Page 17 of The Taker

Soon enough, I’ll leave bites all over him, reminders of who he belongs to.

“See you Monday morning. Don’t be late.”

7

LEO

Ihang my last tee shirt next to all the new clothes Rocco bought for me in my showcase-style closet. It has automatic lights, recessed shelving, and a tufted chair in the corner. It’s the size of Lucy’s room in our old apartment, and I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this strange, new reality.

We live in an apartment where each bedroom has an en-suite bathroom. The girls won’t have to fight over who gets a shower first because they don’t have to share.

We have cable and multiple streaming services. I can finally watch Penny Dreadful and see what Sammy is carrying on about.

The kitchen has every appliance I’ve ever dreamed of, and I can use a French press in the morning—I won’t have to use instant coffee and taste those muddy granules at the bottom.

There’s even a library with a reading nook next to my bedroom, a detail I’m not sure was purposefully done, but appreciated all the same.

Yeah, and all you had to do to earn it was become some deranged, knife-wielding, psychotic mafioso’s fucktoy,my intrusive thought blares in the forefront of my mind.

Ugh.

I flop down on my bed and take stock of the poor life choices that led me here. The unavoidable truth is, I did exactly what I promised myself I would never do—I got involved with a mafia man who’s the very definition of trouble. Someone with a sadistic mean streak who more than enjoyed inflicting pain on me to get off.

But you enjoyed it too…

Taking a deep breath, I run my hand over the bite mark on my neck that’s still healing and ignore the pooling heat in my stomach as I remember what happened between us a couple of days ago.

“Kiss your whole life goodbye, lionheart. I own you now.”

My face heats because he does own me. He has the power to take all of this away and throw us out on the street. My ass is on tap for him in exchange for a luxury apartment in his building, a highly rated private school for the girls, and not having to worry about how the fuck I’m going to make everything work.

He forced me into this position when he got me fired and took away our apartment.Or did he?I could have fought harder. We could have walked away from everything and left the city, praying he’d never find us. Rebuilding our lives in another place would have been hard, but we’d manage.

It’s useless to think about it now. The decision has been made, and the girls are already in love with their new home.

My bedroom door flies open, and Lucy races in, jumping onto my bed in a flurry of giggles. Her unicorn-rainbow pajamas are so pink they make my head hurt.

“Leo, can I have a cookie and milk before bed?” she asks. I pause for a minute, and she holds her breath in anticipation.

It’s cute she thinks I’d ever say no to her. I’m probably spoiling her, but I want her to have a better childhood than I did. One with a caregiver who isn’t zombified by antidepressants and drunk most of the time. Someone present.

“Of course, let’s go!” I exclaim. She jumps off the bed, right into my arms, and I piggy-back her to the kitchen.

I knock on Julia’s door and shout, “We’re getting cookies and milk before bed if you want to join!” over her emo music, but she dismisses us by raising the volume to an ungodly level. This emo shit can cry a garbage infested ocean and sail away for all I care.

In true Lucy fashion, the container of cookies I baked today and two glasses are already on the kitchen island, ready to go. All we need is milk.

“Someone was feeling confident.”

“Because I know you’re the best brother ever who knows how important nighttime cookies and milk is,” she laughs.

I pour her a glass of milk, and we eat together while discussing her first day in her new school tomorrow. To her credit, she isn’t nervous. She can’t wait to check out the school’s library and meet her classmates.

My phone’s beeping interrupts our conversation. I pull it out to a surprise text from Rocco. He hasn’t contacted me since our tryst in his office, and I was hopeful he’d forget about me.

No such luck.

Mafia Monster: Be at my apartment at 8:30 sharp tomorrow morning. Your sisters have a ride arranged to and from school. Wear one of the outfits I bought you.

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