Page 23 of Taken By the Mafia King
I wrapped my arms around my knees and rocked back and forth, unsure of what to do to occupy my time other than mope around and slowly lose my mind.
But then I heard a gentle knock on the door.
“Hello?” I asked, apprehension zipping up my spine. No one ever knocked. They just waltzed right in.
“Can I come in?” A feminine voice drifted through the room.
“Y-yeah,” I replied, pressing myself to the foot of the bed as the lock jiggled and the door slowly opened, revealing the same dark-haired maid who’d brought me the antibiotics before. She smiled warmly as she slipped into the room, a tray of food balanced in her hands. She set the tray down on the bed but left the door open behind her.
I started, my body screaming for me to make a run for it, but something deep inside of me hesitated. Before I could move, she slipped back out, and a large rolling rack of clothes appeared. She huffed in frustration as it caught on the door.
“Can you help me for a moment? This damn thing is stuck on the carpet!”
“Oh,” I mumbled, getting up and padding over to help her. I could shove the cart back in her direction and make a run for it, but how far would I get before someone stopped me?
I helped her pull it into the room. She grunted, shaking her head and motioning for me to stop when we reached the center of the room. She turned and closed the door behind her.
“What's all this?” I asked, my fingers grazing the fine fabrics. Price tags dangled from the clothing, everything priced higher than my rent—maybe twice or three times as much in some cases.
“For you, of course. Killian had me bring it up.”
“Why?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.
Her brows creased before her expression softened with feminine laughter. “Because you’ve been wearing thosesweatpants since you arrived, and well, every girl needs options, right? Look.” She bent down and pulled out a box, opening the lid. “Makeup, skincare, stuff for your hair. And,” she pumped her eyebrows at me as set down the obviously heavy box and held up a shopping bag, “socks, underwear, bras. Everything you could need.”
“Underwear?” I said, arching my brow. I stepped toward her and took the bag from her, sliding my hand inside until my fingers curled around dental floss. Oh, that bastard. I pulled out a lacey, practically useless, black thong. The maid laughed heartily, shaking her head.
“Mr. Ricci is generous,” she said, grinning.
“Yeah,” I said sarcastically. Generously keeping me here as his prisoner and buttering me up with gifts apparently. I bet he wanted to see me in these.
My stomach flipped as heat tightened in my core. I tossed the bag across the room and crossed my arms over my chest, seething.
“I’m Olivia.” She smiled, chuckling a bit. “I like you, Sera. I’m happy to see you’ve gotten some of your spunk back.”
“What’s going on? Why the clothes?”
“Because Mr. Ricci isn’t a monster. He’s actually a decent enough guy. A great person to work for,” she explained as she fanned through the clothes. “Oh, I am definitely going to be borrowing this one.”
“He’s holding me captive here,” I said, exasperated as I walked to her side. “He killed another boss right in front of me.”
“Oh, I know. I saw the laundry the next day. Woof, what a mess.”
“Does none of this bother you?” I asked, shocked at her casualness.
She gave me a side-eye, then sighed deeply and turned to face me with her hands on her hips. “You’re far safer here than youare out there right now. If I were you, I’d consider myself lucky. Honestly, if you behave yourself, I bet Mr. Ricci will let you out of this room. Give you some freedom to move around and go outside. I’m here all the time, anyway. I bet, if you keep your cool and don’t do anything else to piss him off,” she glanced at the door leading into the study, giving me a knowing look, “I bet he’ll let us rent some movies and use his theater downstairs one of these nights.”
Theater room? Behave myself? Would there be buttered popcorn, too?
“This is insane.”
“This is reality,” she said. “Gotta make the best of it, okay? If you don’t like the clothes, don’t wear them.”
A crash downstairs echoed through the house. I pinched my brows together as we turned toward the door.
“It’s probably nothing,” Olivia said sweetly, but I didn’t miss the concern that flashed behind her eyes as she moved toward the door. “I’ll see you later, okay? We can hang out while you eat dinner.”
I opened my mouth to ask what the hell was going on but she shot out the door before I could even blink. I moved to the window as fast as I could and looked down. My view of the sweeping backyard stretched as far as I could see. A few men below moved into position around the house, guns drawn.
