Captivated by the deadly mafia boss

Lena

Leaning against an armchair, I suck in a deep breath. I close my eyes, count to three, breathe out slow. Repeat.

It’s not working. My nerves shake, my stomach clenches, and my lungs aren’t cooperating.

No one will tell me what was happening, or where I’ve been moved. A man came into my cell hours ago and pulled me from the underground bunker. He dragged me up into the bright sunlit afternoon, only to shove me into a car after yanking a cloth bag over my head. Did he think I would memorize my way back home?

The drive had been short, or at least it felt that way, and then I was dragged from the car and shoved into a house. I was allowed to shower, a relatively short reprieve. As soon as I was done, I was pulled this way and that until my hair was dried and brushed, fresh makeup applied to my face, and I was shoved into a short, tight-fitting black cocktail dress.

The neckline dips far between my breasts. I pull at it in an attempt to cover the swell of my breasts, but it’s not helping.

And now, I’m waiting. For what? I have no fucking clue.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

I drag in another breath, do the breathing, calm my heart, get air in, get air out. It should calm me.

It doesn’t.

I’ve been in this room for over an hour. I’m not entirely sure what day it is, but there’s a clock on the wall in here so at least I know what time it is. My stomach growls, but I push the hunger pangs from my mind. If I were to eat right now, I doubt it would stay down.

I grit my teeth. I am not this weak. I must be strong. No matter what these men want from me, I will not give it to them.

Anticipation of the unknown drives my racing heart. Once I’m in the thick of it, I’ll regain composure. I’ll be able to see the situation and find the way out. I just need to survive until whatever is about to happen actually does.

The door opens, and a man steps in. I recognize him from earlier. He brought me to this room and told me to wait.

“Let’s go.” He waves his hand at me to follow him.

“Where?” I question him. For all I know, he’s taking me to my execution. Or worse, an auction block.

His shoulders drop. “Just come. And when we get there, don’t speak. Not a fucking word, do you understand?” He grabs hold of my elbow when I get close enough and tows me along the hallway.

I’m too busy watching where he’s taking me to notice much about the house, other than a woman scurrying out of the hallway when we approach. Would she even help me if I cried out to her?

He turns down another corridor and we walk down the long walkway to a closed door. Two more men stand guarding the door. I swallow back another question.

“Not a word,” he reminds me, then pushes the door open and shoves me forward ahead of him.

“Lena!” My father’s voice yanks my attention. Relief floods me. He’s here. Next to him, my oldest brother, Dominik. They’ve come for me.

As I take a step in their direction, my escort grabs hold of my arm again and pulls me back. I try to yank free, but his nails dig into my skin.

“Let her go,” Dominik orders, but my escort doesn’t seem to understand Dominik’s not used to repeating himself. He pulls me further to the side, away from them.

“Now you’ve seen her,” the man standing behind the desk says. His eyes widen just a fraction when his gaze sweeps over me, like he expected something or someone else.

“Lena, are you all right? Are you hurt?” my father asks, keeping his voice firm. His eyes bore into me, trying to find the truth in my gaze, but he must pretend that he’s not panicking. He’s not upset by his daughter standing in this office, a captive of a rival family.

“I’m all right.” I yank my arm out of my escort’s grip and fold my hands in front of myself. Everything is going to work out fine now. I just need to let Dominik and my father do what they do best.

I raise my chin and settle in to listen to their conversation. They’ll negotiate and I’ll be home and in my bed in a matter of hours.

My gaze settles on the other man in the room. The man who came into my cell yesterday to scare me. His dark glare sends a shiver down my spine. His hands are in his pockets, his jaw set firm.

I swallow, wetting my dry throat and tear my gaze from him. He’s unsettling, but I’ll be away from him soon enough.

“You are lucky she hasn’t been mistreated.” Dominik’s voice tears through my thoughts. Mistreated? I’ve been pissing in a bucket but telling him that now will only stall progress.

