Ruthless Mafia Daddy (Alpha Mafia Daddies)

Where the hell am I? Why is it so cold here? I pat around for my sheets, but the bed feels off.

I open my eyes to an unfamiliar room.

As I glance down, I find myself stripped down to my underwear. My skin is covered in goosebumps, and a thick cuff is locked around my left ankle.

I scramble backwards off what I notice is a thin, stained mattress I must have been put on, but I can only go so far until the chain locks out.

“Not again,” I breathe, as I pull against it. The chain rattles, the sound echoing around the damp cell and in my ears as it pulls against the heavy metal pipe it’s connected to.

I pull again, and the muscles in my leg scream at me, as if I fought whoever it was who put the chain on me.

What happened?

I want to hope against hope that this is Andre’s way of punishing me for leaving the house. But looking around, I know better.

This time, I’m in big trouble. But how? Why?

I screw my eyes shut and rub at my temples, wincing at the pain in my head as I try to decipher the last thing I remember.

I was in an uber, and there was a car. Oh, my god, he was trying to run us off the road. It passed us and swerved and then…fear…pain…nothing…

Holy crap. We crashed. My baby! My hands move to my abdomen as bile rises in my throat.

I need to see a doctor. I need to make sure my baby is okay.

I pull on the chain on my leg again and again. I need to free myself. I need to get out of here, wherever ‘here’ is.

I look around, trying to find a way out, other than the door, which I’m sure is either locked or has someone nasty on the other side.

Thick, iron bars block the window high above me.

My eyes flick to the door, and I notice more bars, orange with rust.

Two exits.

But no way out.

On the other side of the bars in the door, there’s the top of a blond head—a guard who is sitting outside to make sure I don’t escape? Not that I could, even if my life depended on it.

“Help,” I croak.

My throat is bone-dry, and I’m desperate for water.

How long has it been?

My head’s foggy, as if I’ve been asleep for days, and my stomach growls.

“Help!” Though my voice is barely above a whisper, the empty cell still carries the sound, but the guard makes no indication that he’s heard me.

“Please!” I choke out, crawling onto my hands as knees as far as the chain will allow. “Help.”

My limbs shake with the effort, and they eventually give out, my body collapsing onto the cold, damp floor.

“Andre…” I whimper, as if somehow my voice will carry all the way to him. That I’ll wake to the sound of him breaking down the door, where he’ll rush to my side and lift me into his arms, whispering in my ear how he’ll always keep me safe.

I let my eyes flutter closed, praying that Andre will come, because without him, I doubt I’ll leave this cell alive.

I can feel his presence long before I open my eyes. I try to keep my breathing shallow, feigning sleep as I try to come up with a plan.

Even if I managed to unlock the chain around my ankle, there’s at least one guard outside, and potentially more beyond the building where I’m being kept. There’s no way I can fight them all off without a weapon.

So, that’s what I’ll need to find.

I peel my eyes open, ignoring the painful pounding of my heart as I take in the man crouched before me with a feral smile plastered on his face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lila Morano.”

His face is heavily lined, and his dark gray hair is neatly styled. He’s wearing a pristine three-piece suit the same color as his hair. The man oozes wealth and power, and I know somewhere on his person he’ll have a gun or a knife.

I take a steadying breath as I look into his dark green eyes.

“Who are you?” I fear I already know the answer.

“Andre hasn’t told you about me?” He pretends to look hurt, pressing a hand to his heart. “I’m offended.”

“Lorenzo,” I whisper, my voice catching in my throat.

Lorenzo chuckles, rubbing his hands together as he eyes me.

“Very good. I was worried for a moment that Andre had tricked you, hiding his true identity and life for fear of scaring you off.”

“I know who he is, what he does.” I try to speak with confidence.

“Interesting…” Lorenzo climbs to his feet. “And what has he told you about me?”

I blink, trying to muster up a lie, to think back to that news article which linked Lorenzo and Andre together—the very one that revealed Andre’s true life to me. But I come up short, and Lorenzo seems to realize it as he lets out a bark of a laugh.

“Well, I must say I’m surprised, Lila.” He frowns. “I would have at least thought Andre would have told you of our history.”

“We don’t waste our breath speaking about scum like you,” I spit, baring my teeth.

“Feisty.” Lorenzo chuckles. “I can see why Andre likes you.”

“What are you going to do to me?” The longer I keep him talking, the longer Andre has to find me. There’s no way he hasn’t realized what’s happened by now. Rosa would have given in and called him when I didn’t show up at the club⁠—

Rosa.

My stomach churns at the thought of her alone at that club. I only hope that Andre got to her before anything bad happened.

“We’re going to have some fun, you and I.” Lorenzo crouches back down in front of me, reaching out to run a calloused finger along my cheek.

I flinch beneath his touch, cowering back against the brick wall, trying to shield my half-naked body from him.

“One thing you should know about me, Lila, is that I take great pleasure in torturing people. I like to inflict so much pain that my victims beg to die. I want to see their pale flesh stained red with blood.” His eyes rake over my body, a wicked gleam in his eye.

I try to keep my face neutral, almost bored, but I can feel the blood drain from my face at the thought of what will happen to me if Andre doesn’t make it in time. What will happen to my baby…

“Is that all?” I raise my eyebrows.

I see through Lorenzo’s façade.

He’s no different to any man whose masculinity is threatened, except he has the power to kill you and sweep you under the rug as if you never existed. He wants to instill fear, make me cower. This is already part of the torture, the psychological part of it.

It might be working, but I will do my best to not let it show. I just have to keep breathing until Andre gets here.

“Oh, no, sweet Lila. Once your skin is dyed red, I plan on chaining you by your wrists and ankles, spreading those soft thighs of yours, and fucking you, over and over until you finally scream my name with pleasure.”

I have to swallow down the vomit that starts to fill my mouth at Lorenzo’s words.

“And trust me, I won’t stop until you do.” He licks his lips as his eyes flick over my shaking body.

“No,” I breathe, my armor faltering.

“Then, Lila, when I am finally done with you, I will likely sell you at an auction to the highest bidder. And with a body like that, I’m guaranteed to make a small fortune. Though not as much as you would normally go for, considering you’ve already been sullied by a De Luca. In which case, I might just save myself the trouble and slit your throat while I’m still buried inside you.”

My throat burns as I swallow back bile.

“Why not just kill me now? I have no information to offer you.”

Lorenzo laughs, the grating sound echoing around the damp cell.

“I want nothing from you, Lila. All I want is to send Andre a message, and when he eventually finds what’s left of your body, you will have fulfilled your purpose.”

“You’re a monster,” I spit. “I’ve done nothing to you.”

“Perhaps.” Lorenzo shrugs. “But Andre has. And he must learn that his actions have consequences.”

“He’ll kill you!”

“He can try.” Lorenzo chuckles. “But by the time he finds you, it’ll be too late. My time of fun will be over, and I’ll be long gone.”

He rises to his feet. “He will learn his lesson. I’ll crush him like the bug he is.” He reaches out a hand to pick up a strand of my hair. “But that is not a problem for you, my sweet, because by then, you’ll be dead.”