Page 54 of Stolen Compliance

Frowning, I force myself to admit the truth. “You were right. Your cousin trained him exceptionally well. I didn’t expect such perfect submissiveness.”

Sergio snorts. “That must have hurt to say. I’m not surprised, though. Allesandro is very thorough. I still wish Luca was a contender for Kari. I’d prefer someone I can control. I’m not pleased with the list the lawyers gave me.”

“Would you like me to take a look?” I offer, deliberately not thinking about Kari and Luca together. However, Sergio is rather insistent, which is never good. “You know Luca wouldn’t be able to give Kari what she needs. To move into another’s territory…”

The sound of Sergio’s chuckle spreads cold fear through me. With a raspy voice, he states, “Ah, but this territory only goes to Teo if he proves himself. Otherwise, there are other contenders for it. Ones that I am sure I could trust and who would hold the position until my grandchild could take over.”

I incline my head in agreement—even though I want to deny the possibility. The fury that stays dormant inside me sparks and briefly imagines the fucking satisfaction that would come from beating the shit out of Sergio before killing him. The only thing that brings me back to the center is the ruthless logic I’ve embraced since my own beginning here.

For one, there’s no way he’d manage to make Luca and Kari have children. But he’ll never understand sexuality. If he continues down this route, it’s only if Teo dies. Something Sergio would never do. It wouldn’t stop him from giving the order, though. I swallow hard at the idea of losing Teo.

“You know, Dominic, I see myself in you,” Sergio murmurs, his eyes hazy with memories of a long life—fucking too long now. “Perhaps you should have been born a Martelli. You have the belly for it. Sometimes, I wonder…”

He trails off, and I don’t bother to say anything. That’s not my job. I hide in the shadows, the Boss’s trainer, his pet executioner. Teo plays at the heir, and he’ll succeed—eventually.

Right now, I have no desire to take over. If I did, I wouldn’t need Sergio’s order. Because in this life, dirty secrets and skeletons hide everywhere. We excel at the shadows, cloaking ourselves in darkness. The blood we’re drenched in is hidden from the light, and fuck knows we’re thankful for that. But the problem is…nobody ever stops to think.

Just what else is hidden?

Ibarely make it to my room before I collapse on the floor. There’s nobody around to care—hell, not that anyone even exists to do that in the first place. Tears pool at the corner of my eyes, but I fight them back.

Replaying the lesson in compliance makes me sick. But not for the reason it should. And that is what I can’t forgive myself over. Because it should be anger coursing through me, and not…this.

I hate myself. There’s no other explanation for it. Because fuck why was I the perfect submissive? Why didn’t I fight?

I’m supposed to be strong. A Second. Someone who is destined to become a Boss. To prove myself to everyone. My brothers. My former Master. And yet, it’s like something happened, only I don’t know what. If I could just put my finger on it, to fix it, to make it stop.

Instead, the thoughts keep churning around. The doubt. The confidence. The submission. The need to fight. The fucking compliance.

Everything here is confusing. Each step I’ve taken to a new life has been a dizzying array of experiences that I never expected, and fuck, most of them I’ve never wanted. Yet, it’s also new. Exciting, even when terrifying—when fucking sick and depraved.

I draw my knees up, trying to comfort myself. To give myself warmth. Because I’m so fucking cold. In a way I’ve never experienced. It’s the kind that burns me from the inside, that level of frozenness that feels hot—even when it’s not.

Life with Il Padrone so often became repetitive. Especially after everything settled. Lio became his everything. His reason for living. The rest of us were tossed aside. But my Brothers had each other. And me? I was left alone. To suffer. Just in a different way than I do here.

Dominic and Teo look at me as if they see me and like they want me. Even when pushing my limits. Then again, Il Padrone used to test us, to push us. I understand it. After all, it’s a form of love.

But then he found Lio. Fucking perfect Lio. Even if he’s not. Even if he’ll never be the Second I was. He can’t be. Because then, what was I?

I shake my head, trying to stop the panic swelling inside me. Fuck. I hate this. The way the toxic thoughts invade my mind. Flashes hit me hard. The terror of being dragged to the Martelli house and thrust into “training”. But I found myself. I made it as Il Padrone’s Second. An honor.

That now belongs to Lio. Because I was shoved aside. No, that’s not it. I was given an opportunity. Take out his cousin, end the sex slavery, and take over. Run the territory myself. And if there’s a tiny kernel inside me that thought by doing so I’d gain Allesandro’s approval, that I’d prove myself to be the better match for him, it’s nobody’s business but my own.

Except…suddenly there are two others who draw me in. Just like he did. Temptation dipped in poison.

I focus on my breathing. Remembering it could be worse. I could be invisible to them, like the wraith I became in the place I used to call home. Whose existence was nothing but an inconvenience to every. Fucking. One.

As fucked up as it is to be called bunny… at least it’s something. Something I never had. Because every single Boy earned a nickname. Except me. I used to think that’s because Allesandro saw me as the most important. The most versatile. Now I wonder if it’s because he never saw me at all.

A sob rips free. It can’t be stuffed down anymore. The problem is, I’m not sure what I’m crying over. The loss of Allesandro or the loss of myself. Hell, maybe it’s because I bend over so fucking easily.

A plaything.

That’s what we all started as with Allesandro. Before we become Boys. And then, we gain our position. It makes me wonder… have I merely been a plaything ever since I was ripped away from my childhood?

Is that why I never earned a nickname? A treasure denied to me, over and over?

It must be the truth if I bent over so easily for Dominic. If I gave myself so quickly to Teo. Enjoying the touches and the way his eyes lingered on me.