Dealer and his Bestowed Bride (The Rossi Family Mafia Book 2) (17 page)

"Goodnight, Rob." I whimpered.
 

I had never been so happy to see a door shut in my life. As soon as he had walked out of earshot, I quickly made my way over to the window. I couldn't open it. I looked at the latch and my stomach dropped. Someone had hammered nails into the windows so you couldn't open them.
 

This was a prison, and Rob used it as such more often than I would have liked to think.
 

I sank to the ground, then realized I still had my phone in my pocket. It was my key to getting out of there. While it could barely work to send texts out in the country and the battery was low, I made a last ditch effort and sent my location to Luca.
 

I pressed the button. Soon after, the screen went black. There was no telling if it went through.

I sighed and fell onto the fluffy bed. I was trapped in a Tuscan paradise on my honeymoon from hell. I just wished my husband would come save me.

When I awoke, it was morning, the birds were chirping outside, and the sun was streaming through the window. I had fallen asleep on top of the covers, still fully clothed. All of my dreams had been of guns, blood, and violence, so waking up to my peaceful room was a relief. However, I knew that it was just as dangerous in Tuscany as it was back at the club.
 

I got up and straightened my clothes and hair and went to the bathroom. After using the toilet, I washed my face and used my finger to brush my teeth with toothpaste I found in a drawer.
 

I glanced at myself in the mirror and the woman who stared back was a stranger. She had dark circles under her eyes from all of the stress and her hair was messy and straw-like, even after a good pat-down. She looked miserable, tired and ready to give up on life.
 

It had crossed my mind a few times since I arrived at the house. All it took would be one of the dresses in the wardrobe tied to the bar in the closet. The void called me, nothingness more inviting than a life as Rob’s prisoner. The only thing that made the thought leave my mind was the hope that Luca had received my message, that there was still a chance I could get away from him. However, I filed the dark thought away in my mind, just in case I’d need it for later.
 

Someone knocked on the door to my room, making me jump up. I poked my head out of the bathroom, happy for the interruption from pondering suicide.

"Hello?" I asked.

As soon as I spoke up, Rob came into my room after unlocking my door. He looked refreshed and happy to be alive, unlike myself. Draped over his arm was a white sundress, which he placed across my bed. It had bows on it and I had to take a deep breath to keep myself from grimacing.

"Breakfast is going to be in twenty minutes," he said with a grin. "Go ahead and get ready, I brought you clean clothes for the day."

You can go fuck yourself, I thought. Instead I just said, "Thank you."
 

He looked me up and down for a few seconds, like he couldn't believe I was in his house. Then he turned and left, locking my door behind him so I couldn't escape. Walking over to the dress, I held it up to inspect it. It was light and airy, but also showed a lot of cleavage. There was no doubt that Rob was making me wear it so he could ogle my figure.
 

I quickly put the dress on, then sat impatiently on my bed trying to come up with a game plan. It looked like Rob might come to trust me again and if that was true, I could be in a good position to get some information about his drug ring.
 

However, that would take time and after the shootout at the club, it looked like the Neapolitan Mafia was in short supply of it.
 

Finally, the door opened once more. This time, instead of Rob, a woman entered my room. She was a cute, young woman who wore a white apron over a longer dress.
 

"Breakfast is served," she said cheerfully.
 

Without so much as a word to her, I followed the woman down the stairs and toward the kitchen.
 

Once more, I was amazed by the layout of the space. It seemed like no expense had been spared in creating the best dining experience.
 

Rob sat at a small breakfast table and stood as soon as I entered the room. Another woman in a similar outfit to the other maid was serving him an espresso.
 

"Good morning," Rob said, his arms stretched out to give me a hug. I allowed him to do so, even if it made me want to gag. The man was acting as though everything was alright, despite the fact that I had been taken by gunpoint from my husband the night before.
 

"Please," he said, "sit."

I did as he said, sitting across from my ex. As soon as my butt hit the chair, I had a glass of orange juice and an espresso placed in front of me. I grabbed the thin sugar packet that accompanied the coffee and poured it into the brown liquid, stirring it with a small spoon.

"I know that these past hours have been hard on you," Robert said, taking a bite of an egg that had been placed in front of him.
 

I nodded, taking a sip of my overly-sweetened coffee. Even so, it wasn't much to my taste.
 

"There's information I need from you, for me to be able to trust you in my home."

I knew that it was coming. Rob wanted everything I knew and would stop at nothing to get it. When I had worked along side him in the Mafia, he had been the most ruthless person I had ever seen.
 

"Alright," I said, softly.
 

"What were you hired for?" He leaned into the table, his dark eyes intensely set on me. This was a sink or swim moment. If he felt like I was lying in any way, he would probably switch methods of interrogation. Breakfast with coffee could easily become a basement with pliers.
 

"I thought it was going to be a quick job. The Rossi family hired me to stage some sort of test. Frank wanted to know how Luca worked under pressure, how aware of his surrounding he was, etc. I was offered a lot of money to do so."

I placed my empty espresso cup down on the white platter. "B-but … what they really wanted was to force me into a marriage against my will."

As I said the words, I realized how true they were. Yes, I enjoyed Luca's company, but his family had forced me into a relationship that I hadn't even wanted. In some ways, it was just as disgusting as Rob and his delightful breakfast. Why was I so alright with Luca and my arrangement? Why wasn't I angry at the Mafia like Rob was?
 

The questions flashed through my mind and threw me off. I was telling Rob one side of the truth, without realizing how I really felt about it. Perhaps, I hadn't come face-to-face with the reality of my life.
 

If I wasn't Rob's slave, I was a slave to the Mafia. If I wasn't a slave to the Mafia, I was chained by my own shortcomings. My chest tightened and I had difficultly keeping back tears. This time, they weren’t faked.

