Prologue
Blinded by thepain radiating throughout my body, I could barely think. My arms are numb from being strung up by the chains that are hanging from the ceiling—for what feels like days now.
My back feels as if it’s shredded from the repeated unforgiving contact of the whip. The once white pristine shirt that I was wearing, was ripped off me and I was stripped down to my underwear. I could hardly feel the cold of this dank cell. The sound of dripping water is the only thing that breaks the silence. Counting the drops is what helps me cling to my sanity.
So far, I’ve refused to give them the satisfaction of making a sound, while they tortured me. Not even a groan, or a whimper.This succeeds in igniting their anger further. The bastards’ failure to break me offers me gratification. I take pleasure in their frustration—despite the unfortunate position I find myself in.
I’m uncertain of the length of time that has elapsed since my last torture session by these bastards. The question is, how long are they going to keep me alive in this cold, dark cell?
My doze is disturbed by the tapping of footsteps echoing off the concrete floor outside my prison. Through blurry eyes, I make out the outline of my torturers as they enter mycell.
“Let’s see how much more you can take. We’ll have you squealing like a pig before long,” the taller of the two sneers. The shorter, stockier one—a scar carved along his left cheek—steps behind me, yanking my hair back roughly as his laughter echoes in the cell.
Through waves of pain, I hear footsteps approaching. Even with my head wrenched back, I manage to catch the gleam of polished black dress shoes as they enter my line of sight. Ablack pinstriped suit follows, crisp and deliberate. When I look up, my breath catches—the familiar smug face emerging from the shadows is one I never expected to see.
A face I have known since childhood. In my world, betrayal should never surprise me—yet it does. Blindsided, I curse myself. I should have seen it coming..
“Hello, nipote, I trust you’re enjoying your fine accommodations,” he sneers. The bastard has the nerve to call me nephew after this betrayal. “Nothing to say? My, my… how the mighty Don Dominic Vitelli of New York’s Cosa Nostra has fallen.” His smile lingers, savoring the moment, like a private joke.
“Bastardo! How can you betray the Famiglia?” I spit in his face. His face contorts with anger as he pulls out his blue silk handkerchief with his left arm to wipe it clean. Then he calmly folds and tucks it back into his breast pocket.
He turns away after a few seconds, moving toward the table in the shadows. It sits at the far end of the cell, littered with torture devices I’ve come know—all too well. I force my expression to remain blank, even as he lifts a large serrated knife and runs a finger along its edge. A crimson droplet clings to his skin. He licks it away, his smile steeped in evil—but I refuse to let it faze me.
He stalks closer, each step deliberate, echoing in the silence as the shadows stretch toward me.
“All these years I’ve had to pretend to support my brother’s mutt, even while you stole everything that should have been mine. But now… now I’ll reclaim what was always meant to be mine. And you—who do you think you are, forging alliances with our enemies?”
So this is all about power. The bastard believes he’s entitled to rule the Family. But I refuse to let it end this way. “Hold him!” My head is wrenched back, my hips pinned, andthen the blade drives into my left shoulder. Warm blood trickles down my chest, soaking into my underwear.
I fight to remain conscious, my strength ebbing with every drop of blood. Explosions rumble in the distance, gunfire rattling through the silence. Before he can strike again, Salvatore drops the knife with a clang and bolts from the cell, barking, “Finish him off!”
This is it—my chance. Adrenaline surges through me. My men have come, just as I thought I was doomed. Ignoring the agony, I slam my head back into the thug who is restraining me, sending him crashing to the floor. Before he hits the ground, I lash out with my legs, knocking the gun from the other bastard’s grip.
“Brother!” The voice cuts through the chaos. I turn, vision blurring, to see Dante—my brother, my second-in-command—rushing into the cell. He fires, and a thump echoes behind me. “What took you so long?” I murmur in a faint whisper, before the darkness swallows me whole.
Chapter 1
~Elle~
“I can’t believe this…oh God! This can't be happening.” Grabbing up the discarded package again to make sure that this was not a mistake.
The flickering ceiling lights in this dingy motel bathroom illuminates the white and blue stick that’s resting on the bathroom counter. My vision blurs when I look at the two blue lines indicating that I was—pregnant.
Heart racing, my knees going weak, I lower myself to the bathroom floor sobbing uncontrollably. After all the upheaval, fear and despair, I thought that my missed period was due to stress.
I should have known better. Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any more complicated, this happens. Now it’s not just me surviving in this broken world—there’s a tiny being who will depend on me. Someone who never asked to be here, yet now defines everything.
After all the chaos and uncertainty of my upbringing, I didn’t want to bring a child into theinstability that is now my world. A month ago, news of a pregnancy would have added to my happiness.
We had our future mapped out—but then he betrayed me. I should have known that he didn’t really want someone like me. Someone who was discarded by the very same people who were supposed to love and care for me.
Going from one foster home to another. Finally, finding someone to belong to. I should have known that it wouldn’t last. Nobody stays for long. Not any of my foster parents. And now, not even him.
The humming of the bathroom vent lulls me to sleep. I’m startled awake by the slamming of a door in the apartment adjacent to mine.
Getting up slowly, as my limbs are stiff from dozing off on the floor,I move back into the bedroom. My hands unconsciously resting over my flat abdomen.
“You will never feel unwanted the way I did. I’ll love you, protect you, and take care of you.” But he can’t know. If he does, he’ll drag me back into his world—not out of love, but out of control.
