MARKED BY THE MAFIA
Marked By The Mafia – Episode 53&54
[…BOUND BY DUTY…]
GENRE: Dark Romance
TAGS: MAFIAS, OBSESSION, POSSESSIVE, LOVE, STEAMY, LOVE TRIANGLE, EMPIRE, BETRAYAL, CRIME, VIOLENCE, DEATHS AND MANY MORE…
✧༺✰༻✧
✮{…DIFFERENT SITUATION…}✮
Enzo’s voice came closer, soothing yet impossibly near. “Relax, Aurora. It’s alright. Just breathe…”
Panic surged through her chest, but her body refused to respond. She could only watch, helpless, as he leaned in, pressing his lips to the sensitive skin of her neck. The heat of his mouth sent a shiver racing down her spine, and a flash of panic and confusion consumed her.
Then he began undressing her… his hands moving with a possessive slowness that made her heart hammer against her ribs.
He pulled the sleek silver gown from her shoulders, the fabric whispering as it slid down her paralyzed arms and pooled at her waist, leaving her bra and her extreme vulnerability exposed to his gaze. She was utterly helpless and unable to pull the gown back up.
His eyes, usually filled with that familiar warm amusement, were now dark with a chilling devotion. He ran the back of his hand slowly down the curve of her jaw, moving a loose strand of hair from her face.
“Aurora, you can’t tell me you don’t know about my likeness for you” he murmured, his breath warm against her ear.
“I have for a very long time, since the first time I saw you. I hated the day you told me you had a crush on Matteo. I hated it”
His fingers tightened slightly on her arm. “I hate the fact that you’re even married to him! You’re mine, Feather”
He leaned closer.
“My love for you increased the day you came crying in the underground gym because your father compared you to Valentina and called you weak and useless”
That word ‘weak’ snapped something in Aurora’s mind, pulling her back to that day.
FLASHBACK*
The rough, cold stones of the underground gym felt impossibly far away. Thirteen-year-old Aurora stumbled in, the remnants of her father’s cruel words echoing in the silence.
He had just finished comparing her to her older sister, Valentina, calling Aurora “weak” and “useless” a fragile thing not fit for the Bellanti name.
She sank on the worn leather bench, burying her face in her hands, the sobs escaping her small body in shuddering waves.
Enzo, then fourteen and already her personal driver, was silently practicing blade forms in the corner. He stopped instantly when he heard her cry. He’d been working for the family since he was just a boy, but he had never seen the Boss’s daughter cry like this.
He cautiously approached her, his own movements quiet.
“Hey, Rory,” he whispered, his voice uncharacteristically soft. He gently touched her shoulder. “What did they say?”
Aurora lifted her tear-streaked face. “He said I’m weak. That I’m not strong like Valentina. I’ll never be useful”
Enzo looked at her, his dark eyes filling with a fierce protectiveness that transcended his servant status.
He knelt down to meet her gaze. “You’re not weak, Rory,” he said, taking a small, almost weightless feather that had dropped from a training dummy’s stuffing and placing it in her hand. “You’re just not hard yet”
He curled her small fingers around the feather. “Do you know what a feather is? It’s light. It bends. But it can float above everything, and it can move faster than anyone expects. You’re my little feather”
“And I promise you this, Feather, I will teach you every single thing I know. I will make you so sharp, so fast, that your father will never, ever be able to call you weak again”
From that day forward, when she was thirteen and they began their secret training, he called her Feather.
END OF FLASHBACK*
The memory shattered like glass, pulling Aurora violently back to the present.
The metallic scent of blood seemed to fill the air, though none had been shed, only the bloody scent of betrayal.
Enzo was no longer the boy who had promised to protect her from weakness. He was the one inflicting it.
He smiled down at her, the triumphant smile of a victor claiming his prize.
“See, Feather? I never forgot that promise. And now… I can finally keep you safe. Safe with me” Enzo finished.
Aurora remained locked in her paralyzed prison, her eyes the only part of her that still obeyed burned with a silent, ferocious hatred. The man before her was not the Enzo she knew.
