AUCTIONED TO HER DAD’S MAFIA ENEMIES: A MAFIA AGE-GAP REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE (AUCTIONED SERIES Book 4)

THE COST OF DEFIANCE

I lean against the cold, exposed stone wall of the hallway, my jaw tight. The girl should have begged. She should have pleaded to be released. She should have wept for her own safety and fought against her captivity. All those are normal reactions. Instead, she looked at me with cool control in her beautiful, rich, dark eyes, twisting my insides with her resilience.

I’m a lot of things. Cold. Brutal. Unforgiving. Deadly. I’m the weapon of this family, the messenger of fate and death. My knuckles are scared from years of violence; my conscience deadened from my part in too many deaths.

So why did my body revolt at her quiet acceptance? Why did I crave the fight, the clawing, the screaming, the bitter hatred?

I’m fucked in the head. A monster. A man incapable of anything except executing Luca’s will.

I rub a rough hand over my face, breathing hard.

The stronger her will, the harder I will have to push to break her. It is easier to respond to violence with violence, easier to fight to control someone who’s lost the grip on their restraint. But Aemelia’s holding herself so tightly, she vibrates with it.

Luca’s talking on the phone, and the deep sound of his voice echoes in the dimly lit corridor. The penthouse is vast and luxurious, a stark contrast to the brutal reality unfolding within its walls. Everything’s too smooth and shiny, casting sharp reflections that seem to mock me.

I push away from the wall, satisfied that Aemelia isn’t going to wreck the room she’s confined to. In the open-plan living area, the floor-to-ceiling windows showcase the glittering city skyline, indifferent to the darkness brewing inside these walls.

Luca adjusts the cuffs of his crisp white shirt. His sharp features remain unreadable, ice-cold beneath the ambient glow. The phone now rests on the arm of the sleek white leather sofa. “Antonio?”

“She understands.”

He nods, his blue eyes, our mother’s eyes, flicking to where Alexis is sprawled.

“She’s defiant,” I say.

“Really?” He shakes his head.

We all remember her mother. She was weak and emotional, always losing her shit with Carlo in ways that embarrassed everyone around her. Her daughter is nothing like her.

“Keeping her here will become a liability,” I warn.

Alexis scoffs, running a hand through his wavy dark hair, his lean form relaxed. “Breaking her is the easy part. We just have to push the right buttons, right?” His eyes glint with something I’m not entirely comfortable with, something hungry.

I exhale sharply, shaking my head. “She’s not a mafia hood, Alexis. She’s just a girl who claims to know nothing. Luca said she wasn’t lying about that.”

Alexis smirks, amused. “No one’s asking you to like it. But unless you’ve got a better idea, we do what’s necessary.”

That’s easy for him to say. He’s not the one who usually has to do the doing, although he’s not averse. I prefer to keep my little brother’s hands as clean as I can. No point in both of us dripping with blood and sin. My hands are too thick with it to be cleansed. He at least has a chance at repentance.

Luca nods. “We need Carlo to believe it. If he thinks we’re being lenient because she’s a girl, he won’t take the bait. He needs to see her suffer—believe she’s in real danger.”

I clench my fists, the weight of it all pressing against my chest. I’ve done things, terrible things, in the name of family and power. But this doesn’t feel the same.

Luca continues, ever the strategist. “We need to reach her mother. If she wants her daughter to return to her in one piece, she’ll stay out of it. If she involves the police, there will be consequences.”

Alexis grins, pleased. “We’ll make sure she understands what’s at stake.”

“You think she’ll hold it together?” If my memory of Carmella Lambretti is correct, I can imagine her falling apart over this.

“She must.”

As always, Luca thinks he can will the world into the shape of his desires, but I know people. They’re unpredictable and dangerous, especially the weak ones.

I let out a slow breath. “Fine. But we don’t take it too far.”

Alexis only shrugs as if to say, ‘We’ll see.’

“Bring her out,” Luca says, rising from the couch. “We’ll start now.”

Start?

It’s such a meaningless word, but in my experience, the beginning of anything is always the hardest part.

I walk back to Aemelia’s room, twist open the lock, and stride inside. She’s lying in bed on her side, with the comforter clutched high around her neck, even though the room is warm.

“Get up,” I order.

She scrambles to sit, pressing her spine against the plush white velvet headboard.

“Come with me.”

Her eyes are so bright in the low light of the room that they glitter like stars. I reach out to hurry her along, but she evades my hand, slides from the bed, and walks out of the room with me trailing like a devoted puppy. The cheap lace get-up Nero’s goons dressed her in is infuriating and alluring. Aemelia isn’t a five-dollar hooker. She’s regal and upright, her hips swaying as she walks, drawing my eyes to her ass. Her perfect, delicious ass. I shake my head. What am I thinking?

