Chapter 3

I thought Carlo would sell me immediately, kill me, or ‘service me to his men’ like he promised as he beat me to a pulp.

Instead, he locked me in a basement with no lights. I had to endure the cold concrete, the screams of men being tortured, and constant hunger.

No matter how much I screamed and shouted, no one let me out of the cage. The bars were too strong for me to try and break. And even if I could free myself, it was too dark for me to see a thing.

The fear that a snake or rat would come and bite me was constantly haunting me. But it wasn’t greater than the fear of Carlo sending his men to come and rape me.

I became so anxious that I picked up the habit of scratching my left arm to the point that it became raw. I also bit my nails until there was nothing left to bite anymore.

Only when I got tired of screaming for help did Carlo’s men bring me food and water. I regained strength and screamed for help and later received a beating. The cycle continued until I finally learned to keep my mouth shut.

I didn’t know how long I was in that cage but when they finally let me out, the mere contact of light scared me. When someone touched me, I flinched and squirmed. In my mind, I was still in that cage waiting for the worst.

Carlo’s men took me to a woman who cleaned me up. My raven black hair was frizzy and dirty and my body was covered in bruises. My eyes were sunken and the clothes I had on reeked of sweat and dirt.

“She’s disgusting. What did you people do to her?” The woman asked.

“No one is paying you to ask questions, Karina,” one of Carlo’s men asked.

She rushed the men out of the room and started picking out dresses for me to wear. The room looked like a dressing room of sorts. Now that I was clean, all she had to do was get me ready.

“You’re gorgeous. You’re lucky you are a virgin. Not many women make it a year in brothels.”

I ignored her. I’d learned never to trust anyone. That and the fact that she was in cahoots with Carlo.

“What day is it?” I asked.

“It’s the thirteenth of June.”

Carlo had kept me locked up for three months. Funny it felt like a year.

She straightened my hair and applied makeup all over my body to conceal all the scars I had. Some were old from my father’s beatings and others were new from Carlo.

When she was done, she dolled up my face and lined my blue eyes with blue eyeliner. She said it made my eyes pop.

When she was done, she dressed me in black lingerie that had a garter belt and a pantyhose. The underwear was paired with dramatic long heels and a huge fur coat.

“You look like a goddess. The man who will have you will be so lucky.”

Just then, my brother entered the room and smirked like he was pleased with himself.

“Dear sister, you look gorgeous. I knew it was the right choice to sell you. I can only imagine the amount of money you’ll be worth.”

I didn’t say anything. I felt hopeless and broken down. I had no will to live. I just wished he would kill me already and spare me the suffering I knew awaited. I was being sold like a commodity.

“What? You have nothing to say? I thought so.” He leaned in and whispered into my ear, “I locked you up in that dark lonely cage to break you and make you compliant. I didn’t know it would be this easy.”

He grabbed my arm so I could stand and inspected me. “Get her in line with the other girls we’re selling. Bring her in last. Very few women are like the Sicilian Principessa.”

I didn’t beg for mercy from Carlo. I thought I should at least leave with my dignity. Besides, even if I did beg him, he would never let me go. He was too loyal to Papa.

I was taken to a room where three other girls stood. They were dressed in matching white lingerie and they didn’t have the luxury of a fur coat like I did. It was obvious I was getting preferential treatment.

That was hardly a good thing. All the girls looked young and very scared. They must have all been there against their will like me.

They were all ushered into another room one after the other and they never came back. We heard them being purchased and carried away screaming by their new owners. They all went in until I was the last one left.

“For the main act…the Princess of the Sicilian Mafia. She’s a virgin too.”

My heart thumped wildly. Everyone knew it was a fetish to fuck a Mafia Princess in the underground. A target had been put on my back. The most dangerous and ruthless men would buy me.

I would suffer for the sins of my family at the hands of an enemy gang. No one knew how much Papa hated his family. An enemy could take me thinking it was revenge against the Rossi family.

For a minute, I considered running away but there were two guards at each exit. I wouldn’t get far.

I was ushered to the other room where a bunch of men with masks on their faces. They all bid from five million dollars. Someone purchased me for ten million dollars. I was handed to my buyer and we went to his car.

Once inside, the man smiled without taking off his mask. “Pakhan will be very happy with me.”

He pushed a needle in my neck and I went to sleep. I didn’t know how long I passed out but when I woke up, I was blindfolded, tied, and gagged in the back of a car. It was freezing cold.

Where was the man taking me?

The car came to a stop a few seconds after I woke up and the door opened. The man pulled me out of the car and dragged me across a concrete floor. I heard him open a door before he pulled me inside.

I felt warmer so I concluded I was in a house.

“I want to see the Pakhan,” the man said. “I have a present for him.”

“Viktor, my fucking goodness. That better not be his fucking present. You know we don’t deal with the sale or exchange of flesh.” Another man said. “You better take her back where you found her before he finds out.”

They spoke Russian but I understood everything. Fuck, I was in freeze-off Motherland–Russia. I had been sold to the Bratva, our sworn enemies. Everyone knew the Pakhan was ruthless.

Very few had seen him but everyone feared him–including Papa. Papa rarely feared anyone but he quaked in fear at the sound of Maxim Novikov’s name. He was rumored to be the most dangerous enforcer and assassin to walk the Earth.

I didn't want to be a slave for such a ruthless man.

“This one is different. Call him over. I know he will want this one. She’s his revenge.”

How could I forget the fact that Papa killed Maxim’s sister?