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I Saved His Daughter and the Mafia Boss Won't Let Me Leave
Novelix
Completed
My ex smashed my food truck and called me useless. That same night, I chased down three kidnappers, beat them unconscious, and spent my last five dollars feeding a terrified little girl.Turns out her dad is Roman Ashford , the most dangerous man in New York, stuck in a wheelchair, and desperate for someone his daughter will trust.She calls me Mommy. He calls me his wife. It was supposed to be fake.But his ex wants the child back, not for love, for the billion-dollar trust fund. And she'll destroy us all to get it.
Chapters (3)
第1章
The day my divorce was finalized, my ex-husband took a baseball bat to my food truck and smashed it to pieces.
He said I was too rough, too loud, that I reeked of grease and had nothing feminine about me.
With no way to make a living, I grabbed my belongings and hit the streets.
That's when I saw three men shoving a little girl into a black SUV.
I chased them for two blocks, grabbed a fire extinguisher off a loading dock, and beat all three of them to the ground.
The little girl curled up in my arms. It took her a long time before she whispered:
"Miss... I'm hungry."
I spent my last five dollars on a box of mac and cheese, borrowed a pot, and made her a bowl.
The next day, a fleet of black cars pulled up to my apartment — they wanted me to be her stepmother.
The man in the wheelchair said calmly:
"My daughter will only eat what you make. Name your price."
Room and board included? I said yes on the spot.
Later, my ex-husband sneered at me:
"You really are pathetic. You left me just to marry some cripple?"
The little girl planted her hands on her hips and shouted:
"You're the cripple! You're crippled in the brain!"
Her father took my hand and looked straight at Derek.
"My wife carried a fire extinguisher and totaled a car with it. She can carry me just as easily."
"So tell me — who dares call her useless?"
I never expected that the little girl I saved on a whim would deliver the most powerful man in New York right to my door.
...I was dragging my belongings down the sidewalk when I saw them forcing the girl into the SUV.
She was fighting with everything she had. "Who are you? Help! I don't know these people!"
I dropped everything and ran.
The SUV started pulling away. I grabbed the door handle and got dragged along for thirty feet.
The driver swerved hard and threw me into the curb.
Right next to a delivery guy unloading fire extinguishers.
I grabbed one, sprinted after them, and smashed through the back window. The SUV swerved into a guardrail and stopped dead.
Three men climbed out, cursing. "You crazy bitch — you got a death wish?"
I rolled my wrists.
My ex always said I was too aggressive. Too rough. Not ladylike enough.
He was right about one thing.
I'm no lady. I'm a goddamn force.
Less than two minutes later, all three of them were face-down on the pavement.
I pulled open the car door.
The little girl was curled up in the corner, shaking all over.
I held out my hand.
"Hey. It's okay. The bad guys are all down."
She stared at me for a long time. Then she crawled over and grabbed onto my sleeve.
At the police station, every footstep in the hallway made her flinch. She pressed herself against me, trembling.
Then her stomach growled. And she whispered:
"Miss... I'm hungry."
I turned my pockets inside out. Five dollars. That was everything I had left in the world.
I ran to the corner store, grabbed a box of mac and cheese with my last five bucks, borrowed a pot from the station kitchen, and made her a bowl.
She stared at the food but didn't touch it. Not until I smoothed her hair and said:
"Go on, eat up. I'm right here."
She picked up the spoon. Ate every single bite. Scraped the bowl clean.
The officers got hold of her family and told me I could go.
But the second I stood up, her face went white. She threw her arms around my leg and held on for dear life.
"Don't leave..."
I knelt down beside her.
"Your daddy's coming to get you real soon, okay?"
Her eyes were red and brimming. "Will you come back?"
I opened my mouth, but I couldn't make a promise I might not be able to keep.
So I hardened my heart and gently pried her fingers loose, one by one.
Back at my apartment, the landlord was blocking the door.
"You don't pay rent by tomorrow, you're out on the street."
