Indebted to the Mafia King

Eleni

I scroll down a page on my online textbook and glance at the clock on the dining room wall. Nearly one. When I woke up in bed alone, I was a little frustrated. Last night was nothing short of magical for me, but I've seen movies, so I know what sneaking out before the other person wakes up means. When I searched the whole house for Dante and didn't find him or any note I was worried. I know he's a boss, and that means he's always going to work weird hours, but this much of a rush in the middle of a weekday seems strange.novelbin

But now, as I sit at his massive, luxurious dining room table trying and failing to do homework for night classes I haven't been to in what feels like years, I'm downright scared. There's no sign of Dante except an espresso cup with a thin film remaining at the bottom. I talked to a couple of the staff, and one of them said Tony rushed Dante out as soon as he woke up, so he's obviously not kidnapped or anything, but it's been an hour, and I feel like I'm losing my mind.

What if something happened to him? What if I committed myself to this life, to revenge, and all I end up with to show for losing myself is one great night of memories and the knowledge that Luca Lombardi is never going to see punishment. I slump back in my chair with a groan. Life was so much easier when I was just the good daughter my parents wanted, not trying to find my own definition of good.

The door slams open, and I leap to my feet. Stumbling into the front hall is Dante, leaning heavily on Tony's shoulders. Both of them look like they've been in a fight. My heart races, and my breath catches, but I need to try to seem like I haven't spent the last hour worrying about him.

"If you're gonna make a habit of busting your knuckles on people's faces, I'll start keeping a first aid kit by the door," I say.

Dante doesn't even look at me. My chest stings. As he and Tony drag themselves past, more men pour through the door, men I don't recognize. All of them wear suits and have the same crisp bearing I'm used to from the men in the Staten Island Saints, but this is more than I've ever seen. And like a rushing river, they're all headed for Dante's office. My stomach flips. Something huge happened.

"What's going on?" I ask the nearest man.

Like Dante, he doesn't even seem to hear me. I ask again and again, and no one turns. I hear the name "Coppola" in their conversation, but that doesn't mean anything to me. I just end up standing off to the side, watching them race by like another piece of Dante's beautiful furniture.

Eventually, the stream starts to dry up. I glance at the still-open door and see Seb silhouetted there. He, unlike everyone else, makes eye contact with me as he steps inside.

"Can you see me?" I ask with a half-smile that hopefully doesn't look as emotionally all over the place as I feel.

He nods but pulls me aside with a serious look. "You need to pack your things and come with me."

"What?" I pull my arm out of Seb's grasp. "Come with you where? I'm not going anywhere. I'm a Saint, just like the rest of you."

He shakes his head and looks away. "Safe house upstate. Boss's orders. I really can't disobey, okay?"

"No." I walk down the hallway toward Dante's office, following the end of the trail of men. "You heard wrong. Dante wants me in there."

"Come on, Eleni, don't make me the bad guy," Seb pleads.

We round the corner to Dante's ornate door, closed again. But as we stop, it opens, and my heart leaps. Of course, Dante didn't sleep with me and immediately cut me out. "Peaches," the guy in the doorway says. "Get your ass inside."

Seb ducks his head. "Be back soon. Seriously, pack up."

And he walks through the door. The man has to open it a bit wider to allow Seb access, and I catch Dante's eye across the crowd.

I don't know what to expect. Warmth? The awe he looked at me with when he took my virginity last night? Anger? Even just recognition?

Whatever it is, I don't get it. I'm not really looking at Dante. I'm looking at the boss of the Staten Island Saints, and whatever Dante said, that man doesn't know me.

The door closes between us, and I storm upstairs.

"House in upstate," I mutter. "Can't disobey."

Last night, I was just playing around. I can show him what real disobedience looks like. I'll pack the bag he wants so badly and leave on my own. I'll-I'll-I'll go back to the apartment and just wait for Luca to show up. I'll take one of the guns and kill him myself. Then, Dante'll have to realize what an asset I am. He'll have to stop dropping me as soon as something else comes up.

I slam into my room and stare at the bed some of the cleaning staff made so neatly. Even the sheet I wore last night is back in place, as though it never happened. My chest squeezes, and I force that hurt into the same boiling anger. I yank the suitcase that appeared at the same time as Mama's out of my closet and begin throwing clothes inside.

When I'm fighting with the zipper to close it, someone knocks on my door frame, and I whip around. Dante, leaning heavily on the wood and looking like he got hit by a truck. "What do you want?" I demand.

"Seb said you were upset," he says. "I came to check."

"Yes, I'm upset!" I release the suitcase, and the top springs open, undoing all my progress. "What happened to being part of your organization?"

Dante purses his lips. "The less you know about this, the better."

"Right, because I'm so uninvolved." I whirl back to the suitcase and begin fighting with it again. "Which is why it's totally safe for me to go out in the city-oh wait!"

Dante sighs. "You're being unreasonable. I'm trying to keep you safe."

"I don't want to be safe!" The zipper catches on a blouse, and I yank it with a small tearing sound. "I want to protect my family. I want to have a life! Did you know I have a final next week? I need to be here to take it." "We can figure that out." Dante purses his lips, and I realize abruptly that he's holding something back from me.

"Just say it." I yank the suitcase the rest of the way zipped and sit on it. "Who the hell else am I going to tell, right? I don't have a life anymore."

He clenches his jaw. "El-"

"No." I meet his gaze. "I thought I wasn't supposed to actually be your prisoner."

He stares back at me, becoming the boss of the Staten Island Saints again. "Things have changed."