Chapter Seven
Emma
Leo brings me food and a blanket in the morning.
“What is this for?” I ask, taking the blanket.
“I don’t need you dying while you’re in here.” He hands me the plate of food – a pastry, cold meat, and eggs. “That would defeat my plan. I need to get info out of you.”
“And what if I can’t give you anything?” I stuff the pastry into my mouth and moan from the taste. I didn’t realize I was so hungry.
Leo’s eyes darken but I’m not sure if he’s angry or if it’s something else. “Even if you can’t give me anything, I can still use you. Your father attacked my boss’s club last night. I need to use you to make a point.”
“And what point is that?”
“That I will hurt you if he doesn’t back off.”
The coldness in his voice makes me set the plate down. “You… what? You’ll really hurt me? Was all of your kindness a complete lie?”
“I am doing what I must. You are my bargaining chip. I will take you to see your father today. Once he sees that I own you, he will stop this pointless war.”
“I don’t even know my father. I wouldn’t know what he looks like.”
“Once you see him, I’ll see if you’re lying about that.”
I clench my hands around the plate. “I am not lying. I have not lied about a single thing.”
“You’re the daughter of Alessandro Greco. I don’t know if I can trust you or not.”
“You can.”
“I am sorry, Emma. But this is the way things have to go. I will show your father that I have you and he will back off.”
“And if he doesn’t? If he decides to attack something else? What happens to me then?”
“Then you’ll remain with me.”
“In this cage forever?” I ask as a sinking feeling hits me in the stomach.
“If that’s what it takes to get Alessandro to back off, then so be it.”
I shake my head. “How can you be so cold to me when talking about my life? As if I’m not even human?”
“Because if I see you as human, I won’t be able to do this.”
His admission catches me off guard. “I know you have some goodness in you, Leo. I saw it when you first took me in.”
His laugh is bitter and makes me flinch.
“That was all a lie. I am not a good man, Emma. I have never been. I work for the mafia. You can’t be good when you work for the mafia.
I am sorry that you’re the sacrifice in all of this but I’m not sorry for what I have to do.
And if it comes out that you’re in on this with your father, then I will hurt you and I won’t feel sorry for it. ”
“And when you find out that I am not working for my father, a man I have never even seen in my entire life? A man I didn’t know existed until you told me he did? Would you feel guilty then?”
Leo looks away from me. “If that’s all true, then we’ll deal with it when we have to. Until then, you will stay in this cage. Eat. Get warm. I will show you to your father tonight and everything will go well. This war will be prevented. And then you can either be free or…”
“Or?” I whisper.
“Or you’ll be killed. If you’re working for your father, Emma, I will have to kill you. So it would be better if you know something to tell me it now before it’s too late. I can save your life. If you work for me and Gabriel, you can have your freedom.”
I shove the plate away. “I’m not hungry. And I’m not working for my father. So you can leave me alone now.”
A twisted, dark smile crosses his face. So different from the man who let me into his home that first night. “Fine. Make your choice.” He shuts the cage door, locking me back inside. I can only watch him walk away, leaving me alone once more in this cold, dank basement.
Leo returns later in the day with a pretty gown draped over his arm. Lavender colored. Soft and silky looking. Long and elegant.
“You’ll wear this when I take you to your father.” He opens the cage door and motions for me to come out. My legs ache when I stand, having been sitting all day.
“Why?”
“Because I want to show your father that I own you. That I can dress you how I want. Now, take your nightgown off.”
I turn around and slip it off my body. Leo has already seen me naked. He’s touched me in a way no one else ever has. That memory of the pleasure he showed me is the only thing to bring me comfort at night.
Leo doesn’t say a word and I keep my back to him. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to look him in the eye while I’m naked. That’s all pointless however when he walks in front of me, forcing me to look at him.
His eyes flick down my naked body and I can’t stop myself from covering my breasts.
“Are you shy?” he asks. “Surely a beautiful woman like you has had multiple partners by now. Unless Alessandro wanted you to be a good girl. But we both know you’re not one. Not when you’re working for your father.”
“I’ve never been with anyone,” I answer honestly. Shame fills me. Embarrassment. I’m only reminded of how much my mother took from me by locking me up my entire life.
“Are you saying you’re a virgin, Emma?”
“Yes,” I whisper, blushing.
“So if I claimed you as mine, you would leave my cock bloody?”
I gasp. “How can you speak to me this way? How can someone be so… cold?”