I'd picked this place because it was cheap and close to the block where I parked my truck. It was also a short walk from the hospital where Derek's mother had been bedridden for years.
I worked during the day. Took care of her at night. Crashed here when it was too late to go anywhere else.
Derek never stayed over. Not once. Said the place was beneath him.
Two weeks ago, she passed away.
The very next day, he showed up with his side piece, shoved divorce papers in my face, and took a bat to my food truck.
And now my last five dollars were gone too.
The next morning, I was heading out to find day work.
A line of black SUVs screeched to a halt right in front of me.
第2章
The car door opens, and a man in a suit steps out leading a little girl by the hand.
It's her. The girl I saved yesterday.
She sees me and freezes. She pulls free from the man's grip, starts to run toward me, then flinches when a stranger walks too close.
I crouch down on my own.
"Hey, sweetie. Remember me?"
Her eyes go red. Then she throws herself into my arms.
"Miss..."
I rub her back gently.
"What are you doing here?"
She buries her face in my shoulder and whispers:
"Why didn't you come back?"
I never promised her I would.
But looking into those careful, hopeful eyes, I can't bring myself to explain.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I had things to take care of."
Her fingers clamp down on my shirt.
"Can you come with me now?"
I look at her, torn.
Kid, I need to go find work. If I don't make some money today, I'll be sleeping under a bridge tonight.
Then I hear it. The sound of wheels rolling up behind her.
The little girl tenses and ducks behind me.
She peeks out, then relaxes just a little.
"It's Daddy."
The man sits in a wheelchair, wearing a tailored suit. Sharp jawline, cold eyes, a thin blanket draped over his legs.
The suited man beside him speaks up.
"This is Miss Lily's father. Mr. Roman Ashford."
It clicks.
Roman Ashford. The most powerful man in the city.
Word is, he hasn't walked since a car accident six months ago.
He stops in front of me.
"You're the one who saved my daughter yesterday?"
I nod. "It was nothing. Anyone would've done the same."
One of his bodyguards holds out a check.
I glance at the number. I almost choke on my own spit.
"A token of gratitude," the suited man says.
I wave it off immediately.
"I can't take that."
Roman raises an eyebrow.
"Not enough?"
"No, that's not it."
I look down at Lily.
"I didn't do it for money. Yesterday, in that situation, I would've helped no matter who was in that car."
Roman studies me for a few seconds, then takes the check back.
Lily suddenly grabs her stomach.
"Daddy... hungry."
The suited man opens an insulated container. Inside is a spread of gourmet breakfast, beautifully arranged.
Lily takes one look and shrinks further behind me.
He coaxes her gently.
"Miss Lily, please. Just a few bites."
She shakes her head. Her fingers dig into the hem of my shirt.
"No."
He turns to Roman, voice tight with worry.
"She hasn't eaten since she came home last night. We've tried four different cooks. She won't touch anything."
Roman softens his tone.
"Lily. Please eat."
Her eyes well up, but she won't budge.
After a long pause, she presses her face against my back and whispers:
"I want the lady's mac and cheese."
Every single person turns to look at me.
I ask Marco to grab a box of mac and cheese from the nearest store.
Ten minutes later, a steaming bowl of mac and cheese sits on the table.
Lily doesn't pick up her spoon. She just looks up at me.
I sit down beside her. "Go on and eat. I'm not going anywhere."
Only then does she lower her head and start eating, one small bite at a time.
Roman's expression finally eases.
"When Lily was three, something happened that frightened her badly. She's been terrified of strangers ever since."
"Yesterday made it worse. Right now, you're the only person she'll let near her."
He pauses.
"Until she recovers, would you be willing to move into our home and take care of her?"
"Name your terms."
I blink.
Wait. That's basically a live-in nanny position, right?
Free room, free meals, AND a paycheck? That's a million times better than scrounging for day work.
I hold up five fingers, trying not to look too eager. "Five thousand a month... would that be okay?"
