Page 96 of King of the Cage

I shoved that little revelation out of my head and went to another door. I tried the handle, and it opened under my hand. Holy shit.

I pushed it slowly inward and reached for my phone. It was dark as hell, and I needed to see what was in here.

I turned my phone’s flashlight on and directed it toward the dark opening.

Metal bars caught the flashlight beam and reflected it back at me. I slowly took in what I was seeing. Metal bars of… large rectangular shapes, like those crates you put animals in when you had to move them.

But these weren’t animal-sized.

These were big. I couldn’t breathe. My heart hammered so hard my hands shook.

I thought I’d seen a lot of shit in a lifetime spent in the service of New Jersey’s biggest and baddest mob family, but I’d never seen people-sized cages before.

My hand shook even more as I brought it up and shined my light on the bars of the first cage, stepping farther into the room.

“Well, well, how could I have guessed that you’d be nosing about where you don’t belong?”

I jumped at Aldo’s voice. My phone clattered to the floor, shining the flashlight upward and catching him under the chin, making him look like a fucking ghoul.

“Someone’s been a naughty girl, Giada, and naughty girls get punished.” He leaned close to me. “And punishment in The Enclave really fucking hurts.” He appeared positively gleeful. His hand clamped around my arm, and then he dragged me away from the room.

I let him get me to the corridor before I tugged back.

“Let me get my phone,” I said quickly. “It’s new.”

Aldo snorted, but to my surprise, let me twist around and reach for my cell, still lying on the stone floor.

I positioned myself carefully.

“Holy shit, can you see that?” I exclaimed, pointing back inside the room.

“What?” Aldo snapped at me, leaning over to see.

I gathered all my strength, wishing I was taller for the millionth time, and then exploded upward. I hit Aldo under the jaw with as much force as I could pack into the back of my head. There was a crack, and he stumbled back.

“You fucking bitch!” he cried out.

I swayed, my head throbbing, as I straightened up and ran.

“Get her!”

Wait, what?I slid to a stop when those creepy security guards materialized from behind me. I’d been so focused on getting away from Aldo, I hadn’t even noticed them. They grabbed me by the arms and held me firmly in place. Aldo straightened up and pinched his nose. Blood streamed down his chin.

He winced but chuckled. “You’ve just made your punishment so, so much worse, Santori,” he goaded, his voice thick.

“It’s O’Connor,” I heard myself say.What the hell?I had to have hit my head really hard this time.

“Whatever. Take her upstairs. She must be judged.”

Great. I really was a natural at getting into trouble.

The security guardshauled me upstairs, and I decided not to fight it. I could at least keep some kind of dignity. They brought us to the main hall, where all eyes turned in our direction. Branhad been talking to Regina, and his eyes widened when he saw me. Aldo strode into the room behind me.

“O’Connor’s wife broke our rules and assaulted me. She was poking around where she isn’t allowed, and she attacked me. She must pay reparations.”

Everyone watched as Archibald approached us, Bran hot on his heels.

He glared at the man who still held my arm, and everyone got quiet.

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