"Let me get this straight," Rob said. "The Mafia forced you into a relationship with Luca Rossi?"

I nodded in reply, fiddling with my thumbs under the table. I couldn’t say anything without bursting into tears in that moment. It was difficult to breathe, but I forced myself to do it. Rob seemed to notice my distress.

"So when he said you were married, Luca really meant that they gave you to him, like some plaything?"

It was true and I hated to hear it. However, as I looked back at our encounters, had they really been anything other than something you'd do with a sex doll? I hadn't thought about it before. All of the sex that Luca and I had was consensual, but it also was no more than casual encounters.
 

For some reason, perhaps naively, I thought there was more to us.
 

Rob was getting to me. I was emotionally exhausted from the blood and horror I had experienced while working for the Mafia.
 

"Oh Piper," Rob said. "I'm so sorry they did that to you."

"It's okay," I whispered.
 

"No, it's not," Rod replied. "When I broke off from the Mafia, they tried to do horrible things to me. I want to destroy Frank and his little empire."

"They're strong. They have more resources than you could imagine." I said.

"Look at me," he laughed out loud and waved his hands around, pointing to his fancy mansion. "In the past five months, I've built my very own drug operation from the ground up. The Mafia hasn't been able to do that since the prohibition."

A servant walked over to me and placed a plate in front of me. Eggs, fresh fruit, bread and cheese. It was a lovely little display of food but I didn't want to eat it. I thought if I put anything in my stomach, I'd throw up.
 

Instead, I grabbed my fork and started organizing the food on my plate so Rob wouldn't notice I wasn't eating. Maybe I gave him too much credit, since he kept yapping on about himself. It might not be too hard to get information out of him after all.

"I wish I could have seen Frank's face when I stole his men out from under him." His grin was huge, so happy with himself.
 

"I'm sure it was a sight to see," I commented.
 

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, running his finger through his wavy hair. "I'm so happy to have you back Piper. I missed you so much."

"Me too," I lied.

"I promise you, I will kill every single one of those bastards for what they did to us."

I nodded and cleared my throat. In a different situation, this breakfast would have been lovely, even with Rob talking at me. But all the man could talk about was revenge and killing, he really knew how to make a girl feel welcome.
 

"And I know just where to start," Rob went on. I turned my head to look at him and when we locked eyes, I felt myself grow weaker by the second. Those dark, black holes where his soul should have lived were empty. His lips curled up into a smile that made me want to throw up.
 

"W-where are you going to start?" I asked, he had been waiting for me to ask a question, to say something.
 

He grinned a large, cheshire cat grin when I said it.
 

"I'm going to start with your 'husband'. Don’t worry, I won’t kill him quickly ... his death will be slow and painful. But by the time I’m done with him, I’ll have his head on a pike."

All of the color left my body and I about dropped my fork. I didn't know why I was surprised; Luca had directly challenged the bastard.
 

Rob stood up, placing his white napkin down on his plate with finality.

"Luca Rossi is a dead man."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

My memory was blurry. I remembered the crash-then bursts of sound and color as I moved in and out of consciousness.
 

I remembered clutching my chest and trying to sit up, but stopped by a team of strong hands. White hands, smelling of alcohol and plastic. White light blinded me.

Was this what it was like to die?

"Piper-" I groaned.
 

I could hear people murmuring around me, coming in and out of the room. Rustling of sheets. Hushed tones that mixed with the steady beeping of a heart-rate monitor. The scratching of a pen against paper and the casual laughs that echoed down a hallway.

Finally, my eyes fluttered open.
 

The lights were low, but they still hurt my eyes. I blinked, trying to get used to the visual input. When they had finally adjusted, I was able to look at my surroundings.
 

I was in a hospital and there was no way of knowing how long I had been out. Immediately, I remembered the car chase, the crash, and the fact that Piper was out there with Robert. Before I could do anything about that, I heard someone clear their throat in the room.
 

I glanced over to see Mr. Armento standing in the corner.
 

I grumbled at the middle-aged man. He had dark circles under his eyes and his horn rimmed glasses were slightly off-kilter.

Turning, I realized where the pain was in my body. They had pumped me full of drugs, I was well aware, but that hadn't stopped the searing pain that hit my side and arm as I moved. Upon a quick glance down, I realized that my left arm was in a sling and gave a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't in a cast.
 

"They say it's a miracle that you left that crash with so few injuries." Mr. Armento said, standing from his chair and walking over to the bed.

I winced as I tried to adjust myself. "Did they give me a morphine drip?"

"Your injuries weren't severe enough for that, Mr. Rossi."

"I thought you were supposed to be in the states, I said.
 

"Yes, I am supposed to be in the states," he replied, taking his glasses off to clean them with a small piece of fabric. "Funny, I got a call from Mr. Franco telling me to come and take you away before you catch the entirety of Italy on fire."

A groan escaped me, annoyed about the entire debacle. "They took Piper," I said.

"I am fully aware of that, but it is not our problem anymore."

Anger flared up inside of me. "She’s my wife!"

Mr. Armento seemed surprised at my outburst, finally looking at me properly in the hospital bed. However, after a few moments, he focused once more on his glasses. "It seems as though the Mafia admitted it made a mistake by marrying you two. The annulment has been set into motion. As soon as you're cleared here, we will take you back to the states before you make this mess worse."
 

"She's still out there, you son of a bitch," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm not stepping a foot out of Italy until she's safe."

"I wasn't asking politely," Mr. Armento said, placing his glasses back on his face. "This was an order from your father."

I turned away on the bed, I couldn't stand to look at the man's smug expression any longer. How could he be alright with Piper being kidnapped? How could my Father justify taking me away from my wife?