I didn’t bother asking what business DeLuca was involved in—mainly because I didn’t want to know. I just did what I was told and worked on his books and investment portfolio while he handled all the ins and outs of transitioning his illegal franchises to Nashville.
In just over a year, I’d managed to make him a great deal of money, enough to repay my father’s debt ten times over. DeLuca was fully aware of how much I’d made him, and I kept waiting for the day my nightmare would end and DeLuca would release me.
That day never came.
Another year had come and gone before I finally worked up the courage to ask him, “Are you ever going to let me go?”
“Let you go?” He looked truly baffled as he asked, “Why would I do that?”
“Because I’ve done what you wanted. I repaid my father’s debt.”
“And?”
“And I want my life back,” I pushed. “I want to go home. I want to see my family and my friends. I miss my boyfriend. I want...”
“What makes you think I care about what you want?”
“But you said...”
“I said what?” He leaned back in his chair with a smug look on his face. “That I’d let you go? That I’d release you from your duties as soon as the debt was paid? I don’t recall saying that. In fact, I don’t recall saying anything of the sort.”
God, I hated him.
He was an evil, evil man with absolutely no conscience. I wanted nothing more than to jump over that desk and shove a pen through his carotid artery, so I could watch him bleed out. I knew getting angry wouldn’t help my cause, so I did my best to keep my cool as I asked, “So, what is your plan for me?”
“I don’t think we should get tangled up in things like plans.” He stood and walked over to me, standing just inches away as he asked, “Don’t we have a good thing going here? Have I not provided for you, given you a roof over your head, food on your table, and clothes on your back? I would think you would be grateful for such kindness.”
“Kindness? Are you serious?” I spat. “I’m nothing more than a prisoner! I haven’t seen my family in two years! I haven’t seen anyone except you and your stupid guards!”
“Are you feeling lonely, dear?” he asked with a condescending tone. “Would you like one of my boys to pay you a visit? Maybe give you a kid to keep you company?”
“I’d rather die.”
“You sure about that?” He chuckled as he goaded, “It’d do you good to havesome male attention. A good, hard fucking might knock the edge off.”
“Why are you doing this? I’ve done what you asked of me, and I just want to go home!”
“Again, what you want is irrelevant. You are mine—now and forever, and you best not forget it.” DeLuca’s tone grew threatening as he growled, “Because if you do, you’ll end up exactly like your father.”
My father was the only reason I’d done all the things DeLuca told me to do. I thought I was protecting him, and the mere thought that he’d hurt him brought bile to my throat. “What did you do?”
“You didn’t really think I’d just let him go, did you?” He glared at me with disgust in his eyes as he snarled, “You don’t steal money from Antonio DeLuca and live to talk about it, sweetheart.”
“Oh, my God! You killed him?” My knees grew weak, and tears immediately started streaming down my face. I was absolutely gutted. I loved my father, and it broke my heart to discover he was gone. Unable to hold it together, I collapsed into the chair next to DeLuca’s desk and cried, “How could you do that?”
“I did what had to be done.” He gestured to his guards, and before I could resist, they had me up on my feet and were dragging me out the door. They forced me back to my room, where I spent the rest of the night crying myself to sleep. I was absolutely devastated. I couldn’t believe my father was gone. I thought the sacrifices I’d made were enough to keep him alive, and the fact that they weren’t made me feel like a helpless fool.
The more I thought about it, the angrier and more bitter I became. I’d done everything he’d asked of me, but it didn’t matter. I knew too much.
He’d kill me before he just let me walk away. I was stuck. I had no choice but to stay there and continue working for him—at least for the time being. However, I was determined to get the hell out of there, and I was even more determined to make Antonio DeLuca pay for taking both my father and my freedom from me.
It took some time, but I finally devised a plan.
I decided to play the player and beat DeLuca at his own game.
I had full access to all of DeLuca’s accounts, and while he had the passwords, he never monitored my activity. He simply assumed that I was doing exactly what he told me to and nothing more. That would end up being a mistake that would cost him a great deal.
When he wasn’t watching, I opened up several offshore accounts, and ever so slowly, I started skimming his profits and slowly moved small amounts from his accounts into one I’d created for myself—one I’d made sure he’d never find. The amounts were insignificant to a man like Antonio DeLuca, but in short amount of time, I’d managed to create quite a little nest egg for myself.