The realization was a fresh, sharp stab of agony.
Enzo stood, his expression satisfied. He pulled a heavy silk sash from the bedside table and began to bind her wrists to the back of the chair.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured, adjusting the knot. “The drug will wear off in a few hours. You’ll be comfortable, and we’ll have a long, long time to talk”
He paused, glancing at his watch. “But first, I need to make sure Matteo gets the message”
He picked up her clutch from the floor, pulled out her phone, and held it up to her face. With chilling calmness, he positioned the camera to read her immobilized features. The screen flashed green, granting him access. He had her phone.
Moving quickly, he opened the messaging app and drafted a brief text to Matteo.
*Don’t bother finding me. I just want to be alone.
He pressed send, waited half a second for the confirmation, and then, before Aurora could even register the full weight of the deception, he powered the phone off.
Enzo pocketed the useless device.
“There,” he said, smiling down at her. “That should buy us a few hours before the monster realizes his little wife didn’t actually run away”
He then turned back to Aurora, his eyes roaming over her exposed shoulders and the fabric of her bra. His smile grew cold and predatory. He knelt, his fingers reaching for the clasp.
“Now, where were we, Feather?” he whispered.
Just as his fingertips brushed the fabric strap—
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
The sudden, loud rap on the heavy wooden door startled him.
Enzo froze, his eyes snapping to the door.
“Merda!” He cursed softly, a low Italian epithet. He’d forgotten that he ordered a late snack and a bottle of high-end scotch right before Aurora arrived.
He glanced at Aurora, who was still tied and exposed. Quick decision-making kicked in. He couldn’t risk the room service attendant seeing her in that state.
“Stay put” he commanded, though the order was laughably redundant.
He grabbed the heavy duvet from the bed, tossing it over Aurora with a speed that belied his earlier slow movements, completely covering her and the chair.
He then smoothed his shirt, checked the door’s peephole, and unlocked the deadbolt.
Enzo opened the door just wide enough to block the attendant’s view of the room. A uniformed man stood there, holding a silver tray covered by a pristine cloth.
“Room service for 807, sir. Your late-night delivery”
“Perfect timing” Enzo said, forcing a casual tone. He quickly took the tray, handing over a generous tip without making eye contact.
“Enjoy your evening, sir”
“I plan to” Enzo replied, a dark smirk playing on his lips as the door was locked and bolted once more.
He leaned against the heavy wood for a moment, listening until the attendant’s footsteps faded. He had barely wasted thirty seconds, but the momentum of his violation had been broken.
Enzo walked back to the center of the room, pulling the duvet off Aurora. Her eyes, still filled with rage, met his.
“Just a minor delay, Feather,” he said, picking up the scotch from the tray. He poured a drink, his hand steady. “Now, where were we?”
He raised the glass to her, his smile chillingly triumphant.
The ringtone shattered the charged silence. Enzo’s brows knit in irritation as he fished his phone from his pocket.
“Yes?” he muttered, answering.
A clipped voice spoke on the other end. “Sir, your express delivery from yesterday has just arrived. You requested to receive it personally at the lobby”
Enzo exhaled sharply, jaw clenching. “Now? It couldn’t wait five minutes?”
“I’m afraid it’s perishable content, sir. The courier insists”
He ended the call with a terse curse under his breath. For a long moment, he stood still, his knuckles whitening around the glass of scotch. Then he turned back to Aurora.
Her eyes followed him, silent and burning fury.
“Will be right back, Feather,” he said at last, forcing a calmness he didn’t feel. “Seems the universe enjoys interrupting me tonight”
He set the glass down on the bedside table and walked to her, crouching so his eyes were level with hers. His hand hovered near her cheek but didn’t touch. Instead, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“I’ll be right back” he murmured.
“Don’t go anywhere, you can’t anyway”
He rose, straightened his jacket, and headed for the door. With one last glance at her bound form, he locked it from the outside.
The echo of his footsteps faded down the hall, leaving Aurora in suffocating silence.
