Page 11 of Auctioned To Her Dad's Mafia Enemies

I lean against the cold, exposed stone wall ofthe hallway, my jaw tight. The girl should have begged. She should have pleadedto be released. She should have wept for her own safety and fought against hercaptivity. All those are normal reactions. Instead, she looked at me with coolcontrol in her beautiful, rich, dark eyes, twisting my insides with herresilience.

I’m a lot of things. Cold. Brutal.Unforgiving. Deadly. I’m the weapon of this family, the messenger of fate anddeath. My knuckles are scared from years of violence; my conscience deadenedfrom my part in too many deaths.

So why did my body revolt at her quietacceptance? Why did I crave the fight, the clawing, the screaming, the bitterhatred?

I’m fucked in the head. A monster. A manincapable of anything except executing Luca’s will.

I rub a rough hand over my face, breathinghard.

The stronger her will, the harder I will haveto push to break her. It is easier to respond to violence with violence, easierto fight to control someone who’s lost the grip on their restraint. ButAemelia’s holding herself so tightly, she vibrates with it.

Luca’s talking on the phone, and the deepsound of his voice echoes in the dimly lit corridor. The penthouse is vast andluxurious, a stark contrast to the brutal reality unfolding within its walls.Everything’s too smooth and shiny, casting sharp reflections that seem to mockme.

I push away from the wall, satisfied thatAemelia isn’t going to wreck the room she’s confined to. In the open-planliving area, the floor-to-ceiling windows showcase the glittering city skyline,indifferent to the darkness brewing inside these walls.

Luca adjusts the cuffs of his crisp whiteshirt. His sharp features remain unreadable, ice-cold beneath the ambient glow.The phone now rests on the arm of the sleek white leather sofa. “Antonio?”

“She understands.”

He nods, his blue eyes, our mother's eyes,flicking to where Alexis is sprawled.

“She’s defiant,” I say.

“Really?” He shakes his head.

We all remember her mother. She was weak andemotional, always losing her shit with Carlo in ways that embarrassed everyonearound her. Her daughter is nothing like her.

“Keeping her here will become a liability,” Iwarn.

Alexis scoffs, running a hand through his wavydark hair, his lean form relaxed. “Breaking her is the easy part. We just haveto push the right buttons, right?” His eyes glint with something I’m notentirely comfortable with, something hungry.

I exhale sharply, shaking my head. “She’s nota mafia hood, Alexis. She’s just a girl who claims to know nothing. Luca saidshe wasn’t lying about that.”

Alexis smirks, amused. “No one’s asking you tolike it. But unless you’ve got a better idea, we do what’s necessary.”

That’s easy for him to say. He’s not the onewho usually has to do the doing, although he’s not averse. I prefer to keep mylittle brother’s hands as clean as I can. No point in both of us dripping withblood and sin. My hands are too thick with it to be cleansed. He at least has achance at repentance.

Luca nods. “We need Carlo to believe it. If hethinks we’re being lenient because she’s a girl, he won’t take the bait. Heneeds to see her suffer—believe she’s in real danger.”

I clench my fists, the weight of it allpressing against my chest. I’ve done things, terrible things, in the name offamily and power. But this doesn’t feel the same.

Luca continues, ever the strategist. “We needto reach her mother. If she wants her daughter to return to her in one piece,she’ll stay out of it. If she involves the police, there will be consequences.”

Alexis grins, pleased. “We’ll make sure sheunderstands what’s at stake.”

“You think she’ll hold it together?” If mymemory of CarmellaLambrettiis correct, I canimagine her falling apart over this.

“She must.”

As always, Luca thinks he can will the worldinto the shape of his desires, but I know people. They’re unpredictable anddangerous, especially the weak ones.

I let out a slow breath. “Fine. But we don’ttake it too far.”

Alexis only shrugs as if to say, ‘We’ll see.’

“Bring her out,” Luca says, rising from thecouch. “We’ll start now.”

Start?

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