Page 11 of The Don's Captor

“Then I don’t know how I will live with myself. I wasn’t expecting this when I first came up with the idea. I knew Dom was involved in human trafficking; I never pictured this. I would have devised a different plan to take him out if I had known. It’s too late now, we’re already here, but that doesn’t mean we have to lose another mother and her child. I know this isn’t only affecting me. You cared about Billie.”

Billie was three girls ago and a lost puppy, which was the only way I could describe her. She had grown up in the foster system after her mother allowed her father to molest her at just the age of four. It went on until she was seven. She was in school and told her teacher. From there, she went from one foster home to the next, abused and molested by various foster fathers. Her life was hard: drinking and drugs.

She became one of the prostitutes that Dom took over; he made sure one of her Johns got her pregnant. Gabriele was up to bat for Billie’s pregnancy, and I did not envy him for it. Not only did she have morning sickness but she was going through a serious heroin withdrawal. It was not pretty, and Gabriele had nursed her through it all.

He had grown fond of her. We had even been talking about ways we might be able to get her out without it getting back to anyone. Before we even got the chance to get that far, she was dead. It was no one’s fault; her pregnancy was a fallopian tube pregnancy, and we wouldn’t have known unless she had been given an ultrasound, which our doc doesn’t do. The tube burst once the baby got too big for it; she bled out almost instantly.

According to the doc, it would have been excruciating. The guard watching her while Gabriele was handling another job for Dom had locked her in and refused to see her, even as she was screaming and begging for help. Needless to say, I buried two bodies that night, and Gabriele hasn’t been the same since.

“Look, if this is what you want, then I’m behind you one hundred percent. I hate being here. I hate doing this to these women and seeing what they go through. So, if there's a way we can stop this and save Natalie and that baby while still killing Dominic, then I’m all for it. I just don’t know what that looks like.”

“I don’t either, but there has to be a way.” I sighed as I stood up and continued, “She’s in her room. She hasn’t eaten since lunch. I’ll be back later on tonight.”

“I got her. You be safe,” Gabriele promised.

I knew he would keep Natalie safe and take care of her, assuming she would come out of her room while I was gone. With Natalie protected, I could focus on her father and ensure he got everything he deserved and more.

Chapter eleven

Natalie

Just after eight at night, my need for food became too much, and I ventured out of my room. I quickly headed down the stairs and made my way to the kitchen. I didn’t know if Armando was gone yet, but if he was, I didn’t want to run into whoever had been set up to watch over me.

“Can I help you find something?”

I jumped at the sudden male voice behind me and quickly turned to see another man I didn’t know. He was around Armando’s age and looked just as attractive. I had no idea who he was. I thought I remembered him when I was grabbed, but I couldn’t be sure.

“No, I was just grabbing some water,” I lied.

“In the cupboard?” he teased with a warm smile. “You haven’t eaten since lunch. Why don’t you come to sit down and I’ll make you something.”

It was an excellent offer, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about him cooking for me. These guys were my guards and not my caregivers.

“No, that’s fine. I can handle it.”

“I know this is difficult for you, but I’m an old Jewish woman. I think I was one in my past life. I have this uncontrollable need to cook for people. You would be helping me.”

I wasn't sure if he was being honest, but it appeared that I wasn’t going to get him to change his mind. Plus, I was hungry, anyway. I gave him a nod and went to sit at the kitchen table.

“Anything, in particular, you fancy?” he asked as he moved closer to the fridge.

“I’m pretty easy. What’s your name?”

“Sorry, my manners seem to come and go. I’m Gabriele, Mando’s best friend.”

“Didn’t think he was capable of having a BFF,” I couldn’t help but say. The man didn’t strictly come across as the type to have a bestie.

Gabriele gave a chuckle to that as he started to pull out various items from the fridge. “He wasn’t born this way, neither of us was, but we were born into it. Our fathers were thick as thieves, and we grew up together. It might seem hard to believe, but he is a good man. He’s surrounded by a lot of armor that he’s had to put on to protect himself within this world.”

“If you didn’t choose to be here, why not leave?”

I could understand them being born into the mafia, but I also knew that wasn’t an excuse either. Lots of people are born into a bad situation, and they find a way out of it. Millions are living within ghettos and gang-infested areas that manage to escape gang life without having to step foot into one. It was possible. It was hard, but they could have done it if they genuinely wanted to.

“Life is rarely that simple. It’s easy to say that if you hate your life, just change it. But just like if you hate your job, you can’t always walk away. You must consider paying your bills and where the next job will be. Sure, that is an oversimplification of the mafia, but the same rules apply. To leave, we have to try and figure out how to do that without being killed. It’s not like we can give our two-week notice and call it a day. There’s no quitting or retiring from the mafia.”

“Ya, but people do it. They get out of the mafia and gangs. They do the right thing and put the criminals, the bad men, in jail. It’s not a glamorous life, and witness protection isn’t easy, but you would at least be saving lives. Doing something honorable.” It just felt like they were trying to take the easy way out and make excuses as to why they were really victims when that was far from the case.

“Witness protection only ends in death for guys with our ranking. And not all mafias are the same. They don’t kill innocent people and kidnap them for their babies. Dominic is insane and runs a very unique ship. A rare handful works well within their communities and makes a lot of money. Yes, they are very rare, but they do exist.”

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