Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
T ildi Lewis huddled in a corner of the tiny room she’d been forced to call home for the past week. It had been forever since she’d been kidnapped. She wasn’t sure exactly the length of time she had been missing. She’d lost track the tenth time they’d moved her.
At least the room she was in now had a small window. It gave her a glimpse of the latest compound grounds, not that the barren landscape was much to write home about. Unfortunately, as it had no window pane, it also let in a frigid sea breeze once sunset came. With her eyes squeezed shut, she tried to picture a sun-bathed, open meadow with plenty of room to move and breathe. The distant crash of ocean waves made it tough.
The waves disappeared with her ability to breathe when thudding footsteps echoed off the hallway's stone walls. The louder they grew, the louder her heart thundered. When whoever it was stopped in front of her door, the meadow scene she’d been striving to picture evaporated.
It was futile, but she couldn’t stop herself from scanning her room for the millionth time for a place to hide. Other than the paper-thin mattress on the floor, one threadbare blanket, and a bucket in the far corner for unmentionable things, the room sat bare.
She froze, straining for any new sound from the hallway that might warn her of unwelcome visitors. She couldn’t take another breath until the heavy tread of footsteps clomped away from her door and faded.
Forcing air back into her lungs, Tildi worked at slowing the pace of her racing heart. Nothing could have prepared her for how much her life would change when she’d been stolen away from everything she knew.
“You worry too much,” Tildi had assured her sister, Breezy, what must have been around a year earlier. “I’ve been taking care of myself for five years now. And my life is way better than it was living with you and mom at home under our father’s, oh, sorry, I mean the General’s thumb.”
Tildi shivered out a sigh. She’d been so cocky. So secure in her intellect and invincibility.
So stupid.
Breezy wouldn’t be put off so easily. “Can’t you at least tell me the alias you’re using? What if something happens? I know you’re not going by Sera anymore.”
She certainly was not. When she’d run away, that name was the first thing she’d scraped off. It was too easy to track. Not that she would have kept it anyway. She hated that name and everything it represented.
It wasn’t that Tildi didn’t trust her sister. She did. But she didn’t trust her parents at all. Her father, the General, as he’d insisted they call him, was a narcissistic asshole who wanted complete control of everyone’s life and future. Including Tildi’s.
“Nothing’s going to happen,” Tildi said. “I don’t want you to keep even more secrets from Mom and the General. And frankly, you suck at lying.”
Affronted, her sister huffed. “Do not.”
But she so did.
“Anyway,” Tildi continued, “I’ve got to go. I’m working a party tonight. It’s super fancy. Some Italian highbrow’s birthday bash.”
“I guess if you won’t even tell me your name, it’s out of the question to find out who you’re working for.”
The sad note in her sister’s voice had almost convinced her to spill everything, but it would have only made Breezy worry even more. Tildi worked upscale parties, doling out drinks and hors d'oeuvres, while powerful men talked about things that now fueled Tildi’s nightmares. She’d overheard things she thought only happened in books and movies.
Every second of being at those events dragged on like torture. But contrary to the romance novels she loved, hate didn’t keep her warm, nor did it pay her bills. The tips she earned at the parties helped her scrape by in her studio apartment without having to find a roommate. Some of her friends weren’t so lucky.
And, hopefully, with the amount she had slowly accumulated over the past months, she’d be able to go to a thrift shop and buy a warmer coat. Even growing up in the Tennessee mountains hadn’t prepared her for these brutal northern winters.
Now she’d give anything to have shared more with Breezy that day. Then, the people back home would at least have a place to start looking when they realized she was missing. But the random calls she’d made happened so infrequently it had probably taken months for her sister to realize something was wrong. As it was, all she could do was pray someone from her new life had realized it.
The scraping and clanking of a key in the door’s skeleton lock jerked her back to the present. Wedging into the corner, she ignored the rough stone wall scraping her back and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Holding her breath, she waited.
Please don’t let him get in.
Even as she tossed the words out into the universe, she knew better. Her heart froze, and she lost the battle with her tears as the door banged open. Ottavio Moretti, the underboss in charge of her latest hell, stumbled into the room, locking the door ominously behind him.
Numerous faded prison tattoos riddled his fingers, hands, and neck. They probably covered his entire body, but thankfully, she hadn’t been forced to find out.
Yet.
He stared at her from the doorway without speaking. Her blood chilled at his predatory look. It was like he was hungry, and she was a filet mignon. Using her feet as leverage, she shoved herself further into the corner. The mattress skidded forward, causing her to slip lower on the pad.
