Without thinking another thought, I put my drink down and text Johnny to bring the car around. It’s time to pay the good senator one last visit. It’s been thirty days. I’ll be getting paid today one way or another.
We get to the senator’s house and his car isn’t in the driveway, so I knock and wait. When nobody answers, I give Johnny a nod. “Let’s take a look around.”
Johnny chuckles and goes about breaking into the house. Once the door is open, I start searching through the house. I check the living room, reading room, kitchen. Nobody appears to be home. Then I hear water running.
“Do you hear that? Where’s that water coming from?”
Johnny looks around. “I think from here.” He points to a door off the kitchen.
“I’m going down to check it out. Wait here. Text Rome and Caesar and tell them to meet us here.”
“You got it, Boss.”
Opening the door, I notice a dark staircase. Looking back into the kitchen, I see a light switch next to the door. I flip it on and the stairs illuminate. I pull my gun out just in case and walk cautiously down the steps. When I get to the bottom, the water is being turned off and out stumbles the woman from before. Only this time, her face is completely bruised. She’s sporting a fat lip and two black eyes. She’s naked once again and there are black and blue marks marring her body. She’s hunched over and limping slowly to her bed. She looks up and sees me, her eyes going wide for a split second.
“Great. You here to cause more trouble?” she hisses, wrapping herself up in the nasty looking blanket on her bed. She isn’t even phased by the fact I’m holding a gun in my hand. I place the gun back into my waistband and advance toward her.
“Trouble?” I question.
“Yeah, trouble. When you came here the other day and I opened my mouth. As you can see, Weston wasn’t too thrilled with me begging for you to save me.”
My heart squeezes and my breath catches. I’m the reason for her looking like she was run over by a train several times. I didn’t even think about the fact that Weston would punish her. When I saw her, she was giving old man Nelson head. They weren’t beating her. Fuck! I should have seen this coming. He brutalized Natalie twice. I was so busy trying to get Aria out of my head, I ignored what was going on right in front of me.
“Johnny!” I call up the stairs.
“Are you guys going to rape me?” The woman who was just giving me lip suddenly looks at me with fear that just about has me dropping to my knees.
“No, sweet girl. I’m about to get you out of here.”
For the first time, she smiles, and the way it fucks with my heart, I know I’m the one in trouble.
Chapter Six
ARIA
“No, sweet girl. I’m about to get you out of here.”
They are the sweetest words I’ve heard in a long time. He’s going to get me out of here. With the dirty blanket still wrapped around me, I try to stand but my body isn’t cooperating. I have been beaten and taken advantage of every which way over the last week to the point that I have blacked out several times. I’m convinced I have several broken ribs, and the blood coming from my vagina can’t be a good thing. On top of all that, I haven’t been given a single drug in days, so I’m feeling every ounce of pain and I’m pretty sure my body has been detoxing cold turkey.
Taking the blanket off of me, he removes his jacket and wraps it around my body. It’s thick and warm and smells clean with a bit of a woodsy scent to it. Carefully, he picks me up and, holding me bridal style, walks us up the stairs. There’s a man holding the door open, the one he called Johnny. He gives me a sad smile, one that looks a lot like pity, but I ignore it. I’m getting out of here. They can look at me however the hell they want to. We get upstairs and make it to the foyer when the door swings open and in walks Weston along with Derek, and behind them are the two men I saw with Giovanni the last time he was here.
Giovanni sets me down, still holding onto me, but I’m already planning my escape. There’s no way I’ve made it this far, only to be shoved back down in that basement. I see the side door leading off the kitchen and wonder how long it would take me to hobble to it and try to make a run for it. I know realistically I wouldn’t get past all these men, but at this point I’m so desperate, I’m willing to chance it.
Like he can hear my thoughts, Giovanni leans down and whispers, “If you run, I will catch you. You’re mine now.” The heaviness of his words spread goosebumps down my arms.
Weston must hear him because he starts to freak out. “You can’t take her. She’s not yours!” He stalks toward us, and just as I’m about to make a run for it, Giovanni picks me back up in his arms. His men grab Weston and hold him back. He starts bucking his body, attempting to flee the men. Giovanni holds me tighter, walking around Weston and his men.
“I’ll meet you back at the club,” he says to his men. “Just make sure his heart is still beating when you’re done with him.”
“She’s mine, Valentino!” Weston spits out.
Giovanni turns around and gives him that same smile I fell for the other night. “Consider your debt paid in full. You’re welcome. And if you so much as breathe near her, I will personally end your life. She’s mine now.” Then he walks us out of the house, Johnny opening and closing the door behind us.
The cold air hits my face and I shiver. It’s been months since I’ve been outdoors. I take a moment to inhale the fresh air before Johnny opens the passenger door to the Cadillac sitting in the driveway. Giovanni places me on the seat then waits for me to move over before he edges in next to me, closing the door.
“Where to, Boss?”
“To the club,” Giovanni confirms.
“You got it.”
After a few minutes of silence, I get up the courage to speak. I don’t know how far it is to this club, but I know I only have a short time to convince him to let me go. Where I’ll go? I have no clue. I have no money, no clothes, and I’m in desperate need of medical attention. I need something to take the pain away. At this point, I’ll take anything. My heart rate starts to pick up, my body going into emotional overdrive as I work myself up. An anxiety attack is building quickly, and I can’t do anything to stop it. “Can y-you please let me go?” I’m freezing cold and my teeth are chattering. My hands are shaking and I’m on edge, needing something to calm me before I hit rock bottom. I need something to numb me before my body goes into full-on panic mode. My head’s pounding and it feels like I’m having a heart attack.
Giovanni looks up from his phone and puts it back in his pocket, twisting to face me. Framing my face between his hands, he locks eyes with me. “What drugs are you on?”
Pulling out of his grip, I look down, ashamed of what my life has become. “I’m not a druggie. Can you please just let me go?”
“You’re coming off of something. Don’t lie to me.” With his thumb and forefinger, he lifts my chin, so I’m forced to look at him.
“You are mine now. What drugs are you on?” Mine. That one word causes me to slip over the ledge. I yank my face from his touch. My hand goes to the door handle in an attempt to escape, not even caring that if I jump out and the car is going too fast, I’ll likely hit the concrete and die. I’d rather my life end now and join my mom in heaven than live another day in this hell on earth.