Page 22 of Mafia Kings: Dario

Literally, ‘dreams of gold.’

Kept here against my will, in a house full of mafia thugs?

I was sure my dreams would be anythingbut.

I left the room as quickly as I could, with Massimo trailing behind me up the stairs.

When I got to my room, he stopped at the threshold.

“Sleep well,” he said, then closed the door.

I heard aclick.

After he left, I tried the doorknob…

…and discovered I was locked in.

I went to bed, but it was many hours before I could sleep.

Because even though I was locked in…

…theywere not lockedout.

8

Iwoke early the next morning – not because of the sunlight shining into my room, but out of habit.

I worked in my father’s café six mornings of the week, and only got a reprieve on Sunday mornings because of mass – so I woke at the same time no matter how late I had gone to bed or how little sleep I had gotten.

But I had to admit, the bed was a dream… like floating on a cloud.

I rolled over on my side and considered sleeping in for the first time in years –

And that’s when I saw it.

A dress that wasn’t mine was hanging over a chair near the door.

A dress thatsomeone else must have put there while I was sleeping.

I sat up in bed, as wide awake as if someone had doused me with ice-cold water.

I could imagine Dario standing above me, watching me sleep, and I shivered with fear…

Although something about the fantasy made me blush, too.

I was only wearing a negligee, and one of the straps had fallen off my shoulder.

What had he seen?

…and what might he have done if he hadn’t made that promise to my father last night?

I heard his voice again in my mind:

I give you my word, I will not take your daughter’s virginity… until she begs me to do so.

Then I remembered the second thing he had said, whispering it into my ear so that only I could hear it:

You WILL be my whore. But only for me… and no one else.

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