SAVOUR: THE MAFIA'S BABYSITTER

The puddles beneath my feet grew larger and larger, and my shoes stopped being any kind of barrier against them. My already soaked clothes began to feel like heavy, cold steel—something impossible to warm up in, no matter how hard I tried.

The sign with the hostel’s name felt like a blessing, and I immediately rushed toward it.

“Good evening,” I greeted a plump woman who was dozing tiredly behind a desk in the small lobby. I shook the rain droplets off myself and stepped closer. “Do you have any vacancies?”

She looked me over with a sharp, assessing stare, one that instantly made the shiver running through my body grow stronger.

“How old are you, girl? Got any documents?” the woman asked, opening her ledger.

“What does that matter? I’m old enough, and you don’t need documents to rent a room in this God-forsaken place,” I replied.

“You sure know everything,” she snorted and got up from her chair. “One night—one hundred. No money—get out.”

“One hundred?” I exclaimed, stunned by the sheer audacity. That was outright robbery! Where was I supposed to get that kind of money unless I’d stolen it?

Not the most honorable act of my life—but I had no choice. I slipped my backpack off and tried to find the bundle of bills at the very bottom. Feeling around blindly, I pulled out two notes and handed one of them to the woman.

She eyed the money suspiciously, then looked back at me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Is that not enough?”

“No, it’s enough,” she replied irritably, stuffing the bill into her pocket. “I can’t put you in with the men, so you’ll go to the old woman. Those are your chambers. By eight in the morning you’re out. We only provide a place to sleep—understood?”

“Understood,” I muttered back and stepped into a real bedbug nest.

Not only had this room apparently never heard of a mop or a rag since the Renaissance, but I’d also been unlucky with my roommate—she came with a very distinctive scent. The woman was snoring loudly on the bed in the corner, forcing me to take the spot as far away from her as possible. The stench in the room was unbearable, the bedding filthy, and only the Devil himself knew what had happened on it before me.

Still, it was better than spending the night outside in the pouring rain.

I sighed and started taking off my wet clothes, hanging them over the bedframe in the hope they’d at least dry a little by morning. I found a dry T-shirt in my backpack and pulled it on over my bare skin. Then I immediately crawled into bed and pulled the scratchy blanket up to my chin.

Ah, orphanage days—how I’d missed you.

I closed my eyes and reached out to touch my wet backpack, which held a few belongings, the money I’d stolen from my relatives, and my documents. I slowly began to drift off and, through my drowsiness, heard my roommate get up. Grunting and wheezing, she left the room, and silence settled in again. Without her presence, it suddenly felt much easier to breathe.

I heard the door open again and assumed my nighttime companion had returned, so I relaxed. Suddenly, a bright light flooded the room, and the blanket was yanked off me.

“Get up, you filthy girl!” my uncle snarled viciously, making me leap out of bed, forgetting in that moment that I wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“Uncle!” I cried out—and his gaze, which had been fixed on my face, dropped downward. His eyebrows shot up, and the blanket flew straight at me.

“Cover yourself!” he growled angrily, and I hastily pulled the blanket over my hips.

“What are you doing here?” I asked just as my roommate returned to the room.

The elderly woman froze in the doorway as James handed her several bills.

“Take a walk somewhere for about twenty minutes, old woman,” he said roughly, pushing the poor woman back into the corridor. After closing the door, my uncle returned to me and sat down on the bed opposite.

“Why did you run away?”

I pressed my lips together and lowered my gaze. I hadn’t expected them to notice my absence so quickly, so I hadn’t thought through any answers. And telling the truth—my tongue simply wouldn’t allow it.

“What difference does it make?” I snapped. “I’ll be eighteen soon, so I can do whatever I want. I’m an adult and—”

“And that adult stole several tens of thousands from my office yesterday,” he cut in coldly. “Are you saying you’re ready to take adult responsibility for theft?”

I angrily grabbed my backpack, pulled the bundle of money from the very bottom, and threw it at the man’s feet.

“Here. Take it and leave. I’m not coming back to your house. We’ll never be a family—too much time has been lost. You are nobody to me, and your name means nothing.”

I glared at him defiantly, and a dangerous spark flared in his eyes. James lunged toward me and yanked me out of bed by the arm. The blanket fell to the floor, exposing the most embarrassing parts of my body.

“Now listen to me very carefully, girl. I’m taking you home, and that is not up for discussion. Until you come of age, you are under my guardianship, which means you will live with us. Of course, you have two choices. First—you become an obedient child and accept my care. Second…”

He sighed and briefly closed his eyes. James’s hand settled on my lower back and pulled my body flush against his.

“You can behave like an adult, and I will, naturally, treat you accordingly.”

A man’s palm slid over my back and landed on my defenseless buttock, gripping it tightly with his fingers. My heart dropped into my heels, and a long, trembling sob escaped my lips. I look up at my uncle’s face in fear and see a confidence there that scares the hell out of me. Very slowly, his hand moves closer to the center, and my efforts to clench my cheeks tighter prove futile. A finger touches my upper labia—and that’s when I shriek and jump away.

“No!” I screamed, tugging my T-shirt lower.

“So you’re choosing the first option, Marie. Now get dressed,” he said, turning away, then added, “Quickly. I can help if it’s too hard for you to do it yourself.”

Shooting an angry glare at the back of his head, I pulled on everything dry I could find in my backpack.

“I’m dressed,” I said, gathering my wet clothes.

James turned around and smiled.

“Then let’s go. No foolishness, Marie. I’ll drag you out from under the ground if I have to—and then the punishments will stop being childish.”

He opened the door for me, and I stepped into the corridor with my head held high. We passed the woman at the front desk, where my uncle paused briefly.

“Go to the car. It’s right by the entrance.”

I glanced back at him and walked out of the building. Outside, the rain was still pouring, so I stopped on the threshold, staring into the darkness.

“Didn’t think you’d run away after that, little sister,” a voice sounded behind me, making me flinch.

“Liam,” I breathed his name. “I didn’t think you’d come too.”

A shiver ran down my spine as my brother stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“What did you tell Uncle about why you ran away?” he asked quietly, breathing each word into my ear.

“Nothing,” I answered in a hoarse voice, shaken with nerves, and felt Liam’s hand slip under my hoodie. His fingers traced my stomach and moved dangerously close to my chest. I grabbed his hand and added in fear, “Stop! Uncle will be out any moment.”

“Good girl—for not telling him anything. After all, it’s our shared secret, little sister. No need to share it with anyone,” he murmured. “I can’t wait until we get home. I’ve missed my Marie so much…”