Sold To The Mafia King

Chapter 6: Dinner Plans

The first few hours of my captivity blurred together in a haze of boredom and restlessness. With nowhere to go and nothing productive to do, the bed was now my gilded cage began to feel increasingly suffocating.

“I need to get out of here, even if just for some fresh air,” I blurted one afternoon, whirling to face my ever-present chaperone. “Kyle, please, I’m going stir crazy cooped up like this.”

The hulking enforcer didn’t even glance up from casually cleaning the wicked-looking pistol in his meaty hands. “Sorry, you know the boss’s rules. You don’t step one foot off this property without me or one of the other capos to keep an eye on that luscious rump.”

He shot me a slow wink, his gaze roving over me with an insolent appreciation that made my skin prickle. “Don’t worry, those pretty stems of yours will get some exercise soon enough when Kian comes calling.”

Heat flooded my cheeks at the rude insinuation, suddenly regretting having opened my mouth at all. I huffed and stalked away, tamping down my frustration. Looking for an outlet, any outlet, I went to change out of the clothes I came here in, but then I realized my things were still back at the apartment. While making a mental note to call Emercyn, I rifled through the walking closet and selected an Oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

If I couldn’t escape these walls, I could at least start feeling human again by dressing like it.

I went to the bathroom to have a quick shower and hopped out to see Kyle in the room.

I whipped my head around, shooting daggers at the intruder with my eyes. Clutching the towel tightly against my bare chest, I snarled, “Do you mind?”

His eyes widened briefly before narrowing again. “But the boss said-”

“Get out!” I roared, rage and humiliation burning my face. How dare he barge in here uninvited while I was indecent? Didn’t he have any shame? Any decency? I took a menacing step forward, towel slipping slightly as I did. “Get. Out. Now.”

My voice dripped with venom and disgust. He swallowed hard, gave a jerky nod, and backed out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him. Only once I heard the click did I allow myself to slacken, the towel loosening its protective grip as I started putting on the clothes.

The soft, flowing fabric felt luxurious against my skin as I scrutinized my reflection - golden brown eyes, olive skin, cheeks dusted with freckles, chestnut curls tumbling carelessly around my shoulders. A wistful pang tugged at me as I traced the tiny diamond studs in my ears, a graduation gift from my parents what felt like a lifetime ago.

Who would have ever imagined their bright, ambitious daughter being swept up in such depravity and violence? The thought sparked a flicker of defiance in my chest. I refused to surrender every last shred of my dignity and identity to the whims of Kian Marcello and his brutish cohorts.

With a toss of my hair, I squared my shoulders and aimed for the door, ignoring Kyle’s questioning rumble as I swept past him into the marble-tiled hallway. If I was to be confined here, I was damn well going to inspect every corner of the compound. Let them try and stop me.

Of course, the hulking giant fell into step a few paces behind me like a hulking shadow, his heavy tread echoing off the walls. But I opted to ignore his presence, keeping my chin uplifted as I trailed my fingers along the ornate woodwork and priceless artworks lining the long corridor.

I lost track of how many rooms and wings I meandered through that afternoon. This place was as sprawling as any sultan’s palace, replete with entertainment lounges, libraries, even an indoor grotto and hot tub area that could have passed for a secluded tropical paradise if not for the tastefully placed security cameras in every corner.

Clearly no expense was spared in cultivating an atmosphere of utter indulgence. My gaze lingered on the artfully draped silk robes and decadent platters of exotic fruits awaiting in the pool area. Did Kian entertain a harem of some sort? The thought sparked a flicker of distaste.

In a sitting room, I ran my fingers along the spines of ancient leather tomes lining the bookshelves, wondering if any of the volumes contained arcane secrets of the criminal underworld. A plush armchair looked incredibly inviting, and for a brief moment I envisioned curling up in it to devour a dusty tome like in my old campus days before—

“You know the boss doesn’t want you messing with his private things.” Kyle’s gruff voice shattered the wistful daydream.

I shot him a mutinous look over my shoulder. “So I just loll around and do nothing all day like some mindless doll, is that it?”

The hulking beast of a man only shrugged one brawny shoulder, idly adjusting the shoulder holster under his suit jacket to give me an oblique view of the massive handgun strapped there. A frisson of unease trickled down my spine at the unspoken warning.

“Whatever gets your rocks off. Just don’t come crying to me when Kian has to…reinforce the rules.”

His tone along with my body’s unbidden shiver made the implication abundantly clear. The library was off limits, and any transgressions would be met with swift and certain ‘discipline.’

Just like that, the brief spark of defiance smoldered out, tamped down my dutiful captivity settling over me once more like a suffocating blanket. I was, after all, the prized possession of one of the most powerful and ruthless mafia dons in all of Sicily. Toeing any lines was tantamount to outright rebellion with potentially deadly consequences.

The rest of the tour passed by in a numb blur as I drew into myself, stubbornly fighting the creeping tendrils of this gilded cage seeping into my soul. I barely registered the trappings of the main wing sitting room or the cavernous dining hall where Kian no doubt presided over councils of war and grisly business dealings.