“You can’t think to keep her. I won’t allow it.” My father fists his hand and shakes it. “We have a fucking truce, Roman.”

“Yes. We did.” Roman leans forward on his knuckles, his face red, eyes bulging. “We fucking did and then you interrupted my shipment. Took my girls, and now have blocked my transport.”

“We had no way of knowing that shipment belonged to you,” Dominik argues.

“If you had, would you have left it alone?” Micah speaks, focusing his attention on my brother. “If you had no problem taking over the shipment from your wife’s own father, I have trouble believing you’d have walked away once you became aware it belonged to us.”

Dominik’s jaw ticks.

My father clears his throat, and a hot trail of anxiety runs through my veins. It’s a signal.

“What’s done is done. We weren’t aware of your involvement. But we are now.” My father glances over at me; a sadness tints his eyes but is drowned out by stern resolve.

My chest tightens. I’m not part of this. None of this has anything to do with me, but I’m going to bear the brunt of the consequences.

You’ll be a good girl and do what’s expected of you.

In a flash I recall my father’s words. We’d been talking about my future, or rather I’d been trying to talk about it. He wouldn’t engage, he merely made that one statement.

You’ll be a good girl and do what’s expected of you, Lena.

“Let’s come to an agreement and put this mess behind us. We’ve spent many years with peace, and both of our families have prospered. Let’s not ruin that over one mishap.” My father’s diplomacy isn’t going to work. Roman Ivanov has a gleam in his eye that reeks of victory. My father is ready to make concessions, and Roman is going to strike.

No sooner does my foot move forward than the guard grabs my elbow and pulls me back. I’m to stand and watch but not participate. Have they all forgotten that it was me who was kidnapped? Drugged and stuffed in my own trunk?

“Your daughter is beautiful. I could probably get more for her on the market than the entire lot you took.” Roman keeps his steady gaze fixated on my father.

Dominik shows no outward reaction, but I know my brother. He’s only waiting for my father’s signal and then he’ll pounce. He won’t allow this to happen to me. This is his fault. He put our family in this position.

“You would go to war over one fucking mistake?” My father’s eyes narrow, his voice lowers. He’s had enough talk.

“I would go to war over your family stealing from me. This truce has never brought both of us equal profits.”

My father’s nostrils flare and he fists his hands at his sides. “I’m willing to repay your loss on the shipment. You’ll have access to the trains again, we can both use the train yard as a port, neither of us needs to choke out the other.”

Roman runs his tongue over his top teeth from beneath his lip.

A brush of heat floods my face, and when I look, I find Micah staring at me again. He doesn’t bother pretending to consider my father’s offer, not like Roman. Micah remains as confident and unmoving as before. It’s like he already knows the outcome of this meeting and doesn’t feel the need to pay attention.

“And retribution for your daughter’s stay with us?” Roman asks in a low tone.

“As long as she leaves with us tonight, there will be none,” my father decides.

They will go unpunished. Nothing will happen to these men who abducted me and treated me like a scrap of garbage to be left in the cell underground.

Because I’m a woman and must do what’s right for the entire family, not just for myself. My chest grows heavy beneath their words and the consequences of them.

Roman taps his chin with his middle finger. “I have another idea. She’ll stay with us. One woman in exchange for the twenty you took.”

“No.” I jerk free of the hold on my arm and step forward. “I’m not staying here. I won’t let you sell me.” I turn to my father. “Do something. You can’t think to go along with this.” Desperation takes hold, making me sound like the spoiled brat outsiders believe me to be.

We are in the Ivanov mansion. They could walk in and gun us all down. My father had to have known that; why would he agree to meeting here of all places?

“I won’t let you take her.” My father ignores me and speaks directly to Roman.

“No, of course not,” Roman agrees, leaning forward again. “A marriage. Between your daughter and my son. As a way to seal our truce once more. Bring peace back.”

“What?” I rush toward my father, but my guard grabs me again. One hard look from Dominik, and he lets me go. “Absolutely not.”

