Keep Me: A Mafia Romance (The Rossi Crime Family Book 3)

by J. L. Beck

  ***

  I don’t know how many days pass, all I know that I am on the verge of insanity. If I’m not sleeping, I’m crying and when I’m not doing either of those things I’m driving myself insane while trying to figure out why I am where I am.

  Every time a meal is brought I try and talk to the person on the other side of the door, but as always they don’t respond. I’ve stopped eating the food they bring in hopes that someone will be forced to come in and talk to me. My eyes often go to the mirror that overlooks the room. Sometimes I get the feeling that I’m being watched and I most likely am since I’m almost certain the damn thing is not just a mirror. I remain on the mattress, just as I always do, attempting to get warm. I’m so cold, I’m not sure I remember what it feels like to be warm anymore. The little thin dress I’m wearing gives me little to no protection, or warmth and I shiver uncontrollably.

  Between being cold and always afraid of the unknown I get little to no sleep. I’m in a constant state of panic, my body is so stiff and exhausted that even tiny movements cause my muscles to ache. I wonder if my sister is looking for me, searching for me? I wonder where I am? Who took me? There are a million questions running through my mind, and no answers to turn too. I shiver against the mattress, my head perks up at a noise outside my door.

  My last meal of the day was brought a few hours ago...and this has never happened before. I hear the jingling of keys and deep husky laughter...laughter that belongs to men.

  God no. My entire body clams up, when the door opens, a loud creak vibrating through the room. I look up, paralyzed with fear as two dark-haired men enter the room.

  “My oh my, look what we have here Luca.” The two men walk unsteadily on their feet towards me. I can smell the alcohol on their breath and there still a few feet away from me.

  I’ve wished for the door to open for so long, hating that it kept me trapped in this room, but what I didn’t know was that it protected me, shielded me, because now that it’s open I want it to close, taking the two men before me with it.

  “Look at those full lips, I bet they will look great around my cock,” the other man snickers.

  “How angry do you think Ivan will be if we pop her cherry?” The first man asks. Fear like I’ve never felt before spirals out of control inside of me. They edge closer towards me, and I wish the wall would swallow me whole, making me disappear from this room and out of reach from these assholes.

  “We’re gonna have some fun with you baby...you want that, don’t you?” I shake my head, looking up into a pair of dark eyes. There is no emotion, no caring nature in those eyes, just pure lust, and I know then that the two men before me are monsters.

  I look past the two figures in front of me and realize that they’ve left the door open behind them. Hope blooms inside me. They take another step forward...they’re much too close now, and I know if I want to survive this I need to do something. Fighting the ache in my muscles my body starts to move on its own. I jump up from the mattress trying to run past them, but even drunk the men are faster than I am. I barely make it a couple of feet before one of them grabs me by the arm yanking me backward.

  The Luca man pushes me into the second guy’s arms. Panic swarms me, my chest heaves up and down and still through it all I know that I need to fight them even if my chances of escaping are slim...I’m not going to go out without fighting.

  I might not have the strength I need to overpower them but I have long nails and I use them to my advantage at that moment lashing out with my hand sinking them into his ugly face, well slashing downward. He hisses out in pain, and I relish in that sound.

  Of course, he rewards me by backhanding me across the face, pain radiates across my jaw, the impact of the hit making my head snap back. Tears fill my eyes, and before I can recover my arms are roughly twisted behind my back, making me cry out in pain. I can barely see through the treacherous tears spilling out from my eyes, but from what I can see I know I got the bastard good. Five bloody scratches line his face and I almost smile, almost.

  “You're going to fucking regret doing that you whore.” Another slaps lands on my face, the pain intensifies, and before I can even get my bearings my dress is being ripped down my body in one furious pull, leaving me in nothing but my underwear.

  “Fuck look at that little body...I bet she’s tight.” The Luca man grips me by the chin, his fat fingers digging into skin. I snarl my lip and spit right in his face. He looks at me with murderous rage, and I wonder if this is where I’m going to die.

  He wipes a hand down his face and with that same hand he punches me. Literally punches me. My jaw aches at the impact and the copper taste of blood filling my mouth.

  “Please...please stop…” I cry, trying to wiggle out of their hold but my futile attempts just seem to ag them on. The one behind me is grinding his erection into my backside and the one in front of me starts smiling while he squeezing my boobs painfully. When one of his hands travel down between my legs roughly grabbing me there another rush of anger floods my system giving me just a little bit more strength.

  I grit my teeth and push through the pain. In my final attempt to fight them I throw my head back as hard as I can hitting the guy behind me somewhere in the face. He releases me with a grunt and I use that moment to bring my knee up and kick the guy in front of me between the legs. He falls to the floor, a number of swear words fill the air. Without looking back I bolt towards the door and out into a well-lit hall. I’m out… I’m outside of the cell. I glance back at the man over my shoulder and see out of the corner of my eyes that I can see through the mirror into my cell like it’s a window.

  They’ve been watching me this whole time...watching me, seeing me struggle, and cry. Adrenaline floods my body, forcing me forward. I start running, without thought to even where I’m going, only that I need to get away from those men. I hear someone following behind me, heavy footsteps, and words in a language I don’t understand.

