Indebted to the Mafia King

Eleni

I glance at Dante out of the corner of my eye. After he dropped the bomb about the situation changing, I expected him to explain or something, but he only took my half-packed bag and loaded it into his car. He drove me away from his house in Staten Island a few minutes later, and we haven't exchanged a word since then.

"Fuck, Philadelphia?" Dante says. "I was really hoping...no, no we can handle it."

That's not to say Dante hasn't been talking. He's spent the whole drive with his phone cradled between his shoulder and his ear, taking increasingly intense phone calls. This is the first mention of Philadelphia, and I have no idea what to make of that. The Lombardis only operate in New York, or so I thought. It's hard to think of anything beyond how absolutely furious I still am.

He spins the wheel and pulls into a long, horseshoe-shaped drive. A house emerges out of the trees. Like in Staten Island, it's not huge, but it's beautiful. This one has a deep, rich wooden exterior, like it's trying to blend in with the nature around it. I hate it immediately.

Dante stops the car and climbs out, still talking on the phone. I press my feet into the carpet and wonder if I can just refuse to get out. My mind flashes back to last night-can it only be last night?-and the hazy memory of him carrying me through his club. Maybe, if I could just activate that side of him again, he'd realize how much of a mistake he was making.

He opens the door and stares down at me. "Yeah, fifteen to the north side. It'd be stupid to send any less."

It's like he's looking through me. The light in his eyes has been replaced by shadows, and his brow pinches dramatically together. My heart crashes to my toes, and I climb out without a word. I owe Baba and Christos getting back to New York City and seeing this through, but it seems there might be nothing for me in the Saints.

He leads me inside, handing me the key once he's unlocked the door, and I trail after him into a spacious living room styled like a log cabin. Finally, he hangs up his phone.

"I'm taking the car back to the city," he says. "The key in your hand opens every door in the house but the garage, and the nearest town is several hours walk away." "So I really am a prisoner." My voice sounds small to my own ears.

"No," he says, "you're a person in danger who I can't trust to make the smart decision and stay fucking put."

I sit on a leather couch. "Great. That's a lot better."

Dante sighs. "Lock the door behind me. Seb will be here soon. Talk to him if you need anything."

He starts to leave, and my heart rattles against my ribcage like it's trying to go with him.

"Dante," I call.

He pauses in the doorway.

"Just...tell me what's going on. What changed?" I try to meet his gaze, but he avoids me like he's spent years practicing.

After a long moment of silence, he turns and towers over me. "What changed is that I am working on a way to get you out of this, and I can't do that with you in my house."

The words land between us, heavy and intractable. I turn them over in my mind. His brow is pinched again in a way I know means danger, and maybe not just for me. Dante-all of the Saints- might be in trouble. Part of me wants to forgive, to see Baba's straight-backed certainty as he marched into the living room for the last time in Dante's refusal to tell me anything. But I'm starting to understand why Mama told me I was always more like Baba. I don't care if Dante thinks he's right, or brave, or noble. I deserve the right to decide my own life.

I stand so he can't tower over me any longer. "Who says I want out?"

Dante's face goes stony. "I do."

"That's not your call." I step around the chair, frustration building. "It's mine. I got myself into this. I told you I wanted, needed, revenge on the Lombardis for what they'd done to my family. And you said yes! So why, all of the sudden, am I some fragile treasure you hide away upstate?"

"I never should've said yes," he replies.

I take a step back like I've been hit. There is no mercy in his dark eyes.

"You've made a lot of reckless choices El-eni." He shakes his head. "Not reckless, stupid. You never should've put yourself between your family and the Lombardis in the first place. Then, neither of us would be in this mess."

"This mess?" My eyebrows shoot up. The night we spent together crowds the air between us. I'm not going to bring it up first. If he regrets touching me, he can find the guts to tell me himself.novelbin

He runs a hand through his hair and glances around the living room like he's looking for something to save him. I just wait.

Finally, he says, "Word has spread about my new pet. The Lombardis aren't the only outfit sniffing around you now."

I bristle at terminology I know would've turned me liquid only yesterday. "So tell them I'm not a pet. Tell them I'm a member of your organization, just like anyone else!"

He pierces me with his gaze. "Did you even think about what might've happened if I hadn't bought you at the auction? Or if you'd ended up at someone else's auction?"

I barely smother a flinch at the intensity in his words. "I figured I'd have to lose my virginity to a sweaty older guy."

"You have no idea." He takes a step closer to me, pinning me against the arm of the chair. "You could've been kidnapped, assaulted, any of a million things. I run a voluntary virginity auction, and I'm the only one in the goddamn city." "So, I wouldn't have ended up at someone else's auction!"

"No, El, I run the only voluntary one." He stares down at me, trying to bore knowledge into my skull. "There are dozens of skin auctions and underground networks whose bread and butter is kidnapping and selling women with fathers, brothers," he swallows-"lovers in the mafia to the highest bidder. Hundreds of women, taking the fall for something their family did."

My anger banks. No, I hadn't considered that. I didn't even know that happened. I shivered at the thought of Leo, or worse, Luca Lombardi owning me for life. But Dante didn't say this happens to everyone. Just women connected to mafiosos. "So?" I asked. "I'm not important to anyone in the mafia."

Something flashes behind the cold mask of his gaze, and he takes a step back. My heart skips a beat. Did last night actually mean something to him?

"Just...stay here," he says as he turns away again.

I stare at his retreating back. After all that, he's leaving?

When he reaches the door, he turns around again. "I'll have you back in the city for your final."

He shuts the door behind him with a click that echoes through the whole empty house.