Minutes ago
“What the fuck are you doing?” a guard spits at me as I approach the building. “Get lost, whore.”
“I’m not a whore,” I say. “But I will provide entertainment for Stefan.”
The fact that I not only know the Polish don’s name but know exactly where he is catches their attention. The two of them swiftly grab me by the arms and haul me inside.
“Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing here?” one of them says, shoving me against the wall. “Spill it.”
“My name is Harper. You know who I am. And I think you’ll want me to speak to Stefan in person,” I say, eyeballing them both. I’m not afraid of them. “I know he’s here.”
One of them makes a face and grabs me by the arm again, dragging me through the door, slamming it shut behind him. The darkness that envelops us is icy cold.
“Turn around.”
Even if it makes my skin crawl, I still do it, and he begins to pat me down. My heartbeat shoots through the roof while I try to remain calm and breathe steadily as he leaves nothing unscathed.
One soft swipe along my thigh, and the guy is grinning.
He rips open my trench coat with ease, inspecting the goods with a smirk on his face. He shoves up my dress and plunges his hand down my panties, making me gasp. Within seconds, he’s whipped out the gun I was hiding.
“You filthy little whore,” he says, laughing afterward.
“It’s for protection from filthy guys like you,” I spit back, giving him the side-eye.
He throws me a disgusting look, one that makes me want to retch. Then he goes down to his knees and knocks off my boots, shaking them until a knife drops out. He tilts his head up to meet my gaze, but I ignore it even though I’m fuming.
“What else are you hiding underneath that skirt, darling?” he muses.
When he tries to touch me, I slap him. “Hands off. It’s for Stefan only.”
His eyes narrow, and he stares at me for a moment like he’s contemplating whether to take me to him or pull me into a dark room and take me for himself. I hope the fuck not. I may not have any weapons, but I haven’t forgotten any of the self-defense classes, and I don’t think he’ll enjoy a girl’s heel in his balls.
When he’s done, he drags me along again by my arm, through a hallway that looks eerie with the lights flickering on and off again and again. But I stay calm, knowing that I still have that patch on my skin, and Mario is still listening. He’s my only anchor now.
The guard doesn’t stop pulling me along until we’re near a door he slams his fist against. He speaks a language I don’t understand—Polish, probably—and after a few seconds, the door opens.
“What do you want?” It’s a face I recognize from the auction, back before Marcello bought me. Stefan. The man sat right next to him. I remember because I wouldn’t forget any of the faces of the people who did nothing while I was put on sale.
When he looks at me, his eyes widen. “Where did you find her?”
“She was asking about you. Came walking to the door,” the guard answers with a thick accent.
Stefan looks me up and down like he can’t believe his eyes and then immediately wraps his hand around my arm and pulls me inside, closing the door behind him. The door is locked from the inside out. After a few seconds of breathing loudly, he turns to face me.
“You … came to a rivaling don’s lair out of your own free will?” he muses, stepping closer. A smile spreads on his face. “You must be insane.” His eyes take in their fill of my voluptuous body in this tight outfit. “Or insanely horny.”
“I came to bargain.”
He laughs like a maniac. “Oh … I understand now.” With narrowed eyes, he stalks me like a predator. “You’re in love.”
“I want to speak to Molly. I know she’s making you do this,” I say.
He laughs again. “You think Molly owns me?”
He shoves me into the wall and slams his fist right beside my head, making me jolt up and down. “I own her now. My men are guarding this place and Marcello’s filthy prison. She would be nothing without me.”
So Marcello is here. I was right.
“You’re right,” I reply, cocking my head. “So don’t you think it’s disgusting that she’s letting you do all the dirty work?”
His face turns sour, and he walks off and starts pacing up and down the small room we’re in. He starts talking to himself in Polish, and I have no clue what he’s saying, but he’s obviously conflicted. Suddenly, he stops and points at me.
“You’re trying to trick me into letting you see her,” he says, rubbing his chin after smiling viciously. “I see right through that game of yours.”
“I’m not. I just want to free Marcello.”
He scoffs, “And you think this was the way to do it?” Again he laughs, maniacally, like it’s funny or something. “Like you’d ever have a chance.”
“I’m willing to trade,” I say.
“For what?” he barks back, not taking a second to even absorb what I’m saying.
“Me.”
He just stares at me for a moment before narrowing his eyes again as they home in on my perked-up boobs. Then that vicious smile spreads on his face again, making goose bumps scatter on my skin.
“You’re willing to make yourself my pet in exchange for Marcello’s freedom?”
A chill runs up and down my spine at the thought of that fucker touching me.
“Yes.”
He circles me like a vulture, taking in every inch of my skin like it’s for sale.
“And what if I don’t agree? What are you going to do?” He raises a brow. “Stop me from taking what I want?”
“Marcello will cut off your finger before you even dared to touch me,” I say with a scowl.
A menacing smirk spreads on his face. “Darling, do you not realize he’s already chained up to a wall only a few doors away from here?”
Only a few doors from here? That means he’s close!
“I’d be very impressed if he managed to break through that.” Stefan lifts a finger and caresses my cheek, and I lean away as far as possible, shuddering in place. “You know, I always wondered what Marcello saw in you when he bought you at that auction. Why, after all those years of sulking over a girl who was already dead, he would suddenly want another. But I see it now. I see your raw, naked beauty.” His tongue dips out to lick his lips, and it makes my skin crawl. “Maybe I should see for myself if your pussy really has the ability to make a man forget all his troubles.”
