Page 8 of Merciless Queen
“I-I d-don’t k-know h-her.”
“Who is she? You must know who she is, even if you never met her.”
“S-She’s hi-his f-favorite w-whore. H-His girl.”
I clenched my fingers around the knife, tempted to stab him in his jugular, but I held myself back. “Did she choose this?” With men like Vincenzo, there was no telling.
“Y-Yes. W-We g-get her.” I glowered at him. “S-She’s t-the r-reward.”
I pressed my knife to his jaw. The one question that had been burning in my mind since finding out about her finally slipped free. “Is it consensual?”
“Y-Yes. B-but t-they won’t h-have her anymore. H-He’s ready f-for a family. V-Vincenzo i-is r-ripping her b-birth control o-out a-and g-getting h-her p-pregnant.”
Absolutely not. There would be no spawn for him to raise to act exactly like him. Heaven forbid if she had a little girl. He would have her in the hands of some man before she could fucking speak. Vincenzo would create nothing if I could help it.
“Where is she right now?”
He stuttered as my blade scraped his neck. “Hi-His house. I-In his bed.”
“Good. Maybe you won’t die tonight.” I left the basement, leaving him screaming. Spencer could have fun with him. I didn’t care if she slit his fucking throat.
I knew exactly where Vincenzo’s home was, disgusted that we were in the same fucking city. The need to kill him was surging in my veins, but starting a mafia war was not what I needed right now. This girl was my perfect chance. If he was in love with her, then I could use it against him. Love was a fool's game. It was how Vincenzo broke my father.
Malachi and Cornelius bombed another one of Vincenzo’s drug shipments, making it the fourth one this week. I learned a long time ago to stop having my shipments come in through Chicago, but he had yet to realize that. Mine came in through New York and my ally, Roman Petrov, sent shipments my way. Vincenzo wouldn’t touch Petrov because he feared the Russians, and apparently, they had an agreement with another mafia boss, Orlov. The three of them couldn't touch each other without breaching the treaty and causing war. If Petrov could fight with me, I would end Vincenzo.
I waited for the intel to get to Vincenzo. He thought he was safe and would leave his house with limited protection, even if the girl was in his bed. If she was obedient like the rumors said, she would stay in Vincenzo’s bed, waiting for him to return home. Was she there willingly, or did his informant lie to me? In this life, one couldn’t believe the word from a rat, but money spoke more than action. I needed to get to this woman and find out how I could use her to make that asshole pay. If she was there willingly, did she know what the hell he did when he wasn’t home? Or was she involved? Tormenting and ruining innocent people for his sick game?
Hidden in the shadows, I watched Vincenzo storm out, his anger burning like wildfire. Excellent. He left three men to watch the girl, and killing them was child’s play. With Vincenzo being one of the most hated families, one would think he’d keep his wife protected, but maybe he didn’t truly care for her. Regardless, she would be mine tonight. If she was a villain, Iwould prolong her death and ensure that he received little pieces of her from time to time.
When I got the clear from my intel at the docks, I snuck into his house, waiting in the shadows before allowing my men to come inside. The girl was in the kitchen, rummaging through kitchen cabinets while her soon-to-be husband was away. The thought of her willingly sleeping with him was enough to drive me insane.Everyone knew who Vincenzo Mancini was and what he did to the innocent.
Vincenzo was my weakness, and I was not ashamed to admit it. I listened to him rape and murder my mother while he continued to be untouchable because of vapid mafia treaties. He made me angry. The mention of his name sent an inferno of fiery rage scorching through my veins, and I hated it.
When the woman was back upstairs, Luca joined me inside, installing cameras and bugs so I could get more intel. Vincenzo would know it was me who took his little wife and he would retaliate, but with our cameras in his home, we could figure out what he was going to do. Vincenzo was reactive, retaliated without thinking, and that was his weakness. If I said men only reacted without thinking, I’d be lying, because I’d reacted horribly because of him.
“Finish what you need. I’m going to get the girl.”
CHAPTER 5
Harlow
Vincenzo shatteredevery piece of my soul, and living was going to be brutal. My arm was throbbing where he cut out my birth control, leaving me to bleed on the bed after he raped me over and over.God, please don’t let me get pregnant.All my other silent prayers went unanswered, so why would he listen to this one?
I refused to have a baby born into this life. He only needed me to give them life, but I would never be allowed to be a mother to them, not really. They would rip away a little boy from me and mold him into a monster like Vincenzo. God forbid I had a little girl. They would take her and shape her into a perfect little plaything for a sick bastard, making her live the life that I was forced into. He could hurt me all he wanted, but he would not hurt my children. I’d find my way out before I ever allowed it.
Pain rippled through my body as I forced myself out of Vincenzo’s bed. He gave me enough freedom to venture around his bedroom, but not to leave. I stumbled to the bathroom, collapsing in front of the toilet and releasing the little bit that was in my stomach. My throat burned as nothing came up, butI forced something out. I preferred the taste of stomach bile burning my throat than the rancid taste of him.
I crawled to the shower, turning on the hot water and crawling into the stream. It was like liquid fire on my skin, but it burned him and every other man off of me. The showers at the place they kept the girls only had lukewarm water, nasty tiles, and disgusting bar soap for our hair and bodies. Nothing where we could scrub the filth we endured off of our bodies. When he would bring me here, we showered together, another form of mental torment. He never let me have privacy, so why was he doing it now?
I winced as I pulled my knees to my chest, watching the blood stain the water as it flowed down the drain. My hand shook as I lifted it to look at the heavy jewelry on my ring finger. The weight was soul crushing. Everyone said the boss bought an expensive ring for his woman. If it wasn’t a prison sentence, I would think the diamond ring was beautiful.
Vincenzo got off on his men raping me. He would use me as a reward. If the new men did well on a task and obeyed Vincenzo, they would get me. Xavier and Sebastian were the first ones to have me seven years ago. After the first six months, I lost count of how many people Vincenzo gave me to. I was his star girl at the club, and people paid a lot to have me. Was he really going to lose all that money just to keep me for himself?
I shuddered at the thought of carrying his baby. I wanted to be a mom. I wanted a lot of things before my future got ripped from under me. I wanted to be a teacher. Specifically, an English or art teacher. Preferably art. Art and reading were two of my favorite things, and I would lose myself for hours painting and sketching. If I found a good book that I lost myself in, I would paint the world I envisioned in my head. I hadn’t picked up a paintbrush or a book in years. I didn’t know if I could even still paint anymore.
Now I was going to be stuck here. I needed to fight him. I needed to try to escape, but I knew what happened to girls who tried to escape this life. They didn’t die. Not at first. They got sent to the bordello, abused and beaten until they couldn’t fight anymore, before being chained to a wall and dying a slow death. Sometimes they got a bullet to the head to end their misery. And sometimes they left open cuts and infected them, so they got a fever and died slowly.
It was a brutal death.
