VALENTINA POV
Toronto, Ontario; I met THE DEVIL the morning after my eighteenth birthday. Hungover and tired, I rolled over in bed, where my toes brushed against warm skin and crisp body hair.A friend of mine held a graduation party last night at her pool and my boyfriend, David, slept over after. We usually hooked up at his apartment, but I was too drunk last night and insisted on coming here.It hadn’t been easy sneaking him into the house under the watchful gaze of the cameras monitored by Papà’s men, but I was a pro. I’d been outsmarting the guards and the cameras for years now.The one thing the guards loved? Routine. Once you learned the routine, you could get around it and do whatever you wanted.Papà was the head of one of the seven families of the ’Ndrangheta in Toronto, a criminal network that stretched from Canada to South America to Italy.My father’s business was dangerous, so my two sisters and I weren’t raised as typical teenagers. Wherever we went, we were trailed by guards with guns inside their jackets including at school.Our extracurricular activities were severely limited, our lives kept under careful scrutiny. Which was why I couldn’t help but occasionally sneak out.I was the responsible one, the big sister who began caring for my two younger siblings when our mother died. I deserve a break every now and then. A knock sounded at my door. “Tina . Are you awake?”MY FATHER.SHIT. Panic filled me. The first night I dared to have my boyfriend sleep over and my father was outside my door. This could not be good. Hangover forgotten, I grabbed David’s shoulders. “You have to get out of here,” I mouthed silently.“Like, now.” David nodded and hurried to dress, while I handed him his clothes. I looked at the door. “Papà, don’t come in. I’m not dressed.”“You need to get up and look presentable,” he said from the hall. “We have guests.”Guests? It was barely nine o'clock. “I’ll need at least an hour,” I said.“You have ten minutes.” I could hear the command in his voice. “All right,” I called.David zipped up his jeans and threw on his t-shirt. I opened the window and looked down. My bedroom was on the second floor, so it was high but not a death defying jump. “Hang down from the window edge and you should be fine.”A rough hand slid over my bare ass. “Maybe it’s time for me to meet your family, babe.” The idea almost made me laugh. My father would strangle David with his bare hands for daring to touch his precious daughter. “You have to go, Keep to the side of the house and out of sight. There is a path on the left and it leads to a wall. The cameras won’t see you there. Hurry.”He pressed a hard kiss to my mouth, then crawled out the window. I watched as he slowly lowered himself down, his biceps bulging with the effort. Before we graduated last month, he’d been one of the most popular boys in our senior class and captain of the hockey team.I was going to miss him when I left for college in August. David dropped to his feet and then gave me a salute. I blew him a kiss and shut the window, my mind already racing to Papà and the guests.After a quick shower, I braided my wet hair and dabbed concealer under my eyes. A swipe of mascara later, I threw on a prom dress that covered most of my body, as my father preferred.Instead of flats, I put on a pair of heels. I was tall, but I liked the way I looked in heels. Like nothing could stop me.INTIMIDATING, FIERCE, The house was quiet, my sisters still asleep. The sixteen-year-old twins, Rebecca and Gia, usually stayed up well into the night, watching movies and talking to their friends online.I would miss them when I went away to school, but they didn’t need me as much these days. They would be fine after I left. My heels popped on the marble floors as I approached my father’s office.I rarely went in here, seeing as how I’d rather not know what Papà was really doing most of the time. Ignorance was bliss when it came to having a family member in the mafia, let alone running it.I knocked and waited until I heard my father’s voice telling me to come in. He was seated behind his desk and the room was full of men in suits. Some faces were familiar, like Uncle Reggie and my cousin, Dante, but the others were strangers and they all stared at me.“Valentina , come in.” My father stood and buttoned his suit jacket.Swallowing my nerves, I approached his desk. “You wanted to see me?”