THE MAFIA’s PET

BLOOD DEBT

CHAPTER FIVE

Another hand clamped over my mouth. I kicked and struggled, but they were stronger than me. The next thing I knew, I was being shoved into the back of the car.

“Please! Please, I haven’t done anything wrong!” I cried as something was pulled over my eyes. “I just want to help my friend. Please, she’s all I have!”

Nobody answered.

The car sped off.

I don’t know how long we drove. I tried counting turns, listening for familiar sounds, anything that could help me figure out where they were taking me, but my thoughts were all over the place.

What if Alessia was already dead?

No.

No, she couldn’t be.

I pressed my hands together, whispering prayers I hadn’t even remembered to say in years. I promised God all sorts of things. I’d do anything. Anything at all, if He would just let me get to her in time.

Eventually, the car stopped.

Someone yanked me out, and I stumbled, nearly falling flat on my face.

I couldn’t see a damn thing. They pushed me forward, and I dropped to my knees when my foot caught on something.

The first thing I noticed was the smell.

Cigarette smoke. Thick and stale, clinging to the air so badly that I could taste it at the back of my throat.

Then I heard it.

A muffled sound. Someone crying.

My heart nearly stopped.

“Alessia?”

I scrambled to my feet.

“Alessia, is that you?”

I tried moving towards the sound, but someone stepped in front of me.

“Please, let me see her! Is she okay? Just tell me if she’s okay!”

The man didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed the blindfold and ripped it off.

I squeezed my eyes shut and blinked a few times, trying to get used to the light. My head was pounding, and everything looked blurry.

I rubbed my eyes, blinking again until the room slowly became clearer.

Then I saw him.

Oh, f**k. Not him. Anybody but him.

Antonio Dante sat in the middle of the room, one leg crossed over the other, a cigarette resting between his fingers. He looked completely at ease, like he was waiting for a business meeting to begin rather than sitting in a room with two terrified women.

His eyes found mine.

A slow smile tugged at his mouth.

“Hey, Lucia.”

“Mr… Mr. Antonio.”

He took a drag from his cigarette, then exhaled slowly.

“We keep meeting like this.” His gaze moved over me, taking in my pajamas and my shaking hands. “I’m beginning to think it’s fate. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I couldn’t even process what he was saying.

“Please, sir.” My voice came out so small that I barely recognized it. “I’ve done nothing wrong. And my friend, she hasn’t done anything either. Please, just let us go.”

I turned towards Alessia.

She was sitting on a chair with her hands tied behind her back. Her hair was a mess, her face was wet with tears, and there was a bruise near her eye.

“Alessia…”

She looked at me.

I wanted to run to her, to untie her, to hold her and tell her everything would be fine. But I couldn’t move. There were too many men in the room, and every single one of them was watching me.

Antonio tapped the ash from his cigarette.

“You know, Lucia, I would have easily taken your word for it.”

Hope rose in my chest.

Then he continued.

“But you’re lying to me.”

My insides twisted.

“I swear, I’m not—”

“You saw what happened to Veronica.” He stood up. “And you were the one listening to my conversation with your dumb boss.”

“What?” I shook my head so hard my hair fell into my face. “No, sir. I wasn’t listening. I don’t know anything about Veronica!”

He stared at me for a moment before walking towards me.

Antonio stopped in front of me, then crouched down. He lifted my chin with two fingers, forcing me to look at him.

“I hate liars, Miss Lucia.”

I tried to pull my face away, but his grip tightened just enough to stop me.

“Cleyton reviewed the security footage. He saw your lying ass run away from the office.”

My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

I was finished. I knew it. Whatever little chance I had of explaining myself was gone.

“Want to know what happened to Veronica?” he asked.

I shook my head.

He smiled without any warmth in it.

“She stole from me. Then she stood in front of me and lied to my face.”

He released my chin and stood.

“And I’m not a very forgiving man.”

“Please…”

“You’ve been working in my club for barely a month, and somehow you’ve managed to disturb the balance of things. You saw something you had no business seeing, then stood outside my office listening to a conversation. And now you’re here telling me you know nothing? Do you take me for a fool, Lucia?”

“I won’t tell anyone!” The words came tumbling out of me. “I swear, I won’t. I don’t even know what I heard properly. Please, I have a sick mother at home. I just want to go home and forget all of this. You won’t hear from me again.”

He just stared at me, then blew cigarette smoke in my face.

I almost thought he was considering it.

Then his eyes shifted to Alessia.

“Well,” he said, flicking the cigarette to the ground, “someone has to face the consequences.”

“No.”

The word left my mouth before I could stop it.

Antonio glanced at me.

“No, please. Don’t involve her. She knows nothing. I swear I didn’t tell her.”

He turned towards one of his men and gave a small nod.

I didn’t understand what it meant until the man reached for his gun.

“No!”

I lunged forward, but another man caught me around the waist.

“ANTONIO, PLEASE!”

The gunshot was deafening.

Alessia jerked in her chair.

“Alessia!!”