: Finding Out My Father Is Still Alive

Gianna’s POV

“Do you think I’m going to poison you?” Dante asked suddenly, his voice much calmer than it had any right to be.

My fingers shook around the glass, then, slowly… I nodded.

A dry chuckle left his lips, as though he was mocking my response. “If I wanted you dead,” he said coldly, “you’d have been dead the moment you passed out in my car.”

When I didn’t respond, he let out an irritated sigh, grabbed the glass from my hand, and took a sip himself. Then he pushed it back toward me.

“Drink it, now. You’ll need your strength. And you’ll need to stay hydrated… for what I have planned tonight.”

I wanted to ask what he meant, but changed my mind. The less conversations I had with this man, the better for me.

So I tipped the glass back and gulped down every drop. Only then did I realize how thirsty I was, how dry my throat had been as the cool liquid slid down my throat. I drank like I hadn’t seen water in days.

When I was done, he took the glass from my hand and set it on the side table.

Then, without speaking, he retrieved something from the tray the woman had brought in earlier. A small tube.

He opened it, dipped his fingers inside, then sat beside me once more.

I tensed.

“Relax,” he voice was low and reassuring.

His fingers brushed against my neck again, this time with cool gel between them.

The tenderness of it made my skin shiver.

My body jerked involuntarily at the contact, but he pulled me closer, holding me steady with his other hand.

“Stop moving,” He commanded. “Or else you could smear it all over your body.”

“Alright.” I replied softly.

He moved slowly, carefully, applying the ointment in soft, circular strokes into my skin.

And I hated that it felt good.

That his touch was gentle and soothing sent little sparks dancing beneath my skin.

Once he was done, he let his fingers linger just a second too long before pulling back.

“Does it feel better?” he asked.

I hesitated, my voice thin and brittle. “…Yes.”

“Good,” he said, his tone shifting again, colder. Distant.

As if whatever part of him that showed me kindness… had already vanished.

And the monster I feared was back.

The contradiction of this man was enough to make me dizzy.

Then he tilted my face up with a rough, confident grip, forcing me to meet the cold darkness in his eyes.

“I expected you to be a little shaken,” he said, his tone flat, almost amused. “But not this damn stubborn. Or downright obnoxious.”

How dare he call me stubborn?

After everything he’d put me through, threatening to sell me, shattering what little life I had left, he still expected me to just nod and obey? What kind of delusional world did this man live in, where no one challenged him?

His voice was laced with irritation as he continued.

“I thought, knowing your life was at risk, you’d be grateful and accept my offer willingly. Knowing that I'm the best option you have.”

I folded my arms across my chest, more to hide how badly I was shaking than to look defiant. “How am I supposed to be sure you really are my best bet?”

His eyes narrowed. “Well, for one,” he leaned closer, “you can be sure I would never auction you off to another man. I’m the only man you’ll ever belong to.”

I couldn’t help it, my eyes rolled before I could stop myself. The way he said it, like I was supposed to feel grateful that only one man would own me. How sick was that?

He caught it. Of course he did.

His stare hardened. “Can you say the same about those vile men at Vincenzo’s club?”

I matched his gaze. “Maybe you should let me go so I can find out for myself.”

Dante's mouth curved into a tight, mocking smile. “I’ve given you more grace than most, firecracker. But you’re bent on making this harder than it needs to be.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult,” I replied, my voice shaky. “I know you don’t have a conscience, but if there’s even a piece of one left in you, then try to understand… all of this is new to me. My father is dead. I was sold to the man who killed him, like an object. And now I’m supposed to just… adjust to the mafia world overnight? I don’t even understand any of this.”

He didn’t speak. Just looked at me.

My throat burned as I forced out the rest.

“If this is all about revenge… if my father’s truly dead… then why not just kill me, instead of torturing me slowly?”

Dante let out a low, cruel laugh.

“Moments ago, you were begging me to spare your life. Now you’re asking me to end it?”

He tilted his head mockingly. “Interesting.”

“That’s not what I meant….”

But he cut me off, eyes gleaming coldly.

“The reason you’re still alive is because Lorenzo escaped. I shot him, but he got away.”

The words hit me hard. Shock tore through me like a lightning bolt.

“That’s not possible,” I breathed. “I watched you shoot him. He fell... there was blood...”

“Yes,” Dante admitted, almost bored now. “But when you screamed… it distracted me. I turned my head for one goddamn second. Long enough for a few of his men to get in and drag him out. By the time mine reached the courtyard, he was gone.”

