EleniI slip out of the front door of Piacere without looking at the stage, where the auction is still going on, or the line of people outside. People—men—from both groups jeer at me, but I ignore them. The envelope of money weighs down the inside pocket of my jacket. Fifty thousand dollars. I hurry through the streets. I have to get home before Baba and Mama wake. The last thing I want is to worry them.Only when I’m already on the ferry back to the city proper do I think about Dante. My face heats. I threw myself at him, and he basically refused. I bite my lower lip, still tingling from the heat and pressure of his kiss. I really thought he wanted me. Stupid. Men like him only ever want me for my body, but I could tell he wanted someone with more to them than that. He just didn’t see more in me.Tears bead in my eyes, and I shake my head. Sure, I sold more to Dante than I ever wanted to, but I have the money. Mama can stop cleaning up Baba’s blood, at least. When I arrive home, I l
DanteI drop into my leather desk chair and cradle the hot mug of coffee I picked up in the kitchen to my chest. The virginity auction at the club is usually a great way to make some money and pull new eyes. I show up every year, but I’ve never bid before. I’m no saint, but women who’ve never had any kind of sex before tend not to be as…flexible in bed as I prefer. But goddamn Eleni Calimeris. El, as she called herself, one of the worst fake names I’ve ever heard. I can’t get her out of my head. When I went to The Greek Corner the other day, I was just hoping to rile Frank Lombardi. The dickhead gets reckless when he’s mad, so pissing him off is almost always good business. I didn’t expect Eleni. I take a sip of the coffee and allow myself a minute to think about her before I have to do some work. The bun she’d worn to the auction last night made it impossible to think about anything but tasting the skin of her neck. When I asked her what the gyro tasted like to her, her soft blue e
EleniI blink awake and discover someone removed the bag from my head. I lie on a scratchy couch in what looks like someone’s wood-paneled basement, still wearing my sweatshirt and nightgown. A single lightbulb battles against the dark, but it barely reaches the walls. I suck in a breath, and the musty scent of underground combines with just a hint of the metallic stench I remember from the apartment.The apartment. Where I left Baba dead. Mama isn’t here, so at least they haven’t caught her yet. Or they killed her too. Tears fill my eyes, and I lift a hand to swipe them away.Both of my hands move, accompanied by the sharp bite of plastic. I look down. Someone zip-tied my wrists together. And my ankles.
DanteI stare down at Eleni, bloody, bruised, and half-covered. Rage lights in my veins, something deeper and truer than I’ve felt before. I knew Frank Lombardi was scum. I’ve touched enough blood that he spilled to never question that. But violating Eleni like this is something new. It’s the end of the goddamn line for him.She stares up at me, and the confusion in her wide, blue eyes morphs slowly into fear. “Dante? Wh-why are you here?”Fuck. I never want to scare her. I kneel and snap out my switchblade. She flinches, but I can’t do anything about that. I slit the zip ties around her ankles, fix her skirt, then hold out my hands for her wrists, struggling to keep my movements slow and calming.
EleniI stare blankly out the window of the sports car Dante poured me into, watching the city whip by. If Dante wanted to kill me, he would have by now, right? He wouldn’t bother taking me to a secondary location. My body would blend in with the others covering the floor of the auto shop he whisked me out of. Anyway, he was right. He bought me at the auction. I belong to him. I knew I should never have left without paying my debts.The gory images I saw on our way out whisk through my mind. The scent of blood teases my nostrils. I know I should feel bad about what I did to Frank, but when I think about the blood, I can only think about Baba, his pained scream. And I can’t really think about any of it. So, I stare out the window.We pause at
EleniWe pull up to a gated neighborhood—a tall gate, but not one that looks particularly sturdy or difficult to climb, and Dante waves a plastic card at a man sitting in a booth outside. The man smiles and presses a button to open the gate. I expected Dante to have security, but I didn’t expect his security to look like a rent-a-cop. I frown as he drives inside.The houses past the gate shock me even further. They’re bigger than the apartment Mama, Baba, Christos, and I shared, bigger than anything I’ve seen in the city, but they still look…normal. Two stories. A few big, dramatic windows here and there, but only on a few of the houses. Sizable yards, but not big enough for anything more than a nice patio and a swing set. And there are more houses than I thought, too. A couple dozen,
EleniI rip all the slices of onion off my face while looking at Mama.“Go,” she says, impressing on me with her eyes that I’m not to make the boss who’s house we’re standing in upset. “I’ll get the ‘zucchini balls’ finished for you.”I stand and join Dante in the doorway. He immediately steps into the hall, then leads me deeper into the house than I’ve been before. Now, having been in the kitchen, I can see the touches of opulence everywhere. That blue-and-white vase on an end table is probably antique. The plush carpet we pad over is probably from overseas. The leather chair in a nook is probably real.A door opens ahead of us, and I jump back a step as a beautiful woman in matching leggings and a sports bra steps out. Her long, pitch-black hair curls nearly to her waist, and her dark eyes are emphasized by smoky shadow.“Oh, sorry.” She kisses Dante on the cheek.
