Chapter 32
Madelene
My stomach growls as if it has to voice its own irritation with the vending machine spitting out the dollar bill I tried to use to buy some damn chips.
I’ve been hungry for hours, but I had to wait for the sun to come up and for all the blue-collar workers that are staying at the motel to clear out for the day before venturing out of the room.
Outside entry places are fucking creepy, and rather dirty, but I guess I don’t have any room to complain. I’d rather sleep on dirty sheets than worry about who has access to my room, although I don’t feel exactly safe.
The door to the front office is locked, and even cupping my hands over my face to peer in and banging on the door doesn’t bring anyone forward.
Elio left me mostly big bills and one single dollar folded up in the middle. I’m pretty sure it was all the cash he had on him at the time, but the machine doesn’t take twenties and it sure as hell doesn’t take hundred-dollar bills.
“All this money, and I still can’t fucking eat,” I grumble as I turn the corner to head back to the room.
“Such a filthy mouth,” a man says, stepping into my path.
“Excuse me,” I tell him, dropping my eyes and attempting to step around him.
He doesn’t say a word as I pass, but he grabs me the second my back is to him.
I scream and fight, but his hand covers my mouth. It’s broad fucking daylight, and this guy has the balls to just sweep me up?
“The boss said not to hurt you, but if you keep wiggling, I’m going to break the fucking rules,” he growls in my ear.
I’m not being mugged for the money in my pocket. I’m not being attacked by chance because men are just pieces of shit. This is Alessio’s goon. I was foolish to think that I’d managed to escape them, that being in a room paid for by my brother would somehow keep me safe.
It’s like being abducted in Mexico all over again. No one pays attention. A man walking out of his room turned right back around and closed the door. People are too fucking coward to even call the fucking police.
I scream and kick, knowing that I’m being taken back to a monster instead of just considering it a possibility.
A second pair of hands grab at me, the four on me now making it easy for them to subdue me.
My arms are tied behind my back, a rag shoved in my mouth before something is tied around it to prevent me from spitting it out, and then darkness.
I know they’re taking me to Alessio so the bag over the head is a little too fucking much.
I cuss into the gag, my time for acting docile and pleasant long gone at this point.
Tears leak from my eyes when I jerk and jolt so much I scrape my shoulder on something sharp. I found sweats and a t-shirt in one of the motel drawers after Elio left, but they’re not providing the protection I need.
What I need is use of both of my arms and a couple of bazookas for these assholes, but that will never happen.
I’m once again a captive. Once again a fucking victim. I know it will be my last time. I know I won’t survive this again. Alessio would never allow it.
I calm down, not exactly accepting my fate, but unable to do anything about it at this moment in time.
I register the sound of an engine starting, the roar loud from my position on the floor of the van.
The men inside don’t speak. They could easily contact Alessio through text, but I don’t hear either of them place a phone call. They drive for what seems like hours, but time really is irrelevant.
The sound of a small plane, something familiar to me with all the times I’ve been required to travel with Alessio and Marcello, fills the inside of the van. The doors squeal as they’re pulled open, and rough hands grab at me.
I don’t fight this time. It would serve no other purpose than to cause more injury to myself, and I know I have a lifetime of it coming.
I’m jostled repeatedly as the man carries me over his shoulder onto the plane. No one argues or asks why a gagged, bound, and blindfolded woman is being brought on board. The pilots will just as easily kill for the Severino family as the goon carrying me will.
Surprisingly, I’m sat down a little more gently, the seat belt pulled around my waist and snapped into place. Safety first and all that, I suppose. I scoff into my gag, but get no response from anyone around me.
The plane eventually takes off, and I’m subjected to listening to whatever goon is on the plane with me getting sucked off by the stewardess.
It’s probably Trixie. It doesn’t seem like she’ll survive if she doesn’t have a dick in her mouth.
Countless times I’ve seen her eyeball both Marcello and Alessio. They were always happy to oblige her.
I know we’re heading back to Chicago, and not for the first time, I pray for turbulence strong enough to make us drop out of the sky.
We don’t, of course. The landing is as smooth as ever.
Lucky fucking me.
“I pray he gives us all a turn with you, whore,” a man growls as he lifts me from the seat of the plane.
It’s Rocco, Julio’s younger brother. He’s pissed, as he should be, at his brother’s death.
Tears spring up once again, some because I’m getting closer to Alessio, but mostly because Elio didn’t care enough to stick around and keep me safe.
The man who drops me into the backseat of a car without care if I’m injured in the process or not cares more for his criminal brother than mine cares for me.
It hurts me as much inside as I imagine Alessio is going to hurt me on the outside. If I had the ability to use my hands, I’d throw myself from the vehicle once we got on the interstate, but luck is never on my side, it seems.
Once again, no one speaks in the vehicle, but I can’t be certain that Alessio isn’t with us. The air inside is heavy, but that could be attributed to my harsher breathing as I try to stanch the part of me that wants to beg fruitlessly for mercy.
I learned long ago that begging is a lot like praying. Pointless.
I stiffen my spine as the car slows before turning right. I’ve taken this trip so many times, I can picture the men in the guard tower at the gate. In my mind’s eye, I can see the massive oak trees lining the driveway.
My bravery, the straightened spine, don’t last long. I try to curl into myself the second the engine is turned off.
I kick at whoever opens the door beside me, but their sinister chuckle tells me I didn’t hit them.
“Calm down, princess.”
I don’t recognize the voice, but I know better than to be grateful it’s not Rocco. Alessio has many men in his employ, and each one has the ability to be more brutal than the next.
The hood is pulled off, and I have to shake my head to get my wild mess of hair out of my eyes.