Roman doesn't even look up. "Fifty thousand."
I jump to my feet, eyes blazing.
"Deal!"
第3章
The Ashford estate isn't a house. It's a fortress.
Iron gates. Stone walls lined with cameras. Armed guards at every entrance, nodding to Marco as we pass. Two checkpoints between the main gate and the front door.
Marco leads me through the east wing and up a sweeping staircase. It takes nearly ten minutes just to reach Lily's room on the second floor.
He opens the door next to hers. "Miss Malone, this will be your room."
I stand in the doorway, unable to move.
Soft cream-colored carpet. Floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over a garden the size of a city block. A bed bigger than my entire old apartment.
This is the most beautiful room I've ever seen in my life.
That evening, I make Lily a little bowl of chicken soup with star-shaped pasta, then sit on her floor building a block tower with her.
She doesn't talk much. But every few minutes, she glances up to make sure I'm still there.
When she finally falls asleep, I tuck her in and slip back to my room.
Sometime past two in the morning, screaming tears through the hallway.
"Go away!"
"Don't come near me!"
"Somebody help!"
I'm through her door before I'm fully awake.
Lily is pressed into the corner of her bed, drenched in cold sweat, eyes wide open but seeing something that isn't there.
The maids try to get close. She swings her arms wildly at them.
"Bad people! You're all bad people!"
"Go away!"
Marco wheels Roman in. The second Roman moves toward the bed, Lily screams even harder.
"Don't come near me!"
I climb onto the bed and pull her into my arms.
"Lily. Hey. It's me."
She thrashes for a second, then her arms lock around my neck so tight I can barely breathe.
"Miss... they're coming to take me again..."
"No they're not."
I rub her back, slow and steady.
"Remember? I already beat them all up. Punched one, kicked another, and smashed their car to pieces with a fire extinguisher."
She hiccups between sobs. "Will they come back?"
"If they do, I'll beat them up again. Even harder."
"Nobody is ever gonna hurt you while I'm here. I promise."
She finally goes quiet. But her little fingers stay clamped on my shirt like her life depends on it.
I hold her and hum the only lullaby I know. The one the woman who ran my orphanage used to sing. The only gentle thing from my entire childhood.
It takes a long time, but Lily finally drifts off.
I ease out of bed, careful not to make a sound, and step into the hallway.
Roman is still there. Waiting in the dark.
His head is bowed. The hallway is dim, but I can see his jaw clenched so tight the muscle is jumping. His hands grip the armrests like he's trying to crush them.
This is a man whose name makes people go pale. A man who controls half this city's underworld. And right now, he can't even comfort his own daughter.
"When they took her," he says quietly, "I couldn't protect her. She knows that. She blames me for it."
"She doesn't blame you." I lean against the wall, suddenly exhausted. "She's just scared. Give her some time. She'll come around."
He doesn't respond. After a long pause, he looks up.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Nowhere." I rub my sore arms. "I grew up in an orphanage. You learn fast when nobody's got your back."
He watches me. I don't say more. I don't really want to get into it with someone I just met.
But he doesn't push. He just asks:
"How far did you get in school?"
"Made it to high school." I shrug, trying to sound like it doesn't bother me. "Then I had to drop out and start working. Not exactly the sit-behind-a-desk type, you know?"
I pause. Then, before I can stop myself:
"I always wanted to go back, though. Finish, I mean. Just never got the chance."
I don't know why I told him that. I've never said it out loud before.
Roman watches me for a while. Says nothing.
But something shifts behind those cold eyes. Something I can't quite read.
The next morning, I come downstairs to find the living room covered in ribbons.
Lily is standing in the middle of it all, wearing a white veil made from a pillowcase, clutching a fistful of roses she obviously stole from the garden.
She's squeezing the stems so hard her little knuckles are white.
"Miss..."
"Will you marry my daddy?"
I nearly miss the last step.
"Marry — what now?"
