Chapter Eight

"You two can stay down here," Enzo tells me as he leads me down a short hallway at the very back of the house.

He points to a room with bare walls, a simple bed, and a small couch. I see a little TV on the wall across from the bed.

"Just one bed?" I ask, confused.

Enzo shakes his head. "No." He hunkers down to Mateo's level. "Want to see your special bedroom?" he asks my son.

"Yes, please!"

I cringe at my child's excitement.

He isn't safe here, but he doesn't have the slightest clue that that is the case. He already adores Enzo, I can tell. He was always excited to see Marco when he came to visit as well.

I wander across the hall after Enzo and Mateo, feeling guilty that my son hasn't been able to spend time with any kind of male role model. But what was I supposed to do?

I couldn't have trusted Elio with the knowledge that I was pregnant with his child, or he would have never let us go. Although, I had to admit that living in the gilded cage that Marco made for us hadn't been exactly what I had been hoping for when I came to him for help.

Sometimes I felt like there was never any chance that I wasn't going to end up being a pawn in the games of men in this business.

My family had sold me to the highest bidder when I was just an infant, and then Elio had planned to use and abuse me as well.

Marco had promised to help me, but he hadn't really done anything to improve my situation or offer me my own choices in life.

Now, here I was again, imprisoned in the house of a mob family, still without choices or opportunities that I had chosen for myself. I thought bitterly of my dream to run Elio's home and bear him beautiful children.

How had I ever thought that life would be so simple?

"This is so cool!" Mateo enthuses as he turns in slow circles in the room across from mine.

I step over the threshold, and a grudging smile spreads across my face. The room had clearly been set up for a child at some point in the past.

There are whimsical pirate ships painted on the wall across from the door, and I notice that the bedspread is also nautical-themed. There is a bookshelf with books and toys on it to my right. I also see a big box of LEGOs on the other side of the bed.

"There's lots of toys to play with, and during the week, you can go to school with my kids," Enzo says to Mateo.

"Awesome!" he replies happily, hurrying across the room to open the box with the LEGOs in it. Clearly, he doesn't need to be told twice to make himself at home.

Enzo watches Mateo for a moment as he starts digging around in the box of colorful little bricks, and then turns to look at me. There is an open look on his handsome face for a moment, and I warm to it against my will.

I smile at him, even though part of me wants to slap him as hard as I can. What was it about the charm of these powerful men that I am so susceptible to?

"Thank you," I say softly to him, my eyes returning to the sight of my child starting to build something with the LEGOs.

Enzo nods. "Least I could do. I know you don't want to be here, but at least he can have some fun." He is silent for a beat, and then he says, "He needs to be around other kids."

I scowl a little. "You don't think I know that?" I say, hating how defensive I sound. I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose.

Enzo eyes me for a moment, then gestures toward the hallway. We step out together and I stand in front of him with my arms crossed over my breasts, uncertain of his intentions.

Now that we are here, I realize that I have no idea what he wants from me. My mind ponders if he is going to ask me to sleep with him, and I quail at the thought.

He's handsome, but I have no interest in sleeping with any of the Baldinis. Not only are they all married, I don't need any other trouble in my life.

The last thing I want is to be embroiled in a fight with all of the Baldini wives. I know that they won't care if I was forced to sleep with Enzo or not. They will all gang up on me and my life will be a living hell.

"Why have you been in hiding?" he asks me.

He sounds genuinely curious, and I sigh. What to tell him?

"Did Elio hurt you or something?" he presses me. "He has a really….bad reputation."

I nod. "I know."

"So that's why you went to Marco?"

A small smile twists my lips and I shake my head. "Not at all." A sudden memory of Elio slapping me before demanding I suck his dick comes to mind unbidden. I feel a rush of heat flood through me in response to this memory.

No, I didn't mind Elio's penchant for violence in everything that he did. I hate to admit how much the fact that he was such a dangerous man, excited me.

"Then why?" Enzo says again.

I look him in the eye. "He was going to use me for an heir to his kingdom and then throw me away," I say sharply.

I hope that he can understand that I see his kidnapping of myself and my son as no better than what Elio did. "He didn't love me the way I loved him. I had to get out while I still could."

It feels good to admit to someone else that I loved Elio. Sometimes I felt like the secret of my love would choke me to death. Because if I was being honest with myself, I loved him still, even now.

I closed my eyes as I think about seeing him at the wedding.

He had filled out and grown into himself. If he had been beautiful as a young man, he was devastatingly handsome as an adult.

The aura of danger that had made me want to throw myself at Elio over and over again as a youth had only increased in intensity.

Each calculated movement, each expression, everything about his person communicated danger. And if I hadn't been so surprised to see him, I probably would have melted into a puddle of need immediately.

"Love," Enzo echoes. He looks down at the toes of his dress shoes, and then back up at me. "You loved that monster?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Do you think that your wife loves you?" I counter.

He chuckles. "Touché," he says back.

"What are you going to do with me?" I ask.

Enzo blows out a breath. "I think the best solution is for you to work for us for now. You can earn your keep by cleaning and helping the staff out with odd jobs around here. I will make sure Mateo has a good time with my children and that he's kept safe."

"How long are you going to use me for indentured labor?" I inquire.

His full mouth curves into a half-smile. "Until Elio decides to give in."

"And why would he do that?" I shoot back. These Baldinis must not know much about Elio La Rosa.

There is no one on earth who tells Elio what to do. He doesn't care about anyone or anything enough to let Enzo and Luca Baldini order him around.

Enzo smiles broadly. "Because by now, my brother has told him that Mateo is his son."

My blood runs cold at this. Oh no. They could not do this to me and to Mateo.

I feel sick, and the world spins around me a little. I catch myself against the wall, my fingertips pricking with pins and needles as I try to catch my breath.

"Oh my God," I whisper. "Oh my God, what have you done?"

Enzo makes an annoyed noise. "What are you fussing about now?"

I turn wide eyes onto his face. "You have eliminated any chance of my son and I ever living in safety again. How could you do this to us?"

"Come here," he says to me, gesturing for me to follow him over to the window at the end of the hall.

I grudgingly follow him and look where he is pointing.

"See that?" he says.

He sounds almost proud. "That concertina wire on the fence above the wall of the compound? See them?" He points to the armed guards by the front gate. "There are many more men where they came from, all guarding this family day and night. There is nowhere safer than this compound. No one has ever gotten through our defenses, and believe me, plenty of people have tried."

I swallow down the bile in my throat and look away from the military-grade wall and the guards. My voice is shaking as I say, "You arrogant fool. You have welcomed the devil himself into your home. Those walls and guards will not stop him. Nothing on earth will stop Elio La Rosa from getting what he wants."