DanteI step into the basement beneath Piacere and shut the door behind me. Flickering fluorescents light the racks and racks of liquor, spare stool, and coils of velvet rope. To the unknowing eye, the perfectly legal basement of a perfectly legal club owner. I snort and head for the third alcohol shelf from the left on the far wall, then rap on the metal I can just reach through the glimmering glass bottlenecks. After a brief pause, the whole section of wall swings aside, and I cross into the real basement.Here, the lights are brilliant and steady. Only the best for my men. Clean, crisp metal lines the walls and the floor. Easy to clean. Hard to escape quietly over. Tony pushes the button to send the decoy rack careening back into place.“Took you long enough.” He wipes the back of his hand over his forehead, and I see blood over his fingernails. “Not that the bastard’s broken yet.”I nod. My shoes click against the
*Tatiana*“Then what is the problem?” I stare into Angelo’s eyes, waiting for him to explain why he’s suddenly being so cold to me.His body language is fuckng confusing as hell. I see desire in his eyes, but he’s keeping his distance from me. I wish he would stop playing games and just be upfront with me. I don’t have time for bullshit right now.“Listen, you already know the situation we’re in. I don’t want to lie to you or pretend everything is okay because it is not,” he begins. The weight of this presses down on him enough that his shoulders slump a little.“I know,” I state firmly. “I’m not a child. I understand the situation we’re in right now. Trust me, you don’t have to worry about that.” If he only knew the things I’ve seen…. I take another bite of my steak, but I’m no longer hungry. I force myself to eat anyway since I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to.. If this conversation goes south, this might be my last meal of the day, so I’d better force it down.Angelo sig
*Tatiana*At first, I’m shocked by what’s going on, barely reacting to Angelo’s lips on mine. But it lasts less than a couple of seconds before I groan against him and grant his tongue the access he so desperately wants.Angelo pulls my body against his, his hands wrapped around my waist, keeping me trapped against him. His kiss is so delicious, so enticing, so… sexy. He knows exactly what he’s doing, his tongue dancing inside my mouth as if it wants to commit this moment to memory.When he sucks my bottom lip, I forget all the reasons why this is completely wrong. I shouldn’t let this happen, but right now, I can’t find any answer within me as to why not.A moan escapes my throat when I feel his hands moving from my hip, down to my ass. He grabs and squeezes before pulling me tightly against him.He’s already hard for me, and that’s the only sign I need to know he wants the same thing I do. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down and deepening the kiss even more. Angelo doesn
*Tatiana*I wake up in a strange room, my entire body sore, my head pounding, my leg muscles weak from all the running yesterday, and to make it all worse, nightmares kept me up all night, so I’m also groggy–and irritable.Visions of my parents being murdered flashed before my eyes all night long. The blood dripping down their faces, Oleg’s vicious grin, a silent scream stuck on my lips. I’d wake up in a cold sweat, only to fall back asleep and start the cycle all over again.Each time I screamed, I woke up my babysitter. It wasn’t fair to him, and at one point, I considered staging away. But I couldn’t do that. I was too exhausted to keep my eyes open.Still in bed, I look over to find that the armchair Angelo stayed in all night is empty with no sign of him ever being there, other than the fact that it is closer to the bed than it originally was. My screaming must’ve alarmed him enough so that he moved it closer.Was he concerned about my well-being or annoyed that he had to keep cr
*Angelo*Tatiana falls asleep as soon as she gets into bed, despite being suspicious of me watching her. I didn’t really think she’d try to escape through the window, not only because it’d be a hell of a fall if she tried, but also because I have men outside, guarding every inch of the safe house.But for some reason, I don’t want to leave her alone. Despite her tough exterior, there is a sadness in her eyes that just makes me want to be here for her, in case she needs something.She probably doesn’t trust me yet. I’m not entirely convinced I can trust her either, but still… it’s nice to think we might be able to get along and help one another out. Her hatred for Oleg seems genuine. I can see the same pain I feel reflected in her eyes whenever she mentions him. What are the chances she’s just an extremely good actress? Not likely.I watch the blankets move up and down slightly, her breathing even. I answer some texts and emails, trying to keep myself busy and kill two birds with one