He places his fingers under my chin, lifting my head up. “I am a mafia man. We’re all cold. Only time will tell if you’re truly as innocent as you claim. Now, raise your arms up.”
I do as he says and Leo slips the dress over my head. It fits me perfectly, flowing around my body in soft waves. It’s ironic. I have never felt more like a woman than in this moment but it would just have to happen at the hands of my kidnapper.
“Turn around,” Leo says. I slowly do it until I’m facing him again. “Perfect. Your father is going to learn to not mess with me or Gabriel. Not when we’re in charge of this city.”
“Why is my father coming after you?”
“Gabriel killed his brother, Giovanni. Your uncle. Surely you met him as well.”
“I never met him,” I respond. My mother never mentioned either of these men to me so either Leo has the wrong person or it’s just more lies my mother kept from me.
Leo smirks. “Right. Well, Gabriel killed your uncle and now your father is pissed.”
“Doesn’t he have the right to avenge the death of his brother?”
“No. Not when your father stood back and watched as your uncle brutally murdered Gabriel’s entire family. Gabriel is my best friend. What angers him, angers me. And your father and mother don’t get to just get away with what they did.”
“It’s only ever just been me and my mother.”
“I’m still not sure I can believe you, Emma. That’s the sad part. You seem innocent but are you really?”
“When you find out that I am, I hope you feel terrible for what you’ve done, Leo. I hope you feel so much guilt that it kills you and you end up in Hell.”
His eyes widen just a fraction, clearly surprised by the venom in my voice. “So you do have a dark side. You’ve been keeping it from me.”
“No one has ever made me angry enough to make me speak to them this way.” Granted, it’s only ever just been me and my mother so there wasn’t anyone for me to speak to this way because if I spoke to my mother with this venom, she would have locked me out in the barn to spend the night with the cows.
“I like this fire in you. I like it better than the passive, na?ve woman you were pretending to be.”
I blush. I wasn’t pretending anything. I was truly that na?ve and passive. But now I know better. Now I know I have to fight.
“Come,” Leo says. “Let’s go meet your father.”
Leo takes me to another mansion. This one even larger than his own.
“Who’s house is this?” I ask, gazing up at the huge mansion made out of sand-colored brick.
“No one’s. Me and Gabriel own it and use it when we need a meeting place that is neither one of our own houses.
We’ll be meeting your father here.” Leo gets out of the car and opens my door, taking my arm firmly in his.
I can’t run, especially when I see all the other men stationed outside the house.
“Who are they?” I ask.
“Guards. Mine and Gabriel’s. Just to keep your father in check.” The guards give Leo a nod as we walk past. He’s well respected. That gives him power.
That makes him more dangerous.
Once we’re inside the house, I can’t help but marvel at the beauty of it all. The marble floors. The grand staircase. The chandelier. It’s all so beautiful and yet, I’m terrified because I know my fate is about the change, one way or another.
Leo takes me into a huge dining room with a table that could seat over twenty. Another man is here. Tall and handsome with a scar across his face.
“Gabriel,” Leo says, shaking his hand.
Gabriel’s eyes settle on mine. “So this is her? Alessandro’s daughter?” There’s no emotion in his voice, shocking me to my core.
“Yes. This is her.”
“Have you found out what she knows yet?”
“I’m still working on it. She’s proving to be… difficult.”
“She’s standing right here,” I snap before I can help it.
Both men stare at me with shock.
I bow my head as a sudden shyness hits me. “I just don’t like being spoken to like I’m not here. Like I’m not even human.”
Gabriel comes to stand toe-to-toe with me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Leo tense. “You’re the daughter of Alessandro Greco. Your father is an evil man. Your uncle was an evil man until I killed him. You’re not human in my eyes.”
“I’m just an innocent woman,” I whisper.
Gabriel takes a step back, allowing me to breathe. “We’ll see. I hope for your sake that you truly are innocent. I don’t delight in torturing innocent women. But for now, you’re the enemy and our bargaining chip.”
Another man enters the room. “Boss, he’s here.”
Gabriel nods. “Bring him in.”
The man leaves and comes back a moment later with another man. This one is middled aged. Greying hair but otherwise doesn’t look old. A form-fitting brown suit.
His eyes fix onto me in an instant.
“Alessandro,” Gabriel says. “Welcome. Why don’t we all sit down and eat?”
“I am not going to break bread with you,” he snaps before nodding at me. “Who is this?”
“This,” Leo says, placing his hand on my back, “is your daughter. Surely you know that. Don’t act like she isn’t. We have your daughter, Alessandro. This is the proof.”