Brianna has spent her life trapped in a gilded cage, promised to a man who sees her as nothing more than a trophy. Desperate for freedom, she makes the only choice she can-she runs. But freedom comes at a price. One fateful night, lost and desperate, Brianna stumbles into the wrong alley at the worst possible time. She witnesses a brutal execution-one carried out by none other than Ricky Pierro, the dangerously charming heir to the Italian mafia. She should have screamed. She should have run again. Instead, she's caught. Ricky isn't in the mood for complications. With the weight of his father's empire on his shoulders, he has one chance to prove he's ready to lead. But the terrified woman standing before him is now a problem he can't ignore. She's seen too much. And in his world, there are only two options: silence her forever... or make her his. Brianna is given a choice-work for him, live under his protection, or die. But as tension simmers and sparks ignite, it becomes clear that their arrangement is far more dangerous than either of them anticipated. She was supposed to be his prisoner. Now, she just might become his greatest weakness. In a world where loyalty is everything and love is a risk neither can afford, Brianna and Ricky must decide-will they fight for their freedom, or will they surrender to a fate they never saw coming?
Brianna's POV
I wake up in my bed alone yet again, my fiancée nowhere to be found. He probably stayed out all night again with work friends.
Or a woman.
I get up out of bed and head to the bathroom to get dressed for the day even though I have nothing to do today considering I'm not really allowed outside the apartment.
I get dressed after my shower and head over to the mirror so I can do my hair and makeup, I chose a simple look today; it's cute and it covers enough skin just so Jonathan doesn't get mad again
The last time I wore something that showed "to much skin," according to Jonathan, a few guys were checking me out, and it made Jonathan really mad, so when we got home that night, he took his anger out on me by pushing me to the wall and punching me in my stomach as well as choking me.
He apologized after that, saying he didn't mean to and that he didn't know what got into him. I forgave him, but after that day I never really wore anything that wasn't oversized, and I always flinched when he touched me, but I tried to stop because it only angered him.
I know what you are thinking, "Why is she still with the man?" Well Jonathan has been with me through alot like the death of my parents, and he wasn't always like this.
I mean, he could be controlling and overprotective but never violent. I have no idea what has gotten into him, honestly.
I am soon pulled out of my thoughts by Jonathan walking in our room looking like a mess; his suit is wrinkled, his brown wavy hair is now a mess, and his shoes are in his hands, and he reeks of alcohol.
"Hey." I say to him as I put my blonde hair up into a messy bun.
He looks over at me and then closes his eyes as he puts his hands on his head.
"So loud, Bri." He groans as he flops on the bed on his back.
I look at him, trying my hardest not to cry when I see the hickey on his neck and the leftover lipstick that was left from whoever's mouth it was.
"I will go make you breakfast."
"No, I'm good; just let me sleep." He says while making a shoo movement with his hand.
So with that I left our room while going to make myself a glass of coffee. I am thinking about going out today because I know for a fact that Jonathan will be asleep most of the day, so I won't have to worry about him finding out and getting mad.
So after I finish my coffee, I put my shoes on and leave the apartment. I don't have a car, and I refuse to drive Jonathan's because he would only get mad, and he most likely had whatever lady friend in there last night as well.
So I start walking to Central Park, which is only a few blocks from where Jonathan and I live.
As I am walking, I am enjoying the breeze that New York's air has to deliver today, but I can't help but feel a little sad when I see a happy couple in a cafe with their son, who looks to be 4 years old, and they are laughing at whatever the dad said.
Not only does this make me miss my parents, but it also makes me sad that I and Jonathan don't have that.
I have brought up the children talking with him multiple times before, but he always says we are still young and have a future to focus on. It's just his nice way of saying he doesn't want kids.
Instead of dwelling on the family some more, I continue my way to the park while enjoying the sound of the city.
When I arrive at the park, I realise it is pretty empty, which makes sense because it's 12 in the afternoon on a Wednesday, so all the kids have school and most adults probably have work.
Not me, though; I have wanted a job for a while now. I mean, I have the school experience; I always wanted to be a nurse, so I went to school for it, and I have my degree, but Jonathan isn't a big fan of me going to work.
So I, of course, gave up that dream.
●●●
It has been an hour and a half, and I'm still at the park just enjoying the scene before I am interrupted by my phone ringing.