*Tatiana*My eyes don’t move as I watch my kidnapper’s face contort in confusion at what I just said. It was a gamble, but it was my last shot since I came to terms with not being able to escape from this place unharmed–if not fucking dead as a doornail.I doubted it would work at first, but I seem to have hit a sensitive topic when I offered to help him with information about Oleg. It’s not like I have much on him anyway, since I was barely ever in the same room as him while I was his prisoner, but if it’s Oleg that he’s after, I’m more than happy to help him with his vendetta.My determination seems to do its job because my kidnapper climbs off me and extends his hand to me. I hesitate, staring at his large hand while wondering what the hell might have made him change his mind.Maybe he’s playing games with me, pretending to believe me so he can tie me to that chair again.“Come on, I won’t tie you up again.” Is he a fucking mindreader? His brows shoot up as he waits for me to grab
*Angelo*This goddamn woman is not only beautiful but also clever as fuck. She definitely knows how to use her appearance and charm to her advantage, blinking those beautiful eyes at me. Even in a T-shirt and jeans, she looks sexy as hell. She doesn’t need to wear anything seductive or whisper dirty words in my ear. Just being under her gaze is enough for my dick to start twitching inside my pants. Fuck!I don’t know why the hell I fell for that, believing she actually needed to go to the bathroom. Maybe, deep down, there’s still some good left in my corroded heart. Or maybe I just didn’t want to believe that she’d be able to trick me. But she almost broke free from me, which would’ve been fucking embarrassing when the guys outside had to bring her back to me, seeing me rolling around on the floor with my smashed up cock in one hand. Needless to say, the pain she caused me made my blood boil. But even so, I can’t force myself to strike her. Not yet. Instead, I pinned her to the floo
*Tatiana*Okay, fuck, that does sound like a genuine threat. He’s definitely not new to any of this, and he’s used to stubborn people like me. He’s probably faced worse in his years in the mafia, assuming he’s from another syndicate. Judging by the way his eyes are hungry for information, I doubt he’s just a normal person Oleg owes money to or had a bad business deal with.Lev taught me how to hold on during an interrogation as long as I could in several of our lessons in the past, but he never really tortured me while doing so. How am I supposed to act when the real deal is actually happening? I thought I was prepared for this, but maybe I’m not?Am I ready for this man to cut my skin, hold my head under water, pull my nails out of my fingers, and all the dreadful things these people are known for doing? How long until I break?Panic creeps through me again, and I realize I need a plan B before I lose the grip on my self-control and have to start pleading for my life. I don’t wanna
*Tatiana*I feel like I must’ve gotten run over by a truck. My head is pounding so hard, I feel like vomiting, but even so, I force my eyes to open. There’s no light here except for a dim stream coming through a tiny window near the top of the wall in front of me, so it’s difficult for my eyes to adapt.There are strands of hair in front of my eyes and face, and when I lift my hand to push them aside, I realize my wrists are tied behind my back in what feels like a very thick, tight rope. My legs are also strapped to the chair, both my ankles tied. I can barely move.Panic starts creeping through me as I realize what’s going on. Images of the recent events flash through my mind, making me remember how I ended up here, wherever I am.I look from one side to the other, taking in my surroundings. Even though it’s dark and humid here, I spot some tools and boxes that make me think this has to be a basement. The place is quiet, and there seems to be no one around, although I doubt they’d l
*Angelo*“I’ve got her,” I inform the rest of my men who are all wearing earpieces. “I’m taking her to the car.”“Roger that,” Dice replies right away. “We’ll meet you there.”I toss the woman’s limp body over my shoulder and step out of the alley, ignoring the curious and frightened stares I receive from pedestrians bustling by on the street.The SUV is parked in front of the deli, and when Sal spots me, he climbs from behind the wheel and rushes to open the back door for me. I place the woman in the back seat—carefully, even though I don’t need to be—and go around to the other side so I can sit beside her. I buckle us both in and wait for the others to load up.Even though I knocked her out, and she probably won’t wake up in the next few hours, I still need to keep a close eye on her, just in case she wakes up and tries some funny business. I’ll watch her the entire way until we’re out of this part of the city and safe in our territory where we’re less likely to be attacked.“That w