she didn’t ask for more money. If she had, a red flag would’ve been raised. Maybe she would prove herself to be worth more, and if that was the case, I would be willing to compensate her. I knew why she was doing this—not for me, not for herself, but for her mother. Another reason to not bother to look at other options. Family meant a great deal to her.
     
    I just hoped it didn’t mean too much to her. The child I would impregnate her with would be mine, not hers, not ours. Mine.
     
    After hanging up my coat, I went straight upstairs and quietly opened the door to the guest room I’d left instructions for Leo to put her in. Leo was one of my friends in addition to being one of my guards. He would protect her and watch over her as he would me. She was in good hands with him.
     
    I peeked inside her guest room to find her half asleep in bed. She looked so peaceful, so innocent, and I almost felt wrong for putting her in this position, for involving her in my life, especially when my life was touched by darkness right now. But I needed an heir. I should’ve had one already. It was ironic. When I was on top of the world, being with whatever woman I wanted to be, the idea of settling down never occurred to me. I wasn’t ready to be married, to be tied down. I enjoyed my freedom.
     
    Now that my status at the top was in question, I desperately needed to ensure that my line would not die with me. I wasn’t egotistical enough to believe that death would not come for me. As much as I would do everything in my power to ensure that I did not die at the hands of Vanya Golovkin, it might still happen. An heir was necessary.
     
    And the idea of having a son was one that I couldn’t get out of my mind now. I had built an empire, had expanded on my father’s work, and I had a legacy to leave to him. Which I’ll give to him after I die from old age.
     
    And Rachel would be the one to give me that son. I entered the room to get a better look at her, and she stirred. Maybe I should have closed the door and left her to sleep for the night, but I didn’t. Selfish.
     
    Rachel sat up, and the sheet fell away. She was rumpled with sleep, and her tank top left little to the imagination. I wanted her. Desired her. Lust, pure and simple. I hadn’t lied when I called her just pretty, but there was something that drew me to her. Maybe because she had come to me for a business arrangement, and she wasn’t falling all over herself to be at my feet. She didn’t want me for my name. She didn’t even want me.
     
    A part of me wanted that to be a challenge. To make her want me, not just my money. Rachel, with her hair tousled from sleep, those doe-like bedroom eyes, her long, slender neck.
     
    Yes, lust would make this arrangement that much more enjoyable, for me at least. And I knew my way around a woman’s body. I would make it that much more enjoyable for her as well.
     
    Before I knew what I was doing, I crossed the room to her bed and took her into my arms. And again, before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing her, and she was kissing back. Already, she was moaning loudly. I loved how responsive she was to me, how she eased her body against