Gia

My body was so weak, the illness I’d developed while in the DiSalvo’s possession sucking every ounce of energy I had left. For over a week, I awoke with my mouth watering and my stomach turning. Each day was getting harder than the last. I forced myself to open my eyes and pushed myself up from the mattress in my new bedroom.

Unlike the white room, with its padded walls and lack of windows, this one had a window that sat up about eight feet high and had bars on it. But at least I had natural light, even if the tiny bit of sunshine came through a dirt-covered pane. The sun on my face was the only way I’d known another day had passed. Apart from Lucky’s morning greeting, it was also my wake up call.

As a condition of my new living arrangement, I had to dress in skimpy clothes and prance around Dante DiSalvo’s house as if he were Hugh Hefner and I was one of his bunnies. I was one of the many girls who waited on Dante hand and foot. At least he hadn’t touched me. Not yet, anyway.

Women threw themselves at Dante. He was ridiculously good-looking with a muscular body to match, and surprisingly young for a Mafia boss. Dante was intimidating, but no one scared me more than Angelo Sr. He was the stuff nightmares were made from. I couldn’t comprehend how someone would go against a man as powerful and determined as Don Morelli. Dante was either brave or stupid, maybe a little bit of both.

When the door to my bedroom opened a crack, I knew it was Lucky before she entered. I sat up and pushed the white, silky slip over my bare thighs. We were given clothes, mostly white and lingerie. On occasion, I was allowed to wear a dress or skirt, though it never covered much. Dante liked to see skin from his girls.

“Time to get up, Raven,” Lucky said, throwing her hands onto her narrow hips. “It’s your turn to wake Dante.”

I cringed at the thought. The same waves of nausea which had attacked me from day one hit me all at once. My stomach burned from the bile choking me. Since I’d moved into his house, I somehow managed to avoid delivering Dante’s breakfast in bed. That was how he took it every morning. I was usually the one preparing his eggs or making sure his bacon was crispy enough.

Serving Dante meant being alone with him in the same room. We hadn’t spent a second together without the other girls since he decided to keep me. For however long he planned to do so.

He made it known from the start I would not become a permanent fixture in his home. I would be sold to the highest bidder as soon as he was finished playing with me. Maybe he was fucking with me to get to Angelo. That was my guess.

I bent forward and hugged my stomach, keeping my head between my thighs. But the sickness won out. Moving past Lucky, I bolted into the Jack-and-Jill bathroom that separated my room from Carly, the skinny brunette next door to me. I flipped up the lid on the toilet and hurled the contents of my stomach into the bowl.

“Girl, what is your problem?” Lucky stood behind me, watching me throw up. She didn’t even offer to hold my hair for me. “You’ve been puking a lot lately.”

I glanced up at her and tore a piece of paper from the roll and wiped my mouth with it. “Maybe because I’m being held against my will. Wouldn’t you be sick if you were a prisoner here?”

She sank down to my height and patted me on the head. “You should consider yourself lucky that Dante allows you to live in the main house with us. While you might consider this a punishment, he’s throwing you a bone. Take it and shut up about it, or fight him and see what happens to you. It’s your choice, Raven. Personally, I would like to see you stay. We have a lot in common. I can see us becoming best friends if you would stop fighting and start blending in. This life isn’t as bad as you think. Dante takes good care of us.”

“But he makes you dance for him. You have to fuck him. And the other girls.”

She shrugged. “What’s so bad about that? I would fuck Dante even if he didn’t pay me. That man is like a sex God on crack, and I can never get enough of him. The girls aren’t as bad as you think. You would get used to it.”

“But he’s using you. He’s never going to love you.”

“Love.” She laughed. “That’s just a word, sweetie. To people like me, it means nothing. Dante loves me in his own way. Except, he chooses to show me with his cock and his wallet. Understand?”

“Not really,” I admit. “I don’t get any of this. Why are any of you here?”

“Because we were the forgotten girls no one wanted until Dante saw something in each of us. He sees something in you. Otherwise, he would have thrown you to the wolves the first night. From what I heard, he can get good money for you. But he took pity on you.”

“I don’t want his pity,” I shot back.

“How about his mercy? A man like that shows none, and he did with you. Either get used to your new life as part of this harem, or you will be gone soon enough. Like I said before, you have a choice. Make it for yourself, or Dante will make it for you.”

Lucky helped me up from the floor, closed the lid, and then flushed the toilet. She steered me by the hips to the mirror and stood behind me, smiling at me. I hadn’t smiled since the night I was taken, when Sonny made me laugh in my bedroom and promised to return with popcorn. What I wouldn’t have given to go back to that night.

My heart still hurt for Sonny. He would never commit me to this life of servitude. I had to believe he lived up to his name. Sonny was good. The good son. The good friend. One of the few men I ever trusted. I loved him. He was my best friend, as he was Angelo’s. We never had secrets. Everything was always out on the table when it came to Sonny.

“Do you know how I got here?”

Lucky raked her fingers through my dark curls, attempting to style them. “From what Anthony told me, someone up North gave you to Dante as a present. His thirty-fifth birthday was three weeks ago.”

“Is that how long I’ve been here?”

“Sounds about right.”

Lucky didn’t look at me when she spoke. She fluffed my curls in her hands as if I was her own personal Barbie doll. I never understood her obsession with me. Lucky paid extra special attention to me that she didn’t give to the other girls.

“So, I’ve been missing for three weeks?”

“I guess so. Maybe more.” Lucky slid her hands from my hair to my breasts and cupped them in her hands. “They look bigger since you moved into the house with us.” I flinched from her touch, and she noticed. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, Raven.”

“I’m not. My nipples are sore, and you keep fondling me.”

She laughed. “You can’t be… no, I doubt it. You haven’t even been with Dante.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Can’t be what?”

“It’s nothing. I thought maybe you were pregnant with how sick you’ve been.”

My mouth opened wide in shock. She was right. I was supposed to have my period last month. Instead, all I had were sore breasts, hormones which were kicking my ass, and a stomach that couldn’t handle the smell of most foods. I especially couldn’t stand the smell of the eggs and bacon I’d cooked for Dante since I moved into his house.

“I never finished my pills…”

Saying it aloud made it real. Could I be pregnant? I was always so careful with Angelo, but things had gotten out of control over the last few months. We had sex sometimes three times a day. He was insatiable when we were together, and I could never get enough of him. Before I was taken, my life was a roller coaster of fucked-up shit, one thing after the other. I tried to make up for the pills I’d missed. Tried being the operative word.

“This is not how I wanted my life to turn out,” I confessed to Lucky, covering my face with my hands. “I’m a lawyer. I have a fiancé who’s probably on a killing spree right now, looking to find me. He will kill Dante. How can I convince him into letting me go?”

She released her hold on me and took a step back, grinning at me in the mirror. “You better hope you’re not preggers. Dante won’t keep you around much longer if you are.”

I lowered my hands to my sides. “Then help me escape. Please. I will give you anything you want. I need to get back to Angelo. If I’m pregnant, I need to see a doctor. I have to be with my family.”

“Stop obsessing over the past and focus on the future,” she said, dismissing my pleas. “Dante will be up in ten minutes. Brush your teeth, slip into something tighter, and then get your ass downstairs to the kitchen.” Lucky said the last part with a slap on my ass that made me squeal. “Chop! Chop! Time’s a wasting. Dante will be pissed if his breakfast is late.”

The thought of entering the lion’s den alone made me physically ill all over again.