Subgated by the mafia

4. Matteo

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

So, when I received a curious tip about my enemies, I didn't hesitate to track it to the airport itself. However, I didn't count on the Casamonica Mafia taking my prey, so I had no choice but to pay $50 million to make her entirely mine.

It didn't hurt to part with that money, not when it meant achieving the goal of making my enemies pay for each and every one of their misdeeds.

Matteo Ferrante was not merciful.

And that exquisite woman with the characteristic beauty of the Alberti women had become my best weapon, one that I watched being pulled off the stage with some confusion.

“The lord of Casamonica wants to speak directly with you," said one of my men, and I nodded.

“I will go to him at once and see that my slave is brought directly to my suite.”

“Yes, sir.”

I got up and left my VIP cabin in the Seventh Circle, the entertainment center that the Casamonica mafia, the one that controlled Rome and all of central Italy, had for its most select clients.

I had become an ally, one who had never set foot in that place until that day.

“This way, sir," said one of Romano's girls.

I followed her with my men at my back and entered the studio from where the Casamonica was headed. A middle-aged man with gray hair and yellowed teeth from smoking greeted me with a smile.

“Welcome, Matteo," he said before getting up. "I was surprised to see you here tonight, but not as surprised as I was to buy that pretty little thing.”

“There's always a first time for everything, Romano.”

“Of course, there is, and I'm very happy with your purchase; it was very lucrative," he replied before laughing. “You know the rules; no returns. Normally we train the girls, but today they were eager for an unreleased one, so I had to please today's clientele and showcase a girl we just acquired today.”

I was aware of this, and that's exactly why I couldn't say anything that would make this crafty old man start sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

“Don't worry about the returns; I had been weighing having a slave girl of my own for a while, so as not to let the tradition die, so I took advantage of the night to satiate that desire.”

He looked at me with interest before nodding.

He, like most who made a life in the underworld, knew of the particular ways in which my family had been raised. A tradition that was never lost and one that I was expected to follow: to have my own life slave, a woman who would become the only formal playmate.

So, I didn't hesitate to use the subject as a distraction.

“Well, if you need anything else from me, don't hesitate to call me.”

I nodded because I understood very well what he meant.

“I'll call you, that's for sure.”

We chatted some more about the night's offerings until we patted each other on the shoulder, then I headed to my suite to check that my purchase was still intact.

It wouldn't be the first time a man had been too clever with what wasn't his.

What I didn't expect was that as I walked towards my suite, Aurora herself walked in my direction. When she saw me, she nodded her head in a clear submissive greeting, and I smiled at her. I was not surprised that she had an interest in my slave when I always rejected her suggestions.

“I couldn't help seeing her, sir," she admitted with a smile. "She's beautiful, and she has good taste.”

“I will be contacting you; I will need you to train my personal slave," I told her, and she was surprised. “So don't commit yourself to anyone else.”

She c****d her head to one side but did not rebut me.

“As you wish, master.”

She went on her way, and I quietly entered my suite. As I did so, I was met with the spitting image of innocence. I had seen the girl earlier at the airport, but dressed so devastatingly like that in that babydoll, which did nothing but make her look provocative, she turned out to be interesting.

She was oblivious to me until she saw me, and a flurry of expressions painted her face in a matter of a second: confusion, surprise, and anger. It was interesting to watch the way she tried to put an unusable shield between us.

“Who are you?”

I smiled because, despite being cornered like a frightened fawn, she was not intimidated at all, so I licked my lips with delight.

“I own you, and from today on, you are at my mercy.”

Her expression of denial and the look of hatred she gave me was enough for me to know that I would enjoy breaking her to mold her to my whim. It was so funny I couldn't help but laugh to confuse her, and without her seeing it coming, I was quick to grab the hair at the nape of her neck and imprison it in my hands.

I gave it a sobering tug and looked straight into her green eyes before being stern.

“You are mine, mine alone, whether you like it or not.”

That made her flutter, so she tried to pull away but moaned in a way that was clearly not pleasurable. That made me frown.

“I'm never going to be yours, you wretch.”

She pushed as hard as she could on my hand, but she had a reaction I had seen before in women who had been drugged with an experimental drug that increased lividity and, at the same time, altered the nervous system.

She was suffering from shock, and I screamed for help.

“Aiuto!”

At that moment, she vanished into my arms before she began foaming at the mouth, and my guards arrived, as did some of the women. Aurora came in and denied.

“Get the antidote for the GBYA drug!” I shouted angrily.

I had acquired this woman, and I was not going to let her die. Aurora understood this very well, so she moved, and the whole thing was so upsetting that even Romano came to see what was going on. One of the Casamonica doctors attended to the girl, who looked limp, and I cursed.

“I'm sorry, Matteo; I don't know what happened.”

I closed my eyes at Romano's words.

“Someone gave her drugs to stimulate her, and that wasn't necessary.”

“I'll give you the return of…”

Mafia boss Casamonica couldn't finish the sentence; the girl started to vomit, which made Aurora and the doctor take action. She then returned to her unconscious state, so they put her on an IV with serum to make her better.

“He'll be fine," the man said within minutes. “He should not drink or eat anything; let him sleep and rest. I gave him an electrolyte cocktail to help him recover.”

“Well," I said with some calmness, and both Romano and Aurora looked at me with some pity and, at the same time, curiosity for my reaction. “I'll take her.”

She was about to say something, but Romano denied it.

“Do what you want; I will check what happened, and the culprit will be severely punished.”

I didn't want to say anything. I took the girl in my arms and took her to the car, driving away from the place.

“What do you want to do, sir?”

“Go home, so prepare the jet to go directly to Naples, to the family home.”

With those orders, we headed for my domain while I held my worst enemy's fiancée in my arms. She was the key to destroying the alliance of the 'Ndrangheta and La Cosa Nostra.

And I would use her without hesitation, so I pulled my phone out of my jacket.

“Put Operation N in motion," I said to my Consigliere.

I ended the call and kept looking at the girl with the lush skin who was to inherit the biggest mafia empire in Europe, and even she had no idea about that.