My head was spinning.

“Gone?”

“Vanished,” he confirmed. “Two hours later, his car was found set ablaze. Police said it was a head-on collision, and all bodies were burnt beyond recognition.”

He paused. His eyes stayed locked on mine.

“My men swore it was him,” Dante went on. “But my instincts, which have never failed me, tell me otherwise. Lorenzo is alive. And until I know for certain, I’ll use the one thing he loved most to draw him out.”

His voice dipped, full of vengeance. “You.”

My heart dropped as a mix of fear and relief washed over me.

My father might be alive.

I held onto the thought with everything I had. I prayed it was true. That he escaped. That somewhere, somehow, he was safe. Maybe even planning to come for me.

He always said I was his world. That he’d die for me.

That had to mean something. And just maybe, there was a way out of this for me. I just had to survive long enough for him to find me.

But Dante had other plans.

“This is taking too long. Clearly, you need some convincing.”

He turned abruptly, pulled out his phone and walked a few steps away, speaking low into it. I couldn’t hear much, just enough to know I didn’t like whatever was coming next.

Then the steel door opened.

A tall man stepped in, brown-haired, broad-shouldered, with the kind of calm confidence that screamed danger. I recognized him instantly. He’d been at the auction. He’d driven the car that took me from hell to… wherever this place was.Gianna’s

His eyes shifted to Dante, waiting.

“Bruno,” Dante said, “bring her in.”

Bruno gave a silent nod and walked out.

My blood turned cold.

“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice rising in panic. “Who are you bringing in?”

No answer. Just silence.

The minutes stretched too long and finally.

Then the door opened again.

And I froze.

“Aunt Camilla?”

My voice broke on her name.

Shock slammed into my chest. I stood, legs wobbling, unsure if I was dreaming.

She stepped inside slowly. Her eyes met mine, and for the briefest moment, I saw the same exhaustion, the same fear, mirrored in her gaze.

Before I could move, Dante spoke.

“I’ll give you both some time.”

He turned without another word and walked out, leaving me alone with the woman I once believed had tried to protect me.

But now… I wasn’t so sure.

: Striking A Bargain

Gia’s POV

“Aunty Camilla?” I said, blinking fast as if the sight of her might disappear. “What… are you doing here? How?”

I didn’t wait for her to answer. I rushed forward and threw my arms around her. For a second, she held me. Just a second, then she pulled back.

Her arms dropped from around me like I was something she didn’t want to hold onto for too long.

She looked at me carefully, her voice steady. “Dante’s men brought me here.”

I frowned. “What? Why would they bring you…?”

She stepped closer, placing a hand gently on my arm, like she was trying to calm a wild animal.

“Gia… listen to me. Calm down. Everything is going to be fine.”

“No,” I snapped, stepping back. “No, it’s not going to be fine!”

My chest was tight. I couldn’t breathe. My hands were trembling.

“I need to get out of here,” I begged. “Back at Vincenzo’s club, you promised if we got our twenty percent from the auction, we’d disappear. Start over.”

Her eyes dropped to the floor, and for the first time, I saw guilt flash in her eyes.

“Oh child,” she murmured, her voice cracking. “How I wish… but we can’t.”

I shook my head violently. “Why not? Dante said Dad might be alive. If that’s true, then we should be out there looking for him! He could be hurt. He could need us.”

Her face softened, not with hope but pity.

“Gia,” she said slowly, “you’re too naïve.”

My heart sank.

“You saw those names Dante showed you, the men Lorenzo owes. They’re monsters,” she continued. “If by some miracle your father’s still breathing, he’s hiding. Because even he knows those men don’t leave debts unpaid.”

I stared at her, blinking in disbelief. “So that’s it? You want me to just… give in? Don’t you care about me?”

She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, the way she used to when I was little and scared after a nightmare.

“My sweet Gia,” she murmured. “Of course I care. But we don’t have a choice. Dante is offering you something no one else will. Protection. Security. A home. He’ll settle all your father’s debts. You’ll want for nothing.”

My mouth dropped open. She truly had grown heartless overnight.

“You’ll get used to it,” she added, her tone slipping into something almost rehearsed. “He’s handsome. Strong. Better than half the men who could’ve won you.”

“You’re not hearing yourself,” I choked out.

“This is the world we live in, Gia,” her voice was even harsher. “Either you accept Dante’s offer… or he’ll cast us out in the street, where your father’s enemies are waiting. You think they’ll offer you contracts? Negotiations?”

