The Mafia Ice Queen

CHAPTER 3

WINTER POV

A broken sob flickered through the heavy fog of my consciousness. My eyelids fluttered open, every nerve ending in my body screaming in white-hot agony. My eyes strained against the dark, finally focusing on a single dim bulb dangling overhead. I shifted my gaze, taking in cold concrete walls and thick iron bars.

I froze.

Then the memories flooded in, slowly at first the

with a brutal, crushing force. The chapel, the gunfire, Father’s lifeless eyes and Lily's blood-soaked gown.

I jerked up, only for a harsh jerk of heavy metal to slam me backward.

I looked down. Heavy iron cuffs encircled my wrists and ankles, chained directly to the cold floor. Worse yet, my skin was bare except for the shredded black lingerie I had worn beneath my dress.

Shit.

I forced my eyes to sweep the damp space. Beyond my bars were dozens of other young women. Some were curled into tight balls, weeping quietly; others stared blankly into the distance, completely broken by their fate. None of that mattered to me. I wasn't looking at them.

I was looking for my sister.

“Lily!” I rasped, my voice raw. The other captives flinched, their eyes darting to me in terror. “Lily!” I screamed louder, desperation clawing at my throat. “Did any of you see a girl in a wedding gown?”

They only shook their heads in silent, pitying denial.

Fuck. f**k!

“f**k!” I roared, violently thrashing against the chains until the iron bit into my wrists. “You bastards! Where is my sister?! I swear to God, I will tear you apart if you lay a single finger on her! Show yourselves!”

My screams echoed off the stone. The other women cowered back into the shadows.

I didn't care. I couldn't let them hurt her. I had already lost Father…

A tight knot formed in my chest at the thought of him. I closed my eyes, picturing him slumped on the altar floor, bleeding out while I stood there, utterly useless. The last conversation we ever had rushed back to mock me.

I should have told him I missed him too. I should have hugged him. I should have said I was sorry for staying away for so long. I…

“f**k!” tears of rage burning behind my eyes. “You f*****g cowards! Where is she?! I’ll kill every last one of you!”

No one answered.

I forced a deep breath through my nose, forcing the panic down, and focused on the heavy lock securing my chains. It was a standard padlock, the kind I used to pick for fun when I was a teenager.

I swept a cold glare over the women in the opposite cage. “Do any of you have a bobby pin? A needle? Anything?”

Silence.

“Answer me!” I snarled.

“We don't,” a girl in the corner whispered, her voice trembling. “There's no way out of here. Just... accept it.”

Accept it? For fourteen years I had been the master of my own fate, and a few iron links weren't going to change that. I reached up, my fingers frantically searching through my pinned hair. Relief bloomed in my chest as my fingertips brushed against hard metal.

A single steel hair pin, still tucked into my messy bun.

I pulled it out, bending the thin metal with my teeth until it formed a precise hook. I jammed it into the keyway of my wrist cuff.

On the second twist, the lock yielded and the lock popped open. I freed my other hand, then made quick work of the leg shackles and the cage door.

I slipped out into the corridor like a shadow. The other women gasped, shrinking deeper into their cells. I ignored them and crept toward the heavy metal door at the end of the hall.

Before I could reach it, the door swung open. A guard stepped through.

He froze in shock, but before his brain could register my bare, bloodied frame, I lunged. I drove a lethal palm strike upward into his nose, driving the bone straight into his brain. He dropped like a sack of bricks. I reached down to grab his gun, but heavy footsteps echoed down the stairwell. Three more armed men burst into the hallway.

I raised my fists, ready to tear through them.

The lead guard halted, but instead of drawing his weapon on me, he yanked a frightened young girl out of her corner, using her as a human shield.

“Step back into your cage,” he sneered.

I gritted my teeth, my jaw clenching so hard my teeth ground together. I stared at the girl’s terrified eyes.

“On second thought,” the guard smirked, his finger tightening on the trigger. “I think I’ll kill her anyway.”

“No!”

I sprang forward, diving across the concrete to shove the barrel upward just as the gun went off. The deafening bang shattered the quiet. The other two guards lunged at me instantly. A heavy boot slammed directly into my chest, driving the wind from my lungs and sending me crashing back against the bars. Blood welled up in my mouth, dripping down my chin.

I scrambled to my feet, but before I could throw another strike, a heavy iron boot cracked across my jaw. Darkness flashed in my eyes as two guards pinned my arms behind my back.

“Are you f*****g crazy?!” the lead guard screamed at his subordinate, swatting his arm away. “Don't hit her face! No one’s going to pay top dollar for damaged goods!”

Goods.

They were auctioning me off.

A dark, raspy laugh bubbled up from my throat. “You lowlife bastards...”

“Lock her down!” the lead guard ordered.

I didn't resist as they dragged me back into the cage, slamming the iron door shut and securing double locks. I reached for the bars, but my strength finally gave out. The room spun, and I collapsed into the dark.

When consciousness returned, I was being dragged down a dimly lit, carpeted hallway. Heavy iron restraints pinched painfully into my wrists and ankles.

I tried to fight, but my body refused to respond. Seconds later, I was shoved out onto a brightly lit stage.

I blinked against the glaring spotlights, taking in the crowd below. Dozens of men, old, young, powerful, grotesque were seated in plush leather chairs, sipping champagne and staring at me like a prized piece of meat.

A bitter chuckle escaped my lips. “You obviously have no idea who I am,” I spat at the crowd. “Buy me and I promise I will kill you in your sleep.”

A guard standing beside the podium stepped over and delivered a brutal kick to my ribs. I doubled over, spitting a mouthful of blood onto his polished leather shoes, before forcing myself to stand tall again. I swept my gaze over the audience, searching their faces for any sign of fear.

Nothing but filthy, wealthy livestock.

I couldn't die here. Not until I found Lily.

The auctioneer stepped up to the microphone, his voice echoing over the loudspeakers. “The bidding for this exquisite specimen will start at fifty thousand.”

“Fifty-five thousand!” a man in the front row called out immediately.

My eyes snapped wide. Fifty-five thousand?

“Sixty thousand!” another voice chimed in from the back.

“Seventy thousand,” an elderly man in the center row rasped, raising his paddle with a smug grin.

“Seventy thousand going once...” the auctioneer announced, looking around the room. “Going twice...”

Just before the gavel could strike the wooden block, a deep, commanding baritone cut through the room like a razor blade.

“Two hundred and twenty-five thousand. Cash.”

The entire room went dead silent. My breath caught in my throat as I turned my eyes toward the shadows at the back of the room.