“Nothing! He’s so terrifying I couldn’t get a single word out when I saw him.”
Her sobbing stops. She pulls herself forward, her voice more hopeful as she tries to convince me. “I won’t say anything to anyone. I promise, Tony. I’ll pack my things and leave today. I don’t care why you brought me here. I swear, I won’t breathe a word about your family or anything that’s happened.”
I smirk at her naivety. She thinks stumbling onto the truth about my family being mafia gives her leverage over me. This girl has no clue just how deep in the mud she’s stuck. She doesn’t realize her fate is now bound to this family.
“Do you think I care if you talk about my family? The entire country knows what we are. Every official is aware, but neither the power nor the courage to stand against us exists. Do you know why? Because we are the real government.”
I lean forward, resting my elbows on the armrests of the chair, and continue, “As for leaving? The answer is no. You’re not done here yet.”
This time, her fear gives way to anger. “What the hell am I supposed to do here? Why don’t you just tell me what you want?”
“First, you’re going to fix the mess you made. Go to Carlo and tell him we had a stupid argument and you overreacted like the idiot you are. If he suspects you for even a second, I won’t show you any mercy, Emily. Carlo’s smart, so you’d better sound convincing.”
“I’ll do whatever you say. I swear I won’t tell Carlo anything. Please… can I leave after?”
“Unfortunately, no,” I shatter her hopes. “I don’t know why I’m even explaining this, but since you keep asking, your stay here is going to be a lot longer than you thought.”
Her eyes dart around, wide with terror. I can’t blame her. I lulled her into a sweet dream, and now she’s waking up to a living nightmare.
“You can’t just keep me here.”
“I can. And you’d better accept that sooner rather than later, because patience isn’t one of my strengths.”
“My family, my friends, they’ll come looking for me. They’ll know something’s wrong. They’ll find me.”
I didn’t want it to come to this, but she’s asking for it. Rising to my feet, I slide a hand into my pocket and start pacing, setting the stage for the final blow.
“You know, when people like you hear the word ‘mafia,’ the first thing that comes to mind is drugs. A lot of people think that’s all we deal in. But in reality, that’s far from the truth. Gambling, brothels, underground boxing, arms trafficking—those are all part of our expertise. But there’s one particularly lucrative and fascinating area, human trafficking. And as it happens, my uncle Giuseppe has a strong passion for it. He’s deeply involved in that trade.”
Her breathing turns shallow and uneven. Perfect.
“Rafael,” I call. “The envelope.”
Rafael retrieves it from the bedside drawer and dumps its contents in front of Emily, who shrinks back in fear. Her wide eyes dart to the photos scattered before her, pictures of her shopping, laughing, enjoying herself. There are also screenshots of chats she had with her family and friends, all pulled straight from her phone.
Now that she gets how deep she’s in, it’s time to finish this. “These chats and photos make it look like you’re here willingly, enjoying every minute. Add the security footage of you blowing money on designer crap every day, and we’ve got plenty of evidence. Now, look at me, Emily.”
Her eyes snap to mine, wide with terror.
“If you so much as step out of line, I’ll hand you to my uncle as a slave. Then I’ll pick a girl from his collection who looks exactly like you, kill her, put her in a car, and blow it up. After that, I’ll send the half-burned body to your family in the U.S. with your passport and phone so they can bury her as you. And you? You’ll spend the rest of your life in such agony that you’ll wish a thousand times a day that it was you in that grave instead. Believe that.”
I draw a slow breath. “But if you behave, Rafael will keep texting your family for you. And when I’m done with you, you’ll be free to go back to your life.”
Her voice barely comes out. “What do you want me to do?”
“Exactly what you were brought here for. Be my girlfriend. Be what you’re supposed to be.”
“Promise me you’ll let me go after.”
I tell her the truth. “I promise. After that, you’ll never see me again.”
Her body relaxes slightly. Poor thing.
“So we have a deal. Right?” I ask.
She only nods in agreement.
I settle back into my chair and dismiss her. “Go back to your room and clean yourself up. Rafael will come get you and take you to Carlo.”
