Chapter Twenty-Eight
Six years earlier.
Everything is dark. So dark that I can’t see my hands only inches from my face. I squint, searching the room for anything that could indicate where I am. I place my hands on the floor to steady myself. The jingle of chains and the cold concrete floor tell me everything I need to know. I’m here. I’m back in Manzo’s dungeon.
I inhale a sharp breath as I get to my feet. The beating I took last night makes everything ache from my teeth down to my toes. I take a step, the broken bone sending a crippling signal to my brain, letting me know that’s not the smartest idea.
I brace myself against the wall, running my hand along my throat, feeling the chain keeping me tied to the wall. The heavy, ominous footsteps slowly climbing down the steps draw my attention away from the pain.
The single light bulb sitting in the middle of the room flickers on, I squeeze my eyes shut at the intrusion, giving myself a few seconds to adjust to the light. When I open my eyes, I squint, keeping as much light out as I can.
All I can see is the silhouette of a man standing at the bottom of the stairs.
“Is it my outside time?” I croak, keeping my head down.
Without an answer, he walks over to me, handing me a wrapped present. The wrapping paper had blue, orange, yellow and red balloons on it. My heart instantly stops. It can’t be. I slowly look up, meeting Manzo’s gaze.
“Happy birthday.” He says, nodding towards the present.
With a swallow and shaky hands, I peel back the wrapping paper to reveal a box. Manzo pulls out a knife, and I instantly take a step back, but he doesn’t comment on it. That should have been my first sign something wasn’t right. Normally he would spend the next several hours tormenting me until I stopped flinching at him.
He cuts the box open, revealing a few sheets of pink wrapping paper. I slowly move them out of my way to take a look. Inside, there is a set of pink lingerie. The bra has a corset look to it, with lace covering the breasts. The panties are a basic pink with straps that wrap around my thighs, but the skirt that goes on top is sheer.
I slowly look up, my heart beating hard in my chest. “Put it on.”
I set the box down, and quickly do as I’m told. I know what this means. I’m officially eighteen. Manzo’s one and only moral is he refuses to touch a minor. Now that it’s no longer an issue, everything just became ten times worse. I can take beatings, I've gotten used to them. I’ve gotten used to starving, to being alone.
Once I’ve slipped everything on, Manzo takes me in, not letting his face reveal anything. Is it sick that I don’t want him to hate what he sees? If he does I know what that means for me. He won’t want to marry me, and if that happens, his one reason for keeping me alive flushes down the drain.
He takes a step forward, gripping my chin tightly. “Marry me.” I close my eyes and shake my head. “I can’t.”
He lets out an annoyed sigh, dropping his hand. When my eyes open, they lock on his hand in his pocket. He pulls out a key and unlocks the chain around my neck before moving to the ones around my hands and feet.
He grabs the crook of my arm and begins to lead me up the stairs. He isn’t gentle. He knows he broke a few of my bones last night, but that doesn’t stop him from ignoring my screams of pain.
Once outside, I take in a breath of fresh air. It’s been a few weeks since he let me outside. Since it’s night time, I don’t get to feel the sun against my skin. Instead, I get the cold winter air and the stars that shine bright against the moon.
Manzo normally gives me vitamins to keep me healthy, but thankfully he knows that’s not enough and lets me go outside twice a month. Once during the day, so I soak up some sun and when he lets me do that, I get to spend most of the day outside. Granted I’m tied up to a tree like a dog, but it’s better than being stuck down in the dungeon. The other times he lets me out at night for fresh air.
I close my eyes, tilting my head up toward the stars. A small smile plays on my lips for a brief second before reality sets in. We aren’t going to the normal spot. Instead, he is leading me towards the main road.
I furrow my brows as he walks us towards a parked car. We both climb in, and his driver starts down a long winding road. A few minutes later we pull up to a huge white mansion.
In the past four years, I haven’t seen anything but woods, stars and concrete walls. I gasp at the luxury. The fountain in the center of the driveway isn’t turned on, but it doesn’t take away from the sheer beauty of the property.
