The Mafia's Hostage

| 7 | Getting ready.

E M E L I A N A

08:01.

"What the f**k are you doing here?!" I hear a voice screech waking me up from my sleep. I sit up, startled as I look around the room in confusion, searching for the source of the voice. My eyes land on a blonde-haired woman who is dressed in a fitted black dress and black pumps. Her wavy dirty blonde hair falls just below her shoulders and from where I am sitting it seems like she has light blue eyes.

My brain is still half asleep and my stomach and head still ache from yesterday so it is hard to keep my eyes open, all I want to do is get back to sleep.

"Hello? Are you deaf?! I'm talking to you!" The woman yells again with her thick south side Chicago accent.

"I... um... Luca brought me here..." I trail off, frowning at her as I hold onto my head. I don't get why she is so angry, she could have just asked me for my name in a nice way. But then again, she did find me sleeping in Luca's bed, maybe she's his girlfriend... I'm sure she is because she's incredibly stunning.

"Who are you?" I ask her.

"I don't have to tell you who I am! What are you doing in this room?!" She screams, taking a step closer to me.

"What the hell is all this screaming about?" Luca's voice speaks up as the door opens with a powerful force. His eyes land on the two of us and as they do, he lets out a deep breath and shuts the door.

"Emeliana, you're awake. And you met Celestia..." He says, entering the room.

"Damn right she met me. Don't you know where the-"

"I'm the one who brought her here, calm down... Remember your blood pressure-"

"Damn it, Mariano, I know okay." She grunts, trying to steady her breathing.

Luca's eyes fall back on me, analysing me as he takes a few steps forward and sits at the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me in a calm voice.

"Okay, I guess," I reply running a hand through my hair which is a mess I'm sure.

"Celestia, give us a moment." Luca lets out, turning to the blonde-haired woman behind him.

"Calvino will have your head once he figures out what you're doing." She scoffs and starts to walk away, her pumps violently clicking as she does.

"Thank you." Luca smiles at her.

"Aii, Whatever. Un tale idiota, Vuoi mettermi nei guai eh?" (Such an i***t, you want to get me in trouble huh?) She grumbles, waving her hand dismissively and mumbling something under her breath before she leaves the room and shuts the door behind her.

"She was charming." I let out sarcastically, pulling the covers off of me and getting out of bed. I hiss as I'd feel my stomach ache, holding onto the wall for support.

"Easy..." I hear Luca say, coming over to my side.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I say to him and stare down at my clothes, frowning as I notice that I'm wearing a dark grey t-shirt and a pair of baggy shorts, maybe boxers.

"W-whose clothes are these?" I question, holding onto the shirt and glancing at Luca.

"They're mine." He answers me casually. The heat rises to my cheeks as my lips purse together.

"Are you the one who-"

"Changed you? Yes. You barely even noticed." He replies, a small smirk appearing on his lips. I look away from him and walk away from the bed, crossing my arms over my stomach. I feel violated and extremely uncomfortable that he had seen my body without my permission. I had so many scars over my back, my stomach, my chest and I didn't want him or anyone to see any of them... but I guess it is already too late.

"I'm... I'm just kidding. I wouldn't..- I got one of the girls to help me out." He says noticing my reaction as his smirk falls is now replaced by a serious expression.

"Okay..." I mumble, nodding at him.

"Put on the clothes you had on before, you can wash up in the bathroom. Don't waste time and be ready by the time I come back which will be in 8 minutes... Oh and only use the black towels. There is a red toothbrush and toothpaste on the sink." He instructs.

"Wait, w-why?" I respond with slight confusion. The clothes I was wearing before were all bloody and dirty and he still wants me to put them on?

"You're not supposed to be here in the first place, so how do I explain you getting a proper change of clothes? Besides, it'll only be temporary." He retorts. I guess that made sense in a way.

"Get changed, you have 7 minutes now." He says and leaves me alone in the room.

Once he leaves, I glance around the room before my eyes land on the clothes I was wearing before, stacked in a neat pile on top of his desk chair. I walk to pick them up before going over to what I presume is the bathroom door, opening it and entering inside.

