Page 282 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“I said one chance, yeah?” he grunts. “Here it is. Frankie gets my drugs and I keep you until he finds them.”

“Keep me?” I repeat. “What the hell are you?—?”

“Listen, Chella. If I let you both go now, he’d take you and flee the city.”

I swallow hard. Shit.

“So to keep him on task, I’m keepingyou. You’ll stay with me until he gets back what he stole.” He turns to Frankie, whose black and blue eyes are almost swollen shut. His body shudders as Roman approaches him on the floor and he rolls onto his side to protect his busted-up midsection. “You’re going to go back to the assholes you worked with and steal it back.”

“But…but I can’t! They’ll never let me have the drugs back!” Frankie sputters. “And I don’t even know how to find them! They came to me!”

“Well, those are big problems, aren’t they?” Roman hisses. “Looks like you’ve got a lot of work to do, especially if you don’t want to end up like your friend, Sal, who’s recently been sunk to the bottom of the goddamn Hudson River!”

I gasp. “If he tries to steal the coke from them, they might kill him!”

Roman turns slowly, regarding me with his penetrating gaze. “I guess he’s gonna have to come up with a stellar plan, Marchella. That is, if he doesn’t want you to be plunged into a watery grave just like his pal, Salvatore.”

My throat tightens. “You’re a fucking monster!”

He doesn’t respond right away, but his lips pull into a tight line, his face a mess of anger, regret, and disgust. “I am,” he growls. “And you’d be smart not to test me.” He nods toward Frankie again. “You have one week. I want my drugs or the cash equivalent, and I want the fuckers who thought it was a smart idea to take it from me. You deliver on all that, you get your sister back. You try to fucking cross me again, and I’ll tie you to a chair to watch me violate her before putting a bullet between her eyes. Then, onceyouthink you’ve suffered enough, I’ll make sure you suffer even more before I plunge a knife into your skull. You’ll beg and plead for death by the time I’m done with you.”

Frankie struggles to his feet. “Don’t you fucking lay a hand on her!” he bellows with as much strength as he can muster.

Roman grabs him by the shirt collar to hold him back. “Then do your fucking job, dick. Otherwise, death will be the least of your concerns.” He eyes one of his guys. “Get him the hell out of here.” He lets go of Frankie and gives him a smack on the cheek. “Don’t get any ideas, Frankie. I’ll be watching. If you make any moves, you know exactly what I’ll do.”

“Fuck you, Roman!” he yells.

“Frankie, stop!” I scream. “Just do what he says and stop?—"

But I don’t even have time to finish my thought before Roman punches him, sending Frankie flying to the floor again, clutching his already-shattered jaw. “I don’t appreciate the tough-guy act. And if you try it again, I’ll make sure you go home with every finger broken.”

I watch as Roman’s guys drag Frankie out of the office, leaving a trail of his blood behind him. Bile rises in the back of my throat, making me gag. I know the dark red streaks are just the beginning. There will be puddles if Frankie doesn’t deliver to this madman.

When he walks toward me, my spine stiffens. How could I ever have felt anything but disgust and disdain for this man? My God, could I be a worse judge of character? He is a savage and sadistic pig, for fuck’s sake! And I let him kiss me!

“What if he can’t meet your demands?” I ask. “If he doesn’t know how to find those people, how can he find your drugs? He was your best friend! How can you do this to him…to me?”

I see a flicker of remorse in his eyes before they ice over once again. “Frankie is a resourceful kid. They found him once. I guarantee they’ll find him again,” he says gruffly.

“But you only gave him one week! What if?—?”

“People in my line of work don’t sit around on their asses planning their next big moves. They strike while the iron is hot. And this time, it’s fucking scorching. If they think they found a weakness, they’ll come back to hit it again.” He narrows his eyes at me as he approaches.

“Don’t you come near me, you sonofabitch,” I say through clenched teeth. “He’s all I have left, and if you try to hurt him again?—”

“What are you gonna do?” he murmurs, backing me against the couch cushion. “Huh? Are you gonna hit me? Stab me? Kill me?”

“I’ll do worse,” I say, my voice quivering. “I promise you that!”

“Good.” He nods. “Then I’ll have something to look forward to.”

CHAPTER11

ROMAN

Ipull up to my building about half an hour later, stabbing the security code into the keypad of my private parking garage. The engine of my Bentley hums as we wait for the gate to lift. When it finally does, I slowly drive into the darkened space, pulling around the side to my regular spot. I shut off the ignition and turn to look at Marchella. She’s still stewing, but at least she’s smart enough to know that if she wants to keep her brother alive, she needs to cooperate with me.

I want to tell her not to worry, that I have no intentions of killing her or Frankie. But as long as the threat hangs over her head, she’s under my control. And right now, that’s where she needs to stay.

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