Seven
Ava
Present day
Aurora squirms in my arms and grumbles in a small voice, “Mama, don’t squeeze me.”
I loosen my arms around her tiny frame. “Sorry, sweetie. Want to sit next to me?”
She glances nervously at Carlo, who’s sitting beside us in the back seat, and presses herself closer to my chest. I kiss the top of her head, silently thanking God again that she’s okay. The doctor assured us the sedative was safe before releasing her from the hospital.
To keep her from getting scared of Carlo, I shift her to my other knee and whisper in her ear, “Sleep, baby.”
“I’m hungry,” she whines again.
She has every right to be. It’s already dark out, and we’ve spent the whole day getting kidnapped, rescued, and checked at the hospital.
I glance at Carlo, who’s scrolling through something on his iPad, completely ignoring us.
He’s been so distant and icy these past few hours, I haven’t even dared ask him a single question.
Especially now that the adrenaline is wearing off and my mind’s clearing, the truth is getting harder to ignore.
Carlo Bruni is more than just a businessman. Businessmen don’t walk around with a private army. And the fact that he knows Maxim tells me exactly what kind of man he really is. Sure, he saved me from my father’s men, but I’m not sure what kind of mess I’m in now.
A call comes through, and my eyes instinctively flick to the iPad screen. Carlo doesn’t bother hiding it and answers the video call. Loud rock music blasts through the speakers, mixed with laughter and shouting.
It’s a blond man with blue eyes, standing under flashing red and blue lights. “Carlo, Maxim’s lost his mind. He kicked out all the customers. Now he’s got all the girls gathered around him and…”
He pauses, then shrugs. “See for yourself.”
The man flips the camera, and the first thing that catches my eye is a naked woman lying flat on a round table, several neat lines of white powder between her breasts.
Behind her, Maxim is sprawled on a circular leather couch, shirtless, his mouth on one woman’s breast while his hand is between another’s legs.
Liquor bottles cover every surface, and other women are tangled up together in the background.
Maxim shoves them away, leans over the girl on the table, and snorts what I now know for sure is cocaine through a rolled-up bill pressed against his nose.
He jerks his head back, shakes it hard side to side, and yells in a lazy, slurred voice, “I’ve got a daughter! A fucking daughter!”
He grabs the bottle, but Carlo cuts in with a sharp tone, “Go get him, Brando. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. The last thing I need is for him to OD on me.”
The camera flips back to the blond man. “I’m on it.”
Carlo ends the call, his jaw clenched so hard I can see the muscles twitch.
I swallow hard and try to break the ice. “I don’t know how to thank you, Mr. Bruni.”
He slowly turns his head toward me, and the hostility glinting in his gray eyes chills me to the bone. A deep scar on his right eyebrow makes his glare even more threatening.
He glances at my daughter, his voice low but firm. “Don’t thank me. I didn’t do it for you. I couldn’t care less what happened to you. If you want to thank someone, thank the girl in your arms. If not for her, I would’ve hung you by your hair by now.”
I freeze, my lungs tightening so much I forget how to breathe. My tongue sticks to the roof of my dry mouth. I start to open my mouth, but he cuts me off.
“Quiet.” His voice stays low and controlled. “That girl’s had enough fear for one day.”
He’s right. I shut my mouth and brace myself for whatever he’s got planned for me.
After driving through streets that don’t look familiar, the van pulls into the lush, sprawling courtyard of a luxury villa.
Carlo finally looks at me. “Out.” Same cold tone. Same lack of mercy.
Now I’m not just scared, I’m pissed. Who the hell does he think he is, treating me like this? What the hell did I even do to deserve this hostility? Still, he’s right about one thing: I need to take care of Aurora first before I go toe-to-toe with Carlo Bruni.
When we step out, Aurora refuses to leave my arms, so I carry her inside, my body aching with the effort.
After passing through a sleek, modern hallway, my eyes widen at the sight of the living room to the left.
Right in the middle of the house are two circular stages with stripper poles, like something straight out of a strip club.
Carlo moves ahead to the right, heading into the kitchen. Two of his men stand behind me, and when they see me standing still in place, one gives me a gentle nudge to keep moving.
The kitchen’s interior is all black decor, but the large windows overlooking the lush garden make the room feel strangely calm.