When she comes face to face with my brothers, her strides falter, and I regain my senses.

“Get on your knees for your boss,” I growl from behind her.

She turns startled, her eyes searching over my impassive expression and finding no hint of weakness. She twists to Alexis, then Luca, and they both fix her with determined gazes. Like a flower wilting in the hot sun, she slowly lowers herself to her knees, resting her hands on the expensive rug beside her.

“Here’s the thing,” Luca says, looming over her, tugging at his cuffs again. “If your father comes forward quickly, it will be better for you. If you make him understand how vital it is for him to come back, it will be better for you. If you listen to us and do as you’re told, it will be better for you. Many things happen to us in life that we don’t like, but it’s how we approach them and how we get through them that’s important. You understand?”

She nods, and her dark, cascading hair slips over her shoulders, but I don’t believe she has any idea of the reality behind Luca’s words.

Even like this, she’s stunning. Especially, like this. My body betrays me, heat coiling low in my stomach at the sight of her submission and helplessness.

“Kiss my feet,” Luca orders. “Show me you understand.”

Aemelia turns her head to look at me again as though I’m the one with the power here. Doesn’t she know that hierarchy is everything in this business? Deference to authority is how everything functions.

The tension in the room crackles like a live wire. “Go to hell,” she spits.

“Wrong answer,” I hiss, reaching for the back of her neck.

Her fingers curl into fists, her whole body shaking as I push her face to the ground. When her lips barely brush against his skin, Luca nods. “Good girl. Now, the other one.”

I release my grip so my hand rests against her back, and still, she hesitates, her breath quick and shallow, until she eventually obeys. Like this, with her ass in the air, the lace of her dress stretches thin, and the shadow of her cunt is revealed. My mouth fills with saliva, as weak as a slathering dog over a steak.

“Good girl,” Alexis murmurs, though the satisfaction in his voice is laced with something darker. He likes women to be compliant. He enjoys being the puppet master. He’s not usually brutal, as far as I know, just entitled.

Luca watches, detached, clinical. “Enough. Get up.”

Aemelia does, but just as she straightens, Luca grabs her arm, spinning her toward the long mahogany dining table. The rich wood gleams under the warm light, and she flinches at the moment she realizes she isn’t done paying for her defiance.

“Bend over.”

She struggles, but she’s tiny compared to my brother and weak in his grasp. Luca forces her down, his hand between her shoulder blades, pressing her cheek to the gleaming wood. I remain still, restraining myself as Luca delivers a precise strike to her backside.

Slap.

She gasps, her eyes widening with shock and pain.

Slap.

“You gotta big mouth on you, gattina. A big mouth and no respect.”

Her lips and eyes press tight, hiding her emotion.

Slap. Slap. Slap.

By the fifth spank, she gasps, her resistance chipped away. My stomach tightens, my pulse pounding, the urge to intervene becomes a raging battle within me. My dick is rock hard, and I turn away, disgusted at my body’s response. She whimpers when he’s done, her cheek still mashed to the wood, leaking eyes staring ahead in shock or disbelief. Luca’s big hand clasps the flesh he brutalized, then strokes over and over.

“There’s something you need to understand if you have an ounce of common sense in your pretty little skull. Don’t test me, Aemelia.” The ice in his tone, or maybe the gentleness in his touch, makes her shiver and goosebumps break out over her slender arms. “Do as you’re told, and we’ll get along just fine.” His palm leaves the cheek he slapped, brushing over the center of her ass where she’s spread and exposed. His posture stiffens, and his tongue darts out to lick the center of his bottom lip. He leans over her body so his mouth is almost touching the shell of her ear. “Be a good girl for me,” he whispers, “and we’ll get along fine. And if you’re not… Well, we don’t want that now, do we?” He waits, but Aemelia remains still. “DO WE?” he yells.

“No.”

“No, what?”

“No, Luca.”

He smiles at the rushed sound of his name, and then he releases her. “Now, go to bed.”

Aemelia rises slowly and turns without a word, her face pale, her eyes dark as midnight but glittering with unshed tears. She walks away with her head held high, though I can see how much effort it takes.

I follow her, my footsteps heavy. When she reaches her door, she turns, glaring at me. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she whispers, venom laced in her voice.

I exhale. “No.” I step closer, my voice low. “But every time you fight us, there will be consequences.”

Her chin lifts defiantly. “Then you’d better be ready for war.”

I swallow against the strange feeling in my chest as I lock the door behind her.

This is only the beginning.noveldrama