“Yes. This is VINCENZO MORRETI .” A man unfolded from the armchair and my heart leapt into my throat. I’d never seen such a handsome man before, one with such thick, wavy dark hair and piercing blue eyes.He was trim, with a chiselled jaw and broad shoulders, and his suit fit him perfectly. He looked to be in his late thirties, and under any other circumstances I would have guessed him a former model or actor.No one looked and dressed like this unless they weredependent on their looks for a living. But this was no PRIMA DONNA. Power rolled off his taut frame in waves, like he was in control of everyone and everything around him. The men accompanying him clearly weren’t his friends, they were guards. He was someone important, someone worth protecting And he seemed... dangerous. I nodded once. “Mr. Morreti .”His eyes drifted over my face and down my body, as if I were a horse he was considering purchasing. Tingles broke out along my skin wherever he looked, but I couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or embarrassment.Even more confusing, my nipples hardened in my thin bra, which I hoped he wouldn’t notice. The smirk on his face when he met my gaze told me he was aware of the state of my nipples.“You are eighteen?” The words rolled out of his mouth with an Italian accent and my heart gave an ominous thump in my chest. Were these men from Toronto? I doubted it. No one in my father’s employ had an accent this thick. “Yes, sir.”He nodded once to my father. “She’ll do it.”She’ll do it? “Do for what?” I asked.My father shot me a quick look before addressing Morreti . “Excellent. We’ll plan the wedding for next month.”“Wedding?” I screeched.No, no, no. I was supposed to go to college first. My mother made my father promise that all three of their daughters would be educated before marriage. I was counting on it.“What wedding?”“Quiet, Valentina ,” my father hissed. I glanced at my cousin, hoping to find answers, but Dante wouldn’t meet my eye. Which meant this was bad. Really bad.....VALENTINA POVNormally he relished my unhappiness. One of Morreti ’s men entered and leaned down to speak in his ear. The edge of Morreti ’s mouth curled as he listened, then he waved the man away. Returning his attention to my father, he said, “No, The wedding will take place at my home in Siderno, where Dimitri resides. We'll leave tomorrow.”Dimitri ? And wait, Siderno? As in Italy? What the fuck was happening? Lines deepened on my father’s forehead. “But what about me and my family? We have a right to…..”Stiffening, Morreti glared at my father, and the mood in the room went arctic. “Be very, very careful, Roberto,” he said softly. “You lost your rights when you lost my shipment.”Yikes; No one moved and the moment stretched. I’d never seen anyone put my father in his place before. No one had ever dared. I held my breath until my father finally put up his hands. “Mi ,” he apologized. This appeared to appease Morreti , but I still had no idea what they were talking about. “Will
VINCENZO POVThe car turned into the warehouse lot. The place hadn’t been used in years by the looks of it, which was perfect for this errand. When the wheels stopped, I opened the door of the rented car and stepped out. Marco got out and unlocked the trunk.The boy was yanked out and thrown onto the ground, where he crumpled in a pile of limbs covered in cheap clothing. My men caught the stronzo crawling out of her bedroom window this morning. I stared at him, wanting to see what she saw. Why would a woman as beautiful as Has Valentina Romano ever wasted her time on such a pathetic and ordinary creature like this?She was glorious. The rumours of her looks weren’t exaggerated. All three Romano daughters were said to resemble their mother. Sofia Romano had been a famous model before marrying Roberto, I remember jerking off to her photos as a teenage boy and Valentina was the spitting image of her mother, except with bigger tits.Dio, how I would love to fuck those tits. Stop, She’s m
Valentina povLater that afternoon, I threw my makeup bag into a satchel. I couldn’t bring much when I ran, but I would take my very favourite things, like the Mama earrings Mama left me. A photo of me, Gia and Rebecca at CN Tower. The leggings that fit my legs and ass perfectly. And, of course, my passport and money. “This is a bad idea,” my sister, Rebecca, said. “How are you going to live?”“Forget about that, how is she going to escape Papà and the guards?” Gia turned the page in her magazine, barely paying attention. “You’ll never even reach the street, Tina .”“Yes, I will.” Two years ago, I discovered the cameras didn’t cover one sliver of the stone wall surrounding our house, so I chipped footholds into the stone, which allowed me to come and go as often as I dared. It was how I snuck out to lose my virginity to David last November.My sisters didn’t know this, however. That escape route was too dangerous for anyone but me. Gia made a noise in her throat like she didn’t beli