At some point, a timid young maid entered, practically vibrating with trepidation under Kyle’s hawkish scrutiny. It took her multiple attempts to attract my attention as she wrung her hands over a luxurious garment bag she carried.

“F-for you, miss,” she stammered out once I focused on her. “P-please, put this on for dinner with the, ah, with the boss.”

With trembling hands, she unzipped the bag to reveal the gown within – sleek black crepe that looked dangerously low-cut with tantalizing slashes up the thighs. The very image of it made me flush with dismay. I was expected to dress up in that…that glorified lingerie simply for Kian’s viewing pleasure?!

Before I could raise any heated objections, however, Kyle loomed over the maid with a dark look that wilted the protest on my tongue. “You heard her, the boss left instructions that his…company is to dress accordingly for supper.”

His eyes raked over the offending garment and back to me, a glimmer of what looked unsettlingly like approval glinting in those obsidian depths. “Gotta keep the boss satisfied and happy, if you catch my drift.”

Revulsion rippled through me at the unsubtle implication. Of course, I should have known Kian would want to flaunt his hard-won prize whenever possible. Just another calculated humiliation to strip away any lingering dignity I possessed.

Well, if he wanted a show put on for his benefit, then so be it. At least outwardly I could maintain the facade of imperious defiance, even as it rang increasingly hollow within. I snatched the garment bag from the trembling maid and flounced from the room with as much hauteur as I could muster, Kyle’s mocking laughter echoing in my wake.

Once in the room, I shed my simple sundress and slipped into the revealing evening attire with an unsettling sense of resignation. The slinky fabric caressed my figure in a way that should have felt empowering, sensual, but instead only made me deeply self-conscious. I was a pawn in Kian’s twisted game, parading around in this degrading getup simply to gratify his prurient whims.

Or perhaps that was just my pride talking, I reflected, turning this way and that to inspect my reflection. Even utilitarian wear seemed taken to indulgent extremes in this world – meant to titillate and beguile as much as cover one’s form. A strange melancholy tugged at me as I recalled sitting in run-down coffee shops in my worn hoodies and leggings, cramming for exams or scribbling notes for my thesis.

Those simple days of quiet purpose and uninterrupted normalcy were gone forever. Instead, I stood in a bathroom larger than my entire campus apartment had been, tricked out in fine lingerie-like attire to be deliberately objectified for the amusement of the very man who held my very life in his sadistic grip—

A soft rap at the door startled me from my thoughts. “Boss’s orders,” Kyle reminded in a tone that brokered no argument. “Get that hot little body out here before I’m the one who has to get it presentable.”

My jaw clenched at the crudity, even as the pointed emphasis on “I’m” shivered down my spine in a different, more visceral manner. Was Kyle actually…interested in me like that? Abruptly, I recalled his lingering, heavy-lidded stares any time I ventured too near. The thought of his paws on my body, invading my space, made my stomach curdle even as something else coiled hot and slick in my core.

Every instinct shouted at me to not keep this hulking brute of a man waiting, or else invite even more degradation. With leaden limbs, I crossed to the door and opened it.

“There’s my beautiful doll, all pretty for the boss,” Kyle rumbled in an oily tone, dark eyes roving over my exposed flesh with unconcealed appreciation.

My cheeks flamed with humiliation, but I forced myself to meet his lascivious stare, chin lifted in defiance as I brushed past him for the dining hall.

This wretched situation, these whole twisted indignities and depravities, were all because of one man. One imposing, cruel figure of unfathomable wealth and power who had snatched me up for his personal amusement like a cat toying with a hapless bird.

Well, tonight I would face this monster, this devil who orchestrated it all, with whatever scraps of pride and defiance I could muster.

I stiffened my shoulders and continued forward, trying to ignore the weight of Kyle’s heavy tread and no doubt darker intentions following in my wake.

**********

Time seemed to grind to a halt as I registered Kian’s formidable presence coming through the door…and the fresh wounds mapping his chiseled features like lurid brands. His left eye was swollen completely shut, a jagged cut scoring his cheekbone and flecks of drying blood crusting the corner of his mouth. One arm hung stiffly at his side in a manner that suggested a dislocated shoulder, while his movements were ginger, as if favoring one knee over the other.

Yet his gaze missed nothing as he prowled forward to survey me at my place, raking me with that dark smoldering stare that always set my heart jackrabbiting. This time, however, dread mingled with the potent thrill of arousal unfurling in my core at the sight of how utterly…feral he looked in this moment.

Like a grizzly fresh from battle, oozing danger and virility in a manner that somehow made him even more compellingly threatening.

He came to a predatory halt before me, near enough for me to catch the tang of copper over his usual sandalwood cologne.

“Isadora…” he growled, and white-hot sparks of unmistakable heat lanced through me at the low rumble of my name on his lips.

Then his jaw clenched, making the wound at his cheekbone flare in a way that should have been grotesque rather than appealing. I couldn’t help the instinctive shiver that rippled through me, nor the way my tongue stole out to wet my suddenly dry lips.

“…we have much to discuss. Over dinner.”