She stepped even closer, her tone clearly a warning.

“They’ll drag you into a basement. Tie you up. And take turns, one after the other. And when they’re done, they’ll sell you off again, maybe in pieces this time.”

My breath caught.

That was exactly what Dante said, word for word.

The same vile, brutal scenario he used to scare me.

Did he tell her to say this? Or was this just the dark reality of the mafia world?

“You can’t afford to fight him,” she went on. “You’ve always had that fire, that defiant spirit. Always believed we women had a choice. That we could rewrite the rules. But this isn’t the world you dreamed of, Gia. This is the mafia. And in this world… women don’t get choices. We get assigned.”

She reached for my hand and began massaging my palm in a slightly cynical manner.

“I’ve spent years trying to tame that wildness in you,” she murmured. “Always hoping you’d learn your place before it got you hurt. But maybe now… maybe Dante will do what I couldn’t.”

She lifted my chin gently, forcing my eyes to meet hers.

“You can make this easier for yourself. Be his. Please him. Give him what he wants, and in time… it won’t feel like punishment, you might even begin to enjoy it. Men like Dante, they take what they desire, but they’re not always cruel about it.”

I staggered back in disbelief at the words my aunt was spewing. Her eyes were calm, as if she believed every word she’d just said.

She had become a woman with no conscience.

How could she think I’d ever enjoy being touched by a monster?

As though on cue, the door pushed open.

Camilla flinched and stepped back.

He crossed the room like a storm wrapped in human skin, and I hated how my body still reacted to his presence. He carried a certain aura of power and heat that both confused and awakened something in me at the same time.

“That’s convincing enough,” he said coolly. “I’m sure she understands now.”

Camilla turned back to me. She leaned in, kissed my forehead gently.

“Remember everything I said,” she murmured. “Use what you have. Get what you can. Survive.”

And just like that, she was gone.

It all made sense now. That was why Dante brought her in.

She wasn’t trying to save me. She was here not just to prepare me, but to break me, before he even had the chance.

Dante grabbed my hand, ignoring every protest I made, and walked me back to the table, where the document was laid out.

“Are you ready to sign now?”

I stared at the pages. My vision blurred, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if it was the ink or my tears smearing the print.

This was it.

I was about to sign away my freedom.

My body.

My will.

Everything.

But my fingers froze over the pen. A little part inside me screamed for leverage. A possible chance that offered me a way out someday.

If I had to sell my soul, I needed to at least choose one condition.

My eyes met his. “If I’m going to sign this… I want something in return.”

Dante’s face hardened, his patience wearing thin. “I’m paying off your father’s debt. I’m offering you not just protection but provision of the finest things life has to offer. And you want more?”

“There’s something else,” I continued, my voice firmer this time. “Something that mattered to me before all of this. I’d like to finish it.”

He exhaled sharply, frustrated. “Let me hear this thing that’s worth more than everything I’ve already offered you.”

I dropped the pen and stood straight. “I want to go back to college.”

His expression shifted.

“I already started my degree in Business Management. This is my final year. I want to finish it.”

The coldness returned to his face immediately. “No.”

“Why?”

“That’s not happening,” he said, flat and final. “I’m not letting you go back to college, for obvious reasons.”

“But…”

“If you sign this,” he cut in sternly, “you’re giving up your freedom. That includes where you go, who you see, what you do.”

My voice cracked. “What could I possibly do at school that threatens you?”

He leaned in, eyes like steel. “Spending hours away from my supervision. Without my men. No eyes on you. You could run. Disappear. And we both know you’d try.”

“But your men would find me,” I said, trying to steady my voice. “Isn’t that what you told me before? That there’s no escaping you?”

I don’t know where the courage came from, but I reached for his hand.

His eyes moved down, surprised. So was I.

“I need this degree,” I whispered. “It’s been my dream since I was little, to one day prove my father wrong. To take over his company. To make something of myself.”

Tears welled up again, but this time, I let them fall. Then I said the words I didn’t know I had in me.

“Imagine if I was your daughter. Imagine if everything was stripped away from her in one night. Wouldn’t you still want her to have that one thing that was hers?”

For a moment, he didn’t move.

Then a wave of emotions flashed across his features, like the word daughter opened something in him he didn’t want anyone to see.

His voice was lower when he finally spoke. “I’ll have the lawyers add it to the contract… but under my strict conditions. Is that understood?”

I nodded quickly. “Yes. Thank you.”