There are dozens of cars parked in the massive driveway. Most are black SUV’s or fancy sports cars. Manzo gets out of the car, opening my door and grabs onto my arm again. Instead of heading to the front door, he walks me around to the side of the building, making me nearly trip on the gravel that leads us towards the staff's entrance.
When the door opens, there are a few women I recognize sitting at a round table. All of their eyes widen with recognition. Each of these girls were brought to the dungeon for their training. To be broken. I had to watch all of them. The memories of each woman finally breaking flashes in my mind as I take each of them in.
Mia. She lasted the shortest. She was down there for one outside trip. Meaning she lasted about two weeks. Karmen lasted a little longer for two, lasting a month while Maggie lasted the longest. She managed to stay strong for four outside trips. Two whole months of brutal torture before she caved.
I know they’ve heard stories about me. The girl that refuses to break. A few of the older girls were sent back down for a retrain when they misbehaved; either talking back, or began fighting Manzo’s crew when it was their turn. They are known for being rough, but Manzo hasn’t touched any of them. He refuses. Which means he’s been building up his anger to take it out on me when I turned eighteen. Now, he gets his chance.
Without a word, Manzo pulls me past the women. When I look back, they are watching through the crack in the door as Manzo takes me into another room.
He opens a set of double doors, and shoves me inside. I fall to my knees, my blonde hair falling over my face as I look up. Four men begin to stand, shock written on their faces.
I meet my fathers gaze, his expression passive. I shift my focus to the man next to him. Howie’s jaw is practically on the floor as he shifts his gaze from me, to Manzo, then to Marcello. Alistair Domincio is the first to speak up .
“What is this?” He asks, setting his glass on the coffee table. “This, my friends, is why we are here today.” Manzo walks over
to me, moving my hair out of my face. “Today is the day I finally
break her.”
“She’s been alive this whole time?” The man who spoke takes a step forward. I recognize him as Leo Hawkins.
“Marcello and I made a deal four years ago. I will marry Bianca when she turns eighteen and take over his empire when he dies, as payment for him killing my father.”
“So this party for her was for what?” Howie hisses. “To bring us all together.”
“It was a memorial for her.” Howie’s face begins to turn red the longer he takes in my state. “And you’re telling me, none of you bothered to tell me that she has been alive this whole time?”
“Now that you know.” Manzo says, kneeling down next to me. “I’ll give you one last chance to agree to marry me.”
I glance the men who are all looking at me. Allister and Leo both look intrigued while Marcello’s expression remains blank and Howie’s has morphed into anger.
“What are you going to do if I don’t agree?” The question comes out as a whisper, my throat still sore from the screaming he caused last night.
Manzo runs his hand along my jaw and leans in to whisper in my ear. “I will give them all the chance to break you before I finish you off.”
“Finish me off? Kill me?”
He smirks, “Not yet, Bella.” He waits a beat for an answer, for me to agree to marry him, but I can’t. I know the smart move is to go with his plan, for me to marry him, pop out a few kids, and then he will kill me. Yet the stubborn part of me refuses to let me agree to a life doomed to end in terror.
Fear courses through me as Manzo stands at his full height, adjusting his suit. He pulls out his phone, sending a quick text. It takes about two minutes before the sound of heels against the tiled floor becomes the only sound blanketing the room.
Mia, Karmen and Maggie walk in, heads bowed and eyes trained on the floor. They stand against the back wall in a line, waiting for instructions.
“Ladies. Meet a few of my friends.” All their heads slowly look up, taking in the room. When their eyes land on me, tears instantly fill their eyes. Mia sniffles, wiping the back of her hand against her nose.
“Meet my three favorite girls. Mia, Karmen and Maggie. It took some training, but they are here to please you after we are finished here.”
“What is going on here?” Howie asks, taking a step forward. “These girls have been trained to follow every order. As long as
you don’t kill them, you can use them how you see fit. They are now your personal toys for the night. We can discuss details later, but tonight I wanted to give you a taste of how to break a woman. You will test on Bianca and get an already broken woman after. That way you can see what the outcome would normally be.”
Howie’s jaw clenches as his hands ball into a fist. “You’re selling women, aren’t you?”
