The Contract

Sign The Contract

ELARA'S Pov

The night air hit my face the second I stepped out of the hospital's back exit. I pulled my jacket tighter against the chill and checked my screen.Eight fifteen. I had forty-five minutes to get to that warehouse on Industrial Boulevard. My stomach turned over every time I thought about the drive.I avoided the main staff lot and took the pedestrian cutout toward the side street where I usually parked to avoid the garage fees. My car was an old piece of junk that barely ran, but tonight I just needed it to get me across town. The side street was completely dark, shadowed by a row of overgrown trees and a broken city streetlamp.My footsteps echoed loudly against the asphalt. I was fumbling in my bag for my keys when a pair of headlights suddenly blinded me from behind.Before I could even turn around, a black van lurked up over the curb, blocking the sidewalk. The side door slid open.I didn't even have time to scream.Strong hands lunged out of the dark, grabbing the collar of my jacket. They yanked me completely off my feet, dragging me into the floorboards of the van. I kicked out wildly, my nursing clogs smacking against metal, my elbows hitting a car seat. "Help! Someone"A heavy palm slammed down over my mouth, cutting off the noise and shoving my teeth into my lip. Another set of hands pinned my arms behind my back in a vice grip. The door slammed shut. The engine roared, and the van took off before I could even get my bearings."Stop moving," a man grunted by my ear.I leaned my head back and bit down on the meat of his hand as hard as I could.The man cursed, ripping his hand back and shoving my head into the floor carpet. "Feisty b***h. Hold her down.""Let me go!" I choked out, my face pressed into the dirty fabric. "Who are you?"A sharp prick hit the side of my neck. A needle."No. Wait," I slurred, but the words dissolved in my mouth. The edges of my vision went black, and the strength drained out of my limbs instantly.I woke up to a dull, throbbing ache right behind my eyes.When I tried to move my hands, a sharp pain shot through my shoulders. My wrists were tied tight behind my back. I forced my eyes open, squinting against the bright light of a room I didn't recognize.I was tied to a heavy wooden chair, my ankles lashed firmly to the thick legs.The room was massive, lined with dark, polished furniture and pristine marble floors. High-end art hung on the walls. It wasn't a warehouse. It looked like the office of a billionaire.Then I saw the floor in front of me.Matteo.He was slumped on the marble about ten feet away, lying completely still. His face looked a hundred times worse than it had in the picture. He was heavily bruised, his jaw swollen, with dried blood crusted underneath his nose."Matteo!" My voice came out as a broken gasp. "Matteo, wake up!"He didn't move. I couldn't even tell if his chest was rising."He's breathing, Miss Santos."The voice came from the shadows behind my chair. It was a deep, quiet baritone.The man stepped into the light.I had never seen him before. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair combed back and eyes so dark they looked almost black. He was handsome in a cold, severe way, wearing a tailored suit that cost more than I made in a year. Every survival instinct in my body told me to shrink away from him."Who are you?" I demanded, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "What do you want?"He didn't answer. He just stood there, studying me like an object he'd just bought. His gaze traveled slowly from my face down to my bound hands and back up again."My name is Dante Moretti," he said.The name sent a chill straight down my spine. Everyone in the city knew that name. He wasn't a low-level loan shark. He ran the syndicates that controlled the docks, the unions, and half the politicians in the state."I don't know anything about your money," I stammered."This isn't about the fifty thousand dollars," Dante said, walking slowly around my chair. "That was pocket change your brother used to get into my private clubs. The problem is what he did once he was inside. He stole encrypted files from my personal network. And he sold them."Stole? Matteo?"I'll pay it back," I said quickly, the panic making my chest heave. "Whatever the files are worth, I'll find a way. I'll take out loans. Just let him go.""You don't have enough lifetimes to pay back what those files are worth," Dante said. He stopped right in front of Matteo, looking down at him. "Who bought the encryption keys, Matteo?"Matteo let out a low, miserable groan, his forehead pressed against the cold floor. "I don't know. I swear to God, I don't know. It was all anonymous online. I never met them."Dante didn't argue. He didn't blink. He just reached into his jacket, pulled out a heavy black handgun, and pointed it directly at the back of Matteo's head."No!" I screamed, straining against the ropes until the cords cut deep into my wrists. "No, please! Don't shoot him! He's telling the truth, he doesn't know anything else!""Then he has no value to me," Dante said, his thumb clicking the safety off. "And I don't keep liabilities alive.""Please!" Tears blurred my vision, hot and fast. "Please, I'll do anything. Whatever you want, I'll do it. Just don't kill him. He's my only family."Dante paused. His eyes shifted away from Matteo and locked onto me. He looked at me for a long, silent moment, his expression entirely unreadable."Anything?" he asked."Yes. Anything."He slowly lowered the weapon, but he didn't put it away. He stepped closer until he was standing right over my chair."Marry me."The words made no sense. I stared up at him, wondering if the sedative was making me hallucinate. "What?""Marry me," he repeated, his voice perfectly level. "Sign a contract. You become my wife, and in exchange, I let your brother walk out of this room alive. Refuse, and I put a bullet in his head right now. Then I go after your aunt. Then your cousins. I keep going until the debt feels settled. Your choice."The sheer detachment in his voice made my stomach turn. He was talking about slaughtering my family like he was clearing a ledger."You're insane," I whispered."I have ten seconds, Miss Santos. Ten. Nine. Eight""Stop!" My voice broke into a raw shriek. "Stop counting, please!""Seven. Six. Five""I need to think! You can't just""Four. Three. Two""Okay!" I screamed, the word ripping from my throat. "Okay, stop! Just stop!"His finger paused on the trigger. "Okay what?"My entire body was trembling so violently the chair rattled against the marble. I looked at Matteo, bleeding and helpless on the floor. If I said no, my brother was dead in front of me."If I sign," I whispered, the tears choking my throat, "you leave my family alone? Completely?""The debt is erased. You have my word."Dante reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper, snapping it open in front of my face. It was a legal marriage contract. My name was already typed at the bottom."You will live where I say," Dante stated, his eyes locking onto mine. "You will have no contact with your old life unless I allow it. You belong to me. Sign, or watch him die."I looked at Matteo one last time, then back up at the monster standing over me."I'll sign," I whispered.Dante smiled, a cold, humorless tilt of his lips. "Smart girl."