Page 7 of Cardinal

Hesitating, I wanted to nod my head because I knew it needed to come out sooner rather than later, yet I froze up. I couldn't bring myself to agree to write out my ordeal. Well, to be fair, I didn't want to recount and relive the trauma of it all. I wanted to forget. I wanted to shut it all out, lock it away, shove it in a black hole, burn it to ashes, and pretend it all never happened.

"Hey." Her hand grasped my trembling one. "We can come back to this when you're ready. I understand it's not an easy thing for me to ask of you."

Unable to hold it in, I broke down again. Tears burned their way down my cheeks before landing on the notepad, and my whole body ached and shook with my sobs. Every blink of my eyes brought me back to that damn place. My stomach started to churn with the flood of memories. I knew I wasn't there, that I was safe elsewhere for now, but it felt like some hole sucked me back into the middle of everything.

I nearly jumped out of my own skin when the door suddenly slammed open to reveal a familiar man. Only this time, his face was taut, and his wide eyes searched the room until they landed on me. "What's wrong? What happened? Is she okay? Why is she crying?" His questions flew out with his hurried steps as he dropped by my bedside and searched my body with concern.

"Luciano!" Leah gave the man a scolding glare. "Some privacy, please." She wasn't asking with that hard tone.

Clearing his throat, he put on a straight face. "I heard crying."

"Wow, didn't know the Devil of the Syndicate had a functioning heart." Leah snarked with a roll of her eyes before turning her attention back to me and hugging me tightly. "Ignore him, he's a big idiot." She whispered in my ear with a snicker.

Yeah, no, not after hearing what she said. The comfort from her hug did little to settle the chill that stiffened my body. Don't know whether or not this situation was any better. I ran away from hell, but straight into the Devil's arms. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I would have been better off at the lounge.

Anyone who knew about the East Coast Syndicate knew about the reputation of its members, particularly the Devil of the Syndicate. Now, I never bothered with the mafia because I never had any inclination to get involved in crime, but I wasn't blind or deaf to the rumors and stories. Word on the street—well, in the whole state—was that they basically ran the city. Everyone was in their pockets, and of course, they're not the nicest of people around with all the illegal shit they do.

From what I know, The Syndicate has five members: Luciano, Aidan, Sebastian, Ares, and Cornelia. The five of them effectively and collectively ran all of New York and Florida. I knew Luciano and Aidan resided in New York while Sebastian and Ares kept business going down in Florida; I don't know much about Cornelia, though, but not much was known about them in general because they kept to the background.

Considering his fame, I probably should've recognized Luciano, but I also didn't pay attention to many things, including the media. He may be rich and famous, but I gave no care for any of that because he ran in a completely different circle than my family or me. My family would probably be considered lower middle class to him if we were to compare our net worth and wealth. Also, I never paid attention to him because he was like my parents' age, I think.

But Luciano Agosti, aka the Syndicate's Devil, had a reputation for being cruel beyond human comprehension, from what I've heard. He was the most feared among the five for his savagery. I think I once heard that he tore a man apart with his bare hands and brute strength, which I can somewhat see given his hulking figure. Hell, he could probably break my spine with a flick of his finger and stomp me to smithereens without much effort.

A ruthless bastard. The Devil incarnate. The one who fucking saved me when no one else would bat an eye in my direction.

God, how fucked up is the world that the Devil saved me?

Guess the shock of the situation won over my sanity because I started to shake with laughter and uncontrollable tears. This was beyond absurd.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, leave, you're triggering her." From the corners of my eyes, I watched Leah reach over and whack Luciano with the notepad after snatching it from me. "Get! Go to your stupid meeting. I've got her all taken care of, so get!"

Luciano's jaw clenched with a scowl before he clicked his tongue and relented. "Fine. You're lucky I have that meeting." He grumbled with a scoff before shooting me a quick look of concern, which hardened back up to dullness in a split second right as he turned to leave.

"How about I leave you for a moment to get you something to drink and eat. Then we can take this nice and slow, alright? Do you think you can do that? Or do you want to try this in a few hours? Maybe tomorrow?" At least she sounded sincere and didn't look at me with eyes full of pity.

Slowly, I grabbed the notepad to scribble my answers down. "Food please. Soup? Something warm? I feel icky. Try after food." I sounded like a toddler, but I couldn't find the strength to write out full sentences. I just wanted to lay back down, curl up under the blanket, and sink into a black hole of nothing.

"Alright, sounds good to me. Lay down and get comfortable while I'm gone." The warm smile on her face eased me some before everything came creeping back in when the sunshine left with her out the door.

The safety net snapped under me as I lay there and wallowed in my own thoughts. I was so lost. What the hell was I supposed to do now? The thought of going back home to my parents crossed my mind, but I quickly burned the idea to ashes because they're the ones who put me into this damn situation. What's to stop them from sending me back to the lounge if I went back? Especially if they owed money that I was supposed to be paying off with my body. But God, how fucked up could they be to send their underage daughter to be a prostitute? Well, scratch that, not underage anymore, but I was still their own flesh and blood.

Those dead eyes of theirs still haunt me. When I looked back for help and saw nothing, they looked at me with such a void in their eyes, as if I meant nothing to them. They're my parents, and they're supposed to care and protect me, not discard me like trash or toss me to the wolves.

I didn't know what to do now. The cops seemed like a good idea last night, but now I have my doubts. What would the cops even do? They couldn't arrest Lady Heral based on my word alone, and I doubt they'd find anything from searching the place. Maybe I could ask Luciano—no, I can't. I can't get involved with the mafia. Besides, what do I even have to bargain with?

I literally have nothing. I don't have clothes of my own, no phone, no wallet, no ID, nada, zip, nothing. I don't even know if I had my own mind and sanity intact. Well, at least I had some dignity left, I think. My own broken body didn't feel like my own anymore after those men forced themselves on me repeatedly for what felt like hours on end. I felt dirty, soiled, ruined. I wanted to peel my own skin off and get a new one—shed everything away.

Tears of anger and sadness burned at my beat-up face. This was pathetic of me, but I couldn't control it. I didn't want to cry, to be weak, but the tears just came and came and didn't stop.

Hopelessness clawed and dragged me down into the abyss until unhealthy thoughts of wanting to leave this life consumed me again.

Maybe it would be better if I ceased to exist.

Chapter 5

Luciano

"Are you sure I can't kill this bitch?" Leah's voice rang into my ears.

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