Page 15 of Secret Baby for the Mafia Don

“I said, enough,” Enzo says softly, his tone brooking no argument.

Marco returns with thick zip ties, which Enzo uses to bind Elio’s wrists and ankles. He crosses the room to stand in front of me and gestures for me to turn around. “Your turn,” he says.

I balk, struggling against Luca’s grip. “No!” I cry. “Please don’t!”

“Dammit!” Luca curses. He ends the call with his pilot and wrenches my arm high up behind my back. I see spots and a wave of intense pain rolls through me. I cry out and slump forward, trying to escape the pressure on my arm.

I’m vaguely aware of someone placing zip ties around my wrists before I am dropped to the ground. Enzo ties my feet together next and then lets me slump onto the ground across from Elio.

The tiles beneath my cheek are cold, a stark contrast to the hot tears sliding down my face. I look at Elio’s unconscious form across from me, pleading with him to wake up, to help me.

He looks younger in repose, and his long, dark lashes cast shadows on his high cheekbones. I think about my anger at Elio for wanting to leave me behind in Mexico and see how stupid I was.

Being left behind to live a life of comfort with my child would have been much better than being forced to suffer so much loneliness and pain. I regret everything that I have done, but now it’s too late.

“The plane will be ready when you arrive,” Luca says. “Grazia, go get Mateo.”

“Leave him here, I beg you,” I say quietly, my voice thick with tears. “He won’t be safe if he comes with us. Leave him here with Marco.”

“No one wants to raise the son of this monster,” Luca hisses at me, and I feel a flash of rage. Such an accusation is much like the pot calling the kettle black.

“I will not forget how the Baldini family treats innocents,” I say in reply, some of my usual fire coming to life inside me. “If you let Elio take me back, he will not forget, either. You are signing the death warrant of your whole family.” I roll to look up at Luca and Enzo, wishing that I could strike them down with my angry gaze alone.

“We’ll see about that,” Luca spits back at me, shaking his head.

He gestures with his chin toward Elio’s body lying on the floor. “Wasn’t too hard to remove La Rosa as a threat today. I don’t foresee having issues with him in the future, either.”

I scoff at this and roll away. They don’t know what Elio is capable of. The only reason that they bested him tonight was because he was distracted by seeing me again.

Usually, he would have beaten Marco to death and then turned on the Baldinis when they entered the room. Under any other circumstances, there would have been a lake of blood standing in this courtyard.

“If you will do nothing else for my son, at least don’t let him see me like this,” I beg. I hate pleading with these people, hate lowering myself to take their tawdry offerings.

I remember wanting to confess everything to Grazia earlier and feel a hot rush of shame flood through me.

Why must I always make these kinds of mistakes? Why am I so trusting when I know that everyone around me is a snake just waiting for the chance to strike?

“Grazia told me that she would take him out to play on the swings on the other side of the hotel until we are ready for him,” Enzo tells me. “She’s not completely heartless like us.”

I harrumph at this, but I am grateful to the other woman for this small bit of kindness on my behalf. She might hate me for springing such an ugly surprise on her, but she is not monster enough to bring a small child into a room that positively reeks of violence.

“Come on, time to go,” Enzo says. “Let Lori know that I’ll see her at home. She’ll understand.”

I assume that he’s referencing his wife, Loridana. I feel a momentary pang of sadness for all of us who have had the misfortune of falling in love with the wrong kind of men.

Loridana, Grazia, Emelia, myself…we are nothing more than chattel to these powerful men. I wonder why any of them even pretend to care about us at all.

“Come on, let’s go,” Enzo says to me. I allow him to tug me to my feet. He cuts the zip tie holding my feet together so that I can walk with him to the car.

My eyes meet Marco’s and I glare at him. I cannot believe that he is letting this happen. I cannot believe that he is bowing to the whims of these thugs.

“Kate, everything will be okay,” he says to me.

I laugh. The sound is a bit off-kilter and I know I sound crazy. “Surely you don’t believe that?” I say to him. “I hope that you lie awake at night worrying about me. I hope that you are eaten alive with guilt for what you have done!” I spit in his face as Enzo drags me away.

Enzo takes me outside and hustles me toward a waiting black SUV. He opens the door to the back seat and pushes me inside the car ahead of him.

My eyes take a moment to adjust to the darker interior of the vehicle. I feel him press a gun into my side as I am getting my bearings.

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