Owned By The Mafia King She Betrayed

C6— Ink Of Ownership

~VALENTINA MONROE~

After deciding the tattoo's placement as though my body were nothing more than a canvas he owned, Kael disappeared.

Thankfully, Maeve brought me down from the chains and had me taken to a room. A proper room where I got to lie down as she tattooed me.

It hurt less than I had expected. Perhaps because of the stress and pain I'd been through. Maeve worked in silence, not speaking a word to me. And neither did I. My mind was troubled by far greater things. Like the fact that I had literally just signed my life away to Kael. I agreed to work for him to pay for the watch I stole, but I knew that was just a front. It was punishment in disguise.

When Maeve was finished with the tattoo, I got up, still limping from the gunshot wound, and stood in front of a long mirror, staring at myself. I looked awful. My hair was a mess, my eyes swollen, and my skin reddish from the stress.

I stared at my face for a long moment before I finally had the courage to turn around and look at my new tattoo.

KAEL MORETTI

His name in dark ink, bold against my skin, and sitting exactly where his hand had touched me.

It was permanent. A bold claim that I belonged to him now. For the rest of my days, his name would be on my skin, taunting me. But I was familiar with that feeling. Unknown to him, he had carved himself into my soul a long time ago. I could never forget him even if I wanted to. He’d always ruled my nightmares. Now he was ruling my reality too

"I've been given charge of you, and you're meant to resume your work at the Green Veil Club at once." Maeve spoke to me for the first time, and I turned to her. Her gaze was already on me. But like Kael and the boy who drenched me in cold water, she too was emotionless and hard to read.

I gulped as I understood what she meant—resuming right away as a w***e.

"Please, can I heal first?" I asked, gesturing to my leg. It hurt so badly to walk.

"No. The boss demanded that you resume duties tonight," she said, her voice stern.

Did he seriously want me to seduce and pleasure men in this condition?

"The car is waiting outside already. It's in your best interest that you comply, or you'll face certain consequences."

She stretched her hand out and handed me a document. Confused, I took it and flipped through it.

"It contains the details of your agreement with the boss."

My hands shook as I read through the document. I was meant to make at least five thousand dollars each night, or the interest would keep stacking up. Also, should I disobey any orders given to me or show any defiance, I would be thrown in prison or handed over to the long list of enemies waiting to get their hands on me.

It was horrific and, at that moment, I knew there was no way out. There was no getting out of it.

I know what I did to him was wicked," I said, my voice breaking at the edges. "I know I betrayed him. But this… this is beyond cruel."

Back when I thought Kael was dead, I always believed his soul was angry at me—that was why he haunted me every night. But what he was doing to me now felt worse. Not just because of what I had done, but because we had gone from love to this.

He had once protected me. Once cared for me. Now he was the one inflicting the pain. I deserved it—but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

"That is none of my business. All I care about is my duty towards you," Maeve said, moving towards me.

"Piece of advice, if you want to stay alive for long, do as you're told."

She walked behind me without permission and wrapped a black cloth around my eyes, blindfolding me and securing it.

"Only take it off when I tell you to," she said, and the next second, I felt myself being lifted off the ground. She was carrying me in her arms, and I was surprised by her strength and how easily she did it, without any sign of struggle.

I heard her footsteps as she walked, and I knew when she got outside from the cool air. Then a car door opened and I was dropped onto a seat. The car engine ignited and, after several long minutes of driving, it stopped and Maeve finally told me to take the blindfold off.

When I got out of the car, a skyscraper towered before me. The name written boldly across it told me exactly what building it was.

The Green Veil Club.

Apparently, Kael's syndicate had upgraded. The structure was far bigger and more beautiful than the one that had burned down eight years ago.

The lower floor pulsed with music and loud chatter from the crowd. A casino filled one side of the space, with rows of tables and flashing lights, while other game rooms stretched deeper inside, each one alive with movement and noise.

Maeve led me through a private entrance, away from the noise, down a hallway lined with closed doors.

"This is yours," she said, stopping outside one of them. Then she opened it and we stepped inside. She instructed me to use the bath, and I did everything she asked, scared to disobey.

When I had freshened up, she dressed me herself in black leather pants specifically to conceal the bandage on my thigh, a stone-studded bra that caught the light when I moved, and black wings strapped against my back like those Victoria's Secret models wore on the runway.

Then a mask. It was silver and covered the upper half of my face, leaving only my eyes visible.

"You don't tell anyone who you are," Maeve said, fastening the clasp herself. "Not the girls. Not the men. If anyone asks, you're new. Nothing more." She warned me. I could guess why. The Green Veil would have more people from my past than Paragon ever did, and they might recognize me despite the changes I’d made to my appearance

She led me out before I could ask anything else, toward the heart of the building, where the air changed completely—thick with perfume, smoke, money, and seduction. Women drifted half-dressed through clusters of men throwing cash around, all of them drunk on lust.

"There's an introduction tonight," Maeve said over her shoulder to me. "You're not the only new girl."

My eyes assessed the environment, and I recognized some faces already. Some men were familiar. I had dealt with them at Paragon and, by that, I meant I had slept with them. They knew me as Wildflower and I had no doubt they would still remember me if I were introduced.

Kael was right. My father would be ashamed of what I'd become. My mother too. Her little tesoro, as she would call me, was a famous w***e.

My eyes lifted to the upper floors and something—or rather, someone—caught my attention.

A man.

He stood out more than the rest of the men up there, perhaps because of the golden mask he wore that covered his entire face and caught the light beautifully.

However, the most interesting thing was that I could tell his gaze was trained on me.

Another man approached me before I could make sense of it, stepping into my space, and irritating me further.

I forced my attention down from the balcony above and onto him instead.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked, his voice smooth, already confident that I would say yes.

My throat tightened slightly, and for a moment, I hated how familiar everything felt. The attention. The approach. The expectation. I had gotten so close to escaping it. But then Kael got to me in time before the plane’s departure.

Thankfully, Maeve came to the rescue, dragging me along with four other girls. She led us to the side of the large podium where a lady dressed like sin stepped onto it and began addressing the crowd.

The introductions began, and one by one, she introduced the girls to the crowd, and they walked seductively to meet her like it was some sort of runway.

Then it got to my turn. My pulse was thumping so loudly within me as the announcer’s voice carried across the room.

“And now,” she said, pausing just enough to draw attention, “some of you may already know her.” A brief, deliberate silence followed. “Permit me to reintroduce one of Paragon’s finest…”

Her voice sharpened slightly, almost teasing.

“Wildflower.” She called out my stage name.