Valentina POVThe dream wouldn’t let go. As I struggled to wake up, my brain felt as if it was swimming through molasses, sticky and thick. Where was I? I heard murmurs and a rumbling underneath me. Was I in a car? My body felt heavy and my limbs were cement. I couldn’t seem to open my eyes.What was my problem?Then I remembered. The wall, Morreti , the needle. Shit! He drugged me. That asshole. I concentrated on my breathing and willed the drugs out of my system. I needed to fight whatever was happening to me. “Good. You are awake.” I would have started if I’d been capable of moving my limbs. Was he spying on me while I slept? Just my luck to get kidnapped by a murderer and a creeper. Great, I was on a mattress, the sheets crisp and cool beneath me. “You...kidnapped...me,” I forced out. “And...drugged me.” Large fingers brushed the hair off my face. “I retrieved my son’s fiancée by any means necessary. Let that be a warning to you.” A tiny shiver went through me. None of this ma
VINCENZO POVI heard the bedroom door open and my body went on alert. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had been listening for any sound of her back there. Eager, like a schoolboy. I shook my head, disgusted with myself. Even if I weren’t too old for her, she was engaged to my son. I needed to pull my head out of my ass.All my men turned to watch as she picked her way to an empty seat, her tits bouncing with each step. Long legs and shapely hips, with waves of blond hair that reached down her back, and a face that could make angels weep. DIO, SHE WAS HOT.When I looked away, I found Marco smirking at me. Had he read me so easily? When my father died and I became the CAPO ten years ago, I appointed my cousin my right-hand. In fact, there was no one I trusted more. We’d grown up together, killed together, and risen through the ’ndrina ranks together. But that didn’t mean he had the right to smirk at me. “You have something to say to your capo?” I asked him. He didn’t appear chastised
VINCENZO POVShe swallowed and focused on the scenery. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at my home, Castello di Morreti (Castle of Morreti's). I loved every bit of the estate the olive groves, vineyards, farmland and pasture but I couldn’t appreciate any of it at the moment And this only increased my fury. When the car stopped in front of the stone entry, I didn’t move. “Leave us,” I told Marco and my driver. The doors closed and Valentina jumped, a frightened little rabbit. I angled toward her slightly. “Do you know my favourite part of owning a castle?”“No,” she said, her voice breaking.“Not even a guess?”“The turrets?” Smirking, I got out and came around to her side. Once I pulled her from the car, I leaned down. “My favourite part of this castle is the DUNGEON.” She gasped. My patience thinned, I didn’t give her a chance to run. Instead, I hauled her over my shoulder and started walking toward the back entrance that led below ground. She instantly began thrashing, her legs
VALENTINA POVThe implications was clear that Vincenzo Morreti was no stranger to cruelty. That he would gladly use a person’s weakness against them. Jesus, What a prize. Before I could comment, we entered the castle. A small room led into a kitchen, which was surprisingly modern for a place with an actual dungeon. “I’ll have Zia bring up hot tea,” Dimitri said as he continued into the house. “That’s my aunt. She lives with us and does most of the cooking.” Calming down, I began to look around curious about this different type of prison. The contrast with the dungeon was startling. What I could see was light and airy with gleaming wood accents and light plaster walls.Huge oval windows were framed with tasteful draperies and tile covered the floor. It was even nicer than our home in Toronto. Surprisingly, I didn’t see any security cameras. That was the information I stored away for future use. “This is my wing of the house,” Dimitri said. “My father stays on the other side.” Tha
VALENTINA POVLight filtered into the room, streaks of blinding sunshine that roused me from a fitful sleep. I could barely bring myself to open my eyes. All night I had tossed and turned, convinced myself that the lock on my door would mean nothing to anyone who wanted to enter. Namely, someone with bright blue eyes and a nasty disposition who liked to kidnap and drug young women. The only way I’d been able to relax was knowing Dimitri slept a few doors away. I rolled onto my back and studied the plaster ceiling. If I were going to find a way out of this, I couldn’t stay in bed or hide in this room. I had to get out and explore, look for weaknesses. Try to come up with a plan to escape. Even if Dimitri had resigned himself to this marriage, I certainly hadn’t.Thankfully, the bathroom had been stocked with every toiletry I might possibly need, mostly high-end Italian brands we couldn’t get in Canada. The closet and wardrobe were full of clothes, from yoga pants to designer dresses