"Holy crap," I whisper once I open the door. This bathroom is massive, I think it's even bigger than my entire room. There is a jacuzzi, a large shower with glass doors, and gold polished handles as well as a white porcelain toilet. I walk over to the giant mirror and check out my appearance, placing some fingers over my cheek.

I have dark bags around my eyes, faint purple and red patches on different parts of my face... In fact, I look better and feel better than usual, thanks to Luca.

I place my clothes on the counter in front of me and open the tap. I cup some water in my hands and bring it to my face once it's enough and wash the sleep out of my eyes, cleaning my face thoroughly. After that I brush my teeth as well and rinse my mouth, looking to the set of towels that are hung beside the mirror and picking out the smallest black one, wiping my face with it.

Is it possible for a towel to smell like Armani cologne? Well, this one does. In fact, his whole bathroom smell like expensive cologne.

After that, I take off my clothes- well Luca's- the clothes I had on and put on the ones I had on before. Once I'm changed, I fold his clothes up and leave them on the counter in a pile, coming out of the bathroom.

The door opens a few moments later and Luca stands on the other side of it.

"Ready?" He asks stepping in.

"That wasn't even seven minutes," I state and close the bathroom door.

"Let's go, Celestia is waiting for you." He continues, ignoring what I said and motions with his head for me to follow him.

I take in a small breath and exhale quickly, walking towards him.

.  .  .  .  .

"Are they all here?" Celestia's voice sounds in the other room, it is loud and assertive, holding much authority.

Luca directs me into the room and once I enter my breath hitches as I stare at what is in front of me... Or in this sense, who.

A group of about 11 girls stands in front of me, each of them standing beside each other in a perfect line. They all look terrified but try to hide it by remaining perfectly still.

Most of them are very slim and look like they haven't eaten anything for days. Some of them are beaten up and bruised, making me grimace thinking about how they became like that. But I guess I can't judge considering I probably look the same.

2 women stand next to Celestia, in black suits and black pumps, holding notepads in their's hands and listening to what she is saying.

I stare at Luca behind me with wariness and turn back to Celestia who is writing something on a notepad.

"9, 10, 11..." She looks around as she counts the girls in front of her before she then turns to me.

"12. You get in the line." She points at me with her pen. I hesitantly walk forward and join a redheaded girl at the end of the line who had a dark bruise under her eye and a busted lip.

"Good morning ladies... My name is Celestia Barrera, I'm going to need you to remain perfectly still, do not say a word until you are spoken to, do not make direct eye contact with the clients and most importantly, try not to show how scared you are." She says.

"Am I clear?" She asks but silence follows as the girls stare at each other with uncertainty.

"I said am I clear?!" Celestia yells loudly resulting in the girls gasping and responding quickly.

"Good. Don't ever make me repeat myself. Answer immediately, got it?"

"Yes." We all say in clear voices.

"Fantastic. Now the clients will be here soon so-"

"Where are my girls?" We hear a loud voice say, and at the sound of that, the atmosphere tenses and the girls around me become uneasy, fear becoming incredibly hard to hide.

"Ahhh, there they are," Calvino says, walking in with about 5 men behind him, all dressed in the same black suits.

"Don Calvino, you're just in time." Celestia smiles putting her notepad to her chest and making her way over to him.

"Celestia, my dear." He smiles with open arms as Celestia goes over to him and hugs him, kissing him on the cheek.

"Are these all the girls?" He asks as he eyes each one of us curiously, his eyes landing on me and staring me down from head to toe.

"Yes, all 12. We need to get them cleaned up if we want to impress the clients."

Again with the clients...

"I agree. Make sure they nice hot showers and give them a change of clothes. Dresses. Also make sure they have something to eat as well, whatever they want." Calvino says, walking closer to us. My heart pounds like a violent drum in my chest as he draws closer, to me in particular.

"Give her a special dress..." His low perverted voice resonates in the room for everyone to hear. I can feel multiple eyes on me, glares and looks of jealously burning holes in different parts of my body. I try to control my breathing, taking in slow and long breaths. My hands are shaking but I try my best as to keep my face expressionless, I am not going to let him get under my skin... Any further.