Down in the lavish, marble-floored lobby of Le Monarch Hotel, Enzo accepted his large, customized luggage from the courier. He signed quickly, his eyes darting toward the elevators. The brief trip had already cut into his precious time with Aurora.
He turned toward the elevator bank, and he pressed the button for the eighth floor and waited, tapping his foot impatiently. The elevator doors slid open, and he stepped inside, his dark thoughts already returning to the suite.
When he reached Room 807, he inserted his keycard, expecting the tell-tale double click of the main lock and the heavy thud of the deadbolt.
But there was only a single, quiet click.
Enzo froze, his heart slamming against his ribs. The deadbolt was unlocked.
He pulled his key out, his hand shaking. Had he forgotten? He distinctly remembered sliding the heavy bolt.
He pulled his pistol from the waistband beneath his jacket. He kicked the door inward.
The room was silent.
The silk sash lay cut and discarded on the floor by the chair. The heavy,wooden chair stood empty, pushed slightly off-center.
“Aurora!” Enzo roared, his voice cracking with disbelief and rising panic. He swept the room, checking the bathroom, the closet, and the balcony.
Gone.
He spun back to the center of the room. Her clutch lay on the counter and his glass of scotch sat untouched.
Nothing was missing except her.
Enzo stared at the empty chair, the silent witness to his catastrophic failure. He had built her cage, promised to keep her safe, and in less than five minutes, she had flown away.
He knew then that she hadn’t escaped the paralysis on her own. Someone else had been here.
Matteo!?
•••
BACK AT THE GALA*
The soft jazz played on, oblivious to the simmering tension. It had been over an hour since Aurora had left the corner table for the restroom, and now, Matteo, was also conspicuously absent.
Maya was slumped slightly in her chair, working hard on her fourth glass of ruby-red wine. The alcohol hadn’t dulled the sting of Ace’s earlier rejection, but it had made her reckless.
Scarlett and Rosa sat nearby, watching the flow of guests while keeping a casual eye on her.
Blade swaggered over to the table, followed closely by Storm and Axe.
“Have any of you seen the Boss?” Axe asked before Blade could.
Scarlett shrugged, her gaze fixed on the crowd near the champagne tower.
“We haven’t seen him”
“His phone went to voicemail” Storm added, checking his own device.
Just then, Ace appeared, striding quickly toward the table, his chest rising and falling heavily as though he’d sprinted up several flights of stairs. His normally cold, controlled demeanor was replaced by visible alarm.
“We can’t find Boss’s wife too” Ace stated, his voice clipped and strained. He looked directly at Maya. “You were the last one with her”
The mention of Aurora’s disappearance was a bucket of ice water. Maya instantly sobered. She pushed her chair back, the wine-fueled haze vanishing in a rush of dread.
“What do you mean, ‘can’t find her’? She told me she was visiting the restroom. She said she’d be right back”
“She left the building,” Ace ground out, running a hand over his tired eyes. “The staff saw a woman matching her description leave through a service exit one hour and some minutes ago. No one saw who picked her up”
“She wouldn’t do that,” Rosa interjected, looking from Ace to Maya. “Not without telling someone or boss”
Before the team could descend into a full-blown panic, Ace’s phone buzzed with an urgent text message. He snatched it up, reading the screen as the others clustered in anticipation.
Ace looked up, his face a mask of conflict and confusion. He read the message aloud, his voice flat with disbelief.
“Everyone should go home. I have it handled myself”
The text was from Matteo.
A stunned silence fell over the small group.
“Handled what?” Blade finally broke the silence, his jaw dropping. “His wife goes missing, and we’re supposed to go home?”
“It’s his number,” Ace confirmed, staring at the message as if the phone would spontaneously combust. “But it doesn’t make any damn sense”
Viper sashayed over, having overheard the last sentence.
“When has the Boss ever made sense when his little lamb is involved?” she drawled, though her eyes were serious.
“If he says go home, he means he’s gone nuclear, and he wants no witnesses”
The team exchanged grim, knowing looks.
“I knew this was going to happen” Bianca scoffed, throwing her hands up in exasperation as she joined them.