My gaze dropped, and I realized my hand was still over his.

Before I could pull away, he caught my wrist, and in one swift move, pulled me toward him until my body collided with his chest.

“We’ll finalize the contract in the coming days,” he said, low and commanding.

Then, without warning, he lifted me into his arms, slinging me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.

I gasped. “What are you…?”

“It’s time I claimed what I own.”

And just like that… the illusion of mercy I had vanished.

: Standing Naked Before Him

Gia’s POV

The door slammed shut behind us.

Before I could gather my breath, Dante tossed me onto the massive bed like I weighed nothing. The mattress dipped beneath me, but my heart fell faster.

I scrambled instinctively, retreating toward the headboard, my knees drawn in like a shield. But it was useless. There was no shielding myself from him, not from the way he looked at me, not from what I knew was coming.

He stood at the foot of the bed, tall and still, his presence swallowing the room. And his eyes, God, those eyes, grey and burning. The way he looked at me sent tingles shooting down my spine, awakening parts of me I didn’t even know existed.

“Come here,” he ordered.

I froze.

When I didn’t move, didn’t breathe, he stepped forward, grabbed my ankle, and with one smooth, possessive tug, dragged me toward the edge of the bed like I was his property.

“Pretty doll,” he murmured. “You do know what’s about to happen.”

My mouth parted, but no sound came out. So I nodded, a soft surrender.

He cupped my cheek as his thumb brushed over my skin, gently, and it confused me. It shouldn’t have felt good, but it did. Too good.

A tremble coursed through me, and I flinched, not from fear but from the rush of sensation his touch provoked.

“I’m ready,” I whispered, lying back stiffly, eyes squeezing shut. “You can start.”

That was a desperate lie. I was anything but ready.

My entire body trembled, not just from fear but from the weight of everything.

This wasn’t about it being my first time, but everything else.

My father made sure I was never allowed to have friends, let alone a boyfriend.

I’d never so much as kissed a boy, never gone to parties, never flirted.

I wasn’t allowed on dates, not to school dances, not even to the mall without a guard.

The men he assigned to me made sure no one ever dared to get close.

I wasn’t allowed to watch anything romantic or remotely inappropriate. Everything I did was monitored.

The only glimpses I had of what romance or sex could be like came from the forbidden novels my aunt used to sneak under my pillow, and from what I learned in biology class.

That was it. Just the basics.

And now, I was lying here, nervous, completely out of my depth, about to be touched and claimed by a man who saw me as nothing but a body to unleash his revenge on.

When I opened my eyes, I expected to find him undressing or climbing over me.

But he hadn’t moved.

He stood there, watching me in disbelief.

He tilted his head and let out a low chuckle, soft and almost mocking.

“Pretty doll,” he repeated, voice heavy with something darker. “You don’t make the rules here. I do. And no… you’re not just going to lie there like a piece of meat waiting for slaughter.”

His tone shifted, deeper, more primal. “You will be a willing participant.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Lying here without screaming while you do whatever you want, that’s participation enough. Don’t expect more.”

His smirk deepened. “You love testing me, don’t you? That mouth of yours...”

He moved closer. His thumb brushed over my lips so seductively it made me gasp.

“You’re going to learn what happens when you test me.”

“I… I wasn’t trying to,” I stammered. But even I didn’t believe it.

“Shhh.” He raised a single finger. “No more excuses.”

Then, with a glint of heat and hunger in his gaze, he said darkly, “Now, pretty doll… I want to see you naked.”

“What?”

“Strip,” he repeated, slower this time. “A special tease. Just for me.”

My insides twisted with disgust. “No. I won’t,” I said firmly. “I refuse to dance naked for the man who shot my father.”

His expression shifted slightly, and a glint of amusement flashed in his eyes.

“You’re aware I bought your virginity?”

“And I’m fulfilling my end,” I fired back, chin high. “I’m offering my body. But you’re asking for something more.”

“More?” His voice dipped, colder. “You have no idea how much more this is going to be. You think this ends tonight?”

He reached for me again, dragging his fingers from my jaw down the center of my chest.

His touch was light, maddening. He paused at my cleavage, his thumb dipping between the swell of my breasts, barely grazing.

“You haven’t signed the mistress contract yet… but that doesn’t change what you are. And if you think you’ll keep your pride and your rules in this arrangement,” he leaned in, voice like a warning, “you’re sorely mistaken.”

I swallowed hard and forced myself to meet his eyes. “Then I’ll hold onto the one thing I still have left. Because I haven’t signed.”

