Married to the mafia King

“Think hard. You’re quite sure you’d never seen him before?”

“I’m sure.”

“Do you think your father might have been acquainted with him?”

I thought of the ugly man and his final words to me:

Tell your father my compliments to the chef.

A flicker of fear passed through me and it did not go unnoticed.

Niccolo leaned forward. There was something in his manner that reminded me of a serpent eyeing a baby chick. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That little twitch,” he said, gesturing to his own face. “You had a thought just now. What was it?”

Perhaps it was the brandy that gave me courage…

Or perhaps I was just tired of being pushed around all evening.

Either way, I snapped, “I was wondering what kind of a man badgers a woman who’s just seen someone murdered and by someone else in the same room, no less.”

Valentino snickered over by the wall.

But Niccolo… Niccolo gave me a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“You’re lying to me, bella,” he said quietly. “It would be a very good idea for you to tell me the truth.”

As he stared into my eyes, I suddenly realized that the laughter, the shouting, the charm it was all a facade.

Niccolo played the fool, but that was just to creep past your defenses…

Close enough to stab you with a stiletto.

I was frightened by the change in his mood but I tried to hide it with more bluster.

“I want to go to bed. Or are you going to stop me from doing that?”

“No one here will stop you from doing anything, Alessandra,” Niccolo purred. “Except leaving the estate. That is punishable by ”

Suddenly Dario’s voice interrupted from the back of the room. “Niccolo.”

It was a warning.

A command to back off.

Because I knew what the next word would have been:

Punishable by death.

There was a flash of anger in Niccolo’s eyes… and then he was back to his regular old charming self.

“Of course, of course,” he said as he settled back in his chair. “You must be exhausted, bella you should go up and sleep. We can continue our talk in the morning.”

I nodded and got unsteadily to my feet.

“Massimo, escort her to her room,” Dario commanded.

“I can find my own way back,” I protested.

“I know you can. Regardless, he’s going with you.”

I glared at Dario, but he just calmly stared back at me with those mesmerizing eyes.

It was hard to look away, but eventually I did.

The other eyes in the room were not nearly as enticing

And some of them were a good deal more threatening.

Adriano with his anger…

Lars with his quiet amusement…

Roberto with his calculating gaze…

Valentino with his seductive smile…

And Niccolo with his piercing stare that sifted my lies like wheat.

“…fine,” I said, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

As I turned to leave, Massimo walked over to escort me to my room.

“Sogni d’oro,” Niccolo said with a touch of mockery in his voice.

‘Sweet dreams.’

Literally, ‘dreams of gold.’

Kept here against my will, in a house full of mafia thugs?

I was sure my dreams would be anything but.

I left the room as quickly as I could, with Massimo trailing behind me up the stairs.

When I got to my room, he stopped at the threshold.

“Sleep well,” he said, then closed the door.

I heard a click.

After he left, I tried the doorknob…

…and discovered I was locked in.

I went to bed, but it was many hours before I could sleep.

Because even though I was locked in…

…they were not locked out.

I woke early the next morning not because of the sunlight shining into my room, but out of habit.

I worked in my father’s cafe six mornings of the week, and only got a reprieve on Sunday mornings because of mass so I woke at the same time no matter how late I had gone to bed or how little sleep I had gotten.

But I had to admit, the bed was a dream… like floating on a cloud.

I rolled over on my side and considered sleeping in for the first time in years

And that’s when I saw it.

A dress that wasn’t mine was hanging over a chair near the door.

A dress that someone else must have put there while I was sleeping.

I sat up in bed, as wide awake as if someone had doused me with ice-cold water.

I could imagine Dario standing above me, watching me sleep, and I shivered with fear…

Although something about the fantasy made me blush, too.

I was only wearing a negligee, and one of the straps had fallen off my shoulder.

What had he seen?

…and what might he have done if he hadn’t made that promise to my father last night?

I heard his voice again in my mind:

I give you my word, I will not take your daughter’s virginity… until she begs me to do so.

Then I remembered the second thing he had said, whispering it into my ear so that only I could hear it:

You WILL be my whore. But only for me… and no one else.

I shivered and not entirely from fear.

There was a sliver of sinful desire within me, I will admit but I would never beg him to do that.

If he kept true to his word, then I was safe.

…if he kept true to his word.

I got up out of bed and walked over to the dress.

It was quite beautiful and modest, as well. Though made out of blue silk and thus far too expensive for me to ever buy, it was something I might have picked out for myself.

But I would not wear it.

I would not stand for him breaking into my room into the middle of the night to watch me as I slept…

And I would not give him the satisfaction of doing what he wanted.

I put on one of the other dresses I had brought, then brushed my teeth with the toothbrush Filomena had set out for me.

There was a hairbrush as well, and I did my best to tame my unruly locks.

I thought about taking a shower, but my stomach was rumbling. I hadn’t eaten since the previous afternoon. The shock from the murder and everything that had happened after it had blunted my hunger, but now my appetite was back with a vengeance.

I sighed and went over to the door. Perhaps if I banged on the door, someone would come to let me out.

Just to see, I tried the doorknob

And the door swung open.

I stood there, surprised… and then peeked my head out.

There was no one in the corridor, so I quickly slipped on my sandals and hurried to the stairs.

Though I could hear noises deep within the recesses of the house, there was no one in the foyer, either.

I thought about slipping out the front door and making a run for it but then I remembered how big the estate was. I didn’t stand a chance of escaping, so I just followed the sounds of voices and the delicious smell of baking bread until I found myself in the kitchen.

There was a woman there just a few years older than me. She was cute, with a short haircut, and she sang to herself as she whisked a large bowl of eggs.

I cleared my throat to make my presence known. “Ahem…”

The woman looked over and cried out. Then she clasped a hand to her chest and started laughing. “Oh, signorina, you startled me!”

“I’m sorry ”

“Don’t be, don’t be! You go back to bed and relax I’ll bring some food up to you right away!”

But the idea of Dario standing over me in my bedroom was something I no longer wanted to think about.

And the kitchen with its ancient stone walls but modern appliances was comforting. It felt more like home than anywhere else in the house.

Not to mention the smell of freshly baked bread was making my mouth water.

“Would you… mind if I stayed?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

The woman laughed again. “If you want I could certainly use the company! My name’s Cat short for Caterina.”

“Alessandra,” I said shyly.

“A pleasure to meet you! What would you like to eat?”

“Is that fresh bread I smell?”

“Of course right out of the oven!”

She went to a nearby cutting board and brought me a small loaf of mugello, one of the traditional breads of Tuscany. She also gave me with a knife, a plate, and a small dish with creamy butter. “That’s from a dairy farm just down the road you’ll love it. Would you like some olives? Some fruit? Something to drink? If you tell me what you’d like, I’ll fix it for you!”

Cat set me up with a smorgasbord of fruit, olives, and juices, then went back to her work.

“Are you the only cook?” I asked as I ate.