Owned (Dellucci Mafia Duet)

“I understand, Marcello. Do not apologize. You are the don.”

“A lousy don,” I respond. “You’re in this position because of me.”

With my foot, I wiggle my way over to the chair that’s in the corner and drag it toward me so I can plop it down and sit on it. Even though my arms are still tied to the wall, at least now I can let my back rest a little.

“You will see Harper again, Marcello,” Claudio says after a while.

“Yes. It’s the only thing that keeps me going.” I take a deep breath. “I must see my baby grow up.”

His eyes widen. “Baby?”

I nod. “She’s pregnant.”

His jaw tightens. “Then you must get back.”

“We,” I add, looking straight into his eyes. “We will get back to our families. Alive. I promise you I will find us a way out of this mess.”

Claudio nods a few times, sighing out loud as he releases the pent-up tension in his body from all the torture he’s endured since he was taken captive.

Suddenly, the door opens again, but no guard has come to torture us.

The one standing in the door opening is none other than Molly herself.

The mere sight of her makes me lunge forward until the chains that keep me secured jerk on my bones.

“I see you’re still chirpy,” she muses.

I spit on the floor in front of her. “You dare to chain a fellow don? When I get out, I’ll fucking murder you myself.”

She laughs maniacally. “Spoken like a true gentleman in chains.” A guard comes in and shackles Claudio to the wall before he can even think of stepping in to fight our captors. Then he leaves us alone with that fiend of a woman again.

“Hmm …” she hums with too much arrogance, and it pisses me off. “Seems like you got yourself in a tight spot, Marcello.” She walks over to me with a swagger in her steps, clicking her heels like she owns the place even though her husband pulls the strings.

“All tangled up in our affairs.” She’s right up in my face now, sliding her slimy fingers down my cheeks to taunt me. The look on her face darkens as she grabs my cheeks. “Tell me where she is.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I respond.

Her lips twitch, and she releases me again. Suddenly, she punches me right in my gut, where that damn guard has had a field day.

“Leave him alone!” Claudio yelps.

“Shut up, you maggot!” she throws back, and then she turns her attention back to me. “We can play this game as long as you want. I’ll let that guy out there have his way with you whenever he likes.” She pulls my hair and shoves my head into the wall. “You think giving pain is the only thing he can do?” She smirks.

“Let him try,” I hiss back.

“He’ll rip your guts out and make you eat them,” she says. “Now tell me where she is, and I’ll spare you the pain.”

“Why do you think I would ever do that?” I quip.

She whips out a knife and holds it down against my throat. “You hurt the only man I love.”

“Your daughter did that,” I retort.

“She’s my fucking daughter, Marcello. You stole her away from me. Filled her head with lies.”

“She never wanted to be yours,” I spit back.

“SHE BELONGS WITH ME!”

I guess I’ve struck a nerve.

“Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” She gives me another punch to the gut, so I lean over to heave, my skin hovering dangerously close to the knife.

“You think you can hurt me?” I scoff and chuckle even though it hurts. “Your punches are as limp as your husband.”

“You think you’re so funny with your sad comments. But you’re dumber than I thought you were,” she retorts. “So dumb you thought we wouldn’t be able to hear what you said to your cellmate over here.”

“What?” Claudio mutters.

“Harper … pregnant.”

The words are followed by a gleam in her eyes as she witnesses the unraveling on my face.

Of course, she was listening in.

I thought they were only cameras, but this whole cell is bugged.

And now she knows.

“My little girl … pregnant from the filth I wipe off my boots.” She pushes the knife deeper into my skin until the blood begins to ooze out. “You think I can’t hurt you the way you hurt me?” A vicious smile forms on her lips. “Wrong.”

She takes the knife off in an instant and marches back to the door.

“What are you going to do?” I ask, my pulse racing.

She pauses while clutching the door handle, throwing Claudio a look before she glances at me over her shoulder. “I will find her … and when I do … I will rip that baby from her womb and cut it to shreds.”