Plain Jane and the Mafia Beast

She didn’t really want to know, but she also didn’t want to back down. This man got off on hurting people, scaring them.

Living in the foster system, she’d seen a lot of stuff. There wasn’t a lot that could frighten her. Many of the kids would tell each other tales of some of the real shitty placements they’d been in. The abuse, the pain, the sex trades. All of it had been a living, breathing nightmare. It was why she stopped wanting to be adopted and just waited until she left the system when she was of age.

Daniel turned around.

For a second there was surprise on his face. “You want to know more?”

“Why not? You’re more than willing to talk, and I’m a little bored.” The last thing she wanted was for this man to think he’d won. There’s no way she’d let that happen.

Fear wasn’t something she was ever going to allow to defeat her.

He walked back to his seat and sat down. “You do surprise me.”

“You think that’s the scariest thing I’ve heard in my life?”

“I’m not talking about horror stories, girl. This is real life. Vince tortures people. Rips out their fingers, cuts body parts off, hurts them. He’s even killed women too. Backstabbing whores that needed to be put in their place.”

In the back of her mind, Arika actually gave a cheer for Rachel for changing her shifts. This man came across as the nice guy, but the reality was far worse than that. He was one of the biggest monsters out there.

“So he kills people. Tortures them. Does he use stuff?”

Daniel smiled. “That depends on the job, really. Whatever takes his fancy, he’ll use on anyone. Knives, guns. I watched him shoot a guy in the leg, not to bleed out or have a quick death, that’s not Vince’s style. No, he likes to make it painful. The traitors always get what’s coming to them.”

“So, if it wasn’t about bleeding out, what was it about?” she asked.

“He had a bunch of rats with him. Once he shot this guy and the scent of blood started to fill the air, so he unleashed the rodents and watched as they all swarmed around this guy. There was no way for him to escape. It was a thing of beauty, really. You’d be surprised what a group of thirty rats can do to a human.”

She was going to be sick.

This was a really bad idea.

Up until last night she’d been in her own little bubble where no one could touch her. Now, she was living with a man who would be taking care of her. Only, the man taking care of her was a monster.

A monster she couldn’t run from.

Did she know too much now?

Daniel kept on talking, and after a while each story seemed to bleed into another.

She had to get out of here.

Chapter Four

Vincenzo placed the bag of books on the kitchen counter, and within seconds Daniel was there.

“That didn’t take long,” Daniel said.

He noticed the smug look on his guard’s face.

“I had a quick word with her boss and after that, I went to her apartment. I wasn’t going to be long. You can leave now.”

“You’re not going to invite me to stay for dinner?”

“No.” He poured himself a large glass of water and stared at Daniel. “You can leave.”

“Wow, man, you’re a real fucking charmer.”

Daniel didn’t linger though.

They were colleagues as well as friends, so Daniel knew when it was best to stay or go. If they weren’t working together, they did hangout but Daniel was always chasing one pussy or another, and he wasn’t interested in that.

Finishing off his water, he picked up the bag of books, along with the laptop that she’d need as well. He’d already gotten it disconnected from the internet, and he made his way upstairs to where Arika lay.

One look at her pale face and the fear that flashed in her eyes and he knew exactly what the fuck was going on.

“He told you some stuff,” he said.

She held the blanket with a death grip as if that would save her.

“He told me a few things.”

“About me?”

“Yes.”

“I won’t hurt you.”

“But if your bosses give the order, you won’t have a choice, will you?”

“I’ll have a choice. I’m not owned by them, Arika.”

“They’re the mafia.”

“And I told you, the less you know the better.”

He saw tears in her eyes, and he hated it.

“He wouldn’t shut up. I didn’t even ask at first.”

“At first?”

“He got off on it. On me being afraid. I hated that. I didn’t want to be afraid of him or what he was doing, but I was. So, when he went to leave, I wouldn’t let him think that he had a way of scaring me. I asked him to tell me more.”

Vincenzo took a seat, watching her. “He told you what I’ve done.”