You'd Have To Make A Choice

Chapter 1: The Day I Became Payment

Elena's POV

Can you believe I walked straight into my own problems without even realizing it?

I’d just returned from the mall with the groceries Richard had sent me to buy when I spotted them—a row of black SUVs lined up outside the Hayes estate, their engines still humming as if they’d only just arrived.

"What the heck is this?" I muttered under my breath, tightening my grip on the shopping bag.

Those weren't Richard's cars.

So whose were they?

Something deep inside me screamed at me to turn around, get back into the taxi, and leave.

I ignored it.

The moment I stepped through the gate, my stomach dropped.

Men.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Built like they'd spent their entire lives in the gym. They were scattered across the compound, dressed in black, assault rifles hanging casually from their hands as though carrying deadly weapons was the most natural thing in the world.

Panic hit me like a punch to the chest. I turned to run and barely made it two steps before a hand clamped around my arm. The grip was so strong as he dragged me toward the house.

"Let go of me! Let me go!" I struggled, twisting against his hold, but he didn't even flinch.

The closer we got to the house, the louder the voices became. None of them belonged to Richard nor Sophia.

My pulse pounded in my ears as the man shoved me through the front door and released me. I stumbled forward, nearly losing my footing on the polished marble floor.

Then I saw him.

Standing in the middle of the room, a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms. Black tailored trousers. No tie. Tall. Powerfully built. Masculine in a way that made the air itself feel heavier, and infuriatingly, handsome enough to make a woman forget how to breathe. The scorpion tattoo on his left forearm was impossible to miss. I knew that symbol.

Oh no.

Lorenzo Romano. The most feared Mafia Boss in the states.

“Oh God, why is he here?”

The room went quiet for half a second. Lorenzo didn’t look at me at first. He was talking to Richard, voice low, the kind of quiet that makes your skin crawl.

“Forty million, Hayes. Two days late.”

Richard was sweating through his silk robe. “The hotels had a bad quarter, Mr. Romano, I just need more time—”

“You had time,” Lorenzo cut him off. “Now I take collateral.”

His eyes finally moved. Swept past Sophia in the corner, who straightened and tossed her hair like this was a photoshoot.

Lorenzo didn’t react.

“Her?” He jabbed a finger at Sophia.

“No,” Richard said too fast. “She’s… she's not good enough for you.”

“Your f*****g obligations ain't needed." Lorenzo drawled before his gaze landed on me.

I was still in small clothes. Jeans, sneakers, shopping bags on the floor behind me. Hair messy from the wind. No makeup.

I waited for him to look away. He didn’t. He looked at me slowly, like he was reading me. And the corner of his mouth twitched.

“Who’s this,” he asked.

Richard’s face went pale. “That’s Elena. My... daughter.”

He smiled. That awful, selling-me-off smile.

My stomach dropped.

“Please don’t,” I thought, but I didn’t say it.

Lorenzo stepped closer. He smelled like cedar and something sharp, like metal.

“You’re the charity case,” he said. “The one they put on the brochures.”

I nodded before I could stop myself. “Yes, sir.”

“Look at me.”

I couldn’t. I stared at his shoes instead.

“I said look.”

His hand came up and turned my face toward him. Not rough. Just firm enough that I had to meet his eyes. Black. Cold. But there was something else there. Interest.

Richard tried to step in. “Mr. Romano, she doesn’t understand...”

“Shut up.”

Lorenzo didn’t raise his voice. He just looked back at Richard.

“You owe me forty million. You have nothing. So you pay me for something else.”

Richard opened his mouth, closed it, and nodded. “Yes. Take her. She’s yours.”

The words hit me like ice water.

“Excuse me?” My voice came out small.

Richard still wouldn’t look at me. “It’s for the family, Elena. The Romanos will take care of you. You’ll be safe.”

Safe. From him.

Sophia made a sharp laugh from the corner. “The Mafia King gets the maid. Perfect.”

Lorenzo ignored her. He was still watching me.

“You heard him,” he said to me. “You’re the payment.”

“I don’t belong to him.”

“No,” Lorenzo said quietly. “You don’t. You belong to me now.”

He took my wrist. His fingers were warm. His ring was cold against my skin.

“You’ll marry me in three weeks. Private. No press. You live in my house, you follow my rules, and when the debt is paid we’ll talk about what happens to you.”

“What if I say no.”

He leaned in so only I could hear. “Then I take the hotels. I take your sister’s trust. I take your father’s freedom. And I still take you. The only question is whether you walk to the altar or I carry you.”

He let go and looked at his men. “We’re done here.”

Two of them moved to either side of me.

Richard finally met my eyes. “I’m sorry, Elena.” He wasn’t.

Sophia was already on her phone.

Lorenzo started to walk out, then stopped. Turned back. Looked at me one more time.

“You clean up well,” he said quietly. “When you’re not carrying shopping bags.”

It wasn’t kind. It was just a fact.

Then he turned and walked out.

And took me with him.

In the car, I stayed as far away from him as possible.

"You know, In a few days time, you'll become my wife." he paused then continues " But have in mind, your just a payment"

"I refused to be called that"

"Or what" he snapped back.

"You're going to escape"

He looks out of the window and guia low chuckle.

"Then just know that would be. Tap on a clip to paste it in the text be the biggest mistake of your miserable life"

oh Elena, what where you expecting, that he would treat you well!, what a dream.

***

We arrived at his place. More like a mansion, as beautiful as a fortress.

Every where in it seems lively.

I looked at him.

'Too bad it has a mean owner'

The car came to a stop. A guard opens the door.

"Move"

I stepped out. But was captivated by the beauty of the environment.

"Bring her in" Lorenzo order and went inside.

Soon a guard pushed me and I almost fell.

"Move"

He kept pushing me whenever he catches up with me.

We reached the huge door and I went in.

I was greeted by a man standing at the entrance of the door.

"Welcome young miss, we've been expecting you"

Huh more like Lorenzo has arranged to bring me here.

I greeted him and went inside.

Lorenzo sat on a couch. legs crossed and arms spread. he has a cigarette.

"Take her to her room, no phones or any gadget"

"What do you mean no phones"

the man that greeted me at the entrance to take my phone.

"Hand it over."

he takes it from me.

"Come with me"

I followed him up the stairs to a room.

"Don't always mind Lorenzo, he's like that. But you can always talk to me."

I looked at him.

"I'm Adrian, Lorenzo's most trusted man"

He said.

I didn't reply and just said okay.

"This will be your room from now on, and feel free to tell me anything"

He said and left.

I walked into the room.

Maybe this is how my life is meant to be. But I can't accept it this way.

Some where in the mansion.

Lorenzo stands in the balcony outside his room with his father's portrait.

And whispers

"You wanted revenge and here it is."

Down the hall, Adrian close a laptop which contains, fake file transfers, fake emails, and many shocking secrets. A mischievous smirk settles in his face.

"The game has just begun”

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