I stare at the man standing in front of me, my eyes pleading and begging, hoping he has a shred of decency. He gives me a sad smile as he reaches for the gag.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
His words aren’t comforting because I know he won’t stop the people that plan to.
I whimper in pain, unable to hold that weakness in, when he pulls the gag down and removes the wad of fabric from inside my mouth.
“Better?”
“Thank you,” I say, instinct taking over.
“Can you stand?”
I nod, but he still reaches in and helps me out of the back of the vehicle.
“Let me untie your arms.”
My chin quivers as he turns me around, horrific thoughts coming to my head.
Like being gagged and bound when Hollis took me, it wouldn’t be the first time if this man bent me over the seat and lifted my dress only to threaten to rape me. Alessio would press his erection into me. Marcello was fond of running his hand between my legs.
I’m not bent over, however, and the man doesn’t touch me in any way other than to remove the bindings from my wrists before turning me back around to face the house.
Heavy feet carry me toward the front door, and I’m surprised I can manage to walk. I stupidly wonder if this is what men being led to the death chamber feel like. Being brave is stupid. I should run even knowing I’ll be caught within seconds. It feels like giving up.
The man beside me opens the front door, and I freeze, locked in place at the sight of Alessio standing there with a small smile on his face.
“Madelene! Thank God you’re okay!”
I feel like an extra in the Twilight Zone as he wraps his arms around me, burying his face in my neck, but then I see Lucian standing off to the side.
Alessio takes a step back, his huge hands on my shoulders as his eyes sweep my body. It’s all an act for his father. I have no doubt the man is well aware how mean his sons have been to me, but so long as it doesn’t happen in front of him, then who cares, right?
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I say, looking in Lucian’s direction.
He nods once before turning away, his face just as blank as it always is when I happen to see him, which isn’t very often.
“You made it home just in time for dinner,” Alessio says, his jaw twitching as if he hates being forced to act this way.
My nerves are shot, my hands trembling as much as my chin when I attempt to smile at him.
“Run up to your room and get ready. I’ll see you in, say, half an hour?”
I nod, wondering if the man will give me even that to prepare for what’s coming.
He steps out of my way, and I don’t hesitate to angle toward the stairs.
My room is exactly the same, its pristineness maintained by house staff while I was away. There isn’t a thing out of place nor a speck of dust to be found.
I lock the door behind me, knowing it’s only a suggestion for honest people and there aren’t many of those around here, before heading into the bathroom.
I know better than to be late, so I don’t waste a second, stripping naked and getting into the shower. I wonder if I’ll be brave enough to not mention Elio being alive while Alessio is hurting me. If my tormentor knew my brother was still walking the earth, he would’ve used it by now to hurt me.
I can’t enjoy my shower because I know how long it takes me to dry my massive mane of hair. I have to pull it up in a bun due to time constraints, but it doesn’t really matter how I fix it or what I wear. The night will still end the same way.
I want to cry all over again when I realize my clothes are tighter than they ever have been. The hamburgers with extra bacon and french fries I paid Hollis for with my nudity have settled on my hips, and I know it will be just one more thing Alessio will punish me for.
I take several deep breaths before leaning in close to the mirror to put on my mascara.
I choose the kind that isn’t waterproof because I know the man likes to see my face streaked with my pain.
Maybe this will help him to end things faster.
It’s no longer time for bravery. All I can hope for is quick at this point.
Silence surrounds me as I leave my room. I don’t hear or see any of the guards. The door to Lucian’s office is closed tight like normal. I don’t run into any house staff on my way to the dining room, which I find empty other than a note on the table.
He’s already starting his games, I realize, as I pick up the card that directs me to the theater room.
I wobble on my heels as I climb the set of stairs opposite of the living quarters. I don’t consider rushing out the front door because I know it will be guarded. Even if it wasn’t, the perimeter is walked constantly and I could never make it over the twelve-foot walls surrounding the compound.
The hum of electronic equipment greets me before turning the doorknob.
The theater seats twelve in electric recliners and up to eight more if people are willing to sit on the giant bean bags placed around the room.
Dead center of the room is Alessio. If I didn’t know better, if I hadn’t seen the type of monster I know he is, I could mistake him for a gentleman.
His suit is tailored to fit his body. One I know from being forced to watch him fuck other women is toned, tanned, and covered with ink declaring his allegiance to his family.
I know without seeing it that he has his favorite knife tucked in at his back.
His brother was fond of his two pistols, but Alessio likes to take a more personal approach when teaching a lesson.
“There you are, my love.”
He lowers the bottle of wine and holds out a glass of wine in my direction. I know better than to refuse, despite him being well aware that I hate the taste of wine. It’s an exercise in control.
“Thank you,” I tell him, lifting the glass to my lips.
With any luck, he’s put poison in the damn thing.
I drain it, refusing to gag at the flavor just to spite him.
“Now, now, darling. No one likes a drunk.” His lip twitches. The man is already losing his patience with me.
He takes the glass from my hand, sweeping his arm to one of the recliners.
I take my seat, knowing he’s purposely trying to fuck with my head. He chuckles, the tiniest of laughs slipping out when the toe of my high heel drags the carpet, making me stumble a little.
Whatever bravery I managed slips away, my chin threatening to quiver when he takes the seat next to mine as he lifts the remote.
“I thought dinner and a movie would be the best way to welcome you home.”
The screen lights up, but instead of a big production showcasing the studio responsible for the movie, it automatically flickers to life, on a man tied to a chair.
I turn my head, already guessing what he’s going to force me to watch.
Rough fingers grab my chin, his whiskey-tainted breaths on the side of my face.
“If you close your eyes longer than it takes you to blink, I’ll slice your eyelids from your fucking face.”
I know better than to challenge his threats, so I sit, with tears streaming down my face, as I watch Alessio and his men torture and kill my father.