Mafia Captive by Kitty Thomas

 

Summary: 

Faith Jacobson was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After witnessing a mob hit, she’s only moments from death when Angelo Raspallo decides to give his brother an unlikely gift.

Leo has avoided involvement with the family business, but it doesn’t make him a saint. He’s troubled and ashamed by his darker sexual desires, one of which is to own a slave. But when his brother throws Faith at his feet, repainting the scenario to make Leo the hero rescuing her from certain death, his moral fortitude will be tested. If Faith were kinky, it would be easy to live out his fantasy, but she’s not—not even a little bit. Even the mildest spanking sparks terror in her that Leo can’t bear.

The gift soon becomes a burden as he fights with himself over how to handle the addition to his home. He could release her, but his brother doesn’t do loose ends. The only thing keeping her out of the bottom of the harbor is Leo’s mercy. She’s like a beautiful piece of art he keeps in a glass case but can never touch. Is possessing her enough?

**Author’s Note: Mafia Captive has more of a love theme than many other Kitty titles, though the work is still quite psychologically dark. Readers may also notice a “new adult” flavor as Faith is just out of college and trying to find her place in the world when she is thrust into Leo’s life and home.

My Review: 

Let me start off with this; Mafia Captive is classic Kitty Thomas with a twist. What do I mean by that? If you are a fan, you know that you will be drawn into the story with the emotional and psychological connection with the characters. You get to know them, you will take a journey with them. The twist in this story, well that is what I loved about it.

We start the book with the ominous prologue in the POV of Leo Raspallo with one simple page. Turn it, and we flash back seven months to meet Faith Jacobson. Poor Faith, being in the wrong place at the wrong time lands her in the hands of Angelo, a high ranking member of a New York Raspallo mob family and Leo’s brother. Whereas it’s par for the course to eliminate all unnecessary parties of a hit, as in witnesses, Faith is given reprieve by something natural and simple. Maybe Gingers are lucky after all?

From the minute we get into Leo’s head I was anxious. He is wired to be kinky, to be sadistic and what he wants is to own his own slave. Given the early Christmas gift of Faith from his brother, she begins to be a blessing and a curse on this devout Catholic. The blessing? Faith fits almost every fantasy that Leo has had for a slave. The curse? Faith is not kinky. She is so vanilla, so young and so scared about her new situation it is hard not to feel for her. That is where the twist comes into this story. With every Kitty Thomas novel you know that there are submissive tendencies within the women; that on some level they are wired this way and it just takes that certain something/someone to draw it out of them.  But it’s there. For Faith; it scares the shit out of her! So, how is this going to work?

In a perfect world, Faith would have had secret fantasies about being dominated her whole life. She would have tried to resist, but her body would betray her.

His fantasies meant nothing in the light of the very real human he was ruining with them.

Leo is dark, but he may be one of the most patient men ever.  He lives by his own set of morals that allow Faith to remain alive and unharmed. But what about his wants, his needs? Without his protection, yes protection, Faith would be dead. Neither of them have chosen this situation, this finality of where they are headed. It was chosen for them.

He tried to see things from her perspective, and admitted he might feel as she did, but he’d never encountered a woman who behaved this way. Of course, he’d never held one hostage, either.

Faith, oh I ached for her. I just wanted to wrap her up with her kittens and a cup of tea to have a chat. She felt so much, so deeply but just had no idea what to do with it all. I honestly feel that if these two had met in different circumstances things would have been easier for her. Okay, that is the hopeless romantic side of me coming out. I admit it. How easy can it be when you are forced to be a prisoner and live the life you could have wanted if not for the fact that it wasn’t your choice? Of course, being held against your will is never anyone’s choice, but I would prefer it over death in a dirty alley any day.

You’re the only thing I have ever really owned. I know it’s wrong to keep you, but I can’t help myself. You’re like a priceless piece of art kept in a glass case. I can’t do anything with it but look at it, but I know it’s mine. And sometimes that’s enough.

I am not going to romanticize this book into a cliché but I will say it is the most romantic of Kitty’s work for me. Leo does have patience and morality but that does not mean that he is an angel. Faith is young and naïve with what Leo wants from her but that does not make her weak. Trust me on this. Neither can be pigeon hold to a stereotype. The lack of Faith’s kink simply allows her and Leo to connect on a different level. His visceral need to protect her and her unselfish want to please him leads them down a path to commonality; a place where both can survive unharmed.

Mafia Captive is  a great read. Another intense and beautifully dark journey with two characters that won’t leave my mind for quite sometime. I have mentioned in reviews before,  I am a Kitty Thomas fan girl and this just increases my status. One day I may earn a badge for it.