His fingers dig into my arm painfully as he drags me out into the center of the basement, so all eyes are on us. I don’t even try to stop him since I know it will be useless. His scent surrounds me, making me forget where we are for a second.
All those things disappear the moment I feel the warmth against my skin. The barrel of his gun is pointed at the side of my head, and for one tiny second, I wonder if he will actually pull the trigger this time.
Pain registers in my mind as he grips me harder, twisting me around to face him. His eyes are black, and there is a bleak chance that I will not walk away from this.
“Does anyone want to explain to this girl what happens when someone defies me?” My heartbeat skyrockets and is the only thing I can hear in my ears. Everything else seems far away as I stare into a pair of eyes that see nothing but death.
The room remains silent, and I don’t dare look away from him. It is as if it is a contest to see who will give mercy first. I have the strength my mother instilled in me.
“You cannot kill all these people simply because they owe you money,” I grind out. It is a whisper, but I know he hears me. I know he understands what I’m saying.
My words mean nothing to him, though. I know it the moment he shoves me away from him. He twists and turns away from me as I stumble backward. One of my high heels slips off my foot and falls to the ground. My body lands harshly on the unforgiving floor as my head smacks off the concrete.
My vision blurs when the popping noises begin. It sounds like a machine gun going off. I hear their screams, their pleas. I want to help them, use my body as a shield, but I’m in too much pain to get up. Everything is spinning around me, and my ears are ringing.
Suddenly, all of the noise stops. The room went from chaos to complete silence in the blink of an eye. Sitting up, I fight through the dizziness and look around me. What I see causes my heart to break.
Blood splatters across the walls as bodies sag to the ground. He has shot every single person… My body goes limp as tears spill from my eyes. How can someone be so fucked up? So uncaring? They were human too.
My stomach coils in pain, and I’m no longer able to hold back the vomit that wants to escape. Turning away, I throw up all over the floor. I continue dry heaving until there is nothing left. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I suck in much-needed air, trying to get my breathing under control. I’m still trying to comprehend everything I’ve witnessed when a hand reaches out, gripping my arm and pulling me to a standing position. My legs feel weak, my knees threatening to give out on me.
“You still think there is any good left inside of me?” Enzo yells in my face, his voice laced with so much unbridled rage, it shakes me to the core.
I can’t respond to anything, I can’t process the cruelty surrounding me. My mind is off in la-la-land, and my body isn’t responding. I can’t figure out how I have gotten to this dark and dismal place. I feel as if I’m outside of my body, watching the carnage take place.
“Take her,” Enzo orders and shoves me into Eli’s arms.
“What do you want me to do with her?” he asks, sounding a little annoyed that he has to deal with me. There is a moment of silence that makes the pounding in my head and heart stop.
“Put her in the basement,” he orders emotionlessly. “I’ll deal with her later.”
“Got it, boss.” Eli nods as he starts to drag me out by my arm. I quickly lose my other shoe, figuring going barefoot will be better than hobbling along.
As we pass Mack on the way out, he looks at me with sad eyes, almost like he is sorry I had to see this. Why can’t Mack take me back? Maybe he would help me escape.
Deal with her… Enzo’s words are on replay in my mind as I’m pulled down the hall and toward the main room of the club. Is he going to deal with me like he just dealt with these people?
I need to get away, and this might be my only chance.
Eli has a death grip on my arm, but when we weave through the crowd, I’ll use that against him. When I see a couple of large guys standing a few feet away from us, I pull toward them and pretend to stumble.
One of them grabs me, and Eli loses his grip, which is exactly what I hoped would happen. Without wasting any time, I twist away from both guys and take off running through the crowd.
I bump into people left and right, but I keep pushing through. I run into a waitress holding two drinks, making her spill them all over me, but I barely feel the ice-cold liquid soaking my dress. All I can think about is getting away.
Then I see it, the red exit sign hovering over the crowd, which is finally thinning out. I take off into a dead sprint the last few feet until I burst through the door and onto the sidewalk.
The bouncers turn and look at me curiously, but I don’t stop. Something tells me they know Enzo and will take me back to him. So, I start running down the sidewalk instead. My bare feet pounding against the asphalt as I run as fast as I can… but it’s not fast enough.
“You really think it’s that easy?” Eli screams behind me. The sound of him running after me gets closer and closer, and before I know it, I’m tackled to the ground, landing face-first on the sidewalk.
The fall knocks all the air from my lungs, and a sharp pain erupts along the side of my face. Fuck, that hurts.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Eli growls as he gets up. I can’t move. Everything hurts.
With a groan, my body is lifted into the air and carried away. Closing my eyes, I go limp. I don’t fight anymore. I have nothing left, and in the end, I know what my fate will be. It will be the same as the people in the VIP room.
Death.
11
Enzo
Did she have a fucking death wish? My body is full of aggression and anger. I rip my suit jacket off, throwing it against the wall. How dare she try and tell me what I can and cannot do!
You’re more than this, Figlio… my mother’s voice enters my mind. Fuck. I can’t handle this.
Still, she shouldn’t have defied me. She should have listened. Kept herself quiet and not interfered with my actions. Now I’m forced to teach her a lesson.
Pulling my slacks and dress shirt off, I slip into a pair of jeans and head down to the basement. My steps are heavy with anger, madness even. I’m not sure if I want to fuck her into submission or kill her.
I grip the key in my hand tightly, begging for the pain to release some of the anger I have within me.
Sliding the key into the door, I step inside and scrutinize her. I take in her small form, and the anger starts to fade away. It is still there, but it’s easing away slowly.
She is lying on the mattress, her eyes are closed, and her hands are folded under her cheek.
With the fancy dress clinging to her body, her soft curls framing her face, she looks so out of place. She should be lying on silk in a bed made for royalty, not in this dank cell on a metal bed and thin mattress.
She doesn’t belong here. This place was made to hold my enemies, criminals, men who will die soon. Is she really my enemy?
I take slow and steady steps toward her. I’m still not sure if I will hurt her or not. Part of me wants to... needs to. I want to shake the hell out of her for making a fool of me in front of my men, in front of other people.
Closing the distance between us, I kneel next to her. Only then do I see the bruise on the side of her face. It is black and blue, and against her creamy skin, a stark reminder of what I’m capable of doing.