Pride flows off of Manzo in waves as he nods, “This is just a little side business my father and I started. I thought maybe you gentlemen would be interested in joining the fun.” Manzo waves his hand toward me. “She is a stubborn one, so I knew she would be the perfect girl to show off, considering I will ultimately be the one who breaks her. ”
Howie shakes his head and turns towards the door. “I’m not interested. You boys have fun, I’ll be with the kids.”
The kids. They are here? I look up to Manzo who is already looking at me, his smile slowly dropping. “Who wants to go first?” His smirk returns when Leo Hawkins steps forward.
Leo gets down to my level, lifts my chin and moves my face from side to side, taking in the bruises. My face is still swollen and almost unrecognizable from yesterday’s beating. My cheeks are bruised, my eyes are swollen, and I can still taste the blood in my mouth from the busted lip. I have dried blood in my hair, eyebrows and it’s caked onto my skin.
He backhands me, forcing my head to whip to the side. A cry escapes from one of the women behind me, but I can’t tell who it came from. I ignore it, knowing that Manzo will punish them if it happens again. Leo grabs my neck, squeezing hard and slamming me onto my raw, bloody back. The fresh cuts are still sore and healing.
Leo straddles me, wrapping a second hand around my neck. I start to fight back as the air in my lungs begins to burn. I claw at his wrist, but nothing helps. My head begins to spin, as the sound around me starts to fade. Just as the world around me begins to turn black, he lets go, letting the rush of air consume me, I begin coughing.
He punches me in the face twice, opening a few of my cuts. Leo’s hands roam down my body, the lingerie doing nothing to cover me. He practically rips the bra off and I scream as the metal clasp digs into my spine.
He tosses the bra on the floor, standing and taking a drink of his liquor as he looks me over. The glint in his eyes makes me squirm. He kicks me in the ribs as a second figure comes to kneel beside me. Allister Domincio wipes the trail of blood out of my eyes.
He punches me once in the stomach and on instinct I curl into a ball. As each of the men take their turn, the pounding in my head intensifies, the heavy breathing from each man leaving an imprint in my mind.
One of the men grabs me by my feet, dragging me across the wood. I kick, using the last of my strength. All of them jump me at the same time. Kicking me from my head all the way down to the soles of my feet. Manzo hands Allister a lighter and he holds the flame against the bottom of my feet. The smell of burning flesh fills the room.
Tears stream from my eyes and a sob escapes me. I hear a belt buckle and Leo walks up behind me, wrapping the belt around my neck and tightening it as tight as it will go. He uses it as a leash, pulling up, forcing me to my knees.
Just then, there is a knock at the office's door; the room falls silent. The door slowly cracks open, and a black-haired boy steps inside. I recognize him immediately.
I sob, but the noose around my neck tightens, stopping me from crying out for help.
“Mr. Domincio, Vivian fell off the couch and broke her arm.” Lincoln's thick accent makes my heart break.
When he looks at me, I don’t see any recognition. How could he? I’ve been beaten senseless, to the point I’m unrecognizable, and he hasn’t seen me in four years. His jaw tightens but he doesn’t say anything as Allister meets him at the door and they both walk out. Lincoln looks over his shoulder, looking at me as the door slowly closes behind them .
I lay curled in a ball. The room is empty. Each man took a woman upstairs to finish out the party in one of the guest rooms. Manzo is making his rounds at my birthday party while I lay here, curled in a ball in the middle of the floor. This was my first time and he raped me while everyone watched. Each man jerking off at the sight. Thankfully my father had the decency to leave the room, but he didn’t mind coming back afterward to collect one of the women.
I’ve been crying for hours, so long that the tears have completely dried up. My throat is completely raw from the screaming, and my eyes burn from the mixture of blood and tears. I sniffle, wiping my face for the hundredth time.
I’m a statue when I hear the door open. It isn’t until I hear heels that I slowly lift my head. I can’t tell who it is, everything is blurry, and I can only make out her silhouette. She kneels next to me, using a washcloth to wipe away the blood. She doesn’t bother sitting me up, instead she strokes my hair. Maggie’s flowery scent and the hum of a lullaby slowly makes me drift off.