“We came here on a mission, and now his stupid wife decides to be the star, making everyone focus on her, and we forgot what we came to do”
Her gaze swept over the worried faces, landing dismissively on the empty table where Aurora had sat.
“Why is she suddenly going missing? She just wants attention on her, and now Boss has gone for her,” Bianca spat, her voice dripping with venomous jealousy. “She has no respect for the Family, no respect for the operation!”
Maya, still sobered and terrified, finally snapped. Her own tumultuous relationship with Ace and her fear for her brother’s wife boiled over.
“Shut up, Bianca,” Maya hissed, pushing forward. “You’re just mad because you’re useless on a mission, you couldn’t even make Nicholas fall for you, and Matteo left the building without giving you a second glance!”
Bianca’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “At least I know my place, Maya. Unlike the little tramp who has to screw a guy just to feel important, then cries when he calls her a mistake”
Before the verbal sparring could turn physical, Ace stepped between them, his hand gripping Maya’s arm hard enough to stop her lunge.
“Enough!” Ace roared, his voice low and carrying the absolute authority. “This isn’t a damn parlor game. The Boss gave an order. We follow
He looked at the others.
“We leave this gala now” Ace commanded.
Blade shook his head, his usual grin completely gone. “And what if he needs backup, Ace? We’re just going to sit there?”
Ace’s jaw was tight. “If he needs us, he knows how to call us. Until then, we trust the Boss knows what he’s doing and besides he can handle whatever it is on his own!”
He looked once more at the exit, his conflicted emotions clear.
Vixen was watching them from afar, his eyes solely on Ace.
•••
The first sensation Aurora registered was the impossible softness beneath her back. The paralysis was gone, replaced by a dull, throbbing ache and the overwhelming sensation of sluggishness.
She blinked her eyes open, struggling to focus on the unfamiliar, opulent surroundings.
She wasn’t in Le Monarch Hotel. She was in a room draped in velvet and silk, illuminated by soft, expensive lighting. She lay on a large bed, covered by a rich silk duvet.
Her body felt heavy, but she could move. She cautiously flexed her fingers, then her toes. The drug had worn off entirely. She was free of the chemical vise, but she was definitely not free.
A deep wave of disorientation hit her. She sat up, clutching the duvet to her chest, her mind racing to piece together the events: Enzo, the betrayal, the paralysis… and then nothing.
The door to the room clicked open, and a man walked in.
He was tall, with light, penetrating eyes and a confident, easy demeanor. He held a silver tray with a glass of water.
Aurora felt a strange jolt of familiarity. She was sure she’d seen him before, perhaps recently, but her memory was still clouded.
He smiled. “Good, you’re awake. You needed the rest after all that”
Aurora instinctively pulled the duvet tighter. She tried to speak, but her throat felt raw and unused. Her hands searched the bedside table for something, anything, to write with. She found a pen and a small notepad.
She scrawled two words and held the pad out to him.
“WHO ARE YOU?”
He walked to the bedside, set the tray down, and picked up the notepad, reading her question.
“My name is Nicholas,” he replied.
He leaned closer, his light eyes fixed on hers. “And we will be getting married soon”
Aurora’s eyes widened instantly in shock, and then a fierce frown creased her brow. She frantically snatched the notepad and pen, scribbling three furious words this time.
“DELUCA? NICHOLAS DELUCA?”
Before Nicholas could confirm her sinking realization, the door opened again. A man stepped into the room, a figure of cold, imposing authority. Antonio DeLuca.
Antonio surveyed Aurora with a calculating look.
“Is that her, Nicholas? The lady you want to marry?” Antonio asked, his voice a low rumble.
“Yes, Father” Nicholas confirmed, stepping slightly aside.
Antonio walked to the foot of the bed, his presence suffocating. “Welcome home, my beautiful daughter-in-law” He paused, a terrifying sense of finality in his words.
“The wedding will be scheduled next week on Saturday”
Aurora stared at the two men, utterly speechless.
It keeps getting worse.
•
•
TBC😈
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