He’s going to sell me to another mafioso. Some other man who will work me to death, just like the De Lucas worked my mom. Who, like Leo, will keep me locked away painting. Only with one big difference.
As terrible as my current situation is, working for Leo does carry a significant benefit.
We have the same father. I’m not so naive that I fail to comprehend that our shared blood is the only thing keeping me safe from his sexual aggression.
That won’t be the case with whoever buys me. Guess it’s time to pray for a geezer with one foot in the grave and permanent erectile dysfunction to purchase me.
I stare blankly over Mae’s shoulder. My mind conjures up images of me locked in a jail cell with an easel and a paintbrush, forced to create from dawn to dusk to generate money for my jailer. That possibility is only marginally better. At least here, when I paint, I can pretend I do so out of love. I can visualize how much fun I had painting with my mom.
Once Leo sells me to someone else, once I leave this place, those good memories will fade. The nostalgia will disappear. I’ll be confined in an unfamiliar space as some criminal’s prisoner. A work horse until I die.
My head reels, and bile stings my throat. Even though part of me believes I deserve it.
Leo’s a monster. The kind that makes me want to crawl under the nearest bed. Or better yet, find a flamethrower and torch his ass straight to hell.
We were brought up as cousins, and he made it his mission to terrorize me at every opportunity.
And there were many opportunities.
He’s been calling melittle bugfor as long as I can remember.
Ever since I was little and committed the terrible crime of saying hello in the hallway. The next day, he pinned me to the ground and forced me to watch him torture a cockroach to death. He saidthat’swhat would happen to me if I ever spoke to him again without his permission. He always managed to hurt me “accidentally.” Like the time he spilled steaming hot coffee on my arm, or when he pegged me in the gut with a baseball.He basically turned me into a walking bruise whenever he was around.
It wasn’t until he was shipped off to a Las Vegas prison five years ago that I knew what it was like to breathe for the first time. I never realized I’d been holding my breath every waking moment, not until we had thousands of miles between us.
All my life, I thought he was just evil. That’s why he took such pains to torment me and found so much pleasure in it. But ever since I discovered the secret he’s known all along…I understand his hatred for me.
Mae’s hiccups reverberate through the room as I continue to fret. Leo’s wanted to get rid of me since before I was ever born. He’s vowed to do it more times than I can remember.
Now, finally, his chance has come.
Unless I figure a way out of this mess, my current life, as pitiful as it is, may start to look like a cakewalk in three days’ time.
Chapter 2
Rory
Bass pumps through the darkened room, vibrating with a sultry beat that apparently appeals to upscale twentysomethings given how many of those fuckers are currently crammed onto the dance floor. Like usual, Madden is packed with wall-to-wall people, the air teeming with the smell of competing perfumes, sweat, and sex. Decorated in sleek chrome and deep blue velvet, the Irish King’s pride and joy serves as one of the city’s hottest nightspots.
Madden and its two sister clubs comprise some of the Kings’ most profitable business holdings. The rich and beautiful flock here from all over the country for a good time and the privacy to enjoy it.
We also use the clubs to move product and cash, successfully enough over the years that our patrons trust us to movetheirproducts and cash.
But a mole within our organization chips away at our reputation, day by day.
A woman in a miniscule silver dress stumbles up to the table where I sit, fluttering her fake lashes and shoving a pair of huge silicone tits against my arm. “Hi, I’m Brandy! What’s your name?”
Beside me, Darren Kelly snickers. I hide my impatience behind a friendly grin. “Rory, and as nice as it is to meet you, I’m afraid my buddy and I are in the middle of something.”
Brandy catches a glimpse of Darren’s eyes and flinches. Even with his movie star good looks, the bright, chemical blue of his irises disconcerts most people at first glance.
Although, pure instinct could also cause the knee-jerk retreat he often triggers in the unaware. Similar to how a prey animal senses danger.
Darren might be one of my best friends, but the guy plays with explosives for fun. Even I approach him with caution sometimes.
Recovering, Brandy pouts at me. “Are you sure?”
“I am, much to my eternal regret.” Ignoring Darren’s eye roll, I nod at the closest bar. “Go tell Scotty that Rory said to comp your drinks tonight. He’s the platinum blond wearing the black vest.”