Right as his lips hover near my ear, the door bursts open.
“Is she here? I heard her name!”
I hear her voice before I see her storm inside, shoving aside some guards. I push Stefan off me right as our eyes meet.
“Harper!?”
“Molly,” I say through gritted teeth.
Of course I would find her here. The Polish and Irish are working together after all. Which means Stefan wasn’t lying, and Marcello is nearby.
“Get your hands off my daughter,” she hisses at Stefan.
She steps toward him and slaps him across the face, hard. Within seconds, he’s grabbed her wrist and pinned her to the wall. “Do not provoke me, woman!” he growls in her face. “Do not forget who you made a deal with.”
“Stay the fuck away from my daughter, or this deal is off,” she hisses.
“You’d be wise to keep your hands off me,” Stefan replies.
“The same applies to you,” she retorts.
He releases her from his grip, and she rubs her wrists, throwing him damning looks. Seems like they don’t enjoy working together. Which means they’re not doing this for fun and games. This is business. Did Molly promise Stefan something only she can get him? Is she only interested in Marcello?
She focuses her attention on me, and I swallow all the questions I had the second her heels click-clack across the floor. Her eyes travel from my boots all the way up to my skimpy red leather dress. “My daughter … dressing up like a whore.” She makes a tsk sound. “I expected better from you.”
“Well, I expected better from you, Mother.”
Her eyes twitch while she stares at me for a moment.
“I’m not interested in games. Enjoy, ladies,” Stefan quips, and he marches out the door and slams it shut. Guess he’s pissed off at not having a shot with me. Not that I’d let that slimy dude anywhere near me.
“So … you just thought you’d come and waltz in here all by yourself,” Molly says, narrowing her eyes at me. “I can’t believe my daughter would do something so stupid.” She flicks her finger against my forehead.
It stings, but I won’t let that show. “I came here to save Marcello.”
She snorts. “You love him so much you just can’t stay away. Why?” She cocks her head. “What did that man offer to you? Besides buying you from a fucking auction?”
“Love. Affection. The feeling of being wanted.”
“Everything I tried to give you as a mother …” she hisses.
“You weren’t even there,” I retort.
“Because of that fucking man,” she says through gritted teeth. “Because he had the audacity to steal you away from me.”
“He saved me from that fire,” I rebuke. “I would’ve been dead without him.”
“Well, I’m alive too now, aren’t I?”
That’s true. She and Frank did make it out. But at what cost?
“But your father … he’s not. He can’t ever walk again because of what you did to him.”
“He is not my father,” I hiss. “And he got what he had coming to him.”
She slaps me. Hard. The pain fizzles slowly, reminding me of the ever-burning hatred she feels for me.
“You should’ve known better.”
“I did what I had to do,” I quip.
She doesn’t even look like the woman I remember. “You let yourself be seduced by the devil. By that motherfucker who doesn’t even deserve you. And then you got him to knock you up too?”
She looks down at my belly and then back up at my eyes, which fill with tears.
“You should’ve stayed where you were. At least then you wouldn’t have gotten in my way.”
Even though I hate her, her words hurt me. “I didn’t ask for any of the shit that happened to me,” I say. “But I fought. Hard. And when I found out you were part of the Mafia. That you were trying to kill the only man who has ever fought for me? I can’t accept that.”
A wicked smile forms on her lips. “You can’t accept that? But you will accept a man who tried to kill your own damn mother?”
“You … have never been a mother to me,” I retort with an icy cold voice.
It douses the fire in her eyes until there is nothing left but frigid darkness.
“I was contemplating on maybe allowing you to beg for forgiveness and make yourself useful again, but…” She turns her head and yells, “Guard!”
The door slams open, and in walks a burly man.
“Take her.”
My eyes widen as he approaches, and I get ready to fight. One punch to the gut doesn’t even faze the guy as he picks me up with ease and slaps me over his shoulder like a wet rag.
“Let go of me!” I yell as he marches out the door. “What are you doing? Where are you taking me?”
My mother laughs as she follows us.
“Put me down!” I bark, ramming my fist onto his back, but to no avail. It’s like this guy is made of stone.
“Sure we will, darling,” the guard jokes, snorting to himself as he marches through the corridor.
But while I’m pounding his back, I stop midway as a familiar face behind a cell door makes me do a double-take. Melanie is sitting there, chained to a chair, black mascara running down her cheeks.
Oh no.
Did Stefan put her there to punish her?
Did he find out about her texts?
I don’t even get the chance to ask or say a word before the guard takes another step and makes her disappear from my view as if I never even saw her, like she never existed.
But I know she is in there. I know what I saw.
And I won’t rest until she’s freed from this hell too.
The guard puts me down near a grimy door, locking my arms in place behind my back so I can’t try anything on him or Molly.
“You love Marcello so much, and you’re willing to sacrifice everything for him,” Molly says, flicking her fingers, and the door in front of us opens up. “Enjoy your last day with him.”
My last day?
Death?
Would she actually … have me murdered?
No, no way.
No way would she do that.
But before I can say a word, the guard shoves me inside and slams the door shut behind me.
And all the words I had wanted to say vanish from my mind.
Because right in front of me is Marcello.
