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“And she’s young. Too young,” Angelo continues.
Both men talk over each other about me, as if I’m not even here. I suppose in their world, women are merely ornamental.
“She’s a good cook. And always keeps our place clean. If you don’t want to use her for, uh…” Patrick trails off, clearing his throat as he lets the unfinished sentence hang in the air. “I’m just saying, she can be a housekeeper or a yard worker or–”
“Enough!” Angelo bellows.
The room grows deathly silent. Blood rushes through my ears, my heart beating a staccato rhythm against my chest.What the actual fuck is happening right now? Am I really being sold to the mafia?
“Sir,” the man who grabbed me from the window whispers as he leans in closer to Angelo. “Their debt is upwards of a million. Do you thinksheis worth that kind of cash?” He doesn’t even try to hide his disdain for me as his beady little black eyes roam up and down my body.
Angelo leans back in the chair, scratching his chin as he looks me over. “No,” he states simply. The large man scoffs and waves his hand in the air, dismissing me.
Oh, thank all the gods I can think of!
I pull my arm from the man’s death grip and rub the sore spot on my upper arm.
“This is not what you promised me. She’s no good,” Angelo says with a hard look directed at Tim.
“What?” Tim exclaims, standing up from his position on the couch. “You said if we brought you a promising business opportunity, our debt would be forgiven.”
“And what business opportunity did you have in mind?” Angelo asks.
“Well, you traffic guns, right?” Derek answers after a beat of silence. “We figured you probably trafficked women, too.”
Angelo slowly rises from his seat, his barrel chest and protruding stomach seemingly taking up the whole room. When he crosses his arms and stares at my brothers, I want to duck under the kitchen table and take cover.
“Despicable. All of you. We don’t traffic women or children. Besides, giving up your sister because she’s an easy target? That’s not the work ethic, nor the morality I want from my men.”
“Morality? Fuckingmorality?” Tim shouts. “That’s rich, coming from a goddamn mafia captain.”
“Exactly,” Angelo snaps. “So how much of a piece of shit does that make you?”
Tim glares at the man before glancing at Patrick and Derek still seated on the couch. Tim rolls his eyes and squares his shoulders, ready to face Angelo again. “Fine. Give me a week and we’ll think of something else.”
“Not so fast,” Angelo replies. He looks over at his partner in crime, and the two of them whisper Italian back and forth until the goon nods his head and wanders away.
“Where is he going?” Tim asks.
“Do not worry about him. You have a debt. And now you’ve dragged your sister into it. While I don’t delight in shedding innocent blood, I can’t have loose ends.”
“What?” I gasp, instinctively backing away.
My captor grabs my wrist and tugs me forcefully against him before shoving me into Tim. My brother seethes, his hazel eyes full of rage and disgust.
“Shut her up. Then, I’ll be back to collect. The full amount, in cash, by next week. You won’t like the consequences if you’re late again.”
A whimper escapes my lips, despite my best efforts to keep my panic attack at bay.
“You mean, kill her?” Derek looks a little appalled by the idea.
Hope blooms in my chest. Maybe he’ll help me escape.
Angelo’s eyes narrow. “You had no problem selling her, so what difference does it make?”
A tense silence fills the room. One wrong word and this could turn into a bloody crime scene. I’ve seen it happen before, all those years ago.
“Fine,” Tim states finally.
