Subgated by the mafia

5. Rose

This time, when I opened my eyes, I knew it wasn't a nightmare.

I was on top of a bed with silk sheets, one that felt like paradise, were it not for the fact that I was in hell itself. Then I sighed before holding back tears at such a horrendous situation. I never imagined it would end like this when all I wanted was to meet my paternal family as well as discover how great Italy was.

Up to that point, I had only known the worst of the world.

I thought about my grandfather, the man who had shown up and sent me a travel itinerary that I ignored, and I cursed myself because I decided to be independent. It had been the most terrible choice of all.

The man must have been worried, as was my aunt.

“I hope they look for me," I said painfully.

My hopes lay with an older man who lived in Sicily and had the illusion of knowing me, and with an aunt who would surely move heaven and earth for me.

The only thing I had to do was to survive.

But at what cost?

That was the biggest doubt of all, one that I hoped would undermine neither my being nor my sanity, and the only thing I could do was to hold on until I found the right opportunity to flee.

At that moment, the door of the luxurious room I was in opened. The man who had told me it was his entered as lord and master of all, with a glass of what was possibly liquor, and I couldn't help but remember the words the mystery woman had said to me.

It was the devil.

“You woke up at last," she said with a smile. “I thought you never would.”

“That would have been preferable to seeing your face.”

“You're very funny.”

“I guess I turned out to be an endless source of entertainment. After all, that's what you bought me for, isn't it?”

“Well, at least you're not stupid, and you're aware that I bought you; that means you're mine, and if I want you to be my entertainment, you will be," he said seriously, and I couldn't help but clench my fists.

“I'm not a toy.”

He denied it before taking a sip of the drink he was holding in his hand.

“You are, and that's why I'm going to make the rules clear to you.”

I didn't answer him; whether I liked it or not, I was at his mercy. Then he left his drink on a small table and took out some kind of necklace from his pocket, which made me frown.

“The rules are simple: I am your master, so you must obey me above all things; I don't care about your past or who you are; I only care about your obedience, and if you disobey, you will receive a severe punishment in accordance with the facts," he spat with a seriousness that numbed my whole body. “If you try to run away or do anything stupid, I will not only kill you, but I will make you suffer far more than you can ever imagine.”

The jerk had to be kidding.

“You can't…”

He approached me, and my instinctive reaction was to assault him.

The rage I had built up—everything I felt bottled up—just came out like an explosion.

I went straight to his face; I hit him as hard as I could, and I hit him everywhere with a force that even I didn't understand. I felt as if the rage had possessed me completely.

“You wretch! You bastard! Let me go!”

He quickly grabbed my arms and sat down on the bed before settling me on his knees.

“You're such an annoying little thing that I have nothing left to do but teach you a lesson.”

“Let go of me, asshole!" I shouted.

“You're going to count, or else I'll throw you into the sea.”

He couldn't be serious, but when he tied my hands and put his arm behind my back to subdue me, I knew he wasn't joking.

"Count," he ordered, and he immediately gave me the first spanking.

I screamed with shock.

I had never been touched like that before, and it was a complete shock to me, which he ignored to spank me again.

“Count.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from screaming; I didn't want to.

“I’m not going to indulge you.”

“In that case, I'll do something more effective.”

He tore the tops of my babydoll, then my pants, and started touching in a way that I simply couldn't stand.

“Don't touch me!”

"Count, or I'll do something else," he threatened relentlessly.

He went back to the spanking without contemplation; he didn't measure himself, then he touched me again, and a dilemma settled in my head at that. I couldn't let him touch me like that, so I preferred him to spank me, so I started counting.

“One... Two... Three…”

We lasted like that for minutes in which I was exhausted, minutes in which I let the tears come out as a relief that I only felt when he began to caress the areas that burned me, and I began to like that.

They were subtle touches that felt wonderful, but the worst thing was not that, but my body's reaction to it. I was completely confused and was at a point where I didn't understand myself.

“That's the way you have to behave," he whispered in my ear. “It's not very hard, Bella.”

He began to rub me with a gentleness I never thought he could have, one that put me in a bubble where I wanted to completely disconnect from the world. However, she did something that became a breaking point for my sanity: she put the necklace she had taken out of her pocket on me and locked it to the back of my neck.

I understood right away that I could never take it off.

“This necklace says you're mine; it's a reminder that you have to follow the rules or you'll die, Bella.”

I closed my eyes, devastated by the situation.

“I hate you.”

“I know, and I don't care," he answered simply. "You will do as I command, and that will be the most pleasurable thing in the world for both of us.”

I let go of his hands and stood up at once to get away from him and the confusion that was completely overtaking me.

“Don't say that."

“You liked it; your body doesn't lie.”

“No.”

“Of course, you won't admit it, but I'm not interested in that.”

“You'll never have me the way you want me.”

He smiled and approached smoothly to where I was; without any words, he grabbed me by the hips, bringing me closer to him, and my reaction was not half anger but surprise.

“Before you see him coming, you will gladly beg for my orders.”

I was about to send him to hell, but he grabbed the back of my neck and slammed his mouth on mine like a claim that I felt in my bones. He kissed me with a passion that completely overwhelmed me and blocked me in such a way that I only let myself be carried away by sensations I had never tasted or felt before.

His kiss was so rough, wild, and passionate that I felt consumed.

That made me push him away and wipe my lips in a clear show of denial.

He smiled in pleasure at having proved his point.

“You will never win.”

“I've already won, Bella, but you're not ready for this conversation.”

In that instant, I knew that more than my sanity, it was my soul that was at stake.