That did it.

The smirk disappeared, replaced by a burning look of anger.

“Don’t play smart with me,” he warned. “It won’t end well.”

I shifted subtly away from his touch, his presence suffocating.

“I told you before, no part of you would be spared in this. And if you value that little college bargain you begged for, the one I generously intend to add to the contract...”

His voice became cruel again. “Then get up. Strip. And make it worthy.”

My throat tightened. My chest ached. I wanted to push back at him.

But I was also afraid he’d change his mind about the one thing I begged for, college.

That he’d take it back with a snap of his fingers. That he’d remind me again who held the power here.

Swallowing hard, I sat up from the bed, mentally preparing myself for what was about to happen. Gia, just do it.

His eyes were on me the second I stood, scanning, devouring, making it hard to breathe.

I could feel his gaze trailing along my skin like a slow burn, every inch he lingered on sparking something electric inside me.

I hated how easily these strange feelings stirred up in me.

I reached for the hem of my clothes clumsily, trying to get it over with quickly, just get it done.

But his voice stopped me.

“Not so fast,” he murmured, the annoyance in his tone freezing me in place.

“Slowly... and seductively.

I want to see all of you… opened up for me.”

Then he moved, reached for a remote on the nearby table, and pressed a button.

The lights dimmed into a soft golden glow, and it felt like I’d stepped into another world, half real, half dream.

He walked to the table, poured himself a glass of scotch, and returned to the bed. He sat down with his legs spread wide, glass in hand, like a king expecting his entertainment.

His eyes never left mine.

“Dance for me.”

“I’m... not much of a dancer,” I replied, fidgeting under the heat of his stare. “I’ve never…”

“Quit arguing,” he cut in. “You’ll obey every word I say. No thinking. Just feel. Follow my voice.”

I sucked in a deep breath.

“Close your eyes,” he continued, his tone softening but no less firm. “Let the music lead you.”

Everything in me resisted at first, the awkwardness, the awareness of his gaze, the tight knot of fear in my chest.

But something in his voice… and the dim atmosphere pulled me in.

So I did it.

I shut my eyes.

The music rose around me, romantic confessions of what a lover was going to do to his partner on the bed, and I let it seep into my skin. I stopped thinking and just let the beat lead me as my hips began to sway slowly.

My arms followed, lifting above my head, then sliding into my hair, fingers tangling through the strands with a lazy, seductive grace.

I turned, arching my back to the music, hands gliding down the center of my body, tracing the curve of my waist until they settled on my hips, rotating side to side, in rhythm, in surrender.

It didn’t feel like I was controlling it anymore, rather as if my body had broken free, led by something wild and untamed. A kind of freedom I had never tasted before.

Then I heard the sound of ragged breath.

I opened my eyes, startled, and found Dante watching me, his eyes wild and his scotch forgotten.

“Take off your clothes,” he ordered.

“One piece at a time.”

With trembling fingers, I unhooked the flimsy bra. My breath caught as it loosened, fell, and my breasts spilled free.

His gaze dragged over them like he was starving. My nipples tightened under the heat of his stare.

Still, I kept moving as I reached for my shorts and pushed them down my hips, letting them slide off before flinging them aside.

The longer he looked at me like that, as though I was the only thing he could see, as though my body had power, the more I started to crave it. To enjoy it.

I swallowed as my hand moved downwards, almost shakily, brushing along my hips. The moment my fingers hooked in the waistband of my panties, my nerves rushed in.

I wiggled my hips, slowly sliding the lacy material down my legs. It pooled at my feet, and I stepped out of it.

His gaze trailed low and lingered on the soft V between my thighs. Heat exploded across my face as a wave of shame shot through me.

I instinctively closed my hand over my mound, the other arm flying up to shield my breasts.

“Gianna,” his voice cut through the music.

My body trembled from the dark guttural sound of his voice.

“Take your hands off,” he commanded again, firmer this time. “I want to see everything.”

Then slowly, I lowered my arms. First from my breasts, then from between my legs.

“Don’t ever hide your body,” he murmured, eyes locked on me. “Not from yourself. And never from me.”

Now I was standing before him completely naked.

He got up from his seat and started walking toward me.

The closer he came, the faster my heart beat. My cheeks burned, and I could barely breathe.

Then it started again, that feeling I didn’t understand. A warm, throbbing ache built between my legs, growing stronger with every step he took.

Gia… what is this monster doing to you?