Carlo stands by the black marble island and gestures toward the four-person dining table. “Feed her.”
There’s a whole pizza, some penne pasta, and a chicken dish on the table. I try to sit Aurora down, but she clings to me, whining, “No, Mama.”
I notice her sneaking another glance at Carlo. He catches it and without a word leaves the kitchen. I’m sure he knows she’s scared of him.
After we eat, Carlo’s men lead us to a room on the second floor and tell me to put the child to bed. Apparently, I’m supposed to present myself before His Majesty. Honestly, I’m relieved. I need to put an end to this nonsense tonight and call Sister Maria tomorrow to find me another job.
Aurora falls asleep quickly, and with Carlo’s men guiding me, I enter another lavish room that looks like an office.
Carlo’s standing by a floor-to-ceiling window, talking on the phone.
I remain still behind a wooden desk, waiting for him to finish.
It sounds like he’s checking in on Maxim with one of his guys.
Two of his men are posted at the door like bouncers at a strip club, as if I’m about to bolt.
Carlo ends the call, turns, and walks toward me with calm, measured steps.
“Look, Mr. Bruni,” I begin. “I’m really grateful for what you did for me and my daughter. I understand this whole situation might’ve made it hard for you to trust me, so I’ll call Sister Maria first thing tomorrow and find another job.”
He’s right in front of me now.
Suddenly, he grabs my throat and squeezes so hard I can’t breathe. I claw at his hand, gasping, but he leans into my face, his voice rough with restrained fury.
“From now on, you open your mouth only when I say you can. You answer every question I ask. Truthfully. If you try to feed me any bullshit, I’ll rip your fucking tongue out of your throat so you learn what happens when you cross Carlo Bruni. Got it?”
Pressure pounds behind my eyes as all the blood rushes to my skull.
Desperate for him to let go, I nod with every ounce of strength I have.
He pulls me back slightly and shoves me into an armchair.
I clutch my throat, greedily sucking air into my lungs with ragged gasps.
Before my coughing stops, I feel Carlo’s shadow looming over me again.
I lift my head, terrified, meeting his face hard with fury as he demands, “What’s your real name? Who’s after you?”
I feel like a helpless deer, seconds from being torn apart by a hungry lion. I’m so shocked and scared I can’t even cry. Honestly, I have the same questions for him. Who is he? Why is he doing this?
When he sees I’m too stunned to speak, he steps back and sinks into his chair behind the desk. I throw a pleading glance at the men by the door, but it’s clear they’re enjoying the show.
Carlo’s voice snaps my trembling gaze back to him. “Speak!”
“I…my name’s Ava Wilson.”
He slams his palm on the desk so hard I jump two feet in the air. “I said tell the truth.”
His roar makes me flinch so hard tears spill down my face. “I swear to God, I’m telling the truth. My name’s Ava Wilson.”
“Who’s after you, Ava Wilson?”
“My father.”
“You said you’d never met your father. There’s no mention of him in your documents either.”
I have no choice but to confess the truth I’ve been hiding, a truth I’m certain this unhinged man won’t take lightly. “My father’s name is Nico Fidenco.”
His eyes narrow, and he leans forward slightly. “Nico? The one from the Black Demons?”
It feels like someone’s choking me all over again. The Black Demons aren’t a group a regular businessman would know about. Seeing the shock on my face, he gets his answer. Rage clouds his features again.
He leans back in his chair. “Go on.”
“My mother was a slave, kidnapped from Ireland. My father kept her for himself. When I was thirteen, one night he tried to give me to one of his friends. He and my mom got into a fight and... he stabbed her to death. I ran away that same night, lived on the streets of Naples for months until Sister Maria found me. When she heard my story, she took me in and helped me get new ID papers, under my mother’s name. ”
My eyes fall on Carlo’s hand, clenched into a fist on the desk.
I quickly look away from the storm darkening his face and force myself to go on.
“When I turned eighteen, he found me, and Maxim saved me. After that, Sister Maria started sending me to work as a live-in nurse for wealthy families to keep me hidden.”
“Where did Maxim save you?”
“In a village called Montrano.”
The name of the village makes him pause for a beat before he asks his next question.
“How’d you find him again?”