I look at my phone only to see that it's Jonathan who is calling and thats when the panic sets in.
I slowly answer the phone with shaking hands.
"H-hello?" I answer while trying my best not to break down from fear.
"Where the fuck are you, Brianna!" Jonathan shouts through the phone, causing me to bring it away from my ears for a second.
"I'm at the park; I am on my way home right now."
"I fucking told you before not to leave the fucking house without me."
"I know, and I'm sorry I was bored and I wanted to go out. I didn't mean to make you mad." I try to explain to him, but that only seems to anger him more.
"Get home now!" And then he hangs up.
I for sure know I'm not gonna get away with this. I thought he wouldn't have woken up and he wouldn't find out that I was gone.
Guess I was wrong, and now I'm gonna have to face the consequences of my stupid actions.
●●●
I am standing outside of our apartment door, and once I open it, I see a really angry Jonathan on the couch. Once he sees me, he gets up and walks towards me and grips my wrist really tight, for sure leaving a mark, and then he slams the door shut behind me.
"You are fucking dumb, you know that, right?" He said while gripping tighter on my wrist.
"I-I'm sorry, please, J-Jonathan your hurting me." I let out only a sigh, causing Jonathan to get this look in his eyes that I have never seen before in all the 5 years we have been together.
He then surprises me by landing a harsh slap on my face, causing blood to form in my mouth and a cut to appear on my lip.
"I don't give a fuck if I'm hurting you, Brianna; you need to learn who the fuck calls the shots around here." He then pushes me against the wall while moving his hands to my throat, and then he brings his face closer to mine.
"You are an ungrateful slut, you know that right?"
"P-Please." He punches me hard in the stomach and let's me go, causing me to fall on the floor, bringing my legs up to my head, hiding my tears from him.
"I will handle you when I get back." And with that he grabbed his car keys and left the apartment.
The look in his eyes was murderous; he could have killed me, and I'm pretty sure when he gets back, he might just do that.
And I won't be here to see.
I lift myself up off the floor, ignoring the aching in my stomach, and make my way to the bathroom.
When I look in the mirror, it only causes me to let out a loud sob because I look awful. I don't look like myself anymore; I lost so much of my confidence since Jonathan has been acting like this towards me, and it hurts.
My face is bruised and covered with the mascara I had on because I was crying so much.
With one last look in the mirror, I rush to the door, leave the apartment, and start running in a direction I don't even know, and I don't care because I just want to get away from Jonathan. Before I make my way down an alley, I take my engagement ring off and throw it somewhere.
And then I turn down the dark alley and make my way down it but stop in my tracks when I see 2 men in all black punching some other guy while talking in a different language.
"Boss vuole il suo stronzo di soldi!" One shouts.
(Boss wants his money, fucker.)
"I-I will get the money, I promise." The man against the wall says, trying his best to get his way out of the situation.
"It's to late." The other man in black said before grabbing something out of his waistband, and that's when I heard the gunshot, and the man dropped to the floor, and without even knowing it, I let out a gasp, which, in my horrible luck, they heard.
"Fanculo." One of them says while starting to walk my way.
(Fuck)
I start to run, but they are faster than me, so they catch me right away.
"Che cosa ne faremo di lei?" The one on my left asked the other.
(What are we going to do with her?)
"Non so forse portarla al capo." The other one replied.
(I don't know, maybe bring her to boss.)
"Sorry, this might hurt." And that's all I remember before everything went black.
Warning: This book is really dark, filled with imaginations of darkness you can can think of. If you're below the age of 18. I advise you that you read with discretion. He stared at me with cold, dark eyes. Pushing me against the wall with his hand around my throat, he growled, "Do you know the ways I could fuck the answer out of you? The things I could do to you, can you imagine it? I'll ask you again, what did you see in my black bag?" His dark eyes were scary but the thought of fucking the truth out of me was entertaining, I replied confused and scared "No-, Nothing" Maximo, a scary-looking bulky guy and the leader of the most feared Mafia on earth fell victim to a prank which I do occasionally, especially to scary-looking people. It's like a test to know how much power I have as a woman but this time it went south as the man I decided to prank one rainy Friday night became a bone stuck in my throat for the rest of my days, I could not get him out. My lovely sharp bone. Aurora, a lovely girl, gentle on the outside but wild on the inside, plays men like cards but she can't to this man, Max Lucado. He was everything she wanted in a man
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