Page 101 of Ruthless Mafia Daddy

Breathless, I collapse on the end of the bed.

I hadn’t noticed the tears fall, but my cheeks are damp, and my heart is pounding.

Andre moves toward the door. “You will stay in this room, Lila, until I can be sure you’re not going to run.”

I blink at him. “You’re locking me in here…”

“This is for your own good. I will protect what is mine at all costs.”

He walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.

“I didn’t think that including kidnapping me!” I yell after him.

His only response is the sound of the key turning in the lock, trapping me inside his gilded cage.

32

LILA

“Please. Let me out!”

I bang on the door again and again until my fists are red and throbbing. My cheeks are wet with tears, throat raw from yelling for hours on end.

How could Andre do this?

I don’t care that he insists he’s protecting me. He kidnapped me and is holding me hostage, refusing to give me answers.

I’m so exhausted from crying and yelling that I eventually fall asleep, curled up on the floor. I wake to find a tray of food has been left for me, but I can’t find it in me to eat.

It seems I become stuck in the cycle of yelling and crying myself into exhaustion, waking to a fresh plate of food, but that is all. Andre has not come to see me. No one has.

I am alone.

Days must passed, but I stay curled on the floor with my eyes screwed shut as I try to imagine myself back in my apartment. Before any of this happened. Before I even decided to go on that ridiculous blind date with Dirk the dick. When the only worries I had was which new latte to try from my favorite coffee shop.

My breath hitches as the key turns in the lock.

I scramble backwards and watch as the door opens.

“Andre?” I breathe, standing up, but I blink at the sight of a young girl.

“Here.” She holds out a sandwich and a bottle of water. “I thought you might be hungry.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Rosa.” She steps inside the room, closing the door behind her. “I’m Andre’s sister.”

“Sister?”

“Yes.”

She has the same striking dark hair and eyes as Andre, and her skin is a soft golden brown. She’s beautiful, though she can’t be much more than sixteen.

I frown. “Did Andre send you?”

She shakes her head, looking sheepish. “He doesn’t know that I know about you. I overheard him talking to Marco.”

“Your other brother,” I mutter. “The kidnapper.”

---