His eyes flared. Did he think she was signaling she wanted what that look on his face telegraphed he was determined to do? Her stomach heaved.
She wanted to close her eyes, but there was no way she was taking her sight off him. In her mind, though, she pictured her life back in her hometown of Darling, Tennessee—the town she’d run from. Not because of the Daddies and Littles who seemed drawn to it but because of her own father.
At eighteen, she’d never had the chance to explore her feelings about the lifestyle most of the people living there practiced. The men were overprotective and possessive of their women yet treated them as the most precious treasures in their lives.
At eighteen, she couldn’t fathom how the women didn’t feel smothered or disrespected. But they didn’t. No, the women of Darling adored it. No one could have convinced her she’d want a Daddy of her own one day. Not then. But now she was six years older, and those years had taught her a lot. Hurt her a lot.
She didn’t feel that way anymore.
Right now, she’d give anything to have a strong protective Daddy to shield her from the beast standing in the doorway. But she’d missed her chance. There were no Daddies here, and even if there were, they wouldn’t want a Little girl as damaged as she’d become.
Nico Midnight, the man who had kidnapped her, wasn’t anywhere close to being a Daddy. Neither were the men who worked in his organization. These arrogant men were cruel and selfish and made her long for things she’d scorned before.
“There you are, il mia topolina , my little mouse . I think it’s time for you to scurry out of the corner and play with me.”
When he closed and locked the door, her heartbeat staggered. She could barely hear him over the roar of the blood rushing in her ears. He was huge, muscled, and mean. The bruise on her cheek bore proof of that.
As his staggered steps brought him closer, the whimper her frozen throat had held back escaped. The flare of triumph in his eyes told her he hadn’t missed it.
“I-I’m supposed to be left alone until Mr. Midnight, I mean the Boss , arrives.” She pulled the blanket up even higher.
Her heart raced so fiercely, she waited for it to explode. Maybe it would be a blessing. She hated being cornered, knowing she couldn’t prevent him from doing whatever he wanted.
He shrugged. “What the boss doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Or you. Because if you tell him I touched you, he will kill you as well as me. So, we won’t tell him. He sees you as a whore anyway.”
The insult bit, causing her to flinch. You’d think, after all this time, she’d have grown thicker skin, but no. Heart on her sleeve that was her.
She’d caught the eye of the head of the Midnight family, the birthday boy himself, that night at the party. A powerful man with cold, shark eyes–eyes she’d caught because of her stupid pink hair. He’d wanted her, and that was all it took for him to orchestrate her kidnapping.
She’d been shipped from place to place but always wound up in a small, locked room. Each new location was ruled by one of Mr. Midnight’s henchmen who thought he would be the first to get away with taking what the Boss , as they called him, considered his.
But she’d been lucky so far. Someone had always told Mr. Midnight. Then people died, and she would be moved to a new location where it started all over again.
Moretti stared down at her, derision in his voice when he said, “You’re just another girl for him to use before turning you over to his men. But this time, I am going to be first.”
He lurched forward and, before she realized he was too close, grabbed her wrist and lifted her to stand before him. She tried to run but her feet got tangled in the blanket, and she fell to her hands and knees on the edge of the mattress.
He laughed, and the sinister rumble sent shockwaves of fear over her. “How did you know where I wanted you, topolina ? Such a good baby mouse to read my mind, or did you? You pretend to be afraid, but you want it, too, no?”
“No!” she screamed, trying to crawl away. But he had dropped to his knees behind her, his fingers gripping her hips hard enough to add even more bruises.
Terror forced bile into her throat, burning and tearing up her eyes. She screamed, knowing it would do no good. Even if anyone heard, no one here would stand up for her.
Reaching up her body, he grabbed at her breasts, using his hold to yank her backward into his hips. Even through his pants, she could feel his hard cock pressing against her. Unless some guardian angel from above appeared to help, she wasn’t going to be able to break free. There were certainly no Daddies here like the ones in Darling to rush to her rescue. She was on her own, like always.
This Italian gorilla was going to do what none of the others had been able to. Even knowing she would never be able to stop him, no way was she giving up without a fight. She kicked back as hard as she could, somehow nailing him in the thigh.
He roared in pain and anger, grabbing her shoulder and flipping her to her back. She watched him draw his hand back but had no way to dodge the slap. Fire blazed across her face. She screamed and fought harder, praying the universe would send someone to save her even as she continued to fight for herself.
“He’s going to kill you for this!” she cried out, but her words earned nothing more than his laughter.
The universe must have something more important going on because, once again, she was left to fend for herself.