Claimed By The Enemy

The price paid

The first thing I felt was the cold, I reached out my hand searching for the heat of the man from last night but my fingers only met empty wrinkled silk.

I opened my eyes, blinking against the dim light flickering though the curtains

He was gone

I sat up slowly, my body aching with a deep throbbing soreness that made me wince. The room was silent save for the hum of the air conditioner.

I caught my reflection in the mirror across the room, my hair was a disaster, my lips was swollen and there on the pale curve of my neck was a dark purple mark. He had marked me like he owned me and vanished.

I dressed up with shaking hands, feeling like a ghost. I had wanted to be ruined and now I had gotten my wish but as I slipped out of the room I didn't feel free but hollow.

The Vitale mansion towered over me like a grave yard. I snuck through the side entrance, my heels in my hand, praying the shadows would hide the mess I had become .

I was two steps from the stairs when the light flickered on, blinding me.

“ Stop right there, Isabella ” My mother's voice sliced through the air like a blade

Serafina Vitale stood at the end of the hall, her silk robe tied tight, her face a mask of cold fury. Beside her, my sister Alessandra was pacing, her eyes red from lack of sleep.

“ Where have you been ?” My mother demanded “ We have had soldiers combing every inch of this city since midnight! Your father has been loosing his mind, convinced the Petrovs had snatch you as a message!”

“ I... I just needed to clear my head” I whispered, my voice trembling.

“ Clear your head?” Alessandra stepped closer, her eyes scanning my wrinkled dress with pure disgust.

“ You sneaked out like thief in the night, we searched every corners of this city. We were terrified the Vitale prize had been stolen ” She said stepping closer

She stopped inches from me, her nose wrinkling “ But you weren't stolen, were you? You look like you have been dragged through the gutter. You smell like a man's cologne, Isabella”

“ it's none of your business where I was ” I snapped, trying to pull my hair over my shoulder to hide the mark.

“ it is the family business when you make us look weak!” My mother roared, grabbing my wrist “ Rafael has been in the study with your father all night, waiting for the news of bride. We spent eight hours looking for a daughter only to have walk in looking like a common w***e ”

“ I'm not a w***e, Mother” I cried, pulling away.

“ Then what do you call a girl who sneaks out at night?” Alessandra mocked “ A romantic? A rebel? No Isabella. You are just a liability ”

Before I could defend myself, the study door slammed open, my father, Giovanni stormed out. My brother Antonio and Rafael Morales followed him. Their eyes were bloodshot from rage.

“ Is she here?” My father yelled.

“ She just walked in, Father ” Alessandra said, her voice dripping with venom “ She claims she was just out for air but look at her. She can barely stand straight ”

The air in the room died as Rafael walked straight toward me. He didn't say a word, he reached out and gripped my chin, tilting my head back with a force that made me gasp. He pushed my hair away exposing my neck and the mark I was hiding.

“ She's been taken ” Rafael hissed , his voice trembling with rage. He looked at my father with pure disgust “ She's been claimed by another. She's defiled Giovanni. The contact is dead, I won't marry a woman who carries another man's brand”

Rafael let go of me as if I were trash, he turned and walked out of the mansion, taking our family's last hope for survival with him

“ Is it true ?” My father asked , his voice low and dangerous “ You sneaked out to do this? To ruin the merger that was going to save our territory?”

I looked him in the eyes, my heart pounding “ I told you I wouldn't marry him. You didn't listen ”

“ You ruined a thousand million dollars because you were afraid of getting married ?” My father asked, stepping into my space. “ You shamed a name for a stranger ?”

“ I did it to be free !” I cried out

“ Free?” My mother cut in, her voice full of mockery “ You are not free, Isabella. You are a liability. You sneaked out a princess but you came back a nothing! You have brought a shadow into this house that will never was off”

“ I don't care about this world ” I screamed

SMACK

The slap from my father sent me spinning to the marble floor, the copper taste of blood filling my mouth.

“ You will care when you are starving” My father roared “ Antonio! Throw her out, strip her of the name. She leaves with nothing if she wants to live like a w***e, let her see how it feels without the Mafia's protection ” He ordered, turning his back on me

“ Father please..." I started but Antonio grabbed my arm, his grip bruising as he dragged me toward the front door

“ Don't call him that” My mother said, turning her back on me too “ I have no daughter. A Vitale woman is a queen. You are just a stain ”

“ Good luck, sister” Alessandra whispered as I was dragged past her “ I hope he was worth the gutter”

Antonio shoved me down the stone steps and I landed hard on the ground

“ If I see you on our territory again ” He warned “ I will kill you myself You aren't family anymore you're a target.””

The massive oak doors slammed shut. The click of the lock sounded like a death sentence

For the first time in my life, the world felt too big, too cruel. I had no home, no name, and no one to protect me. I sank down on the stone step for a moment, wrapping my arms around myself.

“I have no one,” I whispered.

I stood up and began to walk away from the only life I had