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I hear him then. He’s coming toward me, slowly. His loping gait is hard and painful. I turn, shaking, face pale. Terror rings through me.
He stops a foot away.
He stares at me with an intense and painful gaze.
“Do you really think I’d kiss you like that and still let you leave here with nothing?”
The question is so quiet and so unexpected that I almost don’t understand it.
But when I do, heat flushes over my skin.
Chapter 9
Mirella
“I’m not taking money just because… just because we kissed.” And did a lot more than that.
He looks frustrated and he shakes his head. “That’s not what I mean. I’m trying to say… I’m not going to fuck you over, Mirella. No matter what happens between us. Even if you decide to run away now. Even if all our hard work leads to nothing. Your mother will get what I promised.”
I should feel relief. Instead, I feel only afraid. He’s going to own me. I know it and he knows it, and it’s like there’s nothing I can do to stop it. There’s no way to take power from this man.
“Thank you.” I look down at my feet. Meek, terrified. I never should’ve pushed. I never should’ve let him touch me, kiss me, lick me. Spank me. Make me feel so good.
He stares at me for another long moment as if deciding what the hell he’s going to do, but he only shakes his head and limps off. “I’ll see you bright and early, princess.”
My dismissal.
I watch him go. I should feel relieved that he didn’t do more.
Instead, unease twists itself along my spine, as I think about what we did and what else I want him to do.
It only gets worse when Karah shows up at my room a couple hours later carrying an ornate box that jingles when she moves.
“How’s family dinner sound?” she asks.
“Uh, sorry, family dinner?”
She hustles into my room without waiting for an invitation and whatever’s in the box slides around. “I brought some things you might want to wear. Just some simple jewelry, nothing special. It’s up to you though. We like to make it formal, mostly for fun.”
I drift after her. “Formal? Family dinner?”
She waves a hand dismissively and places the box down on my bed. “Go ahead, get dressed.” She sits down and beams at me.
I stare back, weighing my options. Screaming and running doesn’t seem like a good idea. Refusing to go sounds even worse. So I sigh, rub my face to try and wake myself up a bit, then dig into my closet. I grab a dress I think might work—on the short side, only somewhat revealing, but appropriate for a more formal setting. I duck into the bathroom to freshen up a bit, wash my face, put on the dress, that sort of thing. When I’m finished, I come out and stand in front of the mirror.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Karah says as she leans back on the end of my bed and crosses her ankles. “I mean, we try to do this once a week, get everyone together. Since you’re a guest of the family, it’s only polite to invite you.”
She flips open the box. Inside are rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets. They’re beautiful, some studded with diamonds, others dripping emerald, rubies, stones I can’t name. When I was growing up, I thought my mom had the most amazing jewelry imaginable—and now I realize it was all cheap costume stuff compared to this. Karah encourages me to pick a few pieces out.
I fuss with my hair and weigh a necklace I can’t decide on. I’m not sure why I care so much about what I look like, but some part of me needs to prove I don’t only wear yoga pants and polo shirts all the time, like I’m a person outside of my work life. Not that anyone cares—except for maybe Fynn and Karah.
And if I’m honest with myself, which I really don’t want to be right now because I’m not feeling the best about my choices since coming here, but if I am then I’d admit that yes, I’m getting dressed up for him.
“I want to make a good impression if I’m being thrown to the wolves. I haven’t met your brother Casso yet.”
Karah purses her lips. “Yeah, well, that’s super rude on his part. You’ve been here for a few days already and he hasn’t bothered saying hello.”
“He’s the Don. Or the boss. Or whatever.” I feel awkward talking about the mafia to Karah. It’s like an open secret around here. The staff acts like it doesn’t exist despite the armed guards roaming the grounds.
She laughs and tosses her hair. “Relax, we know what we are. We can talk openly about it between the family, but be careful if we go to the outside. Don’t want the feds to hear you say anything like that.” She winks at me and I have no clue if she’s kidding or not. Probably not.