I look behind the monster in front of me to see Luca staring at me as well with his arms crossed and a deep frown printed onto his face.

"I'm postponing the auction till this evening, so make sure they are ready before 6 o'clock. We start at 6:30 prompt and not a minute after." He tells Celestia, stepping away from me after being satisfied with my reaction.

"I know you won't disappoint me." He says with another smile, showing off his pure white teeth just before he walks away with his.

"Of course. I'll get right to it." She replies him placing her notepad to her chest and diverting her attention to us.

"You 6 go with Gina, you three with Kat and you three with me. Split up, now." She instructs and all the girls immediately disperse to where they are assigned, including me and the redheaded girl I was standing next to.

"Follow me." Celestia lets out and begins to leave the large living room. I look back at Luca for the last time only to find that he isn't where he was before, it's like he left the room, leaving me to fend for myself.

I can't help but feel a bit hurt, he is the only one I know here, apart from Adriano, and I didn't want to left alone all these strangers.

We walk in a single file, one behind the other in a straight line. The girl in front of me walks with a small limp to her right leg, making me wonder even more what happened to her.

"Emeliana, help her walk, we don't want to make her leg injury worse," Celestia tells me as she continues to walk forward. She didn't even have to look back, she could already tell that the girl is having trouble walking.

"Okay," I reply and catch up with the girl. Once I get to her, I pick up one of her arms and put it on my shoulders, giving her support.

"T-thanks." She mutters in a quiet voice.

"No problem," I reply her with a smile as we continue to walk forward. Despite the pain in my abdomen, I still felt like I had to help her. It is just a natural instinct, I always wanted to help people in any way I could.

We make a turn to the left and walk down a wide hallway with about 8 doors on each side of the hallway. Just like the rest of the mansion, this room had an uncountable amount of paintings, with crimson and gold wallpaper plastered on the walls.

We stop at the 3rd door from the start of the hallway, on the right side, where Celestia gets out a bunch of keys that she had hooked onto her notepad.

Once she opens it, she walks inside and waits for all three of us to enter before closing the door and locking it. I look around the room, admiring the furniture and the cool interior of the bedroom. It is roughly the same size as mine but it has less stuff in it.

"Okay, let's get down to business," Celestia speaks, grabbing our attention.

"First I'd like to apologize for being hard on you earlier. I take no pleasure in mistreating human beings, especially women, like they are some sort of object. However, I must obey the rules of this Family and business is business. Just wanted to let you know that." She tells us. I could hear the sincerity in her voice, so I believe what she is saying.

"Anyway. I'm going to head to the closet to pick out your dresses, you can sit down and wait for me to get back." She says and walks over to the giant walk-in closet at the eastern side of the room.

Once she left, I help the girl over to the bed where she can sit down and rest, letting go of her soon as she did.

I take a breath of air as I rest my hands on my hips and stare at her as she massages her thigh with her hand.

"What happened?" I ask, making her look at me.

"Uhm... I... said something I shouldn't have and, paid the consequences." She mumbles.

"I see. Well... I've been there..." I respond and she stares up at me. "I'm Emeliana. What's your name?" I ask the girl. I decided that if we are going to wait, I might as well make conversation.

"A-Amethyst." She lets out, her voice rough and croaky.

"Like the gem? That's a cool name." I compliment.

"Y-yeah. Thank you." She smiles.

"What about you?" I say to the other girl, who was nervously biting her nails and pacing around the room. She doesn't answer me, instead, she continues to walk around as if she didn't hear a word I said.

"She's Hannah. S-she doesn't talk much." Amethyst responds, watching Hannah go about the room.

"So what are you doing here?" Amethyst asks me.

"Um... To be honest I don't know. Luca Genovese brought me here under Calvino's orders after he killed my Father and most of my Family."

"That's horrible... I'm sorry-"

"It's okay... My father wasn't exactly father of the year so..." I try to brush it off. Maybe once upon a time, my Father was a decent man, when my brothers and mother were still alive. But that was such a long time ago, and their deaths changed him forever. I'm almost certain it's what made him become the man he was...

"I see." She says slowly.

"... How long have you been here?"

"2 weeks."