I flush with embarrassment at the memory of my stupidity and keep it brief. “He gave me his business card.”
He stares at me deeply, then slowly nods. “You did a good job keeping yourself off the radar all these years, hiding behind a nun of all people. Do you understand what you’ve done?”
I lock my tearful eyes on him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think he was still after me. I swear I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you. If I’d known—”
He cuts me off. “You lied about your past, hid your real identity, brought a fucking psychopath from the most dangerous human trafficking network right to my wife and kids, and now you’re saying you’re sorry?”
Although he doesn’t raise his voice, he’s so furious his nostrils flare, and his breath comes in short bursts.
I try again to clean up the mess I’ve made. “I’m really sorry, Mr. Bruni. I promise I’ll leave Rome tomorrow. You’ll never see me again.”
His eyebrows pull together. “That decision isn’t yours to make. Unfortunately, it’s not even mine. If it were up to me, I’d serve you up to your father on a silver platter just for the lies you told me. Even that wouldn’t be enough to pay for what you’ve risked, my family.”
I wipe the tears from my face. His words confuse me. “If you’re not the one deciding, then who is?”
His long fingers tap rhythmically on the desk as he answers, “Maxim. The man you foolishly kept his daughter from.”
The second he mentions Aurora, fear turns into anger. “I had every right to keep him out of her life. I thought he was a good man. I spent years dreaming about him, but when I stepped into his club, I realized he’s no different from my father. He owns a brothel.”
“He doesn’t own it. He runs it,” he says casually, then stands, circling the desk as he continues, “I’m the owner.”
He sits in the chair across from me, smirking at the shock on my face. “And he’s definitely not like your bastard of a father. Now your sins also include lying about the father of your child… and hiding the daughter of my consigliere.”
A weight drops from my chest like a stone, crashing straight into my gut. Of course my fate would tie me to a high-ranking mafia figure after escaping a human trafficker for a father.
“He didn’t seem too thrilled about the idea of being a father,” I say quietly. “I’m sure once I talk to him, he’ll let us go.”
He scoffs, staring at me with a mocking expression for a long moment. Unable to bear the weight of his gaze, I lower my head, but his voice cuts through. “You’ve got a lot to learn about men like us, Ava.”
I meet his eyes again. Now I understand—the power radiating from them doesn’t come from wisdom. It comes from violence.
He crosses one long leg over the other as he goes on.
“I assure you, Maxim will be a great teacher. Sure, he’ll lose his shit for a while, but sooner or later, he’ll face the truth and come for his daughter with everything he’s got.
That man would take a bullet for those he’s loyal to, the ones he considers family.
That little girl? She’s got his blood in her veins, she’s his.
If you want any part in her future, you’d better pray to God he forgives your sins and accepts you. ”
My chest tightens with rage. I stand, my maternal instincts drowning out all sense of fear.
“I’ve been running from a human trafficker for twelve years, and I promise you, I’ll never stop running from you. I don’t want my daughter growing up in the filthy world of the mafia.”
“Sit,” he orders coldly, nodding toward the chair.
I glance at the hulking men by the door and realize I won’t be leaving this room unless Carlo says so. With my hands balled into fists from anger, I do as he says.
Carlo’s expression doesn’t change as he continues. “One of the men who kidnapped you sent a message to your father before Maxim flipped the van, telling him Carlo Bruni saved you.”
I stare at him, confused, not understanding why he’s telling me this.
“You already had a bounty on your head, right? Back then, it was just your father who wanted you. But now, that red head of yours is worth a lot more because you’re the one Carlo Bruni personally stepped in to save.
It won’t be long before everyone knows you’re the mother of Maxim’s kid, my right hand’s daughter.
After today, it’s not just your father after you.
Step outside this house without my protection, and before you reach the end of the street, one of the dozens of enemies Maxim and I have in this country will hunt you down.
And if you’re lucky, you’ll end up like your mother. ”
Every spark of defiance in me dies, replaced by the crushing weight of surrender. I blink hard to keep tears of despair from falling.
He stands. “Your daughter is under my unconditional protection as long as I’m alive, and her place is with Maxim. But if you want, you can walk out that door alone anytime. I won’t stop you.”
And with that, he’s checkmated me. Without another word, he leaves the room.