  Once I reach the end of the hallway I take a sharp turn around the corner ready to pick up speed. Instead, I slam into a wall…or what I think is a wall. When I lift my eyes I discover that it isn’t really a wall, but a wall of muscled chest.

  All the air leaves my lungs at the impact and my knees almost buckle underneath me. Strong arms grip onto me, engulfing me in warmth...in safety. My hands land flatly on his huge chest, and I curl my fingers into his shirt when I hear the two men trying to hurt me approach behind us.

  I look up at the face belonging to the body of the man who is holding me. His eyes are gunmetal gray reminding me of the sky before a storm but as he looks into my eyes his gaze softens.

  “Help me, please help me,” I whisper, my voice trembling. I grip onto his shirt tighter willing him to help me, to save me from these horrible men. He doesn’t say a word, he just stares at me, no emotion whatsoever in his eyes. When the heavy footfalls of the two guys chasing me stop behind us, I see his eyes move from mine, and past me to where the two guys are standing.

  I feel their presence without looking, and it terrifies me. I pray he isn’t going to give me back to them, I don’t know what will happen if he does, but I won’t just let them have me. No way. I bury my face into the unknown man’s chest. His scent washes over me, he smells like expensive whiskey, and cinnamon. Feeling his muscles move underneath my touch...I know he is so much bigger and stronger than those two, he could protect me from them.

  An eerie moment of silence falls over us, and my body starts to shake uncontrollably.

  “That bitch tried to run boss, we were just going to put her back in the cell.” The Luca man interrupts the silence.

  “And who opened the cell door for her?” The man holding me ask. His voice is deep and dark, and dread fills my veins at his words. He is not going to help me. He knows I’ve been here. Maybe he is the one that put me in that room. The one who kidnapped me. Sobs wreck my body at the disappointment. I’m never going to get out of here. I’m never going to be safe again.

&nbs
p; “Ivan… boss, we were just going to have a little fun… we weren’t going to hurt her...”

  “You don’t touch the merchandise and by the looks of her fucking face, it seems like you did a whole lot of hurting her,” the man named Ivan growls.

  One single word stands out from his sentence: Merchandise? I know what the word means but I can’t comprehend what it means for me. They can’t possibly be selling me...or anyone for that matter, right? It’s illegal to sell humans, men, women, it doesn’t matter.

  As I listen in shock to their conversation I realize that I’m still holding on to the man who obviously has something to do with me being here. Why do I feel safe in his arms? I should push him away, fight him like I did the other two men. I should try and escape, but instead, I lean into him for comfort. I feel safe in his arms even though the rational part of my brain tells me I shouldn’t.

  I enjoy his big hands sprawled out over my back, and the warmth his body gives me and for a moment I can forget the throbbing in my face and the split in my lip. I can forget that I’ve been kidnapped, and held hostage against my will.

  “She tried escaping boss, we had to stop her. Maybe if she didn’t try and claw our fucking eyes out she wouldn’t look like she does,” The other man starts, but Luca cuts him off by clearing his throat as if he knows better than to disobey what the man holding me says.

  “It won’t happen again boss. We just wanted to have a little fun, clearly, we made a mistake. We’ll put her back in her cell, and lock it up.”

  My body stiffens at his words and my fingers imbed into Ivan’s shirt. Please say no. I silently say in my head like a prayer. If he gives me to them I’m going to run...I’m going to run as fast and hard as I can.

  “I’ll take her back myself and if I see you two around her cell again... I’ll kill you both. We don’t touch the merchandise if you want to fuck something go to the whorehouse,” he warns them.

  “Of course boss.” They both mumble and when I hear their feet pounding against the floor going in the opposite direction of where we’re standing I sigh. I cling to the man before me, my fingers refusing to let go of him.

  A whimper escapes my lips when he prys my fingers from his shirt and lifts me into the air, holding me like a groom holds his bride... like I weigh nothing at all, and I probably don’t considering his size. I briefly catch a glimpse of a large tattoo on the side of his neck before I lower my face so he can’t look at it.

  He cradles me to his chest like I’m a small child. His skin feels so warm against mine, and I want to sink deep inside him and stay there forever. I twist and burrow my face into his chest. I remember then that I’m completely naked, other than my panties. I’ve never been naked in front of a man before, and now I’ve been naked in front of three all in one night.

  “Please don’t put me back in that room.” I murmur into his shirt. He doesn’t respond or stops walking in the direction I just came from. He just continues walking as if he didn’t hear me at all and with every step he takes I lose a little more hope that I’m ever going get out of here.

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  About The Authors

  Born and raised in Germany, Cassandra moved to the United States when she was eighteen. She’s now a stay-at-home-mom to three boys, and happily married. With a love for reading, that love slowly transpired into writing she put fingers to keyboard and started writing about the dark side of romance.

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  J.L. Beck is a USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, she has written over fifty different romance novels. She started her journey of writing back in 2014 and hasn't slowed down a second since then.

  She's captivated by real romance, and loves reading about strong "ALPHA" males, as well as sassy heroines that know or may not know what they want. She is best known for delivering a happily ever after but has ended things on a cliffhanger a time or two.

  When she's not typing away at her next book you can find her being a mom to her two adorable kiddos and wife to her high school sweetheart.

  She's obsessed with Starbucks, social media, and is definitely more of a dog person than cat.

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