All Chapters of Desired by the Mafia Kings: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

L A N A He is smiling back at me, a short glass of golden liquor in his hand as he carefully makes his way over to me."Look at you..." He says to me, and that's when I feel Fernanda nudge me towards Ezio, just as I gasp and begin making my way towards him. The music suddenly quiets down, and the murmuring around the room grows silent, every single person now turning their attention towards us.He finally reaches me, towering over me despite the heels I have on, his eyes scanning every inch of my body as a possessive smile grazes his lips."You look brilliant..." He says before he reaches for my chin and grazes a finger over it lightly. That's when he suddenly grabs hold of me, placing a hand firmly around my waist and pulling me onto his chest, just as I gasp and look up at him fearfully."Come, everyone is waiting for us." He says to me, leading me forward to the front of the room. My legs move without my permission, as if the sound of his voice can pull strings under my skin, and

L A N AI am shaking so badly I can barely stand.This is war.A pure, living, breathing nightmare unfolding around me. The man holding onto my arm only tightens his grip as we make our way forward. I twist in his hold, panic clawing its way up my throat as I try to pull free, but he is stronger than me, dragging me down a narrow lit up by tungsten lights, the mansion changing as we move deeper into it.That's when Ezio’s words repeat in my head."Make sure she doesn’t go anywhere."And the more they resonate in my mind, the more sick to my stomach I feel. Even in the middle of a full-blown gun fight, he still won't let me go. Even with bullets flying and men dying all around us, he is still thinking about me. Still claiming me and refusing to let me disappear. He doesn't consider me as collateral damage... I am his property, something that's meant to be retrieved, secured, and locked back into place once the blood dries.More gunshots ring out in the house, causing me to cry out and

L A N AThe silence in the car makes me sick to my stomach, so much so that I feel even my quiet breaths might be too loud for this space. I look out the window, much calmer now and watch as streetlights pass by in long, glowing stretches, their reflections sliding across the window beside me, and I watch my own face appear and disappear in the glass, pale and unfamiliar, like I am already someone else. My hands are folded tightly in my lap, fingers clutching onto the fabric of my dress as though it might keep me anchored to reality, as though I might drift away if I loosen my grip for even a second.Everything inside me feels overstimulated and numb at the same time.My ears still ring faintly, the echo of gunfire now burned into my memory, and every sudden sound outside makes my shoulders tense, my breath catching before I can stop it. The silence inside the car feels so fragile, like it could shatter at any moment, and I don’t know whether I’m afraid of the noise returning or terri

L A N ADaniella leads the way without saying a word, and I follow a few steps behind her, my shoes quiet against the smooth floors, my body still moving on borrowed energy. The halls stretch long and clean, nothing like the looming luxury of Ezio’s estate, and yet just as intimidating in a different way, because this place feels lived in, functional, purposeful. The lighting is soft and warm, recessed into the ceiling instead of hanging over us like a display, and the walls are decorated with modern art that I do not recognise but instinctively understand costs more than I could ever imagine affording.No one stops us, no guards step into our path, and no eyes linger too long.And it is strange how unsettling that is.I keep waiting for something to happen, for a voice to bark an order, for hands to reach for me, for the familiar tightening in my chest that comes when I know I am about to be told what to do. But none of that comes. Daniella simply walks, confident and unhurried, like

L A N AI wake slowly, not all at once but in layers, as though my body is reluctant to return to consciousness, drifting upward through warmth and softness before awareness finally begins to settle over me like light seeping through closed curtains. For a few blissful seconds, I do not remember anything. I simply exist beneath the covers, cocooned in unfamiliar sheets that are smoother than my own ever were, my limbs relaxed in a way they have not been in what feels like forever, my breathing deep and untroubled.Then everything starts to come back.Memories, returning to me, not violently, not in fragments of gunfire or shouting, but gently and undeniably, as I shift against the mattress and feel fabric that does not belong to me, as I inhale a scent that is not my apartment, not my life, not anything I recognise as home. My eyes open slowly, blinking against soft daylight filtering through the curtains, and I stare at the ceiling for a moment before the realisation fully forms.I a