Mafia’s Girlfriend

Chapter One: Bound to the Beast

Lena's POV

The air in the room reeked of sweat, smoke, and stale liquor. The heat in the room felt suffocating, thick and heavy, and made it hard to breathe. My wrists burned where the rope bit into my skin, a cruel reminder that I wasn't here by choice. Around me, a sea of men loomed, their stares crawling over me like insects, cold and predatory.

I bit the inside of my cheek, forcing down the panic rising in my stomach. Crying wouldn't help. Begging wouldn't change a thing.

"She's the payment," a rough voice called out from behind my back. The words sounded like the sentence of a judge-final and absolute.

A debt I didn't owe. A price I never agreed to pay.

Heavy tension; silence fell, and then another voice-a total contrast to the first-fell. Smooth, controlled, dangerously cold. "And you expect me to take this?" A shiver traced its path up my spine. It was not the words in themselves but how he issued them-for him, my entire existence was nothing more than an inconvenient trifle.

Behind me, the man stuttered, "I-I swear she's worth it! She'll do whatever you want. Just take her and we'll call it even."

My stomach lurched. The world felt unsteady beneath me, but I locked my knees to keep from collapsing. Fear was a weakness I couldn't afford to show.

Footsteps. Slow. Measured. A predator approaching its prey.

"Look at me.

The order was whispered, but laced with enough command that my breath hitched. I didn't move fast enough. Fingers wrapped around my chin, tilting my face up.

And then I saw him.

Black suit. Chiseled jaw. Eyes like storm clouds, piercing and unreadable. He exuded power-easy, absolute. Every inch of him screamed danger.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice even, devoid of emotion.

"Lena." My response came barely above a whisper.

His gaze blazed- for more, I sensed-than my name. "Lena," he breathed again, his tongue working around the syllables as though speaking some kind of judgment.

I didn't know I was trembling until his eyes released my face and slipped lower to the betraying flutter in my hands.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"No," I lied.

A shade of smile trembled around one edge of his mouth. "Good. Fear weakens you. And the weak break easily.

A lump had formed in my throat, but I swallowed it down. He was testing me, and I refused to fail.

"Take her to the car," he ordered, his voice brokering no argument.

He turned, walking away with the confidence of a man who had never heard the word 'no'.

For a split second, I was frozen. Then a rough shove sent me stumbling forward. My hands curled into fists, nails digging into my palms.

Not defiance. Something deeper. A quiet, simmering rage.

At the doorway, he paused, as if he sensed it. Again, his gaze locked onto mine, this time lingering. Calculating.

"Get her in the car," he repeated; this time the finality in his tone caused my stomach to clench.

Mumbling under his breath, the man grasping my arm dragged me outside. Nighttime air whipped against my skin, yet that did little to cool the maelstrom churning within me.

A glossy black car curbed just as sleek and imposing as the man who owned it.

He opened the door for me, studying me. Unreadable curiosity, perhaps even suspicion, danced in his gaze.

I hesitated for a fraction of a second before sliding inside. The leather seats felt too smooth, too unfamiliar, a stark contrast to the rough ropes that had bound me moments ago.

He followed, slamming the door shut with a deliberate thud.

The silence stretched, thick with unspoken tension. Then, his voice cut through it, sharp as a blade.

"Who are you?"

I didn't answer. My eyes stayed glued on the passing city lights, my heart pounding a little too hard against my ribs.

He leaned back in his chair and eyed me like some puzzle he was going to figure out. "No matter. I'll find out soon enough."

The car slowed as we approached a towering iron gate. It groaned open, revealing a sprawling estate, dark and foreboding.

You have no idea what you've just been dragged into, he murmured. "But you will."

The gates clanged shut behind us, sealing my fate.

And in that moment, I knew two things:

I wasn't just trapped.

I had been chosen.