My father doesn’t glance at me, doesn’t acknowledge my words.

“Daddy,” I whisper. When I was a little girl, I would claw at my father’s pant leg to get his attention. I doubt it would work now. His concrete stare is fixated elsewhere. He’s tuned me out.

“Give me a moment to talk to my daughter.”

My heart drops.

“There’s nothing to talk about. I won’t do it.” I turn toward Micah who has a hint of amusement tugging on his lips. “I won’t marry you. This is absurd. I have nothing to do with any of this.”

“We’ll let you have the room for a few moments.” Micah’s glare turns from me to my father as he speaks.

I’m in a nightmare. No one understands what I’m saying, they can’t hear me, or they don’t care. It’s like I’m not in the room. The air thickens and by the time the door closes behind the three Ivanov men, I’m gasping for it.

“Lena, calm down,” my father chastises me softly. I take a shaky breath, trying to force the panic in my chest to ease off.

“I won’t do this. How can you even think it?” I ask. “They kidnapped me, threw me in a trunk, drugged me. Left me in a cold cell with a bucket for a bathroom and now you want me to marry one of them?” I’ve never learned how to keep the tremor from my voice.

“Lena.” Dominik’s hard voice grabs my attention. When I look up at him, I see the remorse in his eyes. He’s going along with this crazy idea. “It will bring peace. Many of Garska’s men have fled the city. Only a few of them joined us. We were able to get the charges dropped against Dad, but we’re still being watched. If the Ivanov family attack, it’s more dangerous for us to retaliate, to defend.”

I know he’s right, and Roman Ivanov knows it too. Why else would he offer such a thing?

“You knew, Lena, that one day you would marry for the good of the family. I’ve never held that fact from you. Just like your brother did.” My father gestures toward Dominik.

“It’s because of his marriage this is happening to me.” I turn my anger on my big brother. “You couldn’t tell your wife no? You couldn’t take one fucking minute to realize what could happen by stopping that shipment?”

Dominik’s eyes darken. I’m standing on the line; one more word and I’ll be over it. But I don’t care.

“Give them Kasia. She’s the one who fucked up their shipment. Give them her.”

“How can you say such a thing?” My father’s admonishment hits me in the chest. He’d protect Dominik’s wife over me? I’m his daughter. I’m the one who was dragged to Poland while he was waiting out his legal trouble here in Chicago.

“How can you consider making me marry that man!” Tears burn my eyes. I’m climbing uphill in stilettos with a fifty-pound rucksack. This is not a battle I’m going to win. Not when my own family sides with the enemy.

“I’ve heard things about Micah.” My father switches to Polish. These walls have ears and up until now, he hasn’t said anything worth hearing. “He’s not as stupid as his father. He sees everything and makes calculated decisions.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I don’t care how well he manages his family. It’s my life I’m struggling to save here, and I’m losing my grip on it.

“When he gains full power in his family, you’ll be married to the head of the Ivanov family. As much as I hate the fucking Russian pricks, there is strength in that. You will be protected. Our family will be protected. If we don’t do this, it will be a war. And you’ll be a target.”

My insides shake. He’s not only allowing this, he sees opportunity within this deal. At handing me over to the monsters.

“Don’t make me do this.” I lower my gaze, unable to stand another moment of my brother or my father looking at me. All the years they pretended I was precious to them, loved and cared for, it was all bullshit.

It was all an act.

They tended to me as if to fatten the lamb before bringing it to slaughter.

The door opens and the Ivanov men are back, blocking the doorway.

“Your answer,” Roman demands.

A hot tear rolls down my cheek, and I turn away, so the Ivanov scum don’t have a chance to enjoy it.

My father grasps my hands, squeezing gently as if to give me some of his strength.

“A marriage between our families is agreed.” He drops my hands, and I take a shuddering breath.

In a heartbeat